North American Fur Auctions just completed its first major fur auction, and results confirmed our predictions of a very poor market. Lack of buyer demand from China and Russia made it difficult for most items to sell at all.
NAFA sets minimums for most of its fur at auction in order to protect buyers from dirt cheap prices. If no bidders are interested in the fur at the minimum prices, NAFA ‘buys them back’, meaning the fur goes back in storage for either private treaty sale or a future auction.
The only items that sold at 100% were red fox and the better western coyotes, which are used in the trim market. The market for coyotes looks like it will range widely depending on quality, averaging $30-80.
Red fox are averaging $10-15.
Marten sold pretty well, with a market dominated by Korean buyers. Marten averaged around $50, but not all goods sold.
The rest of the fur items, which make up the bulk of the market, were bought back by NAFA due to lack of buyer demand. Only the better 20% of muskrat sold, with an average of $4.
Just a small percentage of the top western bobcats sold for around $225.
22% of raccoons sold at around $11.50.
31% of beaver sold at around $11.
Unfortunately, when only a small percentage of fur sells for a particular species, they usually represent the better furs, meaning the real average may be much lower.
Click here for more on the NAFA Auction.
The majority of the fur that didn’t sell will probably end up in NAFA’s May auction, where everyone is hoping for a market recovery. If the fur is bought back at that auction, it may end up sitting in storage for a long time. Unfortunately, holding back all of this fur may be delaying a potential market recovery. Increases in prices will result in a lot of fur coming out of storage and entering the market, which may keep prices depressed until demand catches up with supply.
The good news is that selling raw fur at auction or to a buyer is not necessarily your only option. In my new Fur Guide, I highlight alternatives to selling raw fur, which include tanning and selling fur to specialty markets. Click here to learn more about the fur guide, or click the image to try it out.
What is the outlook on fur prices for later on in the year mainly Bobcat and the coyote
Hi Jared,
Without a strong Russian economy, the bobcat outlook doesn’t look very good. Coyote is in good shape and should continue to do well, especially for higher quality western dogs. The market fundamentals I used to put together the Fur Guide this year really haven’t changed in the past couple of months.
I noticed the top western bobcat was bringing $225, my question is what is an eastern bobcat bring being I live in North Carolina
We don’t have a lot of sale data, but at this point I’m going to guess around $50-75 for eastern bobcats.
Where can I sell my deer skins to a direct buyer. I want to eliminate the middle man. If the middle man bus them for $5.00 what did he make on them
Hey George,
Good luck with that. I don’t know that the hide buyer is making much on deer skins, even paying only $5. I did notice that buckskin has been selling quite well on eBay lately. You can look into options for tanning your deer skins and selling them for taxidermy, or making tanned buckskin to sell.
Whats the market for Otter look like?
Hey Austin,
I think we’re looking at a $30 otter average, with room for some upside.
Muskrat worth trapping
what the market for coon and muskrat in Wisconsin?
Muskrat worth trapping this spring?
If you don’t mind selling them for $2-3, they’re worth trapping. Might not want to invest too much into it.
What Texas coyote consided.easter are western yotes