Pricing layout ??

Ok , I looked and searched and have came up empty. It would also seem most would like to dance around the subject because its a big secret of sorts.... really!!

We are all from different areas, we all have animals and problems that mirror each other as well as problems that are unique..

I have called several of our local Ft worth and dallas ADC companies and was told the fees they charge, but with that being said. Capture of wildlife is only a small part of it, I'm not worried about exclusions, but only animal capture and removal.

Here are the prices I was told by local companies just for capture and removal.

Bobcat.. anywhere from 200.00 to 325.00 for a single animal
Coyotes anywhere from 200.00 to 325.00 for a single animal
Raccoons 125.00 for first animal 75.00 for each additional
Possums 99.00 for first animal and 75.00 for each additional
Skunks 99.00 for first animal and 75.00 for each additional
Beaver 899.00 for a month of unlimited trapping

Seems to me you already have your answer if thats what YOUR local area is charging.No one can tell you what to charge I dont know what it costs to live or run a buisness in your area and I figure thats the reason most dont try to answer these type of questions.Im sure if you need help with anything else youll get plenty of help I know I have.

I would have a set up fee. The beaver and skunk seems cheap to me. I would go broke if I stayed at the same place for a month trapping beaver. That is way cheap. Of course, I trap N.H. and Mass. so that is some of the difference.

Those were quotes from two separate companies, not trying to be facetious, but your response is typical of what I have seen.

I would like to see a national averages/ base line for just dealing with animal capture and removal..simple question that some feel the need to complicate.

Its really not that hard to just say...Here is what I charge..

Mine is based on time and millage not per animal. Some jobs are 5 miles from home. One I did today was 80 miles one way from home.

Dale,

What are you wanting to do with the data? It appears that you aren't looking at starting a wildlife control company from your comments so I'm not sure what you want as an answer.

You say it isn't that hard to say "this is what I charge", but for some companies it isn't a simple answer as fees can be based on time, number of traps set, number of animals caught, number of trips made, type of trap used, electronic monitoring costs, trip fees, emergency or after hour fees, travel distance, service area, expectations of the homeowner, and/or agreement with client.

I know of one company that performs raccoon removal not only from residential and commercial properties, but also from a private land management area. They have a different pricing structure for each of these situations because of costs and what is expected by the client.

For comparison sake, look at McDonald's and the Big Mac. The Big Mac is made with the same components and in the same manner wherever you go yet I can travel 50 miles in any direction and encounter different prices at almost every McDonald's I come across. The lowest I've found for the Big Mac value meal (I don't buy just the sandwich when I eat there) is $4.35 while the most expensive is $6.65. That's a $2.30 difference within a 50 mile radius! If I expand this to multiple states I can get an even bigger price difference, yet to get the average price I still have to go to each place that sells a Big Mac in order to find the price.

If I'm doing research on average pricing for Big Mac's, I can probably get that information by calling their corporate offices and explaining what I'm doing and why I'm looking for it. With wildlife control, there is no corporate office to call, but you may find those willing to share if you explain what you're looking for and why, instead of commenting on answers from those willing to share. As for my prices, you can go to my website www.batsbirdsandmore.com and view them.

Dale,

Once upon a time I was not yet a startup company and as a new to business guy I thought the same thing, why can't folks just simply share what they would charge.

What I learned however is exactly why the answers often seem cryptic or challenging rather than clear and concise.

Eric provides some good insight.

For my .02 what I learned is exactly what all those others wanted me to learn as follows.....

*****

Your price should be your price based on your business overhead, your business goals, your local economics and everything from the price of gas to how you value your time and experience and skills to what your clients are willing to pay or what the market will tolerate.

It is easy to think that the best way would be to acquire these prices from your competition, but frankly anyone serious about this business as a business needs to know exactly what it costs them to perform a service and that is rarely what it costs the next guy or gal to do the service.

Again, I was once stuck on this myself, part because I wanted to know how much I could make (foolish way to think) and part was because I was hoping for some sort of bar that I could use to set my prices based on what others were charging (again very foolish way to do business).

*****

As Eric asked I guess folks would probably assume maybe you are starting a company, however the vagueness of the question without stating "I'm launching a brand new company and I'm not sure where to start with pricing raccoon removal." means you could just as easily be a reporter, or a college student doing a report to publish on prices NWCO's charge for wildlife removal.

I'm sure it is clearer than this, just saying that maybe a little more behind your post might have some folks throwing more thoughts to you.

Okay, thats my nickels worth....

Best of luck,

Justin

first of all I feel its a huge mistake to even worry about your competition and how and what they charge. does it really matter? I know what I will have into a job and I charge accordingly. if I cant make x number of dollars I might as well go back to my old job where I could and did. when I first started fulltime in this I too called my closest competition, but it took about 3 days on the job to realize they weren't even remotely what could be considered competition.

do good work, stand by your work and people will come to you. I have lots of sales experience, and the easiest way to sell someone on a product or job is to have one of their friends sell it for you. in other words, word of mouth and referrals are important. have the nuts to tell a satisfied customer that if you hear of any of your friends having issues please give them this card, and give them a couple. once your in this business for a few years you should have some referrals coming in routinely, if not you aren't good at it or aren't asking your customers for the referrals.

Sorry for the slow reply gentlemen, I have been quite busy.

I already do wildlife damage control for several ranches that cover a total acreage in the area of 20-30 thousand acres. I will say that my services bring a premium for my area but my clients know I will bring results, Like it was mentioned above (word of mouth is the best advertisment).

I currently have a investor that wants to branch out and start up a pure wildlife damage control company but insists of a full market study before going forward. His idea of sales/pricing is a simple no haggle/no hidden fees and nothing that will confuse a potential client, straight forward pricing.

I tend to agree with him, that is the same way I do business with my ranchers, one flat rate and the schdule is set by me. If you are good at what you do and manage your time well its quick easy money and it is work that will return over time. Over the years I have learned to map my properties and rotate them in such a manner year yound so that work is steady.

This is not counting trapping and killing feral hogs, of which I just started a few weeks ago, but after looking at laws and transport issues we are making changes of how we do business. In any business plan you have to maximize your intake, we are charging for the trapping and removal, and we are going to begin to transport the feral swine to a area packing plant for sale, thus maximizing time and intake of proceeds.

Everything I have ever done or invested in was thought out well ahead of time and done in proper measure. i.e. market research, potential investors, demographic study..know your competition as well as your customer base.

I have found over the years if you keep pricing plans simple, customers are much easier to retain .

Sorry for any confusion, but the prices listed above were for residential removal only..

Dale, you are definitely the anti-Paul. I always jump into everything feet first with my eyes closed. You method takes away half the fun and nearly all the surprises. Having said that, I hope all the young fur trappers who might be interested in ADC work as a living, read your post very carefully.

Your careful planning also pretty eliminates a lot of pain and financial heartache. The first thing a lot of people don't realize is that their area doesn't hold enough potential customers. Moving closer to a big city is not something that most trappers relish, but if you're going to make enough money to support your family, it might be needed. Thanks for the post.

So what do you charge Dale? I assume you wont dance around the subject.
(I know this sounds smart mouth in text but its not meant to)

Perfectly ok brother,

I charge a 100.00 for every coyote I dispatch. Most of these ranches are cutting horse or black angus ranches and the ranchers are not shy about telling you that the moment a new calf hits the ground its worth 800-1000 dollars even more for newborn colts and they get twisted when they lose one so 100.00 for a coyote is spare change to them. If I get a call I will hit the ranch hard for a couple weeks and catch the majority of the resident coyotes, I'm super picky about were I put sets and treat each one as if it is the only set I have.. and move on to the next property or section.

The horse ranches are huge on catching and dispatching every possum found, possums are a known carrer of EPM and if its not caught in its early stages it can kill horses.

I have no competition from the USDA or locals. There is a well known trapper in the next county over, but I have been told he has his hands full trapping coyotes and has zero time for water based aninmals, so the game warden calls me for beaver issues.

High fence ranches are a big thing down here and they pay the same, no one wants to lose a 10-50 thousand dollar breeder buck because a coyote got inside the high fence, same goes for exotics.

I just started my first high fence gig. I charge 125 per yote and a set up depending on the size of property, type of vehicle/atv needed but this one is close to home so no set up and client is friend of friend.
I am mainly a beaver guy and that price you were quoted is to cheap.
Especially summer beaver work.

I learned something new about opossums.... thanks

Here is another way to charge for managing a predator control job. They get a one year contract, with 1/2 in Dec., the balance in Sept. Either party can cancel anytime. The detailed contract defines the problems, what we will do to correct it & when and how often we are there. Plus all the details about gate access codes, advance notice, reporting, forbidden work days, farmer/deer hunter conflicts, and such. Basically we figure on a week of trapping/hunting/treating/ each quarter, with emphasis on spring breeding. Figure the number for one trip - pay for one or two workers, travel and time on job, then multiply by three. That number is in the ballpark for one trip (COST + OVERHEAD + PROFIT = CHARGE TO CUSTOMER)

What did you learn new about opossums? I read this thread over and couldn't find anything.

As an aside - the equine encephalitis disease (caused by opossum urine) is an opportunity for a blitzkrieg market campaign to the horsey people in your service area. The $ numbers - pay for experienced opossum removal professional, versus pay veterinarian to try and save million dollar horsey - justify the horsey people give money you.

Phil has just reached a new pinnacle in my estimation. First is his predator configurations and then he followed that up with one of my favorites, opossums peeing on horses. I come from a long line of horse thieves and outside of perhaps, Lexington, Kentucky, we here in Mequon, WI may have the largest per capita ownership of horses in the world. We also have no shortage of opossums.

P.S. Anyone who owns a horse has more money than they know what to do with. Anyone who owns a stable of horses has more money than God. Horses are probably the worst investment in the world. So why did I grow up with horses? My family sold them; they didn't keep them.

Hey phil
Thanks for the details on a different way to do preditor work. I havent done a ton of coyote jobs yet but I do feel like I dont charge enough for the amount of work and time required.

What I learned about opossums....what dale said about EPM.

I keep waiting for the explosion but I guess Antczak and Schmidt haven't read my post yet. They're probably out riding.

Dale, What you are proposing to do and the companies you are basing your prices are 2 different things.
Did this in Texas for over a decade up until 6-7 years ago.
Let me help you from a heap of legal woes. What you are proposing to do is nuisance work and strictly nuisance work. As such you cannot remove any animal from a structure. That requires a pest control permit. You may take the offending animal from outside the structure.
I am sure you know about our rabies quarantine, and I am pretty sure the companies you talked to were quoting a catch and relocate price which I don't know how they get away with on some species.
Any way it is best to refer to yourself as nuisance animal trapper, sounds like you have a good deal on the predator trapping.
Harold Renfro and I had ourselves covered up in beaver work for a good while from Nac to Tyler all the way into West La, till it cost me a marriage and him his life (heart failure).
Talk to some of the guys listed on the Texas trappers association website under nuisance control Contacts
And if you need a hand on the maintenance end, I do deer lease contracts in Montague, Cooke, Grayson, and Fannin. Set fee for 2 weeks of trapping after deer season and before whelping season (Jan., Feb., and March). Charge $500 and guaranteed results. I am able to do this for this price cause of fur season (which is why I do it). It is also the optimum time for control before the preds whelp and the deer drop. Any other time of the year the job be cost on a per job basis and I try to bid high enough to not get the job, as I prefer to schedule everything for the above 3 months and just run an effecient trapline . That has been the only way I've been able to make a return on time and investment.

countrygun, I really admire your candor and honesty about this business costing us dearly. ( A marriage and a life ) The younger guys have no idea what they may have to face in life. Thanks for bringing it to everyone's attention!

Sorry, Wink, been counting my money for the last few days, so haven't been on t-man...as regards your P.S., I only have that kinda horsey $$ cuz I've learned all there is to know about WC from you (got my first two foxes today!).
Kinda surprised that I don't get any possum work from some a them rich horsey-types (I know they exist!); but, then again, if you can handle half a ton of horse, a possum ain't no big deal.

From what I was told by the companies referenced above that pricing did not include any exclusion work, that it would be a added cost.

I have been told by TPWD and TAHC that having a applicators license will allow for the transport of live animals off premises, but It is a Class C misdemeanor to transport or sell live foxes, coyotes, skunks and raccoons from, to, or within this state without a applicators license. And you are correct on the relocation, for the above species it is illegal to relocate, they must be put down..