There is a fur buyer coming near my house this Friday--12/15/17--for a 1 hour stop at a location just off the interstate highway to buy raw fur. He has an established route with several stops all across New York State. Then---again in January, Feb. and later... I have talked to him by phone. He offers, I accept or pass----and if I say YES---I get a check and he gets my fur. Is it a good idea to sell Fall caught fur now??? or should I wait until later in the winter? I do realize this is a very dumb question!! If someone knows the answer----then tell me if I should buy General Motors Stock now---or wait 6 months!!!!

Ron

It is a good idea if you are happy with the price. But once you sell, let it go. No shoulda, coulda, woulda ....

On the other hand, if you are offered peanuts, the holding onto the fur will probably give you the same peanuts later. Or more ....

Thanks Musher! Good advice---I think I will set a realistic price in my mind for everything. If he offers me that amount--or more---then it's a done deal.

Selling fur does seem sad to me. All that work, cold hands, smashed fingers, early mornings, late nights, boiling traps, searching around for good set locations, wet pants, smashed traps under farm equipment, on and on and on....... THEN--you prep all your fur- and wash it and comb it and get it, OH SO PRETTY---and then you sell it for some green backs----and then you pay your utility bill, fill you gas tank and buy some groceries and you are right back to square 1 again. Money sure comes in a lot slower and harder than it goes back out! BUT--as soon as this snow storm ends---I am going to put a few sets out!!!

Ron

Honestly, I have to reevaluate my own fur selling options. For years my NAFA agent backed up to my fur shed, and I loaded in my fur. That is no longer an option, and now I will have to haul that fur to some pick up point.

Also, NAFA now wants to go paperless. If you want your sales results and checks mailed to you, you have to pay and extra fee (which as of this writing is unspecified). They prefer that we view the auction results on line. As I write this, I stopped and logged in to my account at NAFA. Sadly, nowhere under my account could I quickly find my sales results. I finally found it. It is not truly viewable on line but must be downloaded as a PDF.

They would like to use "direct deposit" to put the proceeds in my bank account. I don't mind that so bad but here is one kicker:

"...authorize North American Fur Auctions Inc. to initiate electronic credit entries for the purpose of account sales proceeds, and if necessary debit entries and adjustments for any credit entries in error...." (emphasis my own)

I am not at all comfortable allowing NAFA to take money out of my bank account.

I'll just have to see how this plays out.

Since I am rather old fashioned, and not too trusting of other people when it comes to money, I would, most likely, never do business with a concern that had the means and permission to withdrawn funds from my account. I am probably in the minority, but I don't even let utility companies, phone companies or any other company automatically get their payments from any account and/or credit card of mine. I still send paper checks to pay bills. I don't even do "on line" banking. When I called this fur buyer, the first question I asked was if he paid that day. If I do sell to this guy, I probably won't get as much as you would, Hal, selling to NAFA--but I will get the money instantly and that does make me feel comfortable. Be careful, Hal----they don't have all the wackos locked up yet!!

Ron

Yeah, I would not grant a company access to debit my account either. Also, authorization for debit information is stored by the company somewhere; who knows who has access.

There were a few things in my NAFA envelope I don't care for. I foresee this " certified" fur as an attempt to implement BMP's on those who want to sell through them somehow. It may take ten years to bloom. I'm disenchanted with them to say the least. I've shipped to them for 25 years but I'm going to go another route this season with my little catch.

I used to be a Hudson Bay shipper. Then I was an Ontario Trappers shipper. Then I was OTA and NAFA depending on species of fur. Then I was NAFA only for a good spell. This year it is FHA. Why? The reasons Hal mentions and the fact that FHA doesn't have fire sales on wild fur. NAFA seems to now be too ranch orientated.

The last company I worked for had direct deposit as a requirement. And that also allowed them to pull out money if an error was found. I had them modify my employment agreement to say that they had to give me a two day notice if they would be withdrawing monies. To stay on top of things, if I would contract with say NAFA, I'd set up a bank account just for that purpose. That way they can't get into your family personal stuff. Just a thought.

Frank.

To the original question... First thing you need to do is put a realistic value on the fur you have. This will be challenging in this market. Look at what you have and glean what information you can scrape together to establish this. Be honest with yourself.

Now you can establish the price you will be satisfied with.

Let them make there offer and say yes or no.

Don't forget to add in commissions, shipping and other costs

NAFA

NAFA has treated me well over the years, but I'm not married to them. This latest round of changes in policy has begun divorce proceedings.

The "certified fur" is B.S.,don't ask me to sign a document who's purpose I don't agree with and is unverifiable.Politics

If a company can't keep there accounts straight enough to send me a check for the proper amount. Why in the hell would I enable them to control a bank account of mine??

Luckily I have a couple other options