Any money in selling supplies

[Muskratkillah 0]

The general consensus on here is that you can’t make much money tying and selling flies, but what about tying materials? I run a small trap line and can get more than enough muskrat, beaver etc. to make supplies, just wondering if anyone thinks I could make some money doing this, obviously not gonna make bank, maybe just enough to make some profit while trapping, thanks in advance

[mikechell 0]

If you look at patterns listed on this site, you'll find only a few that call for muskrat ... and even fewer that call for beaver.  But, if you're going to list items on Facebook or similar site ... I'm sure there will be some interest.  The only issue would be shipping animal products, which might call for federal licensing, etc.

Good luck in your endeavors. Just to be clear, you can't sell anything on this site until you've achieved at least 30 posts.

[chugbug27 0]

Contact Moscow Hide and Fur, they might share their experience with you.

https://www.hideandfur.com/inventory/Trapping.html

And check their pricing, see if it would be worthwhile to you at maybe half the price. There's not a huge demand but you seem to be talking about a small operation. At the right price I think you'll have buyers -- fox, muskrat, beaver, possum, nutria, rabbit, squirrel. Might also call the material suppliers (Wapsi, Hareline, Nature's Spirit, etc), see if they buy from independent trappers if you want something more steady.

[Muskratkillah 0]

34 minutes ago, mikechell said:

If you look at patterns listed on this site, you'll find only a few that call for muskrat ... and even fewer that call for beaver.  But, if you're going to list items on Facebook or similar site ... I'm sure there will be some interest.  The only issue would be shipping animal products, which might call for federal licensing, etc.

Good luck in your endeavors. Just to be clear, you can't sell anything on this site until you've achieved at least 30 posts.

Thanks, that’s a good point with the licensing I’ll look in to it.

[Muskratkillah 0]

18 minutes ago, chugbug27 said:

Contact Moscow Hide and Fur, they might share their experience with you.

https://www.hideandfur.com/inventory/Trapping.html

And check their pricing, see if it would be worthwhile to you at maybe half the price. There's not a huge demand but you seem to be talking about a small operation. At the right price I think you'll have buyers -- fox, muskrat, beaver, possum, nutria, rabbit, squirrel. Might also call the material suppliers (Wapsi, Hareline, Nature's Spirit, etc), see if they buy from independent trappers if you want something more steady.

Thanks for the reply, yeah I’d probably already have my hands full with trapping and fur handling to have to deal with individual orders, so I’d probably end up just trying to find a wholesale deal from an already established company

[niveker 0]

I don't know from nothing about trapping or selling skins, but I'd try to find some local fly tyers and/or groups, maybe even fly shops, and start off small from there.  There's a local fly shop here that used to sell a good amount of stuff he got off hunters and trappers from the Maine Woods.

Give you a better feel for what you're getting yourself into on a small scale. 

And as a trapper you're probably well aware, be mindful of the long arm of the revenooers.    

[Muskratkillah 0]

54 minutes ago, niveker said:

I don't know from nothing about trapping or selling skins, but I'd try to find some local fly tyers and/or groups, maybe even fly shops, and start off small from there.  There's a local fly shop here that used to sell a good amount of stuff he got off hunters and trappers from the Maine Woods.

Give you a better feel for what you're getting yourself into on a small scale. 

And as a trapper you're probably well aware, be mindful of the long arm of the revenooers.    

Yeah that’s my plan to start off slow, to bad van Raymond’s closed in brewer I bet they woulda bought some off me

[primeflycompany 0]

You can make money selling fly tying materials as long as you are using a process to make them unique or to find materials and re-market them. There is no money at the end of the day in just reselling from distributors like Wapsi and Hareline because the amount of money required for inventory, and the budget for marketing is insane. But you can develop a small line of materials- dubbings, custom dyed feathers or bucktails, etc and do pretty well. 

I've been tying and selling flies as a living full time since 2017. In that time I lost a lot of money compared to even a pretty low level job. It pays the bills at times, but it's not sustainable. 

 

[redietz 0]

I tie with muskrat frequently, but I've only ever needed to buy one pelt.  Not a high turnover.

[Sandan 0]

32 minutes ago, redietz said:

I tie with muskrat frequently, but I've only ever needed to buy one pelt.  Not a high turnover.

Ditto

[flytire 0]

there is a lot of fly patterns that call out muskrat and beaver fur

you might want to contact wapsi or hareline distributors to see if they would buy your excess pelts

once you get enough posts (i believe its 30) on this forum you could sell them here in the "classified" category

[vicrider 0]

Keep in mind that for fly tying purposes your pelts must be really cleaned, washed and free of excess odor. Most trappers I knew up north did not take their hides to such a level of preparation for normal sales. I agree you'll probably not be able to quit your day job (unless it is trapping) but should be able sell cleaned patches and make a few extra dollars. I'd definitely check with the major outlets to see if you could get your item into their catalogs. Good luck and wish you the best in the efforts.

[niveker 0]

On 5/30/2022 at 7:02 PM, Muskratkillah said:

I run a small trap line and can get more than enough muskrat, beaver etc.

What do you usually do with what you trap?  

[Gene L 0]

Muskrat used to be very much used.  The rise of synthetics pretty well hurt muskrat sales.  Depending on where the rats are trapped is an indicator of quality.

Kelly Galloup has a good video on hides, mostly deer.  It's informative, a lot of information there.

I don't know about selling small game patches, or big game patches, for that matter.  I think if I wanted to sell pelts I'd get in touch with major suppliers rather than selling them individually to tiers.

[Poopdeck 0]

The simple answer to a simple question is yes money can be made. Not enough to live on or pay a single bill but some money can be made.