I am new to this and I started because I own a couple of items made of vintage leopard skin I think from the 1950's. They are as follows; pillbox hat, muff/purse and a belt. I have no need for them and they are in very excellent condition except for the belt. I don't know if it is illegal to sell such items in Canada. Please will someone fill me in? I hate to see the lovely items sitting around slowly deteriorating and I am hoping to find someone who will really appreciate the beauty. I am so sad that such a magnificent animal died for this but it is doubly bad that the items are going to waste. Chrissy
Hi Chrissy, I believe if you can sell this privately and have it remain in Canada, you can do so. You definitely cannot sell it and send it across any borders. I certainly would not want anymore of these animals killed for their fur either but it is a bit of a dilemma with what to do with those that remain.
And you really can't list on eBay. This is one of the few listing violations that they usually respond to. If anyone reports your listing, it will be pulled for endangered species. And there are activists who troll listings looking for these kinds of listing to report.
Whereabouts in Canada are you? As far as I know there are no laws about inter-provincial trade, like there is between States down south, so I believe you can sell it anywhere in the country. I might be interested, or might know of someone who is interested if you send me pics of the items. My email is [email protected]. Alternatively, you could try Craig's List or try selling it to a local antique or vintage clothing store.
I am having trouble finding someone in the business who will do an appraisal on this vintage leopard skin set for me. Most furriers are not interested or able to do an appraisal. Anybody have any ideas? Thanks, Christine
am having trouble finding someone in the business who will do an appraisal on this vintage leopard skin set for me. Most furriers are not interested or able to do an appraisal. Anybody have any ideas? Thanks, Chrissy
Perhaps you could donate them to the relevant local authority for educational purposes? Here in London at the Maritime Museum in Greenwich they have an array of confiscated goods for example, highlighting what are now illegal goods to import/export. A museum /zoo could be another consideration if they have any educational feature centered around endangered species. I recently blogged the subject of leopard fur under "unacceptable" on my myspace page www.myspace.com/bibaqueen (and yes, I did report the Ebay item I was referring to).
Does anyone know of a museum or something that I could donate to in the Vancouver, BC area? I may consider other locations in Canada but I want to know that if I donate the items it will be for educational purposes and not to a private collector. I am still exploring ideas about what I should do with these beautiful items that were made from the skin of an amazing animal by people who were heartless. I don't want the iconic vintage fashion pieces to just go to waste. An interesting thing is that when I was trying to look up leopard-skin pill-box hat I was directed to sites offering the music of Bob Dylan and his famous song “Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat”. Maybe someone in the world of Rock and Roll or movies would be interested.