Selling 2 White Rhino Mounts (shoulder and wall)

[swank]

Hello everyone,
First time posting to this forum, I found out about it from the people up at Dallas Safari Club. I asked Jerome, the founder of africahunting, but he said it best asked in an open forum.

I live in Texas and am aware of the specifics on the laws on selling rhino to individuals. With that said, My questions are:

1) what would be the value of each (see pictures)
2) what to price to put on them
3) where is the best place to sell them (outside of an auction)

Any help would be greatly appreciated. -j

 

[CAustin]

Welcome to AH posting. Very impressive mounts.

 

[Deleted member 15212]

I was going to have a replica made of mine but if the price is right, I may be interested.

 

[BWH]

I’d say anywhere & everywhere.... just be careful. Individuals, museums, etc.... would be interested. Just watch out for the freaks that want to destroy you in process. What is asking price?

 

[postoak]

Is it legal to sell these outside of the state you reside in?

 

[BRICKBURN]

A simple internet search will show you a range of purchase prices.
If the horns are real I'd suggest you get them in a very secure storage place.

 

[edward]

are they your trophies or inherited?

 

[harden]

I'm sure your up to date and covered your bases. About interstate commerce watch for people using false address to acquire . Good tool is voter registration rolls or home title. If those were imported as a cites animal , Check the bottom of the cites for the clause "After import use" . They can hang you on that one even of you don't interstate and violate the Lacy act. They get you for this one.

 

[swank]

Welcome to AH posting. Very impressive mounts.

Thank you!

 

[swank]

I was going to have a replica made of mine but if the price is right, I may be interested.

That's just it... I'm not sure what price to put on each of them.

 

[swank]

I’d say anywhere & everywhere.... just be careful. Individuals, museums, etc.... would be interested. Just watch out for the freaks that want to destroy you in process. What is asking price?

Thanks for the advice, much appreciated! The price is what I'm trying to come up with.

 

[swank]

A simple internet search will show you a range of purchase prices.
If the horns are real I'd suggest you get them in a very secure storage place.

They are 100% real, and they are in a very secure, climate controlled place. When I search for prices for the mounts, the only results that come up are blackmarket results. What I was thinking for coming up with a price would be the the cost of replacement. How much would it cost to go to Africa and pay for travel, permit fees, import fees, and taxidermy fees. travel would be ~$10k, I've heard some permit fees are from 30-50k and not sure about import fees, and taxidermy would cost ~$10k. What you think? Are there still permits for hunts available? What cost would you put on each of them?

 

[swank]

are they your trophies or inherited?

I bought a interiors company and they were in storage. I think that the company was designing a ranch for a client and the client backed out. They are 100% authentic, and one came from a ranch in west Texas, the other came from an estate sale in Houston. The wall mount was taken in 1991 and the taxidermy was performed in Denver.

 

[swank]

I'm sure your up to date and covered your bases. About interstate commerce watch for people using false address to acquire . Good tool is voter registration rolls or home title. If those were imported as a cites animal , Check the bottom of the cites for the clause "After import use" . They can hang you on that one even of you don't interstate and violate the Lacy act. They get you for this one.

Thank you for the help. I've been in touch with Special Agent Markely of the dept of interior FGW. We went over the proper steps when the transfer takes place. There was paperwork around the purchase of the mounts, like where the mounts were from, (one form a ranch in west texas, the other form an estate in Houston) but no CITES documents. He said he knew of the mounts and I could sell them, but only to a resident of the state of texas.

 

[VonJager]

Travel is not 10k. Yes permits are available as these are white rhino not black rhino.

You will probably not get anywhere near what you are hoping for when you are around 50k(on your low end.)

6-8k seems to be the going rate to have one made so you can probably not expect too much more.

You don’t recoup the cost of the hunt when selling a piece considering the buyer isn’t exactly going on a hunt himself.

Check the legality of even selling them. Do you have paperwork? When were they hunted? What country are they located?

 

[VonJager]

So Texas resident only really limits the market and price.

Good luck.

 

[swank]

Travel is not 10k. Yes permits are available as these are white rhino not black rhino.

You will probably not get anywhere near what you are hoping for when you are around 50k(on your low end.)

6-8k seems to be the going rate to have one made so you can probably not expect too much more.

You don’t recoup the cost of the hunt when selling a piece considering the buyer isn’t exactly going on a hunt himself.

Check the legality of even selling them. Do you have paperwork? When were they hunted? What country are they located?

So, even if these are real, 6-8k??? I've checked with FGW special agent in Ft Worth and the paperwork I have is sufficient to sell to individuals that reside in the state of texas.

 

[swank]

So Texas resident only really limits the market and price.

Good luck.

yep. so... if you know of anyone

 

[VonJager]

So, even if these are real, 6-8k??? I've checked with FGW special agent in Ft Worth and the paperwork I have is sufficient to sell to individuals that reside in the state of texas.

The 6-8k I am not sure if it was only reproduction or not. I found 3 different taxidermists prices for a shoulder mount rhino. I think you might be able to get more than that, but not 30-50k, IMO. It is just my opinion as a hunter.

Texas has money and many hunters, and many african hunters, but the pool of potential buyers is shrunk quite a bit by those restrictions, and if trying to get what it costs to go on the hunt, most hunters would probably rather just go hunting.

I think they are very nice mounts, and think they are definitely a piece that makes a trophy room stand out.

Not sure if an auction would even be a good place to sell, because they would have to verify the residency of the bidders, even if in person.

Absolutely not as tricky as a Rhino, but I bought a 2nd hand blackbuck mount earlier this year from the original hunter. Mount costs about $400-$600. I paid $75. Again, Rhino should have held its value much better, but getting the same as what a hunt would cost today is unrealistic, IMHO.

 

[swank]

The 6-8k I am not sure if it was only reproduction or not. I found 3 different taxidermists prices for a shoulder mount rhino. I think you might be able to get more than that, but not 30-50k, IMO. It is just my opinion as a hunter.

Texas has money and many hunters, and many african hunters, but the pool of potential buyers is shrunk quite a bit by those restrictions, and if trying to get what it costs to go on the hunt, most hunters would probably rather just go hunting.

I think they are very nice mounts, and think they are definitely a piece that makes a trophy room stand out.

Not sure if an auction would even be a good place to sell, because they would have to verify the residency of the bidders, even if in person.

Absolutely not as tricky as a Rhino, but I bought a 2nd hand blackbuck mount earlier this year from the original hunter. Mount costs about $400-$600. I paid $75. Again, Rhino should have held its value much better, but getting the same as what a hunt would cost today is unrealistic, IMHO.

Thank you for your feedback !