How do most of the smaller fur buyers make money? Is it by buying carcass fur and putting it up then sending it off to the auction house?
Do they just buy finished fur at a cheaper price then they think they can re-sell it for at auction? Do most people make products out of it?

I'd like to start dabbling in fur buying next year because I enjoy handling fur. Basically I am just unsure of the best way to go about it.
Maybe it's a pipedream that will never pencil out. I'm interested in all comments and opinions.

In this day and age it's like the stock market, don't gamble with more than you can afford to lose.

Without having a command on the markets and relationships established- I think it would be a daunting task but maybe identify a niche or underserved market and start there.

I can't remember exactly how it goes but something like, what's the best way to get a million out of the fur industry? Start with two million and don't stay in too long.

Want to make a small fortune as a fur buyer- start out with a large fortune

For sure, good advice.

This used to be popular. Not so sure anymore.

Buy low sell high slightly above low.

A friend of mine just paid 130 per pelt to have 3 beaver and an otter fleshed and tanned. Knowing tanning cost roughly 30 per pelt he basically paid someone 100 per pelt to have them fleshed, dried and shipped.

For the right guy there could be a real business just fleshing, stretching and shipping. You would never have to buy a pelt and your only real expense would be advertising

Many of the fur buyers I know, new and old have some sort of outlet besides the raw fut market. Selling some sort of finished product. Unless you already have an outlet would you be willing to speculate. One things for sure , when stock is low that is the time to invest. A Cristal ball would probably help.

What do you mean by “handling fur”? If that means you enjoy skinning and fleshing and stretching, then the best way to make money is to put up fur for other trappers. Charge by the piece - so much for a coyote, so much for a beaver, etc. get a 50% deposit up front. In some areas you will get lots of business.

Buying pelts, either green or dried, and sending to an auction is going to be tough to make money, especially with the way the market is. Very easy to lose,only if you know nothing about grading fur.

Wissmiss, Ya I guess that is what I mean. Ideally I would just catch enough of my own to satisfy my itch. Some guys put up BIG numbers.... Not me. 20-25 coyotes a year and a dozen coon is a typical year for me. Maybe the occasional fox. I never thought about just putting up other peoples fur though. That is pretty much what I had in my head, I just couldn't come up with the idea on my own I guess. lol

I don't think you'd need a fur buyer license to do that either. I'll have to check into that part of it.

Make sure you know how to grade fur so you know what it is worth.
If you are starting out,start small,dont buy a lot until you get some experience.
You can make a lot of money but you can also lose your shirt.
With the fur market just coming out of a slump and rising it is a good time to be a middleman.
If you are going to buy on speculation,make sure you have adequate cold storage facilities to hold fur.
Also,study the market trends and watch which species are moving and which are stagnating,so you know when to hold em and when to fold(sell) em.
Remember,in the fur buisness the largest profits are always in Manufacturing and Retail,no matter what the raw fur market is doing.

Most of the furbuyers in and around the area where I live, and this is over say several decades since I started trapping in this area in 1980 had other enterprises, businesses etc.or other sources of revenue. Even today many of the buyers still buying have other enterprises and to me that makes sense as with the low fur prices of today and many saying I won't buy coons, or coyotes etc. there is not enough money in the fur buying even if one doubles one's money. If you buy 20K of fur and sell for 40K that is not much of a living and intodays market in the midwest one needs to buy a lot of fur just to invest 20K to hope to make money.

Bryce

Most of you would be shocked at how many buyers in the field are buying for one of about five bigger buyers. They are told what they will get per grade before they start. They all say they are buying on their own, and some are using their own money, but they have a home for the fur before they look at it. Some of the big buyers have buyers covering almost every state. There are not many new buyers working on their own.

Don’t think you can “legally” sell whole down here. Or maybe you just can’t sell as food. If that’s the case I‘ve found my loophole, lol. I can net $30 for possums and anywhere from $35-45 for coon. All depends on how many donations I get for fur only of course. And what’s great is you don’t even have to advertise, just pull up at certain stores and you’ll have people ready to fight sometimes.

I'm licensed Wi class A fur dealer. I'm also furrier. AS Boco stated and I have proven, the only way to get ahead at this game is to buy and make it into something useful that people want. I started sewing 6 years ago and the snowball is getting Very big.

All I know is before you start buying fur to attempt to resell at a higher price, figure out how much you have to drink to sleep at night. When you got a pile of fur that you have a ton of money in and tomorrow it could be worthless for many years, you'll need whisky.

Start by going to fur sales and volunteer to work. Tell them you want to work the floor handling the fur. Sometimes a buyer might need an extra hand taking notes. This will teach you a lot. You WILL NOT be able to learn grading overnight. It takes time. There may be a buyer that would be willing to take you under their wing if you show enough interest. Sometimes they might want you to work putting up fur. This is a good in. You have to be trustworthy and learn to keep your mouth shut. http://www.montanatrappers.org/wsfa.html

Know your market for the section of fur you are buying, not all fur is created equal.

The old game of shipping to auction doesn't work anymore.

Markets change faster than folks understand nowadays.

Something weird going on with the castor market right now.

I just bought another freezer today.

The fur buyers I know who are making money these days have real jobs. They play with fur on the side.
Just saying.

Osky

This seems like good advice. I never thought of doing that. Thanks!

I don’t think I would ever be able to do it full time. I currently have a great job and would plan to do this more of a hobby/side gig. It’s just very interesting to me and I like putting up fur and dealing with fur bearers. This thread has been great. Thanks for all the replies and advice.

If all you want to do is skin/flesh/board fur, I'd say find a couple trappers that would pay per pelt (as mentioned), and go from there. I too enjoy working fur, but can't imagine being tied down to it...wish you well!

Unless you have $$ to spend/wait and lots of cold storage, I think it's a bad idea to dip into it.