These are popular email questions received by furs.com, and their answers won't fit in any brief FAQ section. Like researching your fur before you buy it new, there are a few things you need to know before you get rid of it used. Fur garments are precious treasures that last many years and are passed down for generations. No one would dream of shipping them off to Goodwill after two or three winters, the way they do cloth coats. When given proper care, a fur coat can literally last a lifetime. But fashions don't. Still wearing big hair and eighties power suits? Well why not? They're only 15 years old! How much money do you think you could get for those suits on the resale market today? If they had major designer labels, they might be worth something. If not, by now either you've tossed them out, hidden them in the back of your closet (the shame) or altered them (somewhere I envision a secret tailor's landfill, where they've sent all those discarded shoulder pads). When you pay thousands of dollars for a fur, though, it's not that simple. And it's really not funny. This is a topic that most furriers avoid, so we'll just be blunt and say it: Used fur coats aren't worth as much money as you think. Sorry, but it's true. Even so, there are several things you can do with your old fur coats. There are a few fur companies in the U.S. who will sell your fur on a consignment basis or buy it outright. Most fur retailers will take old furs as trade-ins, meaning they will offer a credit on your fur, when you trade it in against the cost of a new one. They also have charities to direct your fur, and in return you receive a tax deduction. You could sell your fur directly to another fur-lover through the newspaper or online. Or, you could restyle your fur into a current, wearable fashion or home furnishing. In the course of interviewing furriers across the United States on this subject, nearly every one compared fur coat depreciation values to those of automobiles. New cars lose value the minute they leave the showroom; so do furs. Cars depreciate significantly each year they are used; so do furs. Furs are not like diamonds; they are not an investment, and they do not retain value. They are not a commodity. They are a luxurious indulgence, even if they are much more practical than diamonds. "Furs are subject to wear and tear, especially to the cuffs and hems, and even five years down the line, fashion changes," said Athena Christie, fifth-generation furrier at Christie Brothers Furs, New York City and Atlanta. "We take old fur coats for trade-ins against new ones. If it is a 15-year-old mink coat of good quality fur and in good condition and in a salable style, we might offer somewhere in the $3,000 to $4,000 range for the coat against the price of a new one, but it's difficult to make generalizations about used furs. We encourage many of our clients to donate their old coats to a fur industry-supported breast cancer research charity in exchange for a tax deduction." Most fur retailers take trade-ins. They also offer appraisal services for a fee of $25 to $50, if you just want to know a fur's value for insurance purposes. Retailers contacted by furs.com said that they don't usually supply insurance companies with the cost to replace a fur coat on the new market; that's a somewhat disreputable practice. Instead, they appraise the garment at its current value used. To find a furrier near you and make an appointment for an appraisal, check furs.com's free online Store Directory. But beware: trade-in value, tax donation value and appraised value usually are much greater than the amount of money you would receive for your old coat from a used fur dealer. There are three popular retailers in the U.S. who specialize in buying and selling used furs: Henry Cowit Inc. and Ritz Furs in New York City and the Chicago Fur Outlet in Chicago. All three purchase or consign coats long-distance from people across the country. They encourage anyone interested in selling their used fur garments to contact them by phone first, so they can ask a series of questions: 1. What kind of fur are you selling -- mink, fox, chinchilla, squirrel, etc. -- and what color? Mink coats in darker colors re-sell easiest. 2. How old is your garment? This is a general indicator of condition, which is what really counts. 3. Has it received professional fur care each and every summer? (Condition, condition, condition!) 4. What size is it? Used fur dealers report small sizes in used furs are more difficult to sell than larger ones. 5. What is your coat's style -- conservative or crazy? Traditional styles re-sell better than outrageous designer creations. If the used fur dealer likes your answers, he might encourage you to ship him the garment. He won't give you a prospective price on the phone first, because there are still more variables to consider. When he receives the garment, he will inspect for fur condition and to confirm the coat's description. "Sometimes people don't even know what they have," Howard Bresnik of the Chicago Fur Outlet told furs.com. "One woman called me and told me she was sending a chinchilla, but it was really weasel. Also, sometimes women don't remember or never knew to begin with how expensive the fur coat was when purchased new. Maybe it was a gift, or maybe the amount of money she really spent on it has increased in her mind over time, but usually she remembers it being more expensive than it really was." That makes a difference, because the cost and quality of new mink coats vary widely. Certainly, when you go to sell your used coat, the amount of money you'd expect to receive for a $29,999 mink would be more than for a $2,999 mink. For that reason, used fur dealers usually refuse to offer even a ballpark figure for the value of a coat before they see it with their own eyes. Larry Cowit of Henry Cowit Inc. said he pays anywhere from $300 to $800 for "an average mink coat seven to 10 years old and in decent shape. Any older, $100 to $500." That's because there is a basic price range most people are willing to pay for used fur coats, reports Bresnik. In his experience, that's $1,500 to $2,500. Classic, vintage mink stoles or capelets usually retail for $100 or less, meaning a used fur dealer would probably buy them for $60 or under. Used fur dealers also take furs for sale on consignment. If you're willing to wait for your money, you can probably get more for your fur by consigning it to a shop for sale and waiting for a consumer to purchase it. These days, when fur is popular, and new furs are selling well, sales of used furs are also brisk. Still, there is no average length of time it takes to sell a fur consigned to a shop. Says Keith Tauber of Ritz Furs, "Sometimes they can sell in a day; sometimes it takes a month, and sometimes they never sell." Fur owners frustrated by what they view as shockingly low prices paid by used fur dealers and unable or unwilling to go through the consignment process usually prefer to take their time and sell their furs privately -- directly to other consumers. This is done through local newspapers, on internet auction sites and through eFurs' popular Used Fur Exchange. These options allow sellers to discover for themselves how much another consumer would value their fur garment. Sellers usually get more money for their fur directly from a consumer than from a dealer, cutting out the middle man. For the same reason, buyers sometimes pay less when buying directly from another consumer. This is a buyer-beware process though: usually there is no official appraisal involved and not a lot of protection if the buyer is expecting a chinchilla and receives a weasel. Sometimes this prospect scares off prospective buyers, but not often. Insulted? Outraged? Then just don't sell it! Take that old fur and turn it into something you'd really wear or use around the house. Since furs usually outlast the style in which they're made, recycling is great for the environmentally conscious consumer. It's also perfect for furs that hold sentimental value. Whether you've got a small stole from the 1940s or a five-year-old, floor-length mink, if it's in good condition, it can be transformed into something fresh and fabulous. Old furs can become new garments. With a little bit of fur, you can make oh-so-hip pant cuffs or more traditional fur collar and cuffs for a cashmere coat. With a lot of fur, you can make a super-warm, sheared fur coat lining, a comfy small blanket, or even just change the style into something sportier. The possibilities in between are endless and include home furnishings and toys. If you're a crafts fanatic, you might find making over your old fur coat is a rewarding project. Keep in mind that fur workmanship is a highly skilled craft, so what you make at home won't look nearly professional, but you might attempt scarves, bags, pillows or blankets. Furriers say a specific type of needle and thread is not necessary for this type of work, they do offer one important pointer: Don't cut fur with scissors. Cut it with a razor blade or X-acto knife and cut from the leather side. This way you will slice through the hide without cutting off a lot of fur. Restyling is the only option available for old leopard, ocelot, sea otter and monkey coats and any other fur that's currently considered endangered or threatened. In general, IT IS ILLEGAL TO BUY OR SELL GARMENTS MADE FROM ENDANGERED SPECIES, EVEN IF THEY ARE OLD AND USED. Kennedy-era leopard coats have regained popularity on the used fur market right now, but beware: in the U.S., if you are caught knowingly selling them in a transaction that crosses state lines, you could be punished with FIVE YEARS IN PRISON and a $250,000 FINE. If you are a business or organization, the maximum fine doubles. No wonder no reputable furrier deals in endangered species today. That goes for any garment made from furs listed on the Endangered Species Act, even if the garment was originally purchased before the law went into effect in 1970. If you are not sure if your garment is made from furbearing animals now considered endangered, contact the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service at www.fws.gov or check out the list at the Convention of International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) at http://international.fws.gov/global/citesoma.pdf. The majority of countries in the world are signatories to CITES, which means the U.S. isn't the only country to outlaw the sale of such coats. To find a list of countries that comply with the CITES treaty, go to http://international.fws.gov/global/cites.html. According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, if you can prove that your leopard or ocelot or other such coat was purchased before the law went into effect in 1970, it is legal to sell it within your own state, but it cannot cross state lines. That means, if you have held onto the original receipt from pre-1970 (in a shoe box somewhere?), you could probably sell it to someone within your own state. But, if you're selling it at a flea market in Manhattan, for example, and the purchaser travels from New Jersey or Connecticut to buy it, you're breaking the law. If you're selling it online to someone in another state, you're breaking the law. In case that's not enough of a deterrent, some state laws are stricter about selling endangered species than the federal laws. Just don't do it. And don't travel out of the country wearing an old or new garment made from endangered species, because you're guaranteed to get stopped at Customs.