How to get the most out of your fur after trapping season
Eric Davis
Mayhood's Sporting Goods
CHENANGO COUNTY – Now that land trapping is over, it’s time to start thinking about selling your furs and getting some money back after all you spent during the season on gas and supplies. If you don’t already know what you are going to do to try to sell them, there are three options for you.
First is a local buyer. This is someone who buys furs usually at their house. Most local buyers will buy furs that are green, or removed from the animal but not fleshed and stretched, and furs that are stretched. Some local buyers will buy whole animals.
The second option is a local fur auction. There are several held across the state each year, usually starting in February. They are held at Sportsman’s Clubs or VFW’s. The majority of fur at these auctions is stretched but most auctions will take green furs.
The third option is to send your furs to Canada to the international fur auctions. Furs must be stretched to be sent to these auctions.
Probably the best way to find a local buyer is to ask other trappers or hunters who live near you where they sell their furs or to go to the closest local fur auction. The people bidding on the furs at the auction are all local fur buyers.
They might not all be local to where the auction is, as they may have travelled a couple hours to get to the auction, but you can ask them where they live and see if any of them are close to you. Once you find a local buyer, make sure you talk to them about what you have for furs and if its stretched or not.
They will tell you what they are paying for those furs roughly and you can set up a time to bring them to their shop to look at them and make you an offer. The local buyer is the fastest way to get money for your furs since you can go just about whenever is convenient for both of you.
If you are selling green furs, you won’t get as much for your furs as nicely stretched and dried furs. This is because the buyer is going to have to flesh the hide and stretch it themselves before they can try to sell it.
Local auctions often offer better prices than a local buyer because the local buyers are all bidding against each other so they will drive prices up. You also get to interact with fellow trappers and hunters while you wait for your furs to come to the auction block.
Be prepared to stay all day if you want to see your furs on the block, especially at the later auctions in the spring. I recommend being there when your furs come up because you have the option to “no sale” them if they go for a price that you think is too low. Be ready with a price because the bidders will often ask what you want and will offer to pay that much.
The auctions in Canada are the largest auction in the world and will pay the most. Most local buyers will send the furs they have bought all year to the auctions in Canada, which is why they don’t pay as well because they are looking to make a profit on each fur (buy it from you for $10 and have it sell for $13 in Canada, for example).
There are two groups that operate the auctions, the North American Fur Auctions Inc. (NAFA) and the Fur Harvesters Auction Inc. (FHA). Both groups have a published route where a collection driver brings a box truck to certain locations to have people fill out paperwork and send their fur to Canada.
This option has the longest turn-around time because you have to wait for the auction to happen. The people at NAFA and FHA care about the people sending their furs to the auctions and will “no sale” some batches of fur that they believe are worth more than the winning bid was. If they hold the furs from being sold, you have to wait for the next auction before they could sell and have you receive your check.
I have done all three options of selling furs and each one has its place in the industry. I sold furs to a local buyer while I was in college and didn’t have the room to store a bunch of furs in a freezer until I moved off campus. This also got me gas money throughout the season.
Once I had a freezer, I held furs until the end of the season and then I fleshed and stretched them. My roommate and I then went to a local auction where we got more money than the local buyer was willing to pay us.
I decided to try to Canadian auctions one year when I trapped a few fishers but didn’t have enough time to stretch all of them for the local auction. I ended up getting $160 for one fisher at the Canada auction when I had sold three fishers for $200 total in the same year.
Mayhood's Sporting Goods
CHENANGO COUNTY – Now that land trapping is over, it’s time to start thinking about selling your furs and getting some money back after all you spent during the season on gas and supplies. If you don’t already know what you are going to do to try to sell them, there are three options for you.
First is a local buyer. This is someone who buys furs usually at their house. Most local buyers will buy furs that are green, or removed from the animal but not fleshed and stretched, and furs that are stretched. Some local buyers will buy whole animals.
The second option is a local fur auction. There are several held across the state each year, usually starting in February. They are held at Sportsman’s Clubs or VFW’s. The majority of fur at these auctions is stretched but most auctions will take green furs.
The third option is to send your furs to Canada to the international fur auctions. Furs must be stretched to be sent to these auctions.
Probably the best way to find a local buyer is to ask other trappers or hunters who live near you where they sell their furs or to go to the closest local fur auction. The people bidding on the furs at the auction are all local fur buyers.
They might not all be local to where the auction is, as they may have travelled a couple hours to get to the auction, but you can ask them where they live and see if any of them are close to you. Once you find a local buyer, make sure you talk to them about what you have for furs and if its stretched or not.
They will tell you what they are paying for those furs roughly and you can set up a time to bring them to their shop to look at them and make you an offer. The local buyer is the fastest way to get money for your furs since you can go just about whenever is convenient for both of you.
If you are selling green furs, you won’t get as much for your furs as nicely stretched and dried furs. This is because the buyer is going to have to flesh the hide and stretch it themselves before they can try to sell it.
Local auctions often offer better prices than a local buyer because the local buyers are all bidding against each other so they will drive prices up. You also get to interact with fellow trappers and hunters while you wait for your furs to come to the auction block.
Be prepared to stay all day if you want to see your furs on the block, especially at the later auctions in the spring. I recommend being there when your furs come up because you have the option to “no sale” them if they go for a price that you think is too low. Be ready with a price because the bidders will often ask what you want and will offer to pay that much.
The auctions in Canada are the largest auction in the world and will pay the most. Most local buyers will send the furs they have bought all year to the auctions in Canada, which is why they don’t pay as well because they are looking to make a profit on each fur (buy it from you for $10 and have it sell for $13 in Canada, for example).
There are two groups that operate the auctions, the North American Fur Auctions Inc. (NAFA) and the Fur Harvesters Auction Inc. (FHA). Both groups have a published route where a collection driver brings a box truck to certain locations to have people fill out paperwork and send their fur to Canada.
This option has the longest turn-around time because you have to wait for the auction to happen. The people at NAFA and FHA care about the people sending their furs to the auctions and will “no sale” some batches of fur that they believe are worth more than the winning bid was. If they hold the furs from being sold, you have to wait for the next auction before they could sell and have you receive your check.
I have done all three options of selling furs and each one has its place in the industry. I sold furs to a local buyer while I was in college and didn’t have the room to store a bunch of furs in a freezer until I moved off campus. This also got me gas money throughout the season.
Once I had a freezer, I held furs until the end of the season and then I fleshed and stretched them. My roommate and I then went to a local auction where we got more money than the local buyer was willing to pay us.
I decided to try to Canadian auctions one year when I trapped a few fishers but didn’t have enough time to stretch all of them for the local auction. I ended up getting $160 for one fisher at the Canada auction when I had sold three fishers for $200 total in the same year.
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