Buck Hollow Sporting Goods - click or touch to visit their website Midwest Habitat Company

Fur prices

AIRASSAULT

AIRASSAULT

PMA Member
Just thought I would start a thread for anyone curious about fur prices. Today, my dad and I sold 10 coon to Groenwolds green. We got $1 for1, $5 for 2, $15 for 1, $20 for 1, $22 for 2, $32 for 2, and last but certainly not least we had a top dollar boar that went for $40. They said they would have given us $50 if it were finished!
 
Fur-Fish & Game magazine said prices would be as good or better this year than last. Sounds like you are doing okay so far up your way! :way:
 
nannyslayer said:
Good ole Grony. I've never ever heard of them not paying 40 dollars for 1 coon out of a group.
Click to expand...

I'm new to this.. You think maybe they low balled us on some of our other pelts and then gave us $40 for the best one to make us feel all warm and fuzzy inside? Hmm.. those bastards! :D Oh well.. We still averaged over $17 and that is definately more than I was expecting anyway. The three lowest one's looked like this years offspring, so I'm sure that really hurt the average also.
Are there any tips for selling fur as far as getting a better price on them..? Can you talk up the price on them or will they just basically tell you to find someone else to sell to?
 
Groney is usually pretty consistent with his prices compared to others. I've done better with others and I've also pulled fur back from other buyers and had groney beat their prices by quite a bit. He does tend to low ball smaller coon and then throw out a large number for at least one really good coon just to get the word of mouth going. It obviously works because any new fur seller that reads that you got 40 for a coon is now looking up his fur route to see when they can sell to them. One thing I would do is make sure he doesn't take your fur into his truck before he gives you an offer. One fall when I was selling in Oelwein I layed my skinned pelts on the window for him to look at and he didn't tell me any prices and just started throwing them in the back. I asked him what he was going to do if I decided I didn't like his prices. He literally had no way that I could see to give me back my original pelts.
 
He kept everything up by the window and wrote the prices down on a little piece of paper and showed to me before I said ok.. Then he threw them in the back. I wonder what those little ones bring in the auction. So.. do the buyers basically just try to keep their average at a certain price? I guess that would make sense and make their profits easier to keep track of. Lets say, next time I go, I have 5 coon that are all the same size as one of the $32 pelts I sold... Will they most likely average it out back down to the $17 area?
 
Haha. First and foremost never tell grony how many of anything you have. If you tell him you have 10 coons he already has your average figured in his head and all of his guys are trained the same way.
Secondly, read up on fur quality and learn a little about what you have.
Give him your smalls and big suckeled sows first and anything that may be damaged. Sometimes it messes up his math...
On all the skins that he only offers 1-5$ take them back home with you.
#1 rule of selling fur, its yours and you don't have to sell them.
I've sold thousands of coon to grony and once he recognizes you and know that you bring quality fur he will treat you a little better. But the prices he payed for 1st week coon is really good.
If you can keep up on the coons amd add some mink and rats it could be a very good year
 
Thanks for the tips guys! So, should I just hand him one pelt at a time and have him give a price for each before I throw up the next one?
 
AIRASSAULT said:
He kept everything up by the window and wrote the prices down on a little piece of paper and showed to me before I said ok.. Then he threw them in the back. I wonder what those little ones bring in the auction. So.. do the buyers basically just try to keep their average at a certain price? I guess that would make sense and make their profits easier to keep track of. Lets say, next time I go, I have 5 coon that are all the same size as one of the $32 pelts I sold... Will they most likely average it out back down to the $17 area?
Click to expand...
No, he shouldn't try to get the average back to 17, but it might not be as good as 32. Alot of things go into such as color, primeness, damage and such. The auction is hit or miss. I've never shipped and probably never will due to the fact that there is no guarantee what or when you will be paid. Sometimes furs are held over for months that aren't bought, add into that the commission they take out and you could be sitting money behind. I've also seen years like last year where some people made out like bandits because auction prices went through the roof. I always prefer to have cash in hand, but that is just my perspective. I also tend to do a little shopping around with my fur, just to see what the prices are like at different buyers. Groney is one outlet, and I typically hit a buyer who buys for FHA and also one who buys for NAFA. Once I find or get on reliable source which one is paying the best at the time when I need to sell, then I will dump them all to create more room for more fur.
 
Just got a text from my uncle and he avg'd over $24 today on 8 coon and got $12 for a small rat.. dont know who he sold to but he said he wasnt going to groenwolds
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom