North American Fur Auctions president Herman Jansen recently addressed wild fur producers in a special message about the state of the fur market.
In his message to trappers and fur dealers, Jansen appeared fairly frustrated with the state of the market, and maybe just a bit defensive about NAFA’s poor February fur auction results.
Jansen did a great job explaining why fur prices are so low, and considering the situation he laid out, it is a wonder we even have a fur market for some items. He ensured that NAFA will increase efforts to promote wild fur and work to rebuild this market.
I applaud NAFA’s efforts to promote wild fur, but I don’t necessarily think poor promotion is to blame for any of this mess. It’s the economy. People just can’t afford to spend a lot of money right now, particularly not on luxury items like furs.
So what are trappers to do? Sure, we can promote more wild fur, which will reap long term benefits. But it won’t pull fur prices out of their current slump. I think we just need to be patient, and hold off on selling fur that we can afford to keep around. Cut back on the long ‘line for a while. We need to wait things out. It may be a matter of months, or it may be a few years before the market recovers, but it will recover.
Mr. Jansen has obviously gotten a lot of flak for the low fur prices. Honestly, I’m glad I’m not in his position right now! Regardless, the market it what it is, and NAFA does a great job working to get trappers top dollar for their furs in any economy. Things certainly could be worse.
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