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  #1  
Old 02-08-2020, 02:19 PM
Reddog Reddog is offline
 
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Default Caution GFW

I encourage you all to beware of this company. Specifically Marty. If you don’t want to be treated fairly, paid promptly what your goods are actually worth, have a coyote killing candy store at your disposal, or learn a lot about your coyotes then don’t deal with them! Just finished up a round 2 with them and am very happy. This has been such a fun year marketing coyotes. So enlightening under this model to see how my grades are specifically evaluated. I’ve learned more about coyote quality this year then all the pervious auction years were it’s a crap shoot out of your control. I like feeling a lot more in control of my marketing. I call and chat with all the buyers regularly but GFW is where I end up. By far the best averages of my career!
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  #2  
Old 02-08-2020, 10:21 PM
FishOutOfWater FishOutOfWater is offline
 
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Ummmm... It's hard to tell if you're advocating or criticizing Marty and GFW ?

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Old 02-08-2020, 10:24 PM
Reddog Reddog is offline
 
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Just tried to start it being funny...sober...I promise! I may have failed in my delivery but to me obviously giving a good report
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Old 02-08-2020, 11:06 PM
FishOutOfWater FishOutOfWater is offline
 
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When giving someone a compliment, it's usually best to just come out and say it rather than be a wiseguy...
Especially given the public forum, and the controversy surrounding the fur industry right meow.

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Old 02-09-2020, 01:39 AM
Marty S Marty S is offline
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Well Thank you very much Redfrog, I mean REDDAWG! Very kind of you to say so in such a place in the presence of such FINE COMPANY... 'specially these here eastern fellers who seem kinda gawdawful bent these days for some unknown reason!!!

100% unwarranted I assure you!!!

Marty nice boy! Likes eastern fellers....

.... 'cept the freaks who keep voting ole you know who back in...


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  #6  
Old 02-09-2020, 04:13 PM
sourdough doug sourdough doug is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by FishOutOfWater View Post
When giving someone a compliment, it's usually best to just come out and say it rather than be a wiseguy...
Especially given the public forum, and the controversy surrounding the fur industry right meow.

Are you having ANOTHER bad day...FOOW
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  #7  
Old 02-09-2020, 06:46 PM
coyote_man coyote_man is offline
 
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Third sentence sums it up.Maybe second because two words do not a sentence make.Met the big boy20 plus years ago and have enjoyed my dealings and visits with him.
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Old 02-09-2020, 11:20 PM
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walking buffalo walking buffalo is offline
 
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Originally Posted by sourdough doug View Post
Are you having ANOTHER bad day...FOOW
Definitely out of his element.
__________________
Alberta Fish and Wildlife Outdoor Recreation Policy -

"to identify very rare, scarce or special forms of fish and wildlife outdoor recreation opportunities and to ensure that access to these opportunities continues to be available to all Albertans."
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  #9  
Old 02-10-2020, 12:34 AM
FCLightning FCLightning is offline
 
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Originally Posted by Reddog View Post
Just tried to start it being funny...sober...I promise! I may have failed in my delivery but to me obviously giving a good report
I thought the delivery was great. Understood fully.
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Old 02-10-2020, 01:33 AM
FishOutOfWater FishOutOfWater is offline
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by sourdough doug View Post
Are you having ANOTHER bad day...FOOW
No. Just tired of having to read-between-the-lines and decipher coded messages. You ?

Quote:
Originally Posted by walking buffalo View Post
Definitely out of his element.
Which element is that ? More insulting opinions from the peanut gallery...

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  #11  
Old 02-14-2020, 07:01 AM
bill9044 bill9044 is offline
 
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Marty came by my place and was more than fair with the prices and the grades given. I would have sold him more but they hadn't been all finished yet. I didnt have any argument with the grades and the price offered. Quite competitive.

And for the guys that are shopping around trying to find a buyer that is offering 1 dollar more than the other. Dont waste your time. Every one knows what a coyotes worth I know your coyote is the best shot up mangey coyote that ever ran the Bush but not every coyote is the same.

If you compare prices for all the big buyers in Alberta they are comparative in their pricing. The point where this buyer pays less than the other is because you didn't put the best skinning fleshing or the boarding.
*When the buyer gives you a tip. That is a hint at how you can make more money out of him...*

Cheers
Bill
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  #12  
Old 02-14-2020, 11:45 AM
wallydog wallydog is offline
 
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totally agree with you Bill
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  #13  
Old 02-14-2020, 10:38 PM
HunterDave HunterDave is offline
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Patience, Grasshopper.

The Montana Trapper’s Association Western States Fur Auction is on February 21-22 in Livingston, MT. The FHA Auction is March 28 - 31 and the last receiving date for the second auction is on April 19, almost 3 weeks later.

It seems like the wrong time to be selling to buyers right now before you know what the market is. Do it after if you have to........but what do I know?

Last edited by HunterDave; 02-14-2020 at 10:53 PM.
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  #14  
Old 02-21-2020, 01:57 PM
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The Spruce The Spruce is offline
 
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Playing the market prices is a real gamble. I have been at this long enough to know that if You are happy with the money being offered, take it. Nothing worse than having your years catch sitting on a shelf in a warehouse somewhere, wishing You had shipped to the 1st auction or taken cash from a buyer.

Spruce
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  #15  
Old 02-21-2020, 02:06 PM
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The Spruce The Spruce is offline
 
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Reminds Me of a few years ago when everyone said I was crazy for shipping my rats to the May sale at FHA. I averaged 13.50 USD that sale. The following sale in Jan for NAFA rats went mainly unsold...
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  #16  
Old 02-25-2020, 12:01 AM
HunterDave HunterDave is offline
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This is what I’m saying. It only makes sense.......


The Wild Fur Market and Making Informed decisions Moving Forward in 2020.

The Global fur market is always set at the International Auctions. In the world of Ranch mink that means Kopenhagen Fur Centre in Denmark and Saga Furs of Finland. As Fur Harvesters Auction is the last remaining Wild Fur Auction house operating on this continent on an International level the market will not be set until the conclusion of our March 24th /26th 2020 auction.

As the only Wild Fur Auction House as well being trapper owned we feel responsible to advise and caution those trappers that currently have fur on hand to seriously consider waiting for the results to come in from our March 2020 auction before making the call where to market.

Our next auction is not till May 30 to June 2nd and we are expecting strong support from both the supplier side and from the International buying community. As our last receiving dates and countless route trucks will once again be rolling in early April there is no reason to make any rush decisions.

As well to keep in mind FHA is the last remaining operation that annually funds Provincial, Territorial and State Associations as well as the Fur Institute of Canada and the International Fur Federation through percentages of fur sales. These funds are needed to keep all these organizations remaining strong in order to lobby and combat those that threaten our industry and our way of life. We believe in free enterprise and strong competition as its great for business. That’s why we spend a lot of time and money travelling the globe doing wild fur workshops and seminars all in an effort to fill our auction room with buyers to compete for your hard acquired catch.

Fur harvesters remains deeply committed to the Trappers of North America on all levels

http://www.furharvesters.com/pdf/pre...seFEB24_20.pdf
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  #17  
Old 02-25-2020, 08:30 AM
Reddog Reddog is offline
 
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Sell coyotes for $130-140 cash average or wait and see what the auction does. That is a no brainer!! You really think your gonna get more for coyotes at auction? Who knows right. I believe for me that would be very imprudent business. When I can turn over inventory quickly and make really good money why wouldn’t I?!?
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  #18  
Old 02-25-2020, 09:28 AM
Marty S Marty S is offline
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$130.00 in the country x 1.18 = $153.40 at auction

$140.00 x 1.18 in the country x 1.18 = $165.20 at auction

People did do $155 averages at NAFA last year at the sale of the century! Some people.

Funny how crazy things have gone in the country on the coyotes.

If anyone balks at the 18% fees do note
- 11% commission
- 5% loss for CDN trappers on exchange rate USD to CDN $$$
- $2 drumming fee per coyote
- Nominal shipping charge from depot to North Bay

These are just the facts, im not badmouthing them . FHA cant sell your fur for free. Levels shown as a fair comparison.

To be sure tho, is the $2 drumming accurate or is it less?
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Old 02-25-2020, 11:25 AM
HunterDave HunterDave is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Marty S View Post
If anyone balks at the 18% fees do note
- 11% commission
- 5% loss for CDN trappers on exchange rate USD to CDN $$$
- $2 drumming fee per coyote
- Nominal shipping charge from depot to North Bay

These are just the facts, im not badmouthing them . FHA cant sell your fur for free. Levels shown as a fair comparison.
Please stop with this 18% fee nonsense.

- 11% commission
- 0% loss on exchange rate. Today US$1 = $1.33. It's not $1.33 minus 5% of that = $1.26.
- $1 per pelt drumming
- $12 shipping for an unlimited number of pelts (not sure if it applies to depot drop offs)

Saying that Trappers will lose $18 on $100 at auction is ridiculous.
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  #20  
Old 02-25-2020, 11:43 AM
HunterDave HunterDave is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Reddog View Post
Sell coyotes for $130-140 cash average or wait and see what the auction does. That is a no brainer!! You really think your gonna get more for coyotes at auction? Who knows right. I believe for me that would be very imprudent business. When I can turn over inventory quickly and make really good money why wouldn’t I?!?
What if I told you that there's a couple of buyers up this way that are paying $150 - $160 average cash on the spot? $130 doesn't sound like a great deal compared to that.

I'm not trying to convince anyone of anything, I'm just looking out for Trapper's best interests and I have nothing to gain from that. In fact, it would be in my best interest to promote buyers so there are fewer pelts in competition with mine at auction.

Please don't send a bunch of PMs asking me who the buyers are. Someone entrusted me with that information on the condition that I not share it and I have to respect that. Ya gotta love the Trapper's grapevine.
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  #21  
Old 02-25-2020, 12:19 PM
dugh dugh is offline
 
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Buyers that want to remain anonymous don't have the resources to handle large numbers.
Hopefully there is enough fur to support the auction and the large buyers, otherwise, worst case scenario, a monopoly.
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  #22  
Old 02-25-2020, 02:51 PM
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PCP_ECOM PCP_ECOM is offline
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dugh View Post
Buyers that want to remain anonymous don't have the resources to handle large numbers.
Hopefully there is enough fur to support the auction and the large buyers, otherwise, worst case scenario, a monopoly.
Exactly,i'm happy with my $133 avg I've gotten from my buyer so far
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  #23  
Old 02-25-2020, 05:40 PM
Reddog Reddog is offline
 
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I feel like buyers paying $160 average just might be gambling pretty hard with everything Ive seen and I also doubt there volume. Well if not 18% then even 11% makes a big difference. Don’t get me wrong Dave I hope the auction does well not even so I can say I told you so. There are so many factors that also go into these decisions besides a $130 avg. My buyer is close so I save time and expense. He is also a purveyor of trapping supplies. And most importantly is trusted and known to me. Business is business but I believe at the end he wants what’s fair and has always strived to treat me fair. So many conveniences that I enjoy about this current model. We are both supporting the industry beneficially and in ways that are beneficial to us all. Also respect your opinions by the way
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  #24  
Old 02-26-2020, 08:31 AM
Marty S Marty S is offline
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Originally Posted by HunterDave View Post
Please stop with this 18% fee nonsense.

- 11% commission
- 0% loss on exchange rate. Today US$1 = $1.33. It's not $1.33 minus 5% of that = $1.26.
- $1 per pelt drumming
- $12 shipping for an unlimited number of pelts (not sure if it applies to depot drop offs)

Saying that Trappers will lose $18 on $100 at auction is ridiculous.
My bad on the drumming. Too bad Marky doesn’t/didn’t clear the air for us, was a very willing participant here a short time ago.

Exchange rate... I guess you are unaware of the dollars lost in the exchange. You see, Davey my 2nd goodest friend, the sales are conducted in US dollars, and that when a bank exchanges US dollars for Canadian, they will take some $$$ in the exchange, thus exchange rate loss. When NAFA would exchange our US dollars, they would take about 2%, a very fair exchange rate but yes, an exchange rate loss.

That is what I mean about exchange rate loss.

Seems extremely difficult to get a handle on the charges administered at FHA, and I don’t see the “exchange rate” thingy listed anywhere, why would it be. My source was a past FHA employee who stated a 5% exchange rate for Canadian trappers on another thread on another forum. He should know, he worked for them for many years. 5% does seem very excessive... not Davey??? Or is it all good and you would be ok if it was even higher?

So let’s say 17% then? 16.5%?
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  #25  
Old 02-26-2020, 09:48 AM
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Not that its a huge deal but Marty is correct. You can take US money from the bank at 1.35 ish percent right now. Or you can deposit US funds and get and exchange of 1.29 ish percent right now..To think Banks would not have the same or similar protocol for an auction house just doesn't add up for me.
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  #26  
Old 02-26-2020, 12:56 PM
HunterDave HunterDave is offline
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Originally Posted by goose slayer10 View Post
Not that its a huge deal but Marty is correct. You can take US money from the bank at 1.35 ish percent right now. Or you can deposit US funds and get and exchange of 1.29 ish percent right now..To think Banks would not have the same or similar protocol for an auction house just doesn't add up for me.
Yeah, he's right.....kinda, sorta.....by manipulating things a bit. The banks charge a rate to buy and sell currency. You can't lose anything that you don't already have though. Even if you don't think that way you certainly don't lose 5% with the exchange rate.

1 United States Dollar equals 1.33 Canadian Dollar as at Feb. 26, 6:53 p.m.

US DOLLAR Cost to buy with CD 1.3661 Cost to sell to CD 1.2957 As at Wed Feb 26 13:35:00 EST 2020

If you can be convinced that you are somehow losing something with the exchange rate it would be 1.02%.......Cost $1.30 divided by Value $1.33 = 1.02% cost for converting currency.

If Buyers were buying in US$ and converting it to $CD without charging the 1.02% conversion rate then Marty might have a valid point with losing that 1.02% at auction. But they aren't so the issue of losing on the exchange rate is moot.

Some will understand it and some will not.
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  #27  
Old 02-26-2020, 03:11 PM
204ruger 204ruger is offline
 
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Originally Posted by Marty S View Post
My bad on the drumming. Too bad Marky doesn’t/didn’t clear the air for us, was a very willing participant here a short time ago.

Exchange rate... I guess you are unaware of the dollars lost in the exchange. You see, Davey my 2nd goodest friend, the sales are conducted in US dollars, and that when a bank exchanges US dollars for Canadian, they will take some $$$ in the exchange, thus exchange rate loss. When NAFA would exchange our US dollars, they would take about 2%, a very fair exchange rate but yes, an exchange rate loss.

That is what I mean about exchange rate loss.

Seems extremely difficult to get a handle on the charges administered at FHA, and I don’t see the “exchange rate” thingy listed anywhere, why would it be. My source was a past FHA employee who stated a 5% exchange rate for Canadian trappers on another thread on another forum. He should know, he worked for them for many years. 5% does seem very excessive... not Davey??? Or is it all good and you would be ok if it was even higher?

So let’s say 17% then? 16.5%?
So what this tells me is even with paying 15%, if I got 130$ average on my coyotes in my garage to go home with that same average at auction I would need a before deductions average of 149.50$.
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  #28  
Old 02-26-2020, 06:48 PM
HunterDave HunterDave is offline
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So what this tells me is even with paying 15%, if I got 130$ average on my coyotes in my garage to go home with that same average at auction I would need a before deductions average of 149.50$.
But it's not 15%.....it's 11%.
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  #29  
Old 02-26-2020, 07:15 PM
204ruger 204ruger is offline
 
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Originally Posted by HunterDave View Post
But it's not 15%.....it's 11%.
Even at 11% that’s a 144$ average
Minus 1$ per for drumming minus shipping.

If someone sends in a 100 coyotes that 144$ average is tuff to accomplish.
I’ll stick to my local buyer.
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  #30  
Old 02-26-2020, 08:01 PM
HunterDave HunterDave is offline
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Originally Posted by 204ruger View Post
Even at 11% that’s a 144$ average
Minus 1$ per for drumming minus shipping.

If someone sends in a 100 coyotes that 144$ average is tuff to accomplish.
I’ll stick to my local buyer.
GFW is paying $100 average for what they grade II pelts ($125, $100 and $75). We've been using $130 as a benchmark but I was offered $118 only for my best pelts. In the June NAFA auction last year forty-five (79%) of mine were graded II (late season). Only two were labeled and one was a DG3.

COYOTE TOTAL & AVG PRICE 57 152.10

Coyotes are on FIRE! At the North Dakota fur auction they averaged +$170. I don't want to make any bold predictions but it looks like coyotes will do very, very well this season.

All that I'm saying is that Trappers should at least wait until after the FHA sale before selling to a buyer so they know what the market value is.

Oilers time!
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