As I approached the auction table, my first thought was that some women would kill for this. That’s an exaggeration, but the unopened packages of dark hair weaves, buns and extensions were the stuff of some women’s – especially black women’s – dreams.
The auction house had bought out another auction house and was unloading the hairpieces this week. “We’ll be selling it for the next five weeks,” the owner Rodney told me before the sale got started. An auction-house volunteer had also indicated the same. “It came from my head,” he said, obviously joking as he removed his hat to show a slight balding spot in the middle of his gray hair.
None of the hair in the containers had a strand of gray in them. They were mostly dark, brunette and curly. There were also some packages of blond or sandy-colored straight hair. Most appeared to be human hair – at least that’s what an auctioneer said as he sold the packages individually.
I don’t know much about weaves, extensions or other hairpieces. I do know that weaves are very popular among black women who want to add length to their own hair, among other reasons. Look at most black female actors and celebrities with long silky hair and most likely they’re wearing a weave. One sport among us women is to try to determine who does or does not. The guess is usually that she does.
Comedian Chris Rock had a bit of fun with weaves in his 2009 documentary “Good Hair,” in which he looked at black women’s love affair with making their hair less “black” natural and more “white” natural. In one part, he followed the origin of weaves – to India, where women sell their hair – to the sale of it in many Asian-owned stores in African American communities to interviews with celebrities and others who wear it and pay big bucks for it.
One of the funniest scenes was Rock trying to sell an afro to a store owner. It seemed that no one – not even black people – want to buy or wear fake hair that looks like our own natural hair. My locks won’t do for some people.
Weaves and extensions, as Rock found out, are big business. I wondered if the hair pieces at auction were among some of the best. They had such names as Yaki and Maxx Hair Collection – both unfamiliar to me. The styles were identified as Dom Curly, Nabi Bun, Diva Bun (with the face and head of a black woman), Sky Bun, Yaki Pony, Instant Hair Plus (to help regrow a bald spot – “As Seen on TV”) and Yaki Jumbo Braid.
I Googled Yaki and came across one site that defined it as a “hair texture” made to look like African American women’s hair. You could get it in four textures, from relaxed to natural, according to the site.
Another site distinguished between Yaki and Remy hair: Yaki referred to texture, and could be both human and synthetic. Remy was human hair from a single donor with cuticles intact. Remy hair, obviously, cost more. I’m not sure if there was any Remy hair at the auction.
The Maxx Hair Collection appeared to be both weaves and lots of wigs, and I found several wigs selling on eBay. I didn’t find out much about the collection, though.
It seemed that most of the hair at the auction may not have been the kind that the celebrities wear. But the auctioneer was pushing hard to sell it, nonetheless.
Very few people got into the bidding, though, likely because they couldn’t figure out where and how to sell it. Your clientele would have to be a wig shop, beauty supply store or a hair salon with stylists who worked with weaves.
Those who participated had the right instincts. The Yaki hairpieces were selling for less than $5 or $10 on the web, and bidders were picking them up at bargain prices at the auction. The lowest was $1.25 per item and the highest, $5 each.
