As a guideline for determining the price and quality of a mink garment, ask the following:

1. What is the original country of origin of the mink? (This information is required by law to be listed on the hang tag of every fur garment.)

2. Where was the garment manufactured? (Usually North American- and European-made garments cost more.)

3. How much leather was used in the manufacturing process? (The more leather used to space out between the strips of mink, the less expensive the garment should be. The finest garments use no leather.)

4. Did the garment come from a designer collection, and does it carry a label? (Fashion adds $$$.)

5. How many pelts are used in the garment? (The greater the amount of raw material, the greater the cost. This can be deceptive -- sometimes short coats with wide sweeps can actually contain more pelts than a long, narrow coat.)

6. Did any special Processing go into making the coat, such as Dyeing or treatment of the pelts? (Again, fashion adds $$$ in the form of a leather or suede treatment on the lining to make the garment reversible, a difficult-to-obtain dyed color, or
shearing.)