gonna give NAFA a try

[bucksnbears]

right now i'm up in the air on if i should ship to this coming auction or wait till the may auction??. pick up date is in a couple days so i gotta make up my mind. anyone have a sugjestion?>

[Dcoy]

Two thoughts;
1.Do something quick,get some $$,take me hunting.
2.Consider starting to shoot a man's rifle,I don't see a single 'manhole'in any of those pelts.

[bucksnbears]

must i remind you!!

[lyonch]

Bucks i would send them to the Feb Auction. There is a reason why O'Gorman and a lot of other big fur guys always send their furs to NAFA for the Feb auction. If you have some beaver i would hold them until the may sale. Oh and pin the ears forward on those coyote pelts and i think you will like the end result

BTW - why are you shooting an air rifle caliber these days

[bucksnbears]

yep, one that shoots about 4250 basically zero fur damage so far.
ears have been pinned forwards. did it after photos. did'nt the may sale beat the feb. one last year??

[lyonch]

did'nt the may sale beat the feb. one last year??

Yes it did. Between February and May is when coyote prices seem to rise. After looking at the recent FHA sale and the latest PT sale from NAFA i would be happy to get what i get when the gettin is good. A plummet can happen within a 24 hour period! Are you a gambling man bucks??? It's completely up to you. I don't want you saying ah i should have listened to chris and i don't want to hear well that A-hole chris said to sell them and now look at those prices

[bucksnbears]

met with the NAFA pick-up man on Fri. sent 35 coyotes,18 coon,2 fox and 1 otter. word is coyotes might be a good item. overall he was happy with my put-up. now the wait!!

[xdeano]

better yet, pull the cartilage in the ears and pin the ear flap forward, it reduces dry time and presentation is better.

You'll like the wait, it's like christmas when you get the check.

One word to the wise though, send up your top stuff and hold back your junk and sell it local. That way you're not wasting shipping charges on a 12 dollar dog. Those don't look like 12 dollar dogs, but just FYI for rubbed coyotes. Reason you did so well last year was because they bought the whole lot of furs to clear inventory.

I talked to one of the NAFA last week after the sale and he said that top lots selects were running around 70 bucks for Jan.

xdeano

[barebackjack]

Dont quote me on this, but I think NAFA offers free shipping now (or at least reimbursed shipping). They're really seeing some competition now from FHA. Which is good for the guys in the field on the production end.

Still sticking ya for 11% commission and "tumbling" fees though.

[lyonch]

Dont quote me on this, but I think NAFA offers free shipping now (or at least reimbursed shipping). They're really seeing some competition now from FHA. Which is good for the guys in the field on the production end.

Still sticking ya for 11% commission and "tumbling" fees though.

I became a member of the shippers council myself. $100 and it is good for 4 or 5 years (need to double check that). This gives you free shipping, and a 9% commission to them rather than 11% and if the sale does better than expected they will give a little extra percentage back. Becoming a member of the shipping council paid for itself after i shipped my first lot up there. The drumming feest and cite tags fees will always be there, but the top end items will always pay more there than a local buyer will pay. Since beaver seem to be the sleeper fur, i need to get out wack a few of them before the spring rubbing and bite marks start

[EO caller]

So what are coyotes like mine going for Chris? Western mid heavy. For 68 head I got 36$. And for another 7 I got a 39$ average. Are they bringing so much more at NAFA that the commision doesn't burn it all up in the end?

[lyonch]

EOCaller - for a western semi-heavy coyote, i would expect to see roughly a $50-$55 average on your furs (looking at recent averages from nafa and FHA). Your coyotes are very respectable and i think they would grade a bit higher than you expect them too. Granted there will be some that grade lower and some that grade higher, but your good fur will sell a lot higher and your crap fur will sell lower (severaly damaged will not sell), but in the end, you typically see a respectable average. So lets do some quick math. $100 for shippers council membership (this fee comes out of the check they send you) and is good for 5 years, this saves you 2% return on your fur, and no shipping costs to get these critters up to NAFA. You will still have drumming fees of $1 per coyote (this comes off the check they send you). You will also have to drop these off at a drop station. I don't know how far away that is for you, but your gas is a factor in that. So let's say $25 in gas for easy math. So now you are -$25 before you even start sending the fur. You bring the pelts to the drop station, and fill out the paper work. You get your furs shipped and get a letter in the mail showing your nafa account number and what you sent to them. There will also be a shipping charge on there showing that you owe them money. Now go to nafa and sign up or in to your account. Add to your account that you want to be a member of the shippers council and that shipping charge will dissapear (mine was $25 for the first batch). You wait for the sale and see that you currently owe nafa $100 for the shippers council, $75 for drumming fees. So your account reads -$175. Lets say that all your coyotes sell for a low average of $50. So 75 coyotes at $50 a piece equals $3,750.00. now lets take 9% off of that #. Your new total is $3,412.50. Lets subtract the money you owe them yet. so now we are at $3,237.50 for your furs for just this year alone. Now for this season, i am hearing that you can expect a 3% commission back since the auction house did so well last year. Now this won't show on your account until next season, but 3% on your total would equal roughly $97. These numbers might look flashy to most people, but lets look at the downfalls. If your fur don't sell, you don't see the money. If your furs sell, you need to wait a while to get your check. You have to drive and drop off your furs and bag them.

Now if we start talking about your cats, well you will be able to take the whole family out to dinner if you sell them at nafa rather than just the wife .

[EO caller]

OK then, so say I have ten cats to go this year. All trapped zero damage. I would just mail them right? So then my account would be set up for next year? I should be able to send all my coyotes up their. They have a guy who picks up in Hermiston wich is a hour and fifteen from my house. With the math we did I should make damn near a thousand more on my coyotes. I'll count on that Chris, if it don't happen I'll be forced to sick the Doc on you. Just kidding,,,,but seriously that sounds good to me.

[EO caller]

must i remind you!!

Did you hit him with a grenade bucs? Good gosh thats a hole.

[lyonch]

OK then, so say I have ten cats to go this year. All trapped zero damage. I would just mail them right? So then my account would be set up for next year? I should be able to send all my coyotes up their. They have a guy who picks up in Hermiston wich is a hour and fifteen from my house. With the math we did I should make damn near a thousand more on my coyotes. I'll count on that Chris, if it don't happen I'll be forced to sick the Doc on you. Just kidding,,,,but seriously that sounds good to me.

LOL now you got me sweating bullets here!! Your account will be good for this year yet. The date has come and gone for the Feb. auction, but I would watch for the drop date for the may sale. See how the cats do at the Feb. Auction, and i think you have until April to get them to the May sale. Talk with some local furbyers or friends and see what your average animal grades for in your area. Cats and coyotes both, then i will watch how that lot does at the Feb auction for you, so you can see approximately what you would have averaged. I had a guy from MN tell me he averaged $72.48 on his MN coyotes on the NAFA - PT sale they just had. Now how much of that is actually true, i don't know, but if my MN coyotes go for that much on an average, i would definitely expect your coyotes to go around $90 - $100 but i wouldn't hold my breath on that one until i see it with my own eyes.

10 cats i would drive them out to the drop off place and he will have bags for you, and the paper work needed for you to fill out. You will need address, and trapping license with you when you drop them off. Make sure you note special instructions that these fur make the specific sale you want them on!! With 10 cats, you will be best off buying into the shippers council right away. Say you average $400 a cat (it' just a wild guess i really don't have a clue) @ 10 cats well that is $4,000 and the 2% difference is $80. Now toss in the shipping charges from the drop station to NAFA and you have just paid for the 5 years of being on shippers council with 1 sale!!