Bendigo Woollen Mills and Yarn Prices

My order of yarn from Bendigo Woollen Mills arrived in the mail today.

Yarns from Bendigo Woollen Mills

A few weeks ago, I came across Herrschners online store. They have a fantastic selection at very low prices - Red Heart, Bernat, Caron etc. But, as I learned, their international shipping cost (at least to Malaysia) is exorbitant, costing more than the yarn itself!

For example, at Herrschners, a 197gm/389m ball of Bernat Super Value acrylic yarn costs US$3.50, which is about 13 ringgit. Compare this with the local Minlon acrylic yarn which costs 2 ringgit for a ball of 40gm - for roughly 200gm of yarn, the Bernat costs only 3 ringgit more than the Minlon. Now, add international shipping which costs US$3.95 (for the single ball of Bernat above). That effectively makes the Bernat 3 times more expensive than the Minlon. For me, it's just not worth it, especially when it comes to acrylic yarn. I have checked out other online yarn stores as well, and so far have yet to find one that offers reasonable prices after factoring in international shipping :(

Except for, and which is why I always go back to, Bendigo Woollen Mills because their yarns, so far in my experience, offer the best value for money. BMW is an Australian yarn mill, located north of Melbourne. Their prices are low because you buy straight from the factory. Their yarns are soft and beautiful, and mostly natural fibers like wool and wool blends. From my experience, their shipping cost to Malaysia is usually about 40-50% of the total order.

For example, my latest order of 5 x 200gm balls is about AU$54, and shipping cost is AU$27, which works out to be about AU$16 (or 45 ringgit) per 200gm ball. Imported wool yarn from local craft stores typically retails at 25-35 ringgit per 50gm ball. So gram for gram, BMW costs half the price of those imported brands. Great value for money if you ask me!

RYC Cashsoft Baby DK (50g) and Bendigo Woollen Mills Bloom (200g)

Bendigo Woollen Mills is a great place to source for wool and wool-blend yarns. However, I do find that they tend to have a rather limited range of colours. They also change/update their stock every so often. So make sure to buy enough for your projects lest the yarn line or colour be discontinued.