If you've ever shopped for a sheepskin rug online, you'll have noticed something odd. The same product — a natural white sheepskin, in the same trade sizes, with the same 6–7cm wool — can cost £29 at one retailer and £99 at another. A large eight-pelt rug can be £359 on one site and £479 on the next. Same animal, same wool, wildly different price.

This article explains why — starting with the wholesaler most shoppers have never heard of, and ending with a price comparison chart so you can see exactly where your money goes.

The Sheepskin Size Ladder, Explained

Sheepskin rugs are sold in standard trade sizes based on how many pelts are sewn together:

• Single — one pelt, roughly 90–95cm long. The classic chair or fireside throw.
• Quad — four pelts sewn together, roughly 180–215cm × 105–120cm. A proper floor rug.
• Sexto — six pelts, roughly 180–200cm × 145–150cm. A statement piece.
• Octo — eight pelts, roughly 180–235cm × 160–190cm. The biggest standard size in the trade.

These names — single, quad, sexto, octo — aren't invented by retailers. They come straight from the wholesale trade. Which brings us to Hanlin.

Who Is Hanlin?

Hanlin Ltd describes itself as the "UK's largest trade only wholesaler of hides & skins" — a family firm founded by Alan and Lorraine Hanlin in 1975, now operating from a warehouse and trade showroom in Redditch, Worcestershire (Hanlin Ltd — About Us). Companies House lists Hanlin Limited under SIC code 46240, "Wholesale of hides, skins and leather" (Companies House).

Hanlin's wholesale sheepskin range runs the exact same ladder you see at retail: Single, Double, Triple, Quad, Sexto and Octo, in regular 40mm and 55mm wool lengths (Hanlin sheepskins range). Their own guide explains that the sexto and octo are "the largest options we offer in our entire product range… available in wholesale quantities and available at competitive wholesale prices" (Types of Sheepskin Rugs Explained).

And here's the key point for transparency: Hanlin states that its sheepskins are "sourced from sheep raised on the expansive grasslands of New Zealand and southern Australia… a natural by-product of pastoral farming, where sheep are raised primarily for meat rather than for their hides" (Hanlin — About Us).

In other words, the wholesale product that supplies much of the UK market is already an ethically framed, natural, biodegradable by-product — before any retailer adds a single word of marketing.

Hanlin-branded skins turn up openly at retailers like Curiosity Interiors (Hanlin Sexto £330, reduced to £275) and Anna Davies (Hanlin Quad in Ivory, £195). Most sheepskin retailers, however, never name their wholesaler at all. Their product pages describe "A-Grade Australian sheepskins" or "100% natural New Zealand sheepskin" with 6–7cm wool — descriptions that mirror the wholesale trade's standard offering, sold under the same trade size names. The pattern is hard to miss, even where no retailer confirms its supplier.

The Price Comparison Chart

Here are the prices for natural white/ivory sheepskins across seven UK online retailers, checked on 21 August 2026. Every price links to the product page it came from.

Retailer	Single	Quad	Sexto	Octo
City Cows	£29 (was £79)	£199 (was £279)	£269 (was £369)	£359 (was £589)
London Cows	£36 (was £69)	£189 (was £249)	£269 (was £369)	£389 (was £489)
Cowhide Rugs	£49	£189	£269	Not offered in white (Oyster Octo £389)
The Old Piggery	£59.99	£264	Not offered	Not offered
Hide Rugs	£59–£74 by size	£249	£374	£449 (was £549)
Hyde & Hare	£79	£279 ("Quatro")	£395	Not offered
iCowhide	£79 (Oyster; no ivory single)	£299	£345 (was £450)	£479 (was £600)

 

Prices checked 21 August 2026 and subject to change; hide retailers run frequent promotions. Sizes vary slightly between retailers — check the stated dimensions on each product page.

The headline numbers:

• Single: £29 (City Cows) to £79 (Hyde & Hare / iCowhide) — a 172% price gap.
• Quad: £189 (London Cows / Cowhide Rugs) to £299 (iCowhide) — a 58% gap.
• Sexto: £269 (City Cows / London Cows / Cowhide Rugs) to £395 (Hyde & Hare) — a 47% gap.
• Octo: £359 (City Cows) to £479 (iCowhide) — a 33% gap.

Why the Same Rug Costs Twice as Much

Sheepskin is a commodity. The pelts come from the same farming regions — New Zealand and southern Australia — pass through the same small pool of tanneries and trade wholesalers, and arrive in the UK in the same standard sizes and wool lengths. So what explains a £50 difference on a single skin?

Cost structure, not product quality.

At one end of the market sit lean operators like City Cows, which lists its "A-Grade Australian sheepskins — 6-7 cm hair length" plainly on every product page (City Cows White Single) and competes almost entirely on price. A retailer that relies on organic search traffic rather than paid advertising carries no marketing overhead to recover — and the shelf price shows it.

At the other end sit brand-led retailers whose sites lead with lifestyle photography and sustainability messaging. Hyde & Hare, for example, tells shoppers: "We ethically source our sheepskin to provide you with the highest quality of natural sheepskin… Our natural fibres are 100% biodegradable, renewable and totally natural, always" (Hyde & Hare), with product badges promising "Biodegradable / Totally Natural / Low Carbon Footprint / Renewable" (Hyde & Hare product page). Hide Rugs similarly leads with "premium, ethically sourced natural hides" (Hide Rugs).

Here's the transparency problem: those claims are true of virtually every sheepskin on the market. Every real sheepskin is biodegradable, renewable and totally natural — that is what a sheepskin is. And "ethically sourced by-product of meat farming" is precisely how the trade's own wholesalers, Hanlin included, describe their standard stock (Hanlin — About Us). When a retailer charges £79 for a single skin and wraps it in eco badges, you are not buying a greener sheepskin than the £29 one down the road. You are buying the same category of product, plus the cost of the branding that told you it was special.

None of this means premium retailers are selling inferior goods — grading, colour matching, backing and finishing do vary, and some retailers hand-select stock. But unless a retailer names its tannery, publishes its certifications, or explains specifically what makes its skins different from standard trade stock, generic eco language is marketing, not provenance.

A Note on "Was" Prices

Several retailers display permanent-looking discounts — City Cows' white single is "£79 → £29", iCowhide's octo is "£600 → £479". Treat the "was" price as theatre and compare the actual selling prices across retailers instead. That's what the chart above does.

The Transparent Buyer's Checklist

1. Compare by pelt count and dimensions, not product names. One retailer's "Quatro" is another's "Quad".
2. Ignore eco badges that describe all sheepskins. "Natural", "biodegradable" and "renewable" are properties of the material, not the retailer.
3. Ask where it comes from. A confident retailer will tell you the country of origin and wool length. The best will name their tannery or wholesaler.
4. Check the real price, not the discount. A £269 sexto "reduced from £369" and a £269 sexto at full price cost you exactly the same.
5. Look at wool length and grade. 6–7cm A-grade wool is the standard benchmark — if a premium retailer can't tell you theirs is longer or better graded, ask what the premium buys.

The sheepskin on your floor doesn't know which website it came from. Buy the skin, not the story.

Prices and quotations verified 21 August 2026 from the retailers' own websites. Product availability, sizes and prices change frequently — always confirm on the product page before buying.