Charges for pelts

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wamplercathy

wamplercathy

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To those who tan their own hides please let me know how much you charge for processed hides/pelts?

I have a few people that are wanting rabbit meat and pelts. I know what I'm going to charge for the meat starting out, given the statistical overview I've done. But don't know what pelts are going for.

So if you could give me your basic location, price you get per pelt and what your cost are like.

Thank you in advance.
Cathy
 
The biggest difference is likely the type of pelt .... Rex hides are pricey compared to most others.

I horde my hides.
 
A friend of mine was super excited when he found out I was going to be raising rabbits. He's been in touch all summer waiting for a litter to pop up. Well now that we have our first litter here and a second due next week he is wanting to place an order for 2. :p :x :p :lol: :lol: :lol: I'm not one to count my chickens or rabbits before processing/hatching. But he asked about the pelts. I told him that I wasn't planning on tanning any as of right now. So, was wondering about the cost benefit of tanning and selling. I think, when the time comes, I'll just store any in the freezer and do some more research. Maybe next summer. Maybe. Going to also check the local farmers markets and get their regulation on selling produce, meat, and trinkets.
 
Tanning (specifically fleshing and breaking) tends to be very time consuming to do by hand. Depending on what method you use, the chemicals can also get quite expensive.
In comparison, commercial tanneries have the benefit of pooled labor, bulk pricing for chemicals, and large machines to help speed up the process and bring costs down...

Basically, one person can't compete with industry for profit on tanned skins. You would be lucky to even make enough to cover the material and time you put into it.
IMO, a better marketing model for small scale fur tanning is to provide products that are not already readily available industry staples.

For example, I was able to make a tidy profit providing soft sculpture taxidermy prepped hides for students, hobbyists, and professional taxidermists (on a global scale, since tanned domestic farmed animal furs are legal to export.)

It worked because it was a specialty market, and a product that could not be produced with industrial tanning equipment. The rarity and (surprising) demand helped drive up the value.

Selling the raw or dried skins tends to be more profitable too, since they are by-products of meat production and requires much less time..
 
I recently inquired about interest in furs on a message board I am on for my natural toy business.
The response was overwhelming~ the number of people who would like furs for making garments and just for tactile mats for little ones.
With that group (big consumers of sheepskins) process is a HUGE part of what they would buy~ organic over chemical etc.
So it is something i want to look into.
 
TF3":2r3uk09u said:
I recently inquired about interest in furs on a message board I am on for my natural toy business.
The response was overwhelming~ the number of people who would like furs for making garments and just for tactile mats for little ones.
With that group (big consumers of sheepskins) process is a HUGE part of what they would buy~ organic over chemical etc.
So it is something i want to look into.
Click to expand...


Sheepskins.. Yeah, I tanned an adult ewe in full wool once.
Ever lift a full sized wet sheepskin!! :p Simply washing her by hand was an amazing amount of work.

After the immense amount of labor I put into that I was forced to accept that there was absolutely no way I'd ever get the value in labor back out of her, so I was better off just keeping her for myself. I still put her in my bed and sleep on her when it's chilly in winter. SO COZY....

My husband became jealous and wanted his own, but I wasn't about to tackle another ewe pelt at that time...He was forced to make due to with a lambskin.
 

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