When you make items out of regular leather (such as a billfold), they will sell for a certain amount, say $20.00.  If the leather in the billfold costs you $3.00 you will make $17.00 for your labor.  If you make the billfold with lizard skin, it can sell for $45.00.  It cost you $8.00 for the materials and you make $37.00 for your labor. 

It takes the same amount of labor no mater which type of material you use, but your labor becomes much more valuable when you use exotic hides.  People want things that are SPECIAL!  That is why items made with exotic hides sell better than items made with regular leather.  Even regular leather items trimmed with exotics sell better. 

BUT AS WITH EVERYTHING IN LIFE, THERE ARE ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES IN BUYING EXOTIC HIDES.

Exotic hides come from wild animals.  The larger the andimal the more aggressive it will probably be.  Chocodiles for example use their tails to fight and will frequently have scrapes or even small holes in the tail area.  They also bite each other.  Ostrichs have clawed feet that they use to fight, and this sometimes leads to wounds.  Large snakes and poisonous ones are not easy to capture and will sometimes have arrow holes or bullet holes in the hide.  The natives that take these animals use them primarily for food (the same is true with regular leather, no one raises cows for the leather, it is the meat that is most in demand).  The natives try to damage the hides as little as possible, but their first priority is to protect themselves.

ANOTHER THING TO CONSIDER IS THE DIFFERENCES IN HIDES.

My grandfather taught me this business back when we sold mostly regular leathers.  He told me that the trouble with leather was that there was no such thing as a standard cow.  Every cow was created differently so every piece of leather was also different.  The same is true of exotics.  Every hide is a little different in size and color.  These skins are not stamped out by machine, and though they will be tanned in the same vat they will not all accept the color in exactly the same way.  The photo of the items I have for sale may not be exactly the same as the one you get, since I deal with thousands of skins, I can not take photos of each and every one.  But, I do try to get one that is representive of the batch.  If you have very specific needs for your hide, please let me know and I will see if we can fill your need.

There is no such thing as a perfect hide.  Just look at your own if you don't belive that.  You will find that scars, scabs, and blemishes of all kinds abound.

I hope this will give you a bit more imformation and help you select what is best for you.  If you need more informatin or have specific needs with your hides do not hesitate to E-Mail me.