furbuyer.com

by Moscow Hide and Fur

Prices / Items We Buy Other Sites of Interest
Tanning Prices
Trapping Supply Clearance Sale
Traps and Supplies (external site)

How We Buy

General information about Moscow Hide and Fur, and terms for selling items to us.

About Moscow Hide and Fur

Moscow Hide and Fur has been buying furs and antlers throughout the western United States, and by mail from trappers and hunters nation-wide for over 35 years. Owner Gary J. Schroeder is known and respected throughout the fur industry, he is a former Hudson's Bay fur trader with 48 years of buying experience, and has written for several decades the fur market report for Fur-Fish-Game magazine.

Our Address is:
Moscow Hide and Fur
1760 N Polk Ext
PO Box 8918
Moscow, ID 83843

Sent-In vs At-The-Door

Because we buy both locally and nationwide, some prices are applicable in different situations. Prices listed directly under a heading such as "Coyote" are purchased from all customers. Items under the Sent-In: Items Shipped To Us sub-heading apply to customers shipping hides in (for example, we cannot purchase rattlesnakes from Idaho or Washington) and items under the At-The-Door: Items Brought to Our Warehouse sub-heading apply to local customers bringing items to our warehouse (generally items that would not be economical to ship). Please don't imagine yourself driving cross country with a truck load of carcass coyotes to sell: you will be disappointed!

If you are coming to our warehouse, our general hours are Monday to Friday, 9:00 am to 6:00 pm. We do not have a buyer on-site full time. Please call to make an appointment to come and sell your items.

Questions or Comments?

Before you call or e-mail us - Please read this web site. Do not call or e-mail us asking for prices - everything we are buying is listed on this web site, so there is no reason to call or e-mail with these type of questions.

If you have unusual items, such as unusual color phases (albino, etc.) you may send us a list of what you have and prices, and we will let you know if we're interested. Due to the volume of messages, we cannot guarantee responses to these messages.

E-mail: CustomerService@hideandfur.com
Phone: 208-882-0601 | fax: 208-882-5715

Prices, Grading and Payment

Prices listed on this web site are top prices and should be considered rough guidelines, not guaranteed offers. It is our intention to keep prices on this web site up to date, but due to constantly changing market conditions, prices are subject to change at any time without notice.

All merchandise is subject to grading. Lower grade skins have little or no value.

FURS: We can only use #1 quality furs for which we pay a premium. We cannot use damaged, secondary quality, or lower grade furs; do not ship them to us. On shipments of furs - we will call or e-mail you to confirm the price, or we will mail you a check and you will have two weeks to to approve or refuse the price offered. If you don't accept the price we offer, you are responsible for shipping charges to return the merchandise to you. On Skulls, we will pay you when we clean them and ascertain which are unbroken. See Skulls Section for more information.

Other items, including but not limited to, antlers, skulls, teeth, porcupine hair, quills, claws, snakes and rattles, etc. are not placed on hold.

Shipments that are buggy, or not thoroughly dried will result in delayed payment of 1-2 weeks or more.

We reserve the right to refuse to buy anything from anyone at anytime

Legality, Licenses and Tags

We only buy items from the United States and that are legally taken and that are legal for you to sell. You should check with your state's fish and game or equivalent department before taking or shipping any wildlife.

All bobcats, lynx, and otter must have plastic CITES tags attached. Some states require tags on wolves, fisher, marten and other species. Is is against federal law to ship skins that require CITES tags or other tags in interstate commerce and legal protocols require us to turn any such skins received over to law enforcement.

NOTE: Federal law requires that all packages containing wildlife or parts be clearly marked with their contents. We assume that when you send us an item or items that you have checked with your Fish & Game Department and that these items can be legally sold according to the laws of your state. Please note that if you send us an item(s) that has been illegally taken or cannot be sold according to the laws of your state, that MOSCOW HIDE & FUR will hold you responsible for any penalties and legal fees incurred by MOSCOW HIDE & FUR. Prices listed on this web site are not to be construed as an offer to buy anything that is illegal for you to sell. Idaho License 729-16-000001

Shipping and Freight Charges

Please be sure to include your name, address, phone number, e-mail address and a list of the items being shipped, both on the outside of the package and on a note inside.

Do not ship any frozen items except in October, November, December, January, February and March. All frozen items are shipped at your risk. If they become rotten and carrier disposes of them, we accept no liablity of your loss. We do not accept liability for any furs which are not dried or tanned and which spoil in transit. You should ensure that these items get here as soon as possible, utilizing Priority Mail or Next Day, Second Day, or Third Day UPS unless you live close. Always ship on a Monday.

When shipping things that are not dried, it is best to freeze them inside styrofoam containers that have atleast 1" or thicker walls or plastic buckets, then put the styrofoam inside a box to ship. Never just put a plastic bag with frozen articles in a box and ship them. Note that for life-size frozen animals, we will at times repay you shipping charges.

YOU MUST CONTACT US BEFORE SHIPPING ANY FROZEN ITEMS AND SPECIFICALLY TELL US THAT YOU ARE SHIPPING FROZEN ITEMS.

We recommend you pack all shipments carefully and insure all merchandise against loss or damage in shipping.

You are responsible for shipping charges to us and return shipping charges if you decide not to sell. Do not send any merchandise COD - we will refuse the shipment.

In cases where we agree to refund your freight charges, we will base your refund on what it would cost us to ship your package to you. This will be UPS Grond or Priority Mail unless we specifically tell you to ship it in some other way. Be wary of big markups or fees at shipping stores.

Frozen Complete Skins

We buy skins for tanning that have the four feet attached. They must be fresh, of #1 quality, have all four feet attached, and all the claws must be present. Small animals may be frozen whole.

Larger animals should be skinned cased, and the four feet should be left attached to the hide and cut off at the ankles and wrists. The skull should be left in the animal. Heads must be of #1 quality with no holes in the head and with good ears, noses, etc. Skull may be broken, but no holes in the hides. No green bellied skins.

You can wrap in plastic wrap, putting head, tails and feet inside. FREEZE in styrofoam containers that can be placed inside boxes to ship. You will be paid after the hides are unthawed and evaluated. At times, we will refund your shipping charges.

Birds

Game Bird Skins These are removed as follows: Lay the bird with the breast up, legs towards you. Make a cut from the anus to the base of the chin. Cut off the head and throw it away. Cut off the feet also. Make a cut from the anus to the top of each leg. Make a cut from the base of each wing to the tip of the wing. Now peel the skin off and tack it out or hang to dry. Remove the two bones closest to the body in wing so that the wings will dry. Make sure feathers all lay flat in a natural condition. DO NOT RUFFLE OR BEND FEATHERS. No skins purchased which are not completely dried!!! Do not keep bird skins prior to October 1. All skins which are not thoroughly dried are ½ off.

Game Bird Tails We will purchase only complete tails from mature birds. We do not want any tails that have feathers that are shorter than the other feathers, or tails that have feathers missing. You can bring tails to us either fresh or dried. If you dry them, tack them out to dry in the shape of a nice fan, with no gaps or spaces between the tips of the feathers. Make sure that you allow all the feathers to lie in their natural position. You will also find it is best to cut some of the meaty area from the base of the tail. All tails which are not completely dried and fanned are ½ off.

Idaho Black Bear

IDAHO HUNTERS: Effective July 1, 1992, all black bear hides must be presented for IDFG tagging, and evidence of sex must be left attached to the hide (scrotum, penis, vagina, etc.).

IDAHO HUNTERS: Before you can offer for sale a bear or cougar, you must check it in with the Idaho Fish & Game. On bear, they will pull two small teeth and collect hair samples (Moscow Hide & Fur is now an official check station for bears,cougar and moose). All hunters: When you sell your bear or cougar or any part thereof, you must provide the license number, tag number, sex of the animal, date of kill, location of kill, and sign the bill of sale or a statement with this information recorded on it. The person who killed the animal must sign the sales slip. Dealers: We need a copy of this information.

Skinning Capes

We want your capes. However, we buy only #1 capes. Damaged capes do not sell and we will not buy them. We will not pay anything for them, so do not keep them for us. Also we will buy only fresh capes. If you cannot get your cape to us fresh, do not bring it at all, as we will not buy it. In warm weather that means the same day you kill it.

NOTE THE FOLLOWING:

No capes with tainted regions or drag marks will be purchased.
No throat cut capes will be purchased.
No capes with bullet holes in any region of the head will be purchased; no more than two holes of not larger than a $ .25 piece can be in the neck. These holes will cause the cape to be discounted.
The entire shoulder region and brisket must be on the cape. Make sure that all the hair around and between the antlers is left on the cape. The lips and eye-lids as well as the nose must be left on the cape.
No capes with damaged ears will be purchased.

REMOVE THE CAPE AS PER THE DIAGRAM, MAKING CUTS ONLY ALONG THE DOTTED LINES:

Skulls should be shipped frozen on a Monday during the Months of November, December, January or February. They should be placed in a styrofoam container or a plastic bucket that has a sealable top. Freeze them in the container up until the time you wish to ship them. Place your container in a box and ship ground UPS. We ask you to also add ice packs (not ice cubes in ziploc baggies) incase the package is lost in transit. Make sure no liquids can leak from the container. If you have a sizeable quantity of #1 quality skulls we will probably refund reasonable shipping costs.
Contact us before shipping skulls so that we can look for them.

PREPARING SQUIRRELS FOR MARKET

We buy all types of squirrel skins, with feet attached. Pine, fox, gray, black, ground etc. They must be winter quality skins. They must have a complete tail attached. We pay $3.00 each for #1 quality winter skins. STEP 1: Make sure that your state laws allow you to sell these skins. STEP 2: Make sure the skins you want to sell do not have any holes in the head or any holes larger than .22 size in the body. A few scattered BB holes are ok. STEP 3: Case skin the squirrel with the feet attached. You may slip the tail bone out at this time. Make sure that you do not enlarge the eye-holes or cut away the nose or ears. STEP 4: Skin out the feet so that all the flesh and bones have been removed. The toe bones should be removed down to the joint that attaches to the bone inside the claws. Split the tail along the underside. This must be a straight line and the tip of the tail must be intact. STEP 5: Make sure you flesh the skin adequately. STEP 6: You can salt the animal with a fine salt, ensuring that the feet, legs, and tail are adequately salted. After curing for 10 days, simply hang and dry. OR, you can dry the animal, fur in, like you would a mink, on narrow mink boards. You can turn the feet inside out to dry. Make sure that the front legskins are not resting against the leather because this contact will result in spoilage. To avoid this, set the stretcher against a wall with the front legs hanging free from the skin. STEP 7: When your season is completed, ship to us along with your other furs, claws, and etc.

Teeth

We have had some problems on shipments of canines and incisors. These should be extracted, and cleaned. This is best done by boiling. After extraction, take a small fingernail brush and clean the residual meat from the tooth. On incisors, the flesh in the embedded end must come out. This can be done with a wire or with running water from a faucet.

DO NOT SEND ROTTING, SMELLING TEETH or those taken from rotting carcasses. We will return these to you as they are not saleable. When sending, just coat slightly in baby oil, mineral oil, or vegetable oil. Just a thin coating is all that is necessary to prevent cracking. The teeth do not need to be swimming in the liquid. Also, we have had several shipments which were sent is such a way that the liquid from smelly teeth has leaked from jars, plastic bags, etc., and soiled antlers, guard hairs, cleaned skulls, etc. If you ship in such a way as to soil other merchandise, we will return the merchandise to you and will not buy it.