So I have about 100 put up Muskrats that I am going to sell and I have several different fur buyers that I can take them to. Does everybody just take their fur somewhere and accept whatever prices they are given? Does anyone have a buyer give them a quote for their lot of fur and then take their fur to another buyer and compare prices? I realize that this seems like it may be a pain, but even a $0.50 increase on the average for 100 rats would be a difference of $50. Just wondering if anyone does this.

Some people will shop around, some will take the first offer they get. Just depends on motivations, market and whether its worth the gas to go to the next buyer.

it is your fur. i would shop it around. i have found buyer A may offer more for certain fur while buyer B may offer more for a different fur. best case scenario is find who wants what.

Shopping around for the best price is always a good idea. However, there is one downside of doing that -

Say you take your rats to Buyer A and he/she makes you an offer you would consider. But you decide to see what another buyer has to offer. Do you take the rats to buyer B. He/she makes you a good offer but it isn't quite as good as buyer A's offer. You decline buyer B's offer and take them back to buyer A. Buyer A knows you have been shopping your rats around and now makes you a lower offer. Ow you are in a pickle.

There is nothing that says a buyer has to honor his initial offer if you walk. Some buyers will. Some buyers will not. Either is fair business.

You should confirm with buyer A how long his/her offer is good for..

I know it sounds not ethical but it is a fact of life

Remember different buyers may grade differently, so the price will be different. Some buyers might be upset when you say no and refuse to buy when you come back. A lot of variables in shopping fur around.

This is another factor you should take time during the summer to build connections. The better and stronger your net work. The better you will end up. Because pre season you will know at least where to start.jmho

Do you have fur auctions in you state. Here in Pa, we also have table sales. 3-10 buyers will set up inside a building and you take your fur to all dealers. Sell to the high offer. Or take them home.
It is a fun sale, for buyer's and sellers

Box them up and send to the Colorado Auction. They get a lot of buyers.

What's the market for muskrats?

What type of muskrats are you holding?

This will answer your questions in short order.





Anywhere you go in life its the sellers responsibility to know what he's holding, and where it falls on the spectrum of the current mkt, be it cattle, widgets, sweet corn, or rats.












The best fur sellers are fluent in every market option reasonably available to them. They know when and where to use each. This comes with experience.



Try every local buyer around you. One of them will suit your personality, develop a relationship with that buyer.


State association sales are good, and generate money for the good fight against people who would like to see us go away.


International Auctions can be great if you catch the rhythm of the auction just right. They can be frustrating too, with no control over your fur. More like casino action, which can be fun at times.

The auction is where you will get the true value of your fur.A large majority of local buyers ship your fur to auction,You might as well do it yourself.

True value of your fur? that's not going to happen no matter where you sell. Who ever buys your fur Is going to pay you what they think It's worth not It's actual value.

Shopping around In local area probably isn't going make you any more money. But sometimes your better off not selling In large quantities to one buyer. Split up those rats and sell smaller lots to several buyers. But try and make those lots fairly equal size and quality.

The reason your fur realizes true value at auction is that it is fine graded into an intersort with other pelts of the same value.These large lots are more attractive to the buyers because they are all the same colour,size,primeness etc in the better grades,and are ready to be manufactured into product after dressing.Instead of going into 3 grades,pelts of the same species at auction can go into 40 different grades.You don't want your 40 dollar pelts mixed in with 20 dollar pelts or you wont realize the true value of the better skins.You want your 40 dollar pelts in lots with other 40 dollar pelts to realize the true value of that pelt.You will have more than one buyer bidding on the better grades,thus realizing the best price (true value) of the pelts.

If you ship poor fur you likely wont be happy with its true value at auction.

It's still not the true value of that fur. It's what some one wants to pay for It and what It's worth to them.
When the auction house fire sales fur Is that true value of the fur or Is It just your turn In the barrel?

I would say it is the true value of that fur at that time.I have never had any fur firesaled at the auction,and I have been shipping for almost 40 years to both.
I have had damaged fur sold for low price,but that is a very small percentage,and I knew that when I shipped it.
Some fur is just not worth much considering the high costs of dressing to the manufacturer.It costs the same to dress a poor pelt that it does to dress a good one,so that puts poor fur at a great disadvantage especially in todays market.
And the laws of supply and demand means that manufacturers can get decent skins at a lower price right now,so on that basis,the lesser goods are right off the chart.
If you can grade fur at all,there is better markets than the auctions for lower grade or dmgd fur right now.The craft market is one,but limited,and generally not a raw fur market,so you have to invest before your return is realised,and you have to"hawk"Your product so it takes time to move.A craft market needs to be developed if you want to have a semi reliable outlet.

I would be willing to bet that Canada auction results in better prices versus the guys buying and sending there anyway. How many buyers are there running around buying fur and where do you think it all goes to,a bigger buyer or auction.I know they all don't have direct contacts and then we could get into who is fronting the dollars.

Last time I sold to a furbuyer I specified the conditions of the sale. He had a published price list for beaver. I told him if he takes more than 25% off the top price for any size of beaver send those back. If I remember right he had a 50% dmg reduction. That was B.S. for any hide not seriously damaged. 5-10% of fur damage and you are buying beaver for half price? He bought them all.

IMO trappers need to not be afraid to dicker or set terms.

This is true. One thing that could also happen is once you go back to buyer A does he have to re-grade your fur before making an offer again? Cause you could go home and take 30 rats out of the bundle and put 30 damaged or smaller rats in.

Or he could re-grade and give you $.50-$1 less for a piece here and there and his offer is not as generous as the first one.

I haven't read this whole thread but my experience is if you refuse a first offer or tell a beer you need more for your stuff most generally you can get more if you goods are really worth more.

In this day and age there is no excuse to not have a general idea what your fur is worth. If you have 100 assorted rats I would guess your looking at a $2.75-$3.00 average. Chances of a .25 swing might be in the cards but doubt .50. How much running around can you do fuel wise $25 extra. Rats are an inexpensive item to ship, If you could break them into 3 Semi equal lots, sell 1lot to your closest local buyer, 1 lot at a state auction and ship the last to NAFA/FHA see just where they fall. It's a good time to learn values, all though selling these three lots would incur expense you should come out of it with a greater understanding of your rats worth.

Thanks for all of the responses guys, I have a lot to think about. I like the idea of splitting up the fur and experimenting. I've been looking around for some state fur auctions in Minnesota, but am coming up empty. Does anybody know of some?