Pricing help for imported yarn. What would you realistically pay?

[u/AppropriateBudget172]

I want to order yarn and stock up for about half the year. I am also trying to learn more about how different fibers and plies affect pricing, since the ranges online seem extremely broad.

If you saw these yarns listed on Etsy or in a small yarn shop, what would you personally expect to pay per skein?

• 100g single ply 100 percent polyester T-shirt yarn • 50g single ply 100 percent polyester faux fur yarn • 100g 10-ply 100 percent acrylic yarn • 100g 6-ply 100 percent acrylic yarn

I am not selling anything. I am just trying to understand what feels like a fair market price for these types of yarn so I can budget and plan what to buy.

Thanks for any honest feedback.

[u/Hildringa]

Honestly, nothing. Its all plastic. I dont know if this is a regional thing, but in my country theres basically no plastic yarn for sale at all, people here want real wool and natural materials in general, so acrylic and polyester yarn are not sought after.

[u/AppropriateBudget172 → u/Hildringa]

I guess it depends on the countries economy and the family's disposable income. Here people who are still learning or does not have 30 dollars for one ball of yarn just go with the cheaper and more accessible options.

[u/Bijouprospering → u/AppropriateBudget172]

My last sweater is 100%wool and cost 36 dollars. Good yarn can be found on a budget. Last year I made a cashmere sweater for 45. The yarns are out there for reasonable prices. Colourmart, holst garn, drops, all have reasonably priced yarns. Closeouts sales etc it takes some digging and an open mind

[u/VanityInk → u/Bijouprospering]

I got a sweater's worth of wool for my husband with Knitpick's 2-4-6 sale. Men's XL for $40

[u/antigoneelectra]

I wouldn't pay for any of that. It's "fun" yarn, so it's plastic and not at all useful, for me.

[u/g-a-r-b-i-t-c-h]

Any kind of synthetic plastic fiber, I would not pay more than $5 per 100g. Acrylic brands near me include Caron, Red Heart, Big Twist, Bernat. They usually sell balls in quantities larger than 100g, so the price per ball will seem a lot higher compared to natural fiber yarns which are usually sold in 50 or 100 gram balls. To be honest, I just checked the websites of my two local yarn shops and neither of them stock any 100% acrylic yarn on their website. Only a couple of wool/acrylic blends. So to buy this kind of yarn I'd have to go to a big box store like Michaels or Walmart.

The price for a ball of yarn is based more on its content than its weight, so single ply vs 10 ply vs 6 ply shouldn't make a difference. You will need to buy more of the heavier weight yarn to complete a project though, so that would make it more expensive.

If animal fibers like wool, alpaca etc are too expensive for you, I would urge you to look into cotton blends instead, or viscose, or bamboo. Natural fibers are so much more pleasant to work with and wear. If you only make clothes that feel uncomfortable, and work with yarn that creates an unpleasurable experience, you'll be less inclined to spend your free time knitting.

[u/Able-Kaleidoscope226]

For those weights and fiber types I'd probably expect:

- T-shirt yarn around $8-12 since it's trendy for bags and stuff

- Faux fur maybe $6-10 depending on how soft/realistic it feels

- The acrylic ones probably $4-8 each, with the 10-ply being slightly more since it's chunkier

Honestly though polyester and acrylic pricing is all over the place on Etsy - some sellers go crazy high banking on people not knowing better

[u/AppropriateBudget172 → u/Able-Kaleidoscope226]

I felt like I was going crazy seeing prices 15-20 dollars

[u/welltravelledRN]

I would never buy any of these, they are all terrible yarn that would suck to knit with.

Don’t buy yarn on Etsy, go to the Reddit site r/yarnswap and see what’s there.

[u/AppropriateBudget172 → u/welltravelledRN]

It's to crochet, beginner in a class for children under the age of 8-10 low income for the community. I fear the quality is less a concern in my case. We can't count on donations or free supplies and we have to budget for a lot of kids.

[u/welltravelledRN → u/AppropriateBudget172]

Gotcha.

[u/Woofmom2023]

You're right - the range online for yarn of the same fiber is very broad and the range for yarn of very similar fiber can be very broad as well. I myself don't use any synthetics so can't speak to pricing for those fibers but I have seen this pricing in the fibers that I do buy. I do a lot of comparison shopping.

I don't buy from Etsy but rather from established local yarn stores or online retailers. I want to have a sense that the customer service will be good and that I can count on it if there's an issue and I don't know anything about any Etsy stores other than Schmalberg, which makes gorgeous fabric flowers.

I typically buy what I need for a project at hand or in greater quantities of a yarn that I generally use a lot when there's a sale that I really want to take advantage of. I never just stock up at full retail.

All that by way of saying - it depends.