Selling your fur.... Why sell local?

motox

motox

New member
So I just read all the posts under the topic "Cat Prices".
After reading them, it raised some questions.

From what I understand, there only 4 permits to export fur legally in the USA. NAFA holds one of the permits as do some fur farms.
I don't understand the reason to sell fur locally to fur buyers who then take your fur to auction and double their money. It make sense to cut out the middle man and go directly to the auction. I have used NAFA for a few years now and could not be happier. I ship the fur then once they receive it, I can go online and login to my account and see the grades. Then once the auction is over I see what it sold for and they send me a check. I sold a few mediocre cats last year and got $650 each.
It seems like from what I read in other posts I most likely would have gotten around $300-$400 for those same cats if I had sold them at a local sale or to a place like Petska Furs.

The only thing I see as a negative with NAFA is I wait a little longer to get my money. NAFA just posted that their last Auction bobcats went for records high at $1600 a piece for top pelts.

So I ask ...... Why do you guys sell locally to buyers who then sell your furs for more at these larger auctions??? Am I missing something??? The process is not at all difficult to go through NAFA.
I realize there are other large auctions but NAFA is who I have delt with and again will state that I am more than happy in my dealings with them.
 
Well for me it is a matter of the check I have trapped for a living not as a hobby so when I sell my fur I need money then not latter bills don't wait.
I am lucky I sell to a guy thatbuys for the manufacture so his prices are very good. he still makes money on my fur but it typically is no more than what NAFA makes on their handling charge, so the way I see it is I am helping out a local man feed his family vs someone that I do not know. Just how I see it.
 
That makes sense. Thanks for your response.
The reason I ask is because I have 22 cats for this season that I am trying to maximize my profits. I have liked dealing with NAFA but I like your reason for selling to your guy.
 
A lot of people selling to local buyers are sell raw or "green" pelts. In other words they have not be fleshed, stretched or dried.

I think those steps have to be done in order to ship to NAFA.
 
Originally Posted By: motoxSo I just read all the posts under the topic "Cat Prices".
After reading them, it raised some questions.

From what I understand, there only 4 permits to export fur legally in the USA. NAFA holds one of the permits as do some fur farms.
I don't understand the reason to sell fur locally to fur buyers who then take your fur to auction and double their money. It make sense to cut out the middle man and go directly to the auction. I have used NAFA for a few years now and could not be happier. I ship the fur then once they receive it, I can go online and login to my account and see the grades. Then once the auction is over I see what it sold for and they send me a check. I sold a few mediocre cats last year and got $650 each.
It seems like from what I read in other posts I most likely would have gotten around $300-$400 for those same cats if I had sold them at a local sale or to a place like Petska Furs.

The only thing I see as a negative with NAFA is I wait a little longer to get my money. NAFA just posted that their last Auction bobcats went for records high at $1600 a piece for top pelts.

So I ask ...... Why do you guys sell locally to buyers who then sell your furs for more at these larger auctions??? Am I missing something??? The process is not at all difficult to go through NAFA.
I realize there are other large auctions but NAFA is who I have delt with and again will state that I am more than happy in my dealings with them.


the 1600 dallor cats is a poromotional deal they bid it way up in order to promote the auction that is the reason there were 700 dallor coyotes. that being said i have no issue with nafa but my local fur buyer has one of those export licences he actualy buys from nafa and fha and sales direct to china russia france etc and we get the same if not better prices from him then nafa. some of us choose not to sale to nafa nothing against them but in the past i have seen better prices come from my furbuyer then i have from nafa
 
Mine are all fleshed stretched and dried.

Chilson,
Thanks for your reply. I didn't know that about the promo deals. I'd be interested in contacting a buyer like yours.
 
I deal with the same folks Chilson deals with. I look at it this way. When the market is down my folks still buy my fur and set on it, taking a gamble on my furs. So I still get good money on off years and reap the rewards on a good year. I may not get a chance at the $1600.00 cats, but these folks are more than fair and easy to deal with. When the markets up I'd feel like a trader selling somewhere else for a few extra bucks.
 
ok you have stated cats and coyotes with high prices but the rest of the fur nothing was said i shiped to nafa for alot of years some good some bad seems like the better fur selects in larger sizes 3x4x5x were no sale then u had to wait for the next sale where they were sold for a lesser amt than what was sold on the previous sale with lesser grades they said that thay discount them by 10 percent for each sale because of the age of the pelt and the way they do it now is through private treaty/over the internet /they have added more grades they said it was for the betterment of the BUYER to get the quality of the fur they need but you as the seller take a hit for each lesser gradefor each little flaw in the pelt this is aloss of revenue to you as chilson said those high coyote prices and some of the other fur that went high are leadins to get you to send to them rather than the local buyer they are big industry supplyers the same as sams club/walmart who squezze the local/small buyers out just like all the mom and pop stores nation wide when the local buyers are all gone then what? i sell local yes i might take a little less from time to time but i do so by my own choice and suported another american family by doing so my .02 my choice
 
if you go to auction you have to pay shipping, 11% fees and then if things are slow you might wait till next summer or next yr to get it sold. I would only send the best I got to an auction. If a person needs the money right away, it may be better to sell to a good priced furbuyer. I once sent my stuff to Burlington, that jerk JM traded my good fur for all c and d grade crap, I was averaging more at my furbuyer at that time for the average stuff.
So it is possible to get screwed both ways. I never sent to an auction again. The NAFA guy in WI said I didn't know enough to grade my own furs, ha! I knew enough to know I got fur traded before the shipment and grading! SO more than likely you will get what your fur is worth, but not always!
When I did send to the auction I sent the best I had, I would send the best 20 or so out of 60-100 fox and coyote. I even got grades of Mountain select from IA coyotes.
 
I've got a good story on this topic.

About 4 years ago I had the bright idea of selling half of my furs in the NAFA and half of my furs to the local fur buyer. This was when good stretched and dried Montana coyotes were bringing $35-45. The NAFA shipper was ecstatic to get a pile of coyotes from me and really wanted the rest of my lot. I held out and waited for the auction. When it was all over and done with, I had several grades of coyotes sold in the NAFA and after shipping, drumming, and various other fees, I averaged $21 per coyote! I then took the remaining coyotes to the local fur buyer who graded them 1's and 2's, and averaged $41.50 per coyote! My local fur buyer does not sell to NAFA and has buyers in NYC. He tries to give the best price possible which will allow both of us to make money. The difference in value's would have bought me a new Dtech upper for my AR-15. Lesson learned!
 
good point mike... once you figure out the price after all that stuff is out you usually end up with 2-3 dollars better than you could have done locally. for the hides that sold. if you did not sell 100% then your average is tainted. the main reason most guys sell local is because they can sell in the round or green and don't have to do the real work part. the other reason is that probably 90% of guys who trap or hunt for fur don't know how to process it and would end up with holes all over. i see it daily during season, so your $30 coyote in the round is now worth $10 green because ya had too many beers in the 1 1/2 hours it took ya to skin it. these are the guys that say they got screwed by the fur buyer cause according to them and fur fish game ALL coyotes are worth $30 this year. for the guys that do know how to process fur then they should send to the auctions if they can wait for their money. i am a local fur buyer and to be honest, not always but, most of the time i prefer not to buy put up because i don't want someone's mediocre put up in with mine and taint my average. especially when ya start talking about cats and western dogs in those pelts one knife knick in the belly can mean a 10 or 20 dollar bill.
on top of all that, buy local sell local, put food on somebody's table that you know. not padding the pockets of an already wealthy ceo. my 2 cents
 
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I just started trapping again because my kids wanted to do it. This the first time i sold to the NFTA. I sold one of the best cats I believe I have got. I got a little over six hundred for it after paying for everything. I thought I would get more but thats the chance you take when you send it up there. The thing that is nice when you sale to a little local guy is if you think its worth more you can say no thanks. I would of done somethink else with it if I would of known I was only getting $600 for it. I wish there was a place that had a list of local guys that bought fur and i would try them.
 
So, out of all this, I have a queation...I hunt hard coyote and coon calling and get into some really good (quality) fur. I would really like to sell it to others that have good customers. I do not put up my fur but i have access to see how to if need be. I do get western nebraska sandhill coyotes and just get the feeling that the market gets flooded with alot of red colored pelts and i tend to get the nice fluffly pales the bring the higher value...what should i do? In 1 day we got 7 dogs and 19 coons. For example.
 
all depends on what your time means to you.. i sold 43 coyotes this winter green for an average of 23.00.... I finished four late in the year and sent them to NAFA... I averaged 27.00 on those minus the 11 percent commission and the dollar a pelt tumbling fee.... so was I better to finish my fur or not?????? its a crap shoot period.... just a lot funner than dumping quarters in a slot machine... HAHA
 
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