Here's a joke that started going around in a while ago... - Question: How do you make a small fortune on the Internet?
- Answer: Start with a large one!
Not to be glib, but we do want to highlight that no investment is
risk free these days--even the "safe" ones. Anytime you're going to
invest tens of thousands of dollars, it needs to be a thoughtful,
researched decision. The links on the right provide more information,
but in a nutshell, some of the factors that make alpacas such a good
investment include: high prices and projected price stability, the fact
that alpacas reproduce themselves compounding your investment, growing
public interest, and growing domestic and international fiber markets.
Alpaca prices are currently quite high and have been since animals
were first imported into the U.S. The average sale price across several
national auctions in 2005 was around $24,000(US). Proven breeding
females often sell for $15,000 to $30,000. Breeding males often go for
anywhere between $5,000 (for a young stud) to $50,000 (for a proven
male with terrific lineage and offspring). Some outstanding males have
gone for over $200,000 at auction (truly!). We'll try to work up a
graph showing alpaca prices over time at some point, but in the
meanwhile, we'll just repeat that these have been stable prices for at
least the last 10 years, largely due to the relative scarcity of
alpacas in the U.S. (According to ARI, as of December 2003, there were about 49,000 alpacas in the U.S.)
This scarcity is likely to continue as, in 2000, the members of the
Alpaca Owners and Breeders Association (AOBA) and the Alpaca Registry
(ARI), voted to close the registry to new imports. This means that
alpacas imported to the U.S. cannot be registered (similar to a
pedigree for other pure breed animals), which has had the effect of
curtailing new imports. So, in the U.S., the animals themselves remain
relatively scarce, causing the current and forseeable future prices of
alpacas to exceed their value as fiber producers alone. In addition,
AOBA, regional affiliates, and individual farms are investing heavily
in marketing and are continuing to develop public interest in both
alpacas and their end products.
As with any other investment this advise applies... inform yourself
about your investment. Know your own tolerance for risk and how quickly
you need to see a return and select animals accordingly. Look for cost
effective ways start your herd (volume discounts, juvenile animals,
exchange of services). And never invest more than you can afford to
lose or at least have tied up for a couple of years. Then, here's the
unique aspect of alpaca ownership, how you maximize that investment is
up to you, not the faceless execs on some corporate board.