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08.01.2002 :: The Price of Yarn!
Today I visited a LYS that I had not vistited in a few years. This shop carries a huge selection of fascinating yarns - many of them are of the "very fancy" variety, but they also have a nice selection of basic yarns.
When I was at the store today, I found some yarn which I really liked (Katia Mississippi 3). There were no prices on the skeins, nor on the "bin" where they were stocked. I found out the price about 2 seconds before buying the yarn. $8.00 for a 50gm ball!
Certainly $8.00(US) is not a huge amount of money to pay for yarn depending on what type of yarn it is. But, the Katia Mississippi 3 is a pretty basic 60%cotton/40%acrylic sport weight yarn.
Out of curiousity, I did a quick google and found the following:
Carodan Farm has it for $4.95(US)
The FiberShop has it on sale for $2.98(US)
Yarnstash has it available for $3.95(US)
The Knitter sells it for $4.95(US)
So, I've said this before (in an old entry, that may not even exist anymore), but how can the average consumer support their LYS, when the LYS charges so much more than many of the online yarn shops?
Does the overhead of a LYS justify charging prices that are almost 40% more than on-line retailers? If I'm not mistaken, many on-line shops also have a physical location (plus they maintain internet sales, which you would think would add additional expense).
I would really love to support my local shops. There is nothing quite like going in person to the shop and touching all of the wonderful yarns. Unfortunately, the markups that I've seen on the yarns kind of turns me off.
Does anyone have a logical explanation for the markups that I am overlooking? I may be technical, but I have never claimed to understand the inner-workings of business! I'd be very curious to hear what other knitter's think. Have you found similar issues in your region of the country/world (I'm in Northeast Ohio)?
Posted by Mary on 08.01.2002 AT 01:18 AM
Comments
Ivete's explanation makes sense, but I find myself in the same quandary. I love to support small local shops, but I just don't have the money to pay so much more for yarn. Hmm. I guess we just all need to be rich.
Posted by: Kat on 08.02.2002 AT 10:53 AM
I don't know about your LYS, but at mine, the lady who owns it will always help you out with your project if you're having a problem of some kind. And unless you're asking her how to do something like finish the whole piece off, she doesn't charge for that. So I kind of justify LYS purchases by saying they include the price of help and advice if I need it. Of course, I still buy a lot of yarn online or out of her sale bin. I only pay full price if I am REALLY in love with the yarn or if it is just cheap to start with.
Posted by: Catherine on 08.02.2002 AT 11:09 PM
I understand the reasons for supporting local shops, and I do try to. I have a good rapport at 4 of the 5 local shops in this area (I can drive to them in under 30 minutes). Thankfully they all carry different stock, so I can see different things at each store, and they all have helpful staff. I have found that for some yarns, prices will vary widely and it is more a case of what the market will bear, as opposed to anything else. Educating yourself as a consumer is your best line of defence. For me, I often have to factor shipping for in Canada purchases, and exchange, shipping and government extortion rates for ordering from the US. Once I have worked that out, the local price may be the best one. (Not to mention, the whole experience of being in a yarn store, fondling fibres, and inhaling colour.) But if the price is ridiculously out of line, I look elsewhere.
Posted by: Janet on 08.03.2002 AT 03:06 PM
I don't know anything about the yarn you're talking about, but I can tell you how yarn pricing works for most shops. The shop pays wholesale prices plus shipping for their stock. They double the wholesale price to get the "suggested retail price." Most yarn shops make a profit margin of about 10% of sales, which means that for every bag of yarn they sell, one skein's worth is their profit.
Online-only shops have much lower overhead and therefore can profit more from each dollar sold. They can afford to mark their yarns down. For a LYS to discount yarn even 10% off the retail price means their entire profit is eaten. An online store's profit might be between 20-30% depending on what they carry and their policies (that is why you often see online shops requiring the purchase of full bags, they can afford to charge less because they have an easier time with inventory).
Shops in big cities tend to charge higher-than-retail prices because they have higher costs. I don't know that there are any brick-and-mortar shops that charge less than the suggested retail price.
Hope that helps!
Posted by: ivete on 08.02.2002 AT 12:43 AM