I found a couple threads that touched on my question, but no one ever really discussed it.

I am mole and gopher trapping. Per catch charging has been doing well for me for the most part. Since I'm just starting out, I prefer this way so I have to SHOW results to get paid. Maybe after I'm proven, I'll switch to per job pricing, but right now per catch is doing good.

There have been some jobs lately that I didn't get where the customer was OK with the per catch rate, but did not like not knowing what the end cost could potentially be. This gave me an idea, that I'm sure is not original, but I couldn't find any discussion on.

Has anyone tried using a, for the lack of a better term, "deductible" format?

For example, I would still use per catch pricing, but set a dollar amount that once reached, no more charges would be incurred for a given period of time. Say 6 months or a year. Obviously I would set the "deductible" at a point to try and cover my work, but at the same time giving the customer a number that they can bank on the job not costing more than.

when you put s ceiling on a price, you the trapper are the only one that could possibly loose. Unless you make your ceiling really high, but if you are experiencing price resistance, that's not going work either, Per animal is the best way, results equal money. No results = no money, this is the perfect sit. for the customer, if you are seeing price resistance, don't change the way you charge, look at lowering your per animal cost, Never paint yourself in a box where you put a limit on how much money you make.

I have in a few cases where, the customer will let me know how much he is willing to spend on a per mole charge, before I reach that amount I remove all my traps. Do not leave the traps in the ground when getting close to the amount or you may catch moles you will not get paid for.
I had one case where I just got done checking and re-setting a lot of traps and the guy ask how much his bill was comingg up to and I told him what his cost was and he wanted all the traps removed right away. I told him I had just re-set the trap. He agreed to pay for 5 more mole and to remove the traps on the next check. I also let the customer know that there maybe more mole damage. Like RedRyder said don't paint yourself into a corner. You will find that a lot of people will play every angle. JMO

I just can't see how you would go by a per animal charge.For one thing one quite a few of my mole jobs the cutomer was not even interested in seeing the dead animal .They would say it was a gross site to see.Do you charge a set up fee? then do it per animal.I have found that a weekly rate works good .The result is seen as no more damage accures.Not to sure on how moles work for onter states or species,but the eastern mole is usually not found in great #'s.Most time (on a regular suburbian poperty,say little less then an acre maybe a little more in the high end of town (Hamptons)The amount of damage may look like dozens of moles ,but I have never caught more then 7 on one property.

Before I started doing this type of work ,I had what seemed like a bad mole problem in my yard .I was getting into this work ,so I calleda couple of companies to give me an estimate.One for trapping was up there ,near 450.00 plus ,another company who was going to use poison ,was around 275.00.So I set my traps .Took me a week checking every other day to eliminate the problem.no mole since .Also have my brother living next door and did his ,he had voles though no moles.Another week ,same time frame and all was good.

So now I go look at the job ,see how big the property is , see how many tunnels ,and figure how long .I try to keep my price in the middle of my compitition.I love mole jobs ,a great money maker and have had no complaints yet.I do however throw in a that I will return if problem is not solved at no extea cost.Have yet to return to any mole job yet.

I think you're learning why many of us prefer the flat rate pricing schedule.

I never go into a job not knowing what I will deposit in the bank, period. And if I roll on a job I will be making a deposit.

To me it is much simpler and ethical to charge my clients flat rate fees it's fair to both of us. I get paid and they get the problem solved. No need to "show" my results other than the damage has stopped. This business should never be about dead animals stacked up but all about problem solving. I'm so glad I don't have to do a body count to get paid, what if the client tries to despose of the bodies or worse I have to trap a whole bunch of non targets to make it worth my while.

For those unsure of just how to price on the flat rate I suspect they really don't know the animals in their area. By the stage of the game I'm in I can recite in my sleep just what the average client demographic is by zip code, the average residential lot, house structure and habbitat as well but most importantly the number of animals to be caught on each job by species by time of year. Use these averages to formulate your total time on job and price accordingly.

For instance the common grey squirrel in the common single family residential structure in my area will consist of one adult female, she will defend that structure against all other squirrels so she will be the only occupant. Then depending upon time of year she will either be pre partum or post partum meaning she is about to give birth or has already given birth. Litters in this area average 3-4 and since the birthing schedule is not syncronized births can occur at any time so I price for the capture and removal of five squirrels. How many days is that you ask. Well I sell my jobs in seven day increments with the standard trapping program being a fourteen day program. Any trapper worth his/her salt ought to be able to nab five squirrels in a week's time so I call it a 7-10 expectation hence the standard fourteen day fee is the one I almost always sell with the reserved right to pull when the problem is solved. I explain this to the client so that the onus is on me to make captures as quickly as possible, they seem to like that. If on the other hand money is an issue for the client and I believe the problem can be resolved in a shorter time frame I will offer the seven day program but with the firm caveat that trapping ceases on day seven irregardless of outcome. Most of these I am able to resolve but for those that I can't some do get converted to an extra week when the client ponies up. As you can imagine it is hard to hit the client for more money at the end of the first week so I am very selective on who gets offered a seven day program.
Now like most of us the trapping is really the loss leader of all we sell so I can not really push my priices above and beyond what the market will bear. (though I have recently done an across the board price hike for a multitude of reasons) The ultimate goal of trapping only jobs is to tally enough of them together to spread the operating costs between them to increase profitability, this is why it is so important to focus on neighborhoods and the friends and neighbors of your clients. Also any out of area jobs need to be factored outside of normal pricing.

To give a few other examples.

Moles in this area are a low numbers game one, two or three on the outside and your done until fall or spring as the case may be. Three moles can be done in fourteen days so it gets a fourteen day price BUT since exclusion is not an option the client gets offered a quarterly service once on site the same as you would offer a squirrel client an exclusion service.

Raccoons are uncommon but follow a similar pattern to grey squirrels when the raccoon is inside the structure. Same deal offered. Exception, raccoon doing damage on the outside such as dumpster divers this can vary from one to twenty so it gets set up for the 14 days but if numbers are observed treat it like the mole job offer the quarterly or other longer term service.

Opossums are common but do not travel in numbers so it's usually one and done but as we all know you can catch a opossum anywhere without even trying so this one might get the one week if it sounds right.

Fliers, this is the one I hate with a passion. Summer time fliers are rare here and the spookiest of the bunch just setting foot in the attic can run them out for a no catch job but the noise will have ceased. Hence the real need to stress problem solving not animal capture. This is one where you really have to hammer down on the exclusion being the only real solution. Fall early winter fliers are coming in but may come and go dependant upon the weather. You set up after the first good cold night but it immediately goes back up into the eighties and there you are with egg on your face. This ones gets a special exemption from me if the client does not want immediate exclusion, which I stress every time i roll on a flier job, the raincheck. If no activity in the first week I fire the traps and offer to return once it is cold and staying cold. If anything it reinforces what I say when I predict the return of the fliers and makes my case for the exclusion.

Armadillos are an all to common animal here and numbers can range from one and done to my max of eight. there is also far more set up work on this one and since the numbers are so variable and I try to stick to fourteen day program gang setting is the only way to go. It is not unheard of to unload a truck load of cages on a job but when activity peaks I can be hard pressed to even find an empty cage. This one historically I have priced differently, still flat rate, and higher than the others but just now have brought my others in line with this one. By spring I will attempt to raise this back up above the rest. It is harder to justify the increase on this one as opposed to the inspection then price jobs like beaver and coyote because it is still a nuisance animal in a residential yard like a squirrel but for those of us who get serious about nabbing dillers in as short a time frame as possible it is more work up front.

Rats (roof), treat these like fliers without the dissappearing issues.

The others we deal with are so variable that only a site inspection can fully determine the scope of work involved so a site inspection gets sold. Yes, sold as only a fool will broadcast to the cheapskate public "free inspection". I qualify each and everyone of my potential customers and I will not roll without the assurance of compensation. Does this mean I do not do free inspections? Not necessarily but only for those who have been prequalified and know beforehand how I price those particular jobs, they've heard my base rate and the factors I consider when raising my fees and gotten the green light from them. Some of y'all who've known me over the years can see this is a loosening of my policies but sometimes it's the only way to get in on some commercial or governmental work to make a bid. I will not though ride all over town on my dime to give homeowners quotes on what they already know needs done from talking to me on the phone, namely trapping and then exclusion.

I hope this helps.

I have a set up fee. It depends on the size of lawn and the amount of damage. I give the owner the opinion if they want the mole left as proof of the catch, not many people take me
up on it. I am going to raise my set up fee but people will just not pay a hi set up fee. I may offer both this year. I know I would never get a job at a flat rate of $450.00dollarss. I keep a file on every customer I have ever had. This file help me when it comes to pricing, because I know how may mole I have gotten in the past. I have taken 32 moles out of one yard and 26 out of another, but avg. 6-10 out of most years.

I do, all day long. You've just got to be willing to ask for it. It's tough at first but if you really know you're worth it they will call back.

I have a set up fee. It depends on the size of lawn and the amount of damage. I give the owner the opinion if they want the mole left as proof of the catch, not many people take me
up on it. I am going to raise my set up fee but people will just not pay a hi set up fee. I may offer both this year. I know I would never get a job at a flat rate of $450.00dollarss. I keep a file on every customer I have ever had. This file help me when it comes to pricing, because I know how may mole I have gotten in the past. I have taken 32 moles out of one yard and 26 out of another, but avg. 6-10 out of most years.

Yes, warrior, that noise you hear is my wheels in my head turnin'.

I very much appreciate the input. From everyone.

And yes, I have been doing a set up and per catch. So far the hourly rate that this is equating to has been good for me.

Each job offers a little more clarity on a better way to do things than the last. I just need more experience to form an opinion. I guess my thinking was this way of pricing kinda merged per catch and per job pricing. I can see attractiveness for each way of doing it for both me and the customer.

I want it all with a side of everything.

Everyone offering their experience here is greatly appreciated. Thanks, guys!

450.00 why so cheap???
Mole problems on a 1/2 acre lot starts at 600.00 and goes up...I think you may be under valuing what your end result is. Just because you enjoy your work does not mean you have to do it cheap. One thing to remember: The moles aren't tearing up your yard. If people want a problem solved correctly, they have no problem paying. You may have a problem asking for it...

Our average jobs are around $500 and up. Rarely do we bid lower rate jobs. When you factor a potential call back that will occur in some circumstances you better price your work right.

This year I was going to raise my prices also.Who knows whats going to happen with this fiscal cliff crap going on....I found out just like warrior said,at first I was afraid to ask ,then I find that more are willing ,as long as you show confidence in yourself.The last mole job I did ,the customer said that they were very impressed with the dedication I put in to solve the problem ,and that I needed to raise my price as they were more then satisfied with how hard I was willing to work to get the job done.
I guess Michigan must have an over abundance of moles.....That seems like a lot of moles to me,are these #'s coming from property that is very large????

rockintheocean:
No, one lot was 300x300 and the other was 175x100. Both were out side of town. Bob how long do you guarantee your mole work on a flat rate job, not seasonal?

So you were paying attention, padawan. LOL

David, you mentioned doing free estimates for gov. or large commercial jobs. What's your ROI on that? I still charge for everything - my attitude being if the customer can't afford ~$85 for an inspection (deducted from final price), he sure can't afford $1k for the solution.
I've run into "We don't have inspection fees in our budget." Still, bidding a large job can be several hours lost, and in many cases I've lost $$ even charging a reasonable inspection fee.

All I can say is I think I'm moving....lol I live in one of the most expensive places to live.As for going higher on my prices ,I was thinking another 50.00 on the average.Seeing that you guys are getting 600.00 plus in places like Luray,Va. and SW/Pa. I'm feeling that I live amoung the cheap....lol.Have to say Getting close or right in the Blue ridge area ,and getting paid more then what I get here,how could I pass that up....Well I would miss the ocean .
The funnest thing of it all ,I spent some time working down south .I had owners and bosses say that people from up north seem to be one of the hardest working groups of people.Yet the southern style (laid back ) no real rush ,coupled with that southern hospitality and generousity just can't be beat .Maybe its because we up north must have to work hard to get that little bit ,and at least where I live appreciation is a rare thing.

Dave, actually very low but otherwise I wouldn't even get to submit a bid. Mainly I try to eliminate the tire kickers right off the bat and qualify each and every one but with the three bid rules I am almost always the high bidder so very little return. What I do use those opportunities for on the otherhand is to network with local officials and build relationships. It's really something I have just started this year so it has yet to pay off but I am still trying.

We give a 30 day no mole guarantee after the initial service. If confirmed activity is found before the 30 day period is up we set up to remove the activity which is one more check after the initial set up.

After that they may opt for a seasonal program or another cycle of 7-10 days of mole trapping as needed.

You can clearly see why I have the upper hand when it comes to moles: I can offer a lifetime guarantee. ( And no, it's not because I'm really old )

P.S. Have any of you guys got a lot of calls today? I mean, come on; it's New Years Eve for crying out loud!

I got three, two bat calls.