I'm finally learning! (Price structure)
#3082582
03/20/12 01:44 AM
03/20/12 01:44 AM
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Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 581 Des Allemands, Louisiana
Budfish
OP
trapper
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OP
trapper
Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 581
Des Allemands, Louisiana
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A thoughtful review of my own pricing structure brought to light a possable unfairness to my customers so I have now decided to change things up yet again. I was charging: $125 service call $125 set up and 5 days trapping $50 per animal.
With all the talk about per animal charges, I had overlooked the fact that it was unfair to put a time limit on catching the offending critter. If I did not perform, the customer would be stuck paying more for my failure. The per animal pricing, I feel, is not really a problem as I do not want to get stuck burning fuel on daily trap checks forever without some type of compensation for it. Also considering higher overhead, I have come up with the following that I now feel is fair to the customer as well as myself. This way, if I don't perform, it's my problem, not theirs.
$100 service call $300 set up and trapping as long as needed or until customer says stop $60 per animal
Last edited by Budfish; 03/20/12 01:54 AM.
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Re: I'm finally learning! (Price structure)
[Re: Peskycritter]
#3082857
03/20/12 10:04 AM
03/20/12 10:04 AM
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Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 6,079 Wisconsin
Blackdog
trapper
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trapper
Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 6,079
Wisconsin
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The money is in doing the exclusion work X2
Just ask your mommy...
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Re: I'm finally learning! (Price structure)
[Re: Peskycritter]
#3082910
03/20/12 11:07 AM
03/20/12 11:07 AM
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Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 1,673 West, Mi
wiggler
"Skunk Wrangler"
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"Skunk Wrangler"
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 1,673
West, Mi
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The money is in doing the exclusion work , anybody can buy a cage trap and trap out the animals with it , try to offer something they can't do you them self. If yur just trapping every single stray animal in the neighbor hood your helping other people for free . I trap the min of animals i need to solve the problem then fix the house so animal can't return . The customers then tell there friends how there problem has finally been solved . I can't see any full time company surviving these hard times without doing exclusions , about every body has a neighbor with a trap very few of them know what to do once they get a skunk in a trap. thats when they call me to pick it up and pay me for it.
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Re: I'm finally learning! (Price structure)
[Re: wiggler]
#3082918
03/20/12 11:14 AM
03/20/12 11:14 AM
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Joined: Feb 2012
Posts: 30 south east michigan
Peskycritter
trapper
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trapper
Joined: Feb 2012
Posts: 30
south east michigan
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sometimes i deal with quill-pigs and they are such random travelers. it might take 2 weeks for the rodent to come back to a house and start chewing on a different side of it. when i trap these.. its a waiting game for them. ive waited 2 weeks for the big pigs to come back.. i funnel them into traps around these big houses. exclusion would be a very tough choice on some of these large cottages. so i always charge a daily visit and keep the customer informed on what its costing. and that it might take some time to finally catch this beast. but i always do! How come they don't live in southern mi
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Re: I'm finally learning! (Price structure)
[Re: Budfish]
#3082930
03/20/12 11:27 AM
03/20/12 11:27 AM
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Joined: Nov 2009
Posts: 843 NH
sgs
trapper
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trapper
Joined: Nov 2009
Posts: 843
NH
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The money is in doing the exclusion work... While there certainly is plenty of money in exclusion and repair there is still plenty of money in trapping. Ask any mole or beaver trapper. Heck, I make pretty good money on trapping skunks. very few of them know what to do once they get a skunk in a trap. Ain't that the truth.
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Re: I'm finally learning! (Price structure)
[Re: Budfish]
#3083618
03/20/12 07:41 PM
03/20/12 07:41 PM
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DaveK
Unregistered
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DaveK
Unregistered
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You have the right mindset, if you are thinking about being fair and consistent to your customers. The per animal fee will help ensure that you are a good trapper and perform. The customer will feel good about paying for performance.
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Re: I'm finally learning! (Price structure)
[Re: Budfish]
#3083856
03/20/12 09:13 PM
03/20/12 09:13 PM
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Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 6,079 Wisconsin
Blackdog
trapper
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trapper
Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 6,079
Wisconsin
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A thoughtful review of my own pricing structure brought to light a possable unfairness to my customers so I have now decided to change things up yet again. I was charging: $125 service call $125 set up and 5 days trapping $50 per animal.
With all the talk about per animal charges, I had overlooked the fact that it was unfair to put a time limit on catching the offending critter. If I did not perform, the customer would be stuck paying more for my failure. The per animal pricing, I feel, is not really a problem as I do not want to get stuck burning fuel on daily trap checks forever without some type of compensation for it. Also considering higher overhead, I have come up with the following that I now feel is fair to the customer as well as myself. This way, if I don't perform, it's my problem, not theirs.
$100 service call $300 set up and trapping as long as needed or until customer says stop $60 per animal (edited my post) I'm totally lost here...so if you still dont perform it costs them $150 more?
Just ask your mommy...
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Re: I'm finally learning! (Price structure)
[Re: wiggler]
#3084216
03/20/12 11:45 PM
03/20/12 11:45 PM
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Joined: Feb 2012
Posts: 30 south east michigan
Peskycritter
trapper
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trapper
Joined: Feb 2012
Posts: 30
south east michigan
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sometimes i deal with quill-pigs and they are such random travelers. it might take 2 weeks for the rodent to come back to a house and start chewing on a different side of it. when i trap these.. its a waiting game for them. ive waited 2 weeks for the big pigs to come back.. i funnel them into traps around these big houses. exclusion would be a very tough choice on some of these large cottages. so i always charge a daily visit and keep the customer informed on what its costing. and that it might take some time to finally catch this beast. but i always do! I catch a lot of them in my kill boxes up around you when I'm long lining coon , it was wierd last year on the south side of the big river I caught very few coon , I was setting up in the oak stands .now on the north side of the big river trapping the oak stands I had a great catch on every check . It was like something came along and killed all the coons and stopped at the river
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Re: I'm finally learning! (Price structure)
[Re: Blackdog]
#3084299
03/21/12 01:24 AM
03/21/12 01:24 AM
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Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 581 Des Allemands, Louisiana
Budfish
OP
trapper
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OP
trapper
Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 581
Des Allemands, Louisiana
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A thoughtful review of my own pricing structure brought to light a possable unfairness to my customers so I have now decided to change things up yet again. I was charging: $125 service call $125 set up and 5 days trapping $50 per animal.
With all the talk about per animal charges, I had overlooked the fact that it was unfair to put a time limit on catching the offending critter. If I did not perform, the customer would be stuck paying more for my failure. The per animal pricing, I feel, is not really a problem as I do not want to get stuck burning fuel on daily trap checks forever without some type of compensation for it. Also considering higher overhead, I have come up with the following that I now feel is fair to the customer as well as myself. This way, if I don't perform, it's my problem, not theirs.
$100 service call $300 set up and trapping as long as needed or until customer says stop $60 per animal (edited my post) I'm totally lost here...so if you still dont perform it costs them $150 more? That is what I'm trying to take care of. If I make them pay for a week trapping, and I don't get the critter, it would not be fair to the customer to charge another week for my failure the first week. I was thinking about leaving it open ended, but as was pointed out, I may get a customer who tries to make me trap forever. I think that in my agreement I need an ending time, but I want to be fair to my customers also. A bit more thinking is in order here, but I may have a solution in mind.
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Re: I'm finally learning! (Price structure)
[Re: Peskycritter]
#3086882
03/22/12 08:10 PM
03/22/12 08:10 PM
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K9man
Unregistered
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K9man
Unregistered
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I think a per animal fee is wrong and takes advantage of the customer in some instances, and in others it takes advantage of the nwco. But for the sake of the customer I used to always offer them a choice between a flat rate for x number of days or a set up and so much per animal. Let them choose the contract they would feel the most comfortable with. In either case I am going to deliver on resolving the conflict. And in either case for a contract to binding it must have a starting date and an ending date. The ending date can be altered if both parties in question agree to it.
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Re: I'm finally learning! (Price structure)
[Re: Budfish]
#3088425
03/23/12 08:31 PM
03/23/12 08:31 PM
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Joined: Jul 2008
Posts: 1,361 mequon, wisconsin
Paul Winkelmann
trapper
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trapper
Joined: Jul 2008
Posts: 1,361
mequon, wisconsin
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We do the original service call and the per animal fee and then we add the trap rental fee, the rebait fee, the relocation fee, the added gas cost fee, the advertising fee, the liability insurance fee, the surtax fee, and of course the accountant fee for adding all the other fees up. We're still waiting for our first job.
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Re: I'm finally learning! (Price structure)
[Re: Albert Burns]
#3088539
03/23/12 09:27 PM
03/23/12 09:27 PM
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Joined: Feb 2012
Posts: 30 south east michigan
Peskycritter
trapper
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trapper
Joined: Feb 2012
Posts: 30
south east michigan
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I had a customer call the other day because she had hired someone else first,they were gone, and she now wanted a second opinion. I believe he did a good job at resolving her problem,but what interested me was his receipt. He charged her a service call fee. Then he charged a per animal fee on top of that,but what I thought was a little overboard was he charged her a daily trap rental fee also,for everyday he left a trap. Does anyone else do this on a regular basis ? It seems like hiring a carpenter to do a job, then he charges you for renting his table saw ? I had never seen this done, and was curious if it was a regular practice I am missing the boat on. He charge a trap rental fee so he was then leasing her the trap, so if she didn't check the trap she would get the ticket not him
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Re: I'm finally learning! (Price structure)
[Re: Budfish]
#3088920
03/24/12 04:46 AM
03/24/12 04:46 AM
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Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 930 Tug Hill, New York
Albert Burns
trapper
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trapper
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 930
Tug Hill, New York
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"He charge a trap rental fee so he was then leasing her the trap, so if she didn't check the trap she would get the ticket not him"
In NY we can designate that a homeowner be allowed to check a cage, and call in, but in the end any cage we set is our responsibility. If it is not checked, and they don't call in, I get the ticket,there is no liability on the homeowner. I have alway's been one that likes to lay an eyeball on every cage I have set daily, the customer most of the time can't even tell if they are set or not. Paul, I got a good laugh out of that,alway's a pleasure seeing what you post. Have a great day, Albert
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Re: I'm finally learning! (Price structure)
[Re: Albert Burns]
#3089027
03/24/12 09:01 AM
03/24/12 09:01 AM
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K9man
Unregistered
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K9man
Unregistered
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I think the guy charging a trap rental fee is trying to cover his butt if something goes wrong. But in the end the client has a contract copy and can still show that he/she/they were charged a set up and service fee so the contractor (the nwco) is still legally responsible for the trap, and the welfare of any animals captured in said trap, that he/she set. The nwco is hosing the client IMO.
Here is why I really like some sort of set flat rate fee regardless of numbers of animals caught. I know what my fixed costs are, and I have a rough idea of what my variable costs are to do business, and I can pretty much judge how long a job should take me to successfully resolve it to my clients, and my, satisfaction. The faster I get it completed the more profitable I am.
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Re: I'm finally learning! (Price structure)
[Re: Paul Winkelmann]
#3089072
03/24/12 09:43 AM
03/24/12 09:43 AM
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Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 25,677 Georgia
warrior
trapper
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trapper
Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 25,677
Georgia
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We do the original service call and the per animal fee and then we add the trap rental fee, the rebait fee, the relocation fee, the added gas cost fee, the advertising fee, the liability insurance fee, the surtax fee, and of course the accountant fee for adding all the other fees up. We're still waiting for our first job. And that is exactly how you price a job, but for our clients sake add them all up and you have your fee structure. Paul, if you don't mind I am going to steal this one to give to my clients who are to dense to understand.
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Re: I'm finally learning! (Price structure)
[Re: Paul Winkelmann]
#3089432
03/24/12 03:59 PM
03/24/12 03:59 PM
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Joined: Apr 2010
Posts: 30 St. Louis area
Dave Schmidt
trapper
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trapper
Joined: Apr 2010
Posts: 30
St. Louis area
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While it's true that the money is in the exclusions, the fun is in the wildlife. I am all about fun! Take yesterday for example. A big Canadian gander fluffed up his wings and made a running start AT ME. I then commenced to fluff up my scrawny little wings and ran at him. I'll bet he's still telling his goose buddies about this lunatic that almost ran him over. Paul, Paul... 1. You're not a goose. You can't fly. 2. Stop jumping off ladders.
ALL OUT Wildlife Control
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