Buying on a budget advice

[Fur Fan Man]

The two coats that I would love to buy my wife are a black rabbit jacket and a blue fox 3/4 length.

 

I have bought her a second hand rabbit jacket from eBay before but it really smelt and it put her off wearing it so we got rid of it. She owns a fox fur cape and headband as well as a few faux items but I'd now like to buy her another real jacket.

 

Should I avoid second hand furs due to the risk of them smelling or is that being too cautious? How have others found second hand furs?

 

How do the cheaper, new Chinese furs compare to paying a bit more from fur hat world for example?

 

Any advice?

[AKcoyote]

The only advice I can offer is try to avoid buying second hand where you cannot first examine the item personally.

 

As to what you would like to buy for your wife, I would recommend only buying new for the blue fox 3/4. White fox will gradually turn yellow from oxidation and not look as good as when new. Beware, many used blue or shadow fox furs have already begun oxidizing and turning yellow.

[Panther10]

If you are thinking of buying something second hand, the proper fit is way more important than how much you are willing to spend. I mean yeah you might have found a coat for a great deal on Craigslist, but if it's too big or too small then what was the point of that purchase? My advice would be to go to a consignment/resale shop that sells furs and have your wife's current measurements taken while she is there. And have her try on their selection of coats too. If she finds something that she likes and is in good shape then take it home.

[red_fox]

"The only advice I can offer is try to avoid buying second hand where you cannot first examine the item personally."

 

"If you are thinking of buying something second hand, the proper fit is way more important than how much you are willing to spend."

 

As an owner of two coats that doesn't fit me well only because of their shoulders, I'd like to highlight this

[sensualfurs10]

I have always had good luck buying off eBay. What's your price range?

[samurman]

I have been following fur ads on ebay for nearly 10 years now and have made several purchases. Once, I had been on the hunt for a quality crystal fox fur coat for several months and one day, I spotted an excellent full length coat. I ended up buying it for $271. It was sold by a lady who had moved to Florida after retirement. I am sure the coat would sell for at least $1500-$2000 at the second hand section of Flemington Furs, it was that good. It had spiral arms and it did not fit me well, but I had it remodeled for met at my furrier at a reasonable price and now I have a gorgeous crystal fox coat. Another great bargain I had was a full length tanuki coat. It took 2 months for the seller to ship it but it was worth the wait. About 6 years ago, I bought two Saga fox jackets from a lady in the UK. I think I paid £60 each, one blue fox and the other red fox. At that time, I was quite inexperienced and the blue fox had wide strips of suede leather between the fur strips. I thought the seller should have described them in the listing so I complained about it. She replied, "You got a fur coat at a price that Monsoon [a UK womens fashion chain] sells cardigans. What are you complaining about?" And I shut up after this:) The moral of the story is that you need to be patient, spend a lot of time researching, and eventually you will get a bargain. You may not get something that fits 100% but if you are imaginative and willing to find uses for furs besides treating them as RTW (ready-to-wear) garments, you will get lots of goodies.

 

If the only thing you need or require is a decent fur coat or two, buying a second hand fur from ebay or another online seller might be too risky and you might be better off from a brick&mortar store where you can actually try it on. But if you are into furs as a lifetime interest, hobby (or fetish), ebay is an unsurpassed source-a source for buying furs cheap, following trends, and educating yourself in general.

 

Firstly, ebay is a great tool. If you use the "Sold items" and "Completed listings" options in search, and use appropriate search terms, you can get a feel of how much a fur item is worth. You could search the past dealings of a seller this way, though many sellers now routinely mark all their listings as private. You could check the feedback left and received, to evaluate sellers.

 

You should think of ebay as a process, not a one-time shopping experience. Set a number of searches using various keywords. Then each day, check to see if there are new listings. Go through hundreds of listings, and after a few months you start noticing things. For example, when you look at one or two blue fox or white fox coats listed on ebay, you may not notice, but if you look at hundreds of those, you will start to see the effects of oxidation more easily. Because over time, you will have experienced lots of photos taken under different lighting conditions, by different cameras, and by different people. There are some reputable sellers on ebay, who at a time list a lot of furs, from 10-20 listings up to 100 or even more listings. If you follow these sellers for several weeks or months, you will start to see patterns on how they price their furs, which adjectives they use for items in excellent condition, and how they try to hide defects in not so desirable items.

 

A cardinal rule of hunting for bargains on ebay is to let go of the feeling of regret after missing something. Because there will be so many opportunities you will miss, so many awesome furs you will regret not having bought or bidding high enough. This is how life is.

 

Finally, it is such a joy to spot a promising fur coat, get excited after looking at its photos, read the description and find out the little story of the coat&its owner... If you consider hours spent checking out a fur coat after another a waste of time, then don't do it. But if you enjoy it, then do it and you will definitely come across something that you feel is worth buying.

[Fur Fan Man]

Thanks all, for your responses and advice.

 

My main concern with eBay is the smell from previous experience. I'm not sure how I could identify these when researching other than just avoiding cheaper ones or really trusting the 'excellent condition' descriptions? The rabbit jacket we bought before was about £60 so did not spend much.

 

For the black rabbit jacket, I found a nice one on fur hat world where a pull tie pulls it in at the waist to make it look more fitting. It is around £270. I could probably stretch to that if other options were ruled out but would ideally like to spend less if possible. I have found new black rabbit jackets from China for around £70 on eBay. Should these be avoided? Both options mean we can't try them on which isn't ideal so a bit of a gamble. Anybody know of good budget places for furs in or around London, UK?

 

A blue fox 3/4 on fur hat world is about £1,800. Whilst I could probably rationalise spending that when I get a bonus from work (although it would be a massive stretch!), my wife controls our finances and I could never convince her of us spending that on my fetish. She wears furs for me and enjoys the effect they have on me, but she does not share my fetish so could not understand or justify spending that amount over other things. I would have to save it verrrrrrry slowly and gradually from my allowance. Cheaper options would therefore be more ideal. Maybe around £500 or less which would therefore have to be second hand. Any suggestions?

 

Such an extravagant, expensive fetish....but I love it!

[red_fox]

Oh, I did perceived the yellowish blue foxes, but never knew it was because of oxidation. Learning everyday.

[maktak]

A cardinal rule of hunting for bargains on ebay is to let go of the feeling of regret after missing something. Because there will be so many opportunities you will miss, so many awesome furs you will regret not having bought or bidding high enough. This is how life is.

 

Thank you so much for this post. I can't wait for this coming fall when the fur scene heats up again! With any luck I'll put your advice to good use.

 

Slightly off topic - do you know any good keywords to find coats of the "thick" type? Fashion people / our forum seems to use phrases like "large shawl collar" or similar, but for some reason my results are worse when I add these to my search string.

[samurman]

Thank you so much for this post. I can't wait for this coming fall when the fur scene heats up again! With any luck I'll put your advice to good use.

 

Slightly off topic - do you know any good keywords to find coats of the "thick" type? Fashion people / our forum seems to use phrases like "large shawl collar" or similar, but for some reason my results are worse when I add these to my search string.

 

You are welcome

 

What do you mean by "thick"? If you refer to the fluffiness of the fur, then you should consider fur types. Fox is the first fur that comes to mind when talking about fluffiness or fullness. Finn raccoon and coyote is also quite voluminous but not as soft as fox.

 

If you are talking about coat designs, bear in mind that while professionals do employ such terms as "shawl collar", "tuxedo", "chevron", "fully let out" etc, most fur owners trying to sell their fur on ebay are not aware of those technical terms. Some people even identify the fur type wrongly, so do not automatically assume what the seller says is true.

[HollyLuvsFur 1974]

My advice is to get the exact measurements of the fur. As a guy buying women's furs, you have to be aware of the difference in the cuts of the furs. You need to get the length of the chest (arm pit to arm pit) and shoulder to shoulder. I have made the mistake in the past not getting theses measurements and end up having the fur fitting to tight! Also, every size (I.e. M, L, XL, etc) is different! If you wear a large, a large in the jacket you like may not fit!

[maktak]

What do you mean by "thick"? If you refer to the fluffiness of the fur, then you should consider fur types. Fox is the first fur that comes to mind when talking about fluffiness or fullness. Finn raccoon and coyote is also quite voluminous but not as soft as fox.

 

If you are talking about coat designs, bear in mind that while professionals do employ such terms as "shawl collar", "tuxedo", "chevron", "fully let out" etc, most fur owners trying to sell their fur on ebay are not aware of those technical terms. Some people even identify the fur type wrongly, so do not automatically assume what the seller says is true.

 

Thanks again. Makes sense. I may want to save up to commission something from Elsa or Daria, then

 

My two cents: one time I contacted a seller about a fantastic-looking raccoon coat and was told that the coat was hand-washed (I inferred at the time this meant soaked in water) and dried through the wringer. It pays sometimes to ask very particularly about previous care.

[AKcoyote]

Some people even identify the fur type wrongly, so do not automatically assume what the seller says is true.

VERY wise advise. " title="Applause" />