If you are considering selling your wool or shorn fleece, we do sometimes buy high-quality fibre from rare and specialist breeds for a range of end products. It could be used in a pure form or blended. We purchase the fibre on behalf of our customers as well as use to make our own Blacker Yarns branded products.
We are particularly interested in buying rare, fine and coloured fibre.
The Process:
- Send your request fibre/fleece samples to us for assessment.
- Please include an estimate of the quantity, the breed and colour that you have. We also need to know how much you are willing to accept per sorted kg and do remember to include your contact details.
- We will review and discuss prices with you, without commitment on either side.
- All fleece we agree to take is sorted and graded and the value per kilogram is calculated on the net amount accepted.
- Once the samples have been approved we will arrange collection of your sacks of fleece/fibre. Do let us know if you would like us to send you some sacks to help with packing.
- We will pay for incoming carriage for purchased fleece. You can also deliver it to the mill, if you prefer, at a pre arranged time and usually you will receive a better price by doing this.
If you sell to us, please note that we pay only for what we keep, not what we reject, as we have to dispose of it, which has a cost associated with it. As your fleeces will normally be shorn and sent to us during the summer and autumn, which are our busiest times for spinning, we cannot always sort and grade the fibre quickly and a report on the results and payment may take up to two months.
Some of the specialist yarns we produce have been so successful that there is now a shortage of fleece from certain sheep breeds such as pedigree Shetland, Teeswater, Wensleydale, and fine and medium lustre longwool breeds, and Blue-faced Leicester.
Generally we pay a premium for quality and rarity, and we can only buy fibre that has been totally free of pesticides for at least four months before shearing.
Some sheep breeds do not produce wool of sufficiently high quality to be used by Blacker Yarns, but we are keen to develop more opportunities for coarser fibres and are happy to discuss ideas.
Take a look at our file on Sheep shearing and maintaining the quality of fleece to see if your fleece is suitable for selling. Most of the British clip is by law purchased by British Wool (link is external), but the relatively small quantities we buy are of little interest to them and many breeds that we are interest in are covered by exemptions due to rarity. For those who deal with the British Wool Board, but also want to sell to us, a letter has been agreed with them that covers the legal aspects.