Fact is you can’t please everyone. Be thankful they hang in there. Ain’t getting any younger.

Southern trappers lost EVERY buyer when the boom went bust in '87. Few states have auction's if you want to travel to one of those, lots of time it's just a fire sale, buying coon hunter's crap, road kills , you name it. Fur industry needs auction's, small time buyers, Groney, etc. They provide a much needed service to the southern trapper, glad they have stuck around for so long when so many have gone belly up.

No shipping cost, No drumming cost, No cities fees, and No commission, GFW is the smart way to sell for us down south.

In Western NY we have many options to sell fur. I'm glad too that Groeny isn't the only game in town. A few close auctions, FHA pick up, two local fur buyers I know, an Indian Reservation that has pow wows and are into buying fur(raw and finished),taxidermists, and of course Groeny. And we all know you can't spell Groeny without ny at the end!

Don't you have to have your cats and otters tagged before you meet up with Groeny?

Otter and cats have to have Cites tags wherever you sell them. FHA charges handling fee for Cites tagged items. GFW does not charge a Cites item handling fee.

State of Georgia mails CITES tags to trappers free of charge. Shipping is on the state.

If Grony is your only game in town then he is your hero. About the only thing graded on for southern fur is size, at least on beaver. Then the buyer aught to back up his mouth on what he advertised he was paying. That’s all I’m gonna say about that.
In my opinion, if you have other options to sell to a local buyer instead of shipping it north you’re probably better off. Time they get done with fees and commissions it will probably be a wash and you don’t have to wait on your money.
Thank god at least in Missouri a trapper has several options to sell his fur, either green or put up. Visited the rat wagon for the first and last time this year and sold the same fur to another buyer for almost double the price. But if the wagon is your only option then he is your man.

I love how Groeny kisses up the older lady. Since her husband had some of the nicest put up fur coming in I am sure he wants them to return. Guess who will push that.

Same in NC. None of that having to get a GW to tag them like lots of states.

I am stating what I saw and trying to make sellers aware of what happens. If you want to sell your fur that way it's up to you but don't ever complain about your prices you received.

If I am offered a price and I accept it, that is on me and I have no right to complain. If I am not happy with what I am offered, I can say no. My choice.

What is not to like about that system?

"Are you able to "turn down" a price for your pelts at Fur Harvesters?"

My agent (FHA) refused to sell 10 percent of my fur below the minimum price they set. This is solid. It was the minimum ( basis ) I was told before, I shipped.


I always thought a fun experiment would to have sellers at a stop to collude to take back at least 10% ( especially the lowball ones ) of the offered pelts at the rat wagon and see how they react.

When it gets right down to it, with beaver your options are much more limited to how things used to be. Back in the day shipping charges weren't so terrible that you couldn't ship. Heck, I shipped a lot of beaver bags and knew exactly how much weight to not trip the overweight charges. We used to have four association sales spread out over the season (now just two in March). We had Goldberg (the Groenewold of the west) buying stations about every three weeks at several different locations (usually Holiday Inns) up and down the state. We had two major Canadian auctions (at one point three) vying for our fur. That is why FHA enacted their revenue sharing program to try to compete with Nafa.

Shoot, one time I had a nice winter's catch and haggled with Nafa and FHA for the best deal. I ended up talking FHA into sending me gas money to drive my fur to their agent in the UP Michigan! And they did! Sent me a check for $150 on my word that I would take my fur to Spencer in the UP!!!! (I just wanted an excuse for a nice road trip).

Nowadays you can't ship beaver, and if you live in the south Groeny is your one and only option. If I lived there I'd be selling to Groeny too.

How many pelts made up 10% of your offering?

You are always shopping for the best $ are you not ? That is the way it should be. Just like you explained it in your above post.

^^^Absolutely brother.

"Nowadays you can't ship beaver, and if you live in the south Groeny is your one and only option. If I lived there I'd be selling to Groeny too."

Probably why Groeny makes the trip to provide the monopoly service to desperate trappers. He no fool!

It was the other way around,BP,NAFA copied FHAs RPCs..

3 Canadian Auctions. Western Canadian Raw fur Auction. Merged with FHA.