Is there anyway to see the valuations if your not a buyer ?

No.

You could take an educated guess by looking at the past sold catalogs. It’s a lot of clicking, scrolling, multiple window running, and a note pad……..or a sharp memory……lol. I can usually ball park my prices but there always a few that are pleasantly surprising. Not too often am I not happy with my price. The odd time, they hold the line until next auction which definitely pays off instead of giving the fur away……but gotta be careful, they’re handling a resource with a “best before” date…..lol

Why would one allow the seller the opportunity to have an idea what they feel your goods are worth?
What are the advantages and or disadvantages??

The info is out there. I’d think most sellers have a good idea of what their furs worth.
I think having a ball park figure is mostly the new shippers.

Idea? Ok shakey, where are rats, mink, beaver and coon gonna come in? I’ve been around a while and I ain’t sure.

I believe in and support the auction process. Not to the extreme that the house can do no wrong. Open mindedness and critical analysis is power for business. Where arrogance backed with excuses is weakness. Jmo.

lol. That's like the question I asked our local GFW buyer years ago.

"Whatcha payin fer coon?"

"Between $1 and $35".........

Utilizing FHA and the info they put out is kinda like insider trading. Take that info and do a little more digging and you'll find more interesting stuff. Do you know any trappers that also deal in fur? Have they got a good broker with connections? It pays to pay attention as to what these trappers are targeting. I trap the same amount in my area regardless of prices, but if somethings gonna heat up, I'll expand to areas that I normally never trap.
For me, this auction, beaver will be up 25%, not change with my mink, my rats will be up 20% and most of my coon go to this trapping buddy of mine who also deals in fur (who happens to hire a dam good broiker to attend the auction).
FYI, I'll be hitting the rats hard this fall again.

25 % on beaver from March would be ok. Mink the same after a 500% increase from June 25 to March 26 (my mink) would also be great. 20% on a $4 rat is a pittance.

Unfortunately I believe the country market dominates coon and keeps manufacturing content. A more hopeless situation. O yea “Groeny Rocks!”

As far as FHA communication skills I’d give them a C-

Well look who got spoiled with 500% mink! LOL

If rats are going to finally make a positive move now is time. Saying maybe next year is getting old but I’ve got a feeling we are going to see more of same. Hope I’m wrong and don’t have to say next year. Wonder what the evaluations look like on mink?

Not bragging or complaining just a reminder of what could happen. I had a reasonable number of mink on last June with a 9 ish average. Significantly more on March @ 44.

Not as confident in June simply by traditional standards. Go back to last June and every June prior, early sales always were better mink sales. Hoping that trend falls:)

To me the writing is on the wall. Is this thing predictable?

They have to start the bidding somewhere.
Everyone in the trade puts a value on the fur.
The trapper with a bit of experience knows pretty close from one auction to the next what he thinks he will get.
Of course the auction house has many many more connections in the international trade and with representatives attending all the major international fur fairs and knowing what the manufacturers have made money on and what they are looking for to replace sold goods.Also what new fashon trends are being worked on by the designers and the price points they are putting on their garments etc all play in to the valuations of different species and grades therein.
Of course supply and demand will dictate where the hammer falls on the goods when the bidding starts.
If you paid attention to what the news was last year you knew mink was set to take off and Marten was going to significantly higher levels from their yearly steady increases.
Of course there are always surprizes like the jewish hat market demand for skunks.Prices eased there due to increased supply.
Could see the same with mink.If demand outstrips the supply of mink then rats may make a comeback if mink prices get too high.

With most other species advancing, some significantly, I wonder what is holding coyote back? I get it that Canada Goose went woke, but that's years ago already. With coyote at bargin pricing relative to other fur, why hasn't some manufactuer stepped in with a high end coyote coat to fill that niche? Something more stylish than the Groenwald chore/work coat.

Fahon trends have a shelf life.
Remember when everyone was making and wearing kulatucks in the 70s?,same thing with CG style coats.

Doesn’t answer my question

A disadvantage of letting the sellers see the full catalog of valuations is that most likely would create more phone calls and emails from unhappy shippers.

I’m sure they already get plenty of those as it is. They don’t need more. Their focus right now is (should be) the buyers arriving for the auction. Gotta make sure they are happy.

dont forget the production of ranch mink is at all time low. i think that will keep boosting the price of our wild mink somewhat and eventually rats to. JMO i have no inside knowledge of that. i am just guessing.

Thanks that’s fair.

It would be nice if they at least updated their current expectations, considering the fluidity of the markets

Keep in mind that my uneducated estimates are for my fur.............. not beaver, mink, rats etc in general.