Selling alpaca stuffed animals in your shop

Alpaca stuffed animals tend to sell well where shoppers can pick them up, because the real fur is what makes the sale: it feels unlike any synthetic plush on the next shelf. They also carry a story a shop can tell in one sentence, and they come in sizes for a small gift and a large one.

Every Tubi alpaca is made by hand in Juliaca and Cieneguilla, Peru, by 10 artisans, from natural alpaca fur. Alpaca fur has no lanolin, the wax in sheep's wool, which is why it is called hypoallergenic. Each piece looks and feels a little different, so no two on your shelf are quite the same.

The range runs from a 15 cm Mini at $11.00 per piece to a 48 cm Large, plus bears and rugs. Every collection is on the collection page, with a photo of each shade and size.

How well they sell in your shop depends on your customers, your prices and where they stand. That is why a small, mixed first order is the sensible start: you learn which shade and size your customers choose, then reorder those.

For a gift shop or concept store, the Naturals in three or four sizes are the base, with the Mini as a small gift at the till and a Medium or Large to catch the eye. A few Zebra alpacas give the display something to talk about: each stripe is placed and sewn together by hand.

• At the till: Minis of 15 cm in a basket or a shallow wooden tray, in mixed shades. Small enough to add to a purchase without much thought.
• On the shelf: the sizes in a row from Mini to Large, so a shopper sees the whole family at once and chooses a size by budget.
• For an interior corner: an alpaca fur rug on the floor or over a chair and an alpaca beside it. It shows how the fur works in a room.

Put the shades in order from light to dark, Ivory White through to Cacao. It looks calm, and a shopper finds the colour they want quickly.

Yes, a toy shop can sell Tubi alpaca stuffed animals: every alpaca is tested for mechanical safety (EN 71-1 and ASTM F963), flammability (EN 71-2) and metals (EN 71-3), and passes. Tubi puts the age label on each alpaca, so they arrive ready for the shelf. The test results can always be shown and sent on request.

In a toy shop the Small and Medium sizes do most of the work: a child can carry a 23 cm Small, and a 32 cm Medium is a proper cuddle. The alpaca fur teddy bears in White, Beige and Brown sit well next to the classic teddies, and the Untrimmed collection, with long fur that makes it look like an alpaca just before a shearing, stands out among the plush.

Let children touch them. Keep one of each size out of its packaging at child height, and the parents will follow.

More on the tests is in the guide Are alpaca stuffed animals safe?

Alpaca stuffed animals suit a baby or children's boutique because the fur is soft, has no lanolin and comes in gentle colours, which makes a Tubi alpaca an easy gift for a birth or a first birthday. Check the age on the label of each alpaca and sell it for that age.

The Rainbow collection in Violet, Cotton Candy and Baby Blue fits a nursery palette, for a colourful and diverse display beside the natural shades. The bears in White and Beige work as a classic birth gift, and a Small or Medium in Ivory White or Sahara suits parents who prefer quiet colours.

Show them in a nursery setting: a small shelf, a basket, a blanket. Add a card with the care advice, because parents ask: wipe with a soft cloth and lukewarm water; dry at room temperature; shake or brush softly. No washing machine, no hot water.

For a natural or eco shop, the Naturals are the obvious choice: natural alpaca fur in at least 9 natural shades, from Ivory White to Cacao, made by hand in Peru. They sit well next to wool, wood, linen and ceramics.

The story is short and true: natural alpaca fur, no lanolin, made by hand by artisans in Juliaca and Cieneguilla. Put it on a shelf card rather than a long text; a shopper who wants more will ask.

Display them on wood or in a woven basket, in the natural order of the shades. The rugs, in 9 shades from Sahara to Cacao, carry the same story into the home.

Alpaca toys fit a fair trade or world shop well, because the maker can be named: Tubi is a workshop founded by Wilfredo Calsin Mamani in 2015, with 10 artisans in Juliaca and Cieneguilla, Peru, and the export papers are in the workshop's own name.

Shoppers in a world shop want to know who made a piece and where. Tell them: handmade in Peru, from alpaca fur, by a workshop with more than 20 years of work with the fur. Photos and films from the workshop are on our workshop page, and you can use the story on a shelf card.

Show the alpacas beside other goods from the Andes, such as textiles and ceramics, so they read as part of one place. A shop that only stocks goods with a particular fair trade certificate can ask us about it before ordering.

In a museum, zoo or travel shop, alpaca stuffed animals work as a souvenir with a link to the visit: an Andean animal, made in the Andes. The Mini and Small are the sizes most visitors carry home, and the Zebra alpacas give a shop something visitors will not find elsewhere.

• A zoo or animal park with alpacas: the Naturals in the shades of the animals in the park, so a child takes home the one it just saw.
• A museum with an exhibition on Peru or South America: alpacas beside the books and textiles of the exhibition, with a card on where and how they are made.
• A travel shop or airport store: Minis and Smalls, light to carry and easy to pack.

Visitors decide quickly, often on the way out. Put the alpacas near the till or the exit, at eye level, with the price clearly shown.

Yes, a farm shop can sell alpaca stuffed animals, and on a farm that keeps alpacas they make a natural souvenir after a walk or a visit to the herd. The Naturals in Mini and Small are the easiest start.

Match the shades to your own animals where you can: Ivory White, Sahara, Blond, Sandstone and Hazelnut and the darker shades cover most alpaca coats. A visitor often wants the alpaca whose coat matches the animal in the field outside.

The rugs suit a farm shop with room for home goods.

To sell alpaca stuffed animals in a webshop, list each one with its collection, shade and size in centimetres, good photos and the safety and care information. Tubi's fixed sizes and named shades make that simple: you list a product once and reorder the same piece.

• Photos: Tubi can supply product photos, so you can put the range online before the boxes arrive.
• Sizes: give the height in centimetres and inches (Mini 15 cm, 6", Small 23 cm, 9", Medium 32 cm, 12.5" and Large 48 cm, 19"), so a buyer knows what arrives.
• Warnings: in the EU, a warning that matters for the purchase, such as an age warning, must be clearly visible before the purchase, also online. In the US, a toy that needs a choking hazard warning must show it in an online listing where it can be bought.
• Material and care: name the fur, the country where it was made and the care advice in the product text.

Online, a shopper cannot touch the fur, so let the photos do it: a close-up of the fur, a photo in a hand to show the size, and the sizes side by side.

You start selling alpaca stuffed animals with a small wholesale order at Tubi by mixing collections, shades and sizes to the $350 minimum, which counts over the whole order. There is no fixed assortment and no account to open.

A starter order for a gift shop could look like this, at the prices for orders under 100 pieces:

Swap in what fits your shop: Naturals for an eco shop, Rainbow and bears for a baby boutique, Minis for a museum shop. An export box holds 200 Minis, 90 Smalls, 40 Mediums or 20 Larges, and a mixed order is packed by size.

Fill a wishlist on the collection page and send it with the order form. The quotation comes within 24 hours, the order is ready in 2 to 8 weeks, and each piece carries the Tubi hang tag. After a few weeks you know which shades and sizes your customers choose; a reorder has the same $350 minimum, and the shades match because the hides are sorted by hand. Each step is on how ordering works.