How to sell my furs, can you help? (pics)

[LonelyNorthwind]

Last year I made a deal with a fisherman/trapper buddy. He provides the pelts, I do the sewing. I tan the hides and make the buckskin myself but the seaotter are regulated and have to be sent to a commercial tanner. It's taken a long time to get enough things made to call it an inventory but snow's piled up a couple feet deep and I don't want to go anywhere anyway. I've been hole up in my floathouse for weeks listening to a humpback in the distance having a blast sewing. Now that I'm getting some things made I have no idea how to sell them. I really am at the end of the road on a remote island so my options to sell anything are zilch from here. I've peeked at Etsy and am totally confused. Ebay scares the heck out of me for some reason. I'm also a computer dinosaur and this thing is old and slow as heck but I know I'm going to have to get over that. . I'm hoping some of you selling-savvy folks can help me. I think my stuff's pretty awesome.

Sea otter is the thickest, softest, richest fur on the planet with an average of a million hairs per sq. inch. (who counted?). There's no way to describe the way this stuff feels, baby powder comes to mind. And it never gets too warm, just cosy and perfect. Only Alaska natives can harvest them so it's also a pretty rare product.

I make the moccassins with the red pigskin trim, beadwork and natural. When they're finished I glue and stitch a smoked buckskin sole on the bottom for extra wear but still get that barefoot feeling inside a cloud of warmth. I've been wearing the first pair I made over a year, every day, inside & out. I treat them pretty rough intentionally to see what they'll take. They get wet, dirty, dry out and just wear and wear. Now they look like they came from some museum but I just scrub them with fels naptha, rub in a little neatsfoot oil and they look great again. They're my favorite!




I have hats with full sea otter inside and several leather & suede outer shells. I also have one with marten and one with mink but don't have photos of them yet.



A marten trapper's hat I made last summer with buckskin lining. I sold this one but have furs to make more.



Men's slippers too, here's a pair with beadwork. There's lots more but I'm loading too many photos I know. You get the idea anyway. Holey moley, see...it's taken me 2 hours to write this post! I'm anxious to see what you all think.



Well, but one more photo. Sea otter mittens with fur inside, trimmed in Timber Wolf. My buddy Kitty did the artwork.

[sidepasser]

Just sent you a pm on the brown leather round hat and gloves.

[Pelenaka]

Absolutely wonderful craftsmanship.
Have you contacted any higher end hunting lodges or gear catalogs ?


~~ pelenaka ~~

[fishhead]

What about consignment at the places where the ferries dock?

[ErinP]

I would look into etsy, too, to get some wide-spread exposure.

Excellent work, btw!

[LonelyNorthwind]

Thanks everyone, I love doing this work, subbing at the grade school's getting too hard for too little pay, I think I found my nitch now that I've learned to quit leaving my dna on every piece.

Originally Posted by fishhead

What about consignment at the places where the ferries dock?

Sorry, I'm chuckling. We are an island community of about 1,000 - the ferry shows up in the middle of the night about twice a week. about six people might get off, unless the basketball team's been out of town for a game

Okay, Erin. I'll do some more studying in Etsy. How would I catagorize my work?

[simplegirl]

I'm not sure about the catagory since not real familier with Etsy but I do know that it is a great place to sell. Your items are truly unique.

[glidergurl03]

You would categorize each item differently, all would be handmade, and probably mostly accessories, and then gloves, hats, etc. Your work is absolutely stunning! Those slippers on top look like they're to DIE for, and the gloves on the bottom are amazing! PLEASE make sure and post your link when/if you start up etsy!

[fishhead]

Originally Posted by GrammasCabin

Thanks everyone, I love doing this work, subbing at the grade school's getting too hard for too little pay, I think I found my nitch now that I've learned to quit leaving my dna on every piece.



Sorry, I'm chuckling. We are an island community of about 1,000 - the ferry shows up in the middle of the night about twice a week. about six people might get off, unless the basketball team's been out of town for a game

Okay, Erin. I'll do some more studying in Etsy. How would I catagorize my work?

I was thinking more along the lines of the mainland ferry stops that get the daily tourists. Somebody from your island must make regular trips to 'town'.

[pamda]

Love that hat! Anyway...seems fur is hard to sell thses days. No money. I took 3 perfect hair on tanned elk, a deer, 3 beaver and a bob cat to a trader last month, they had the nerve to offer me 150.00 for the lot.

[oth47]

Beautiful work.

[sharplady]

List some in the barter board here PLEASE?

[pamda]

After looking at your work over again all I can say is...where the heck is the like button?

[ErinP]

You would categorize each item differently, all would be handmade, and probably mostly accessories, and then gloves, hats, etc.

Yep.
And I would bet it will take very little time before you get a loyal following at your store!

[4crumleys]

Just sent you a PM, I would like to purchase some.

[TedH71]

I like the marten trapper hat. It's something I would purchase to use for myself. It does get cold in Kansas.

[wes917]

Originally Posted by pamda

Love that hat! Anyway...seems fur is hard to sell thses days. No money. I took 3 perfect hair on tanned elk, a deer, 3 beaver and a bob cat to a trader last month, they had the nerve to offer me 150.00 for the lot.

A trapper friend of mine was dumbfounded when I told him the prices that fly tying stores were charging for small sections of hides. Try selling some to fly tyers it might help to improve your profit.

Beautiful work BTW.

[Want2BFree]

Gorgeous work! What's the pricing on the mocassins?

[LonelyNorthwind]

Originally Posted by pamda

Love that hat! Anyway...seems fur is hard to sell thses days. No money. I took 3 perfect hair on tanned elk, a deer, 3 beaver and a bob cat to a trader last month, they had the nerve to offer me 150.00 for the lot.

That's horrible, used to be you'd get that much for one beaver. And I know how much work went into those hides if you'd already tanned them as well, did you tell them they were nuts?
It costs us $100 plus shipping both ways just to have one otter pelt tanned. Thankfully I can tan the other hides & make the buckskin myself to keep the costs down but, oh.... the work!

Originally Posted by Want2BFree

Gorgeous work! What's the pricing on the mocassins?

Thank you Want2BFree, the mocassins are the most delicious feeling a foot ever had, they sell for $225.

fishhead,
I know what you mean and thought about consignment shops too. The nearest town, however is Ketchikan - a 6 hour ferry ride and it doesn't come back this way for 2 or 3 days so you have to find lodging. The shops are 99% owned by the tour ships, rarely do you find authentic Alaskan stuff in them, some will take consignment but they want 30%. If I get a chance to go there next summer I plan to look for a locally-owned shop but nothing's open in the winter. They are all closed and boarded up with plywood as soon as the last tour ship leaves in the fall and stay that way 'til spring. Same thing in Juneau only it takes 22 hours to get there.
That's why we decided I have to learn to use the internet.

[nans31]

One way you could get your product out there is to attend a trade show showing your work. Businesses looking for handmade Alaska work would snatch your products up quick.. or set up some contract with you to provide certain items to sell. Or, if you don't want to, or can't attend a trade show contact the State of Alaska http://www.madeinalaska.org/ program and see how they can help you merchandise your product.

I worked at a gift shop that sold handmade Alaska items and they were very popular. People want those items. I love those mittens!