I don't understand
 

I sent in 21 coyotes which I thought were all pretty even guality, they went for 140,130,120 ,115,110, declining from there and the final 4 sold for $7 ea. I couldn't see any difference between them, all fleshed and dried the same.:angry3:

they graded all different though I would imagine theres alot more to grading coyotes then meets the eye best to refer to NAFAs pelt handling manual and the one that talks about grading it also has pics

I had one that went for $7 as well but I knew he was bad , sure kicks the tar out of your ave, shouldn't even have sent him .:snapoutofit:

I contract out skinning and flesh and stretch. ( I'd make more money at a second job than spending the time and quality effort putting up the numbers I have. Honestly not really that many at all). All my yotes we xl or small few L. And I know I shot some yearlings. I take my yotes to a well experienced fur handler and pay him well for the excellent job he does. You can't change the colour or quality of the fur no matter what size it is.

Auction is just the final game to the trapping junkie. Like poker turney you work your way though challenges and the end game is the auction. Win or loose you had a great time getting there. I am sure trappers do it for the highs and the lows until the auction and like gamblers loose their shirt but giver again the next year. I am sure you have heard this before. GOOD LUCK this up coming season and may your traps be full and your shed warm cause its gonna be another Canadian winter.

quit depressing me bill. wev'e only had a couple days of spring weather and your talking winter. lol

To get the low prices a guy had to have a bunch of coyotes go in the DMG2 and DMG3 lots. Damaged coyotes are not simply coyotes that have been shot that have a visible physical damage to the pelt, but also pelts that have their fur a little screwed up, or a lot screwed up. The "Junkers", commonly referred to as a four letter word in the fur circles, routinely sell cheap. Coyotes that have shed hard or are rubbed also end up in the DMG2 and DMG3 graded lots, and ya, them ones sure can kill a guy's average!

The high end coyote users do not want to buy skins that are screwed up, first they demand high quality so anything that has it's fur screwed up is not wanted. Then working around difficult sew jobs is another challenge the high end people don't willingly want to do. They want to turn out a high end product to people who are far more demanding than us. So they are not looking for bargains, they are fighting over the high quality goods, thus the abundance of the $130 coyotes. They might even leave the bidding room before the damaged coyotes come along.

Then the semi heavy people bid amongst themselves over the flatter semi heavies. This is where you see the price fall off as the quality semi heavies are sold, leaving common II grade semi heavies and such for the guys that are looking for a bargain coyote that isn't screwed up. By the time they get to the damaged coyotes, some of the bargain hunters may have already spent their available cash.

With the decrease in the Chinese buyers attending the sale, as evidenced by the ranch mink selling at almost half the levels of last year in addition to prices falling drastically on many wild goods, such as wild red fox and others, the demand for budget coyotes? Extremely limited, and I believe that NAFA may have a policy of not protecting the low end goods, being simply delighted that they move and do not take up expensive storage space in the summer and requiring further handling, etc.

Do realize I have speculated a little here, but I think I have been fairly accurate. The sad thing is that one cannot track any fur easily. It may be possible, but such things cost too.

How you handle the fur is only part of what determines selling price.

Color, density of the fur, length of the fur, and damage also effect the selling price.

As mentioned, damage can be trapper induced or natural.

Examples of natural damage is;

Rubbed, where some or a lot of guard hair is pulled out or rubbed off.

Sunburn, is where the guard hairs are permanently curled by exposure to strong sunlight.

And woolly, which can be caused by a poor diet or disease.

Many of these may not be immediately noticeable to the untrained eye, but are apparent to a trained eye and can have a major effect on the selling price.

Thanx for the insight Marty , I don't think you are out of line on your speculation . As for dumping low quality hides for whatever they can get , that doesn't bother me .Sell them for what they are worth and get over it . If a person is gonna send poor quality stuff then they'd best prepare for low prices . I chuckle to myself after listening to trappers from deep in the States complaining that they never seem to get nice heavy higher end dogs like we Canadians do , why ? Cause they just plain don't have em .. We are fortunate to have the great fur we have , many hides start out at good quality , how they end up is largely in our hands .. literally .

prices
 

I've saw some coyote's going into a depot that I will describe in one word disgraceful,blood soaked,full of straw,just ugly,so if you send in poor quality coyote's,then we have to expect poor return,so IMO do the best job you can,sew every hole,make sure they are clean,I send the best that i can possible put up,and i'm in process of putting tumbler together as well,bottom line IMO is if the quality is there and we have done our part to produce a high quality presentation to the Auction house,and buyer support is there we should do well,Peter