What to charge?
#5336945
12/28/15 12:13 AM
12/28/15 12:13 AM
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Joined: Dec 2015
Posts: 443 Alabama
3&0
OP
trapper
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OP
trapper
Joined: Dec 2015
Posts: 443
Alabama
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I do deer processing. A few of my customers know I trap. They want me to catch Coyote, beaver and raccoon. I was wondering what would be a fair price to charge? A price per animal caught. I am in Alabama.
It's amazing how much you can get done in a day, when it all has to get done. Lifetime member of NTA and ATPCA.
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Re: What to charge?
[Re: 3&0]
#5337278
12/28/15 09:43 AM
12/28/15 09:43 AM
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Joined: Jan 2013
Posts: 32 OH
Eric Arnold
trapper
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trapper
Joined: Jan 2013
Posts: 32
OH
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It isn't a matter of how much to charge, but the rather what you need to charge. As soon as you begin charging a fee, you are acting as a business and as such are bound by the business laws in the state you are performing services in with licenses, insurance, sales tax, workers comp, etc.
As warrior stated, you need to look at your business expenses (including salary and profit) to determine what you need to charge as the mistake a lot make is paying the client for the privilege to work for them instead of having the client pay them. So if you're business expenses, salary and profit will be $1,000 and you've got one client, then the fee needs to be at least $1,000. If you've got 4 clients, then it needs to be $250 per client at minimum. The more clients, the lower the per client price becomes.
Eric Arnold Publishing Editor W.C.T. Magazine Editor The Fur Taker Magazine
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Re: What to charge?
[Re: 3&0]
#5337316
12/28/15 10:16 AM
12/28/15 10:16 AM
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Joined: Dec 2015
Posts: 443 Alabama
3&0
OP
trapper
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OP
trapper
Joined: Dec 2015
Posts: 443
Alabama
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Thanks guys. The more I think about it the more I think I am turning something I enjoy into a job. Done that with deer hunting and now it's not as fun as it use to be. I am probably gonna ck these places out and take the best ones for some new trapping grounds. Again thanks.
It's amazing how much you can get done in a day, when it all has to get done. Lifetime member of NTA and ATPCA.
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Re: What to charge?
[Re: Dan the man]
#5346931
01/03/16 12:05 AM
01/03/16 12:05 AM
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Joined: Jul 2012
Posts: 188 California
Throw Back
trapper
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trapper
Joined: Jul 2012
Posts: 188
California
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It really does kill me how many Landowners want you to trap but don't want to pay. Almost like they feel they are doing you a favor to let you trap there. I find this around here all the time on Deer leases with Coyote and Bobcat problem. That's because many times they are doing it as a favor for fur trappers who aren't going to really make a difference predation wise
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Re: What to charge?
[Re: 3&0]
#5349462
01/04/16 01:55 PM
01/04/16 01:55 PM
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Joined: Sep 2012
Posts: 7,240 West Michigan
Getting There
trapper
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trapper
Joined: Sep 2012
Posts: 7,240
West Michigan
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When I first started I used my land navigator to keep track of Traveling time, Set-up time and millage. You will be surprised on how much time you can spend on doing this time of work. This does not count the cost of operating a truck and all the cost that go with it. Even if you are not doing this for a living, what is your time worth. I would start by at least making as much or more than processing deer. JMO
To Old U.S. Army 60-63 SGT.
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Re: What to charge?
[Re: 3&0]
#5379344
01/22/16 01:28 PM
01/22/16 01:28 PM
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Joined: May 2015
Posts: 639 Southern Illinois
ilbucksndux
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trapper
Joined: May 2015
Posts: 639
Southern Illinois
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I too am in the same situation. I have been working on som beavers cutting down a guys trees and on some fox that are killing chickens. The beavers are close to home and are not out of my way at all. The guy handed me $50 the day I set traps and said we would settle up when I was done. I may have 5 bucks in gas and 2 hours invested. The fox on the other hand the land owner said he would give me $25 a piece and that sounds fair,but not sure ?
Gary Bartlow
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Re: What to charge?
[Re: 3&0]
#5379365
01/22/16 01:40 PM
01/22/16 01:40 PM
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Joined: Sep 2012
Posts: 7,240 West Michigan
Getting There
trapper
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trapper
Joined: Sep 2012
Posts: 7,240
West Michigan
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I am a very small ADC guy, I have all the permits but I still do not work for anyone with out a written contract. I do not lend out my trap also. For ever you are working for need to know what it will cost them in advance. If you are doing this as a friend and going to just charge according lee that is different, only you can decide on a price. Where when doing the work for pay you have a standard that is expected to be met. When you do it for nothing they can not complain. LOL You get a lot of calls when you work for nothing. That is what go me started.
To Old U.S. Army 60-63 SGT.
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Re: What to charge?
[Re: 3&0]
#5379607
01/22/16 04:59 PM
01/22/16 04:59 PM
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Joined: Aug 2011
Posts: 45,492 james bay frontierOnt.
Boco
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trapper
Joined: Aug 2011
Posts: 45,492
james bay frontierOnt.
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You charge a fair price for the work that you do-don't gouge to get rich-fair pay for work performed and you will get all the work you can handle.Dont expect people to pay you for driving around if you arnt having any success in removing the problem.
Last edited by Boco; 01/22/16 05:01 PM.
Forget that fear of gravity-get a little savagery in your life.
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Re: What to charge?
[Re: 3&0]
#5379849
01/22/16 07:34 PM
01/22/16 07:34 PM
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Joined: Jun 2013
Posts: 95 Florida
bjansma
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trapper
Joined: Jun 2013
Posts: 95
Florida
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Have to find what works for you. Something that you are happy with and the customer agrees to.
Most of the people that might chime in and give you an answer are businesses. They have capital invested upon which they expect to earn a profit as well as their time. They have liability insurance and probably a hefty advertising budget. They might send an employee out to do the job upon which they have workmans comp and other benefits. They might spend hundreds or thousands going to conferences to learn more about their industry. Their jobs need to pay for that as well. We also don't work for a lot of farmers, as mentioned previously.
Bob Jansma
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Re: What to charge?
[Re: 3&0]
#5380026
01/22/16 09:23 PM
01/22/16 09:23 PM
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Joined: Nov 2011
Posts: 23,619 New Hampshire
Nessmuck
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trapper
Joined: Nov 2011
Posts: 23,619
New Hampshire
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I just trap trouble beaver.......75.00 set up and 75.00 per head. Yah don't like the prices...get someone else...I don't care.
It is better to die on your feet than to live on your knees.
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Re: What to charge?
[Re: 3&0]
#5380084
01/22/16 09:47 PM
01/22/16 09:47 PM
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Joined: Sep 2012
Posts: 7,240 West Michigan
Getting There
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trapper
Joined: Sep 2012
Posts: 7,240
West Michigan
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Gary: If you use Nessmuck advice be sure and put a time limit on how long you will be at the job site. It may take two days or two weeks. Who knows. JMO
To Old U.S. Army 60-63 SGT.
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Re: What to charge?
[Re: 3&0]
#5380415
01/23/16 12:59 AM
01/23/16 12:59 AM
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Joined: Aug 2011
Posts: 45,492 james bay frontierOnt.
Boco
trapper
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trapper
Joined: Aug 2011
Posts: 45,492
james bay frontierOnt.
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If it takes you 2 weeks to remove beaver you are incompetent.You shouldn't charge someone else for your incompetence.
Forget that fear of gravity-get a little savagery in your life.
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Re: What to charge?
[Re: Boco]
#5380652
01/23/16 10:40 AM
01/23/16 10:40 AM
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Joined: Sep 2012
Posts: 7,240 West Michigan
Getting There
trapper
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trapper
Joined: Sep 2012
Posts: 7,240
West Michigan
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If it takes you 2 weeks to remove beaver you are incompetent.You shouldn't charge someone else for your incompetence. Boco: This was just met to be an example.
To Old U.S. Army 60-63 SGT.
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Re: What to charge?
[Re: Boco]
#5382735
01/24/16 04:11 PM
01/24/16 04:11 PM
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Joined: May 2015
Posts: 639 Southern Illinois
ilbucksndux
trapper
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trapper
Joined: May 2015
Posts: 639
Southern Illinois
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If it takes you 2 weeks to remove beaver you are incompetent.You shouldn't charge someone else for your incompetence. But if the 2 other people were there before you were incompetent the price goes up.
Gary Bartlow
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Re: What to charge?
[Re: 3&0]
#5395409
01/31/16 09:34 PM
01/31/16 09:34 PM
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Joined: Feb 2014
Posts: 8,296 Louisiana
Aix sponsa
trapper
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trapper
Joined: Feb 2014
Posts: 8,296
Louisiana
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It depends. What needs to be trapped isn't as important as what damage, exactly, is being caused by animals, how hard will it be to stop this problem, and how many need to be trapped.
Anything that only deals with singles or doubles (for the most part) are going to cost more than animals that could be a high number. Example is a fox eating chickens is going to be much more pricey each than a whole gang of coons raiding a chicken house. Also, otters vs mink. If a fish farm is having trouble with mink, you could be talking about catching PILES of mink. If they're having otter problems, maybe you're looking at trapping 3-4 or so (maybe more, but you know what I'm saying). That being said, mink might cost $10-30 each vs $50-80 per otter. Does that make sense?
Beavers are a lot of work, and the damage they can cause can go into thousands of dollars. They can become spooked and harder to catch, so they're going to be expensive.
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Re: What to charge?
[Re: 3&0]
#5414501
02/12/16 10:16 PM
02/12/16 10:16 PM
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Joined: Jan 2014
Posts: 100 South TX! Yeah!!
MartinT
trapper
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trapper
Joined: Jan 2014
Posts: 100
South TX! Yeah!!
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I'm not a highly experienced trapper,but I am about to launch my ADC business. My thoughts on this: I'm going to offer coyote control to cattle ranchers, primarily (ideally) and trap various other predators such as coon, possum etc for people with chickens, etc. I will first have a conversation to determine how serious they are (are they willing to pay) and try to juxtapose a dead calf (loss of income) to the cost of killing a coyote. Same applies to poultry and whatever else is being damaged or destroyed. Since this is a launch, I am leaning towards charging enough to cover costs but not necessarily making a profit at first. As my success builds, so should my reputation and my ability to charge more for my services. BUT, a problem I see is, while my (hopefully increasing) ability to kill coyotes will spread by word of mouth, I expect that if I change a low price just to get clients, that price may also spread by word of mouth and I may get resistance when I decide to charge more. I am planning to limit my travel distance to 30 miles from my home during the start-up phase. I'm having cards printed to hand out when making contacts or for sticking into gate locks.
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