Alpaca Shows and Auctions

SOJAA AlpacaMania show in Medford, October 2004

The US alpaca industry is currently highly structured in terms of the show ring and “sale by auction” (both online and off). Not all alpaca owners ever step into the show ring, and many breeders have great success in selling their animals without the benefit of a successful show career, but for those who wish to evaluate the relative merits of their herd, there can be no better way than with the use of the highly accredited Alpaca Owners and Breeders Association (AOBA) judging system. Shows are held both nationally and regionally throughout much of the year. Guidelines on what to show, and how to show it, can be found from AOBA and also from the Alpaca and Llama Show Association (ALSA).

Auctions in the alpaca industry have recently become a highly prized route to achieve high prices on top quality alpacas by driving up interest. Several of the largest US alpaca breeders keep back their finest animals to sell at auction. These sales are pre-advertised widely – they can be discovered on the internet and from national alpaca magazines (e.g. the AOBA magazine “Alpaca”). Alpaca.com advertises itself as the “World's Premier Online Alpaca Auction” and is an example of a rapidly growing interest in online auctions, where animals are bought sight-unseen.