Have you ever had the pleasure of buying an alpaca at a Pen Sale? It can be a delightful new experience!

While doing your alpaca research, perhaps you have toured some local ranches. You've asked endless questions, and you've gotten lots of great answers from wonderful ranch owners who are generous with their time and expertise. You're starting to get a feel for how alpacas will fit into your life! The ranch owners have shown you some alpacas for sale, but you don't feel that you have enough comparative information to make a decision. If only you could see SuzieQ from Ranch A standing next to SallyRide from Ranch B--maybe you could remember what the differences were and why one would be better for you than the other.

Or maybe you have been to an alpaca auction. Auctions are high energy and fun, but there isn't anybody to walk you through the process. It's a bit confusing, trying to take a quick look at 50+ alpacas and absorb all the written material on the stalls as well as make sense out of what the sellers tell you before the sale starts. You hurry off to your seat clutching your catalog, try to decipher the notes you hastily scribbled on some dog-eared pages. The process is unfamiliar and moves fast. Maybe you even raise your hand a few times during the sale. At the end of the auction you realize that -WHEW!--you escaped without buying something! You were sure there were good deals in there, but it was so hard to tell.

Now consider the Alpaca Pen Sale. You arrive in the morning to find that we have breakfast ready for you. While you fix your coffee someone greets you with a smile and a nametag. You're given a schedule of events and a map, and invited to leisurely view the alpacas. People are available to answer your questions and get you started. After visiting several alpacas from several ranches, and having had your 2nd cup of coffee, you are invited to attend a seminar by our guest speaker. You find the speaker interesting and relevent (hopefully!), and then join the buffet line for lunch. You continue to relax in your seat while the sellers present an Alpaca Parade to highlight some beautiful alpacas they are offering. You spend the afternoon browsing the pens which are clearly marked with information-- as well as the asking price for each individual alpaca--no need to try to guess the value. You have plenty of time to examine and compare all the alpacas you are considering. Plenty of people are around to answer questions. A veterinarian and our guest speaker are available for questions and consultation. Without any pressure you are able to make a good choice about the alpacas you wish to purchase. Someone sits down with you to go over the purchase contract for the alpacas you have selected, and an insurance agent is available to bind insurance on your new purchase. We can even help with recommendations for transportation and agistment if needed. At the end of the day, you are excited about your new "babies" and still have enough energy to go out with friends and family for a nice dinner. And if you can't get everything finished in one day, you can come back to tie up loose ends the next morning. Oh! And you will have ongoing support from the ranches you purchased from--just as if you had bought them directly from the ranch!

The Alpaca Pen Sale is the perfect blend of the safety and support of the individual ranch with the excitement and variety available at a public sale. We hope you will join us for our next event. We'll do our best to make it your best alpaca event yet!