ADC Pricing Advice

Just wondering what others charge for ADC work?
Do you charge per hour, or per animal?
It would be helpful if rates were posted.
I am in Vt and have no idea what to charge.
I was thinking charging per catch.

200.00 beaver

100.00 skunk

100.00 woodchuck

100.00 coon

50.00 squirrel

I was doing it as a courtesy, as well as to secure more trapping land. But now the phone is ringing and I feel I should get some compensation.

Any advice is appreciated.

Thank you!

Your phone will do a lot of ringing when you work for nothing. A lot of things will change when you start charging. Is this going to be a full time job or a part time job. It will depend on your service area and a ton of other factors. When money hits the table you have a lot of other responsibly to the customers and to other that are in this type of work. There are a lot of cost that go into the cost of running a business. I get about 85% of the jobs I look at. But you have to remember I am in a rural area. Not much help, but I am sure the full time guys will jump in. One thing I never do is try and under cut the competition. I just do my best to give better service.

I closed, well sold my pest control business 10 yrs. ago, back then my pricing was in residential areas, not rural, no beaver.

Skunks. $100.

Squirrels, raccoons, groundhog, $35

Bats. $100.

Honey bees. $100.

Remember most states require permits and or licenses, insurance, etc.




You aren't on the trap line either. You have to Humanely Euthanize them off propert, permits are usually required for that also.

Do lots of research before you start can get yourself in BIG trouble with the game people.


Retired from fire dept, trapping and loving it here in FL. Have snared a few Armordilla for friends.


Best wishes

Hoppy

$50 squirrels? Minimum $275 and from there the price goes ^. 9 out of 10 times you'll need to do some type of seal up unless homeowner or yourself has no interest in that type of work.

I'd do some homework "research" on this matter because you need to be able to justify your price with your skill level. Someone telling you what to charge can jam you up the long run.

There is a big reason why we dont post our rates on here...will be way too many opinions expressed and we all charge diff than each other...come to a wct seminar and talk in person

I had the same question, and so did many others when they were first starting. Most of us got the same type of answer that wasn't very clear. It was usually something like "it depends".


While that may seem frustrating, it's true. What works for me may not work for you. The answer to how much you should charge is how much do YOU need to charge to be competitive while still being profitable and honest. You need to figure out who your clients will be, what services you're going to offer, how much it will cost you to do it, and how valuable do you feel like your services are worth.


My prices change job by job, because I don't know how much one job will need to be compared to another job down the road. You'll need to put pencil to paper to figure out your answer. You definitely want to be profitable (that's the point) while offering fair prices for you both.

Be flexible and always get paid what you're worth.


Good luck!

I am a beaver control trapper.When I worked as an exclusive full time agent for a company,I was paid $30\hr and $100\day per diem.Full benefits also.Company supplied all equipment and vehicle.
Freelancing Its $75 per beaver and $.45\km milage.

Where I live..
If I needed a plumber to glue plastic pipes together, he would charge about $70 hr
If I needed carpenter to hit his thumb with a hammer, he would charge about $70 hr
If I needed an electrician to check my shorts, he would charge about $70 hr
Q: so what should I expect to pay a professional, with license and insurance, to remove nuisance wildlife?
A: more $$$ than those examples, because the job requires more skill and harder work.

just my opinion

Charge what you want,Just saying what I work\worked for.I made a good living,and got a good pension out of it to boot.Doing the freelance you obviously have to charge more because you have all the overhead and have to provide for your own pension,benefits etc,unlike when hired on as an exclusive agent.

The difference in animals bothers me a lot. It cost me just as much to catch and dispose of a coon as it does a skunk. It takes just as much gas, wear on tires, insurance to catch a ground hog as a skunk. Why would you charge less for one than the other.

those rates seam high but the cost of doing business is high in its self do you all guarantee your work? by that I mean if john doe calls and says I have coons knocking over my trash cans do you guarantee to fix the problem and for how long? I know you cant say forever because eventually new ones will disperse in,or heck it might be a different critter all together. I was always scared to charge for a nuisance job always figured it was like selling air! the un forseen can make you look bad! when actually your in the right but the general public has no idea what is truelly going on

Could it have something to do with free market, like supply and demand?
You can probably find somebody to trap a raccoon or a ground hog for little money all day long, but fewer people may be inclined to trap a skunk for that. It also has to do with how inclined the client is to pay a certain amount for an animal's removal. A person may be more eager to get rid of a skunk because it smells bad and they don't want to get themselves or their dogs sprayed by a skunk. A ground hog somewhere under a pile of wood in the yard is way less concerning. A skunk den under the front porch is nothing people want to put up with. So there.

No! Because you can't, period.
Does the weather man guaranty you the sun will shine tomorrow?

Thanks to all for the feedback.
It has given me some things to consider.

Nuisance removal has always been of interest to me. But the general population in this area will not pay to have any critters removed. As long as it isn't destroying things right under their noses they could care less. But honestly I feel like a scab when I don't get something out of the ordeal. And quite honestly its a one and done operation if I don't at least get trapping rites on their property. But I know how much it cost to run a buisness. So im not going to step on toes by undercutting the guy that forks out the major cash to operate a company. As of now their isn't a nuisance removal company within 100 miles from me. So im not stealing food of any ones plate

Your pricing will depend on your location--urban, suburban, rural. Also take into consideration the distance from home. I think the beaver price is too high unless you're dealing with rich people from NYC. How much can a dairy farmer really spend? The squirrel will take about as much work as your other animals. PM me if you need to.

^^^^^^^^^^^ yep

Skunks require a little more risk to the ADC operator too, I use open cages for skunk trapping just like raccoons (because I have had zero success with enclosed traps). Walking up and grabbing a cage with a raccoon in it and putting it in the back of the truck, that don't work with a skunk, they tend to spray you if you do it like that. You need to take the time to cover it, then you need to transport it, then release or euthanize it. Each step requires risk on the operators part because if it sprays now you have some cleanup cos too. Cousin bob can catch that raccoon and relocate it, but he will not take care of a skunk in a trap


Beavers are more work than raccoon too. Beaver work is hash all not in the customer back yard under the bird feeder

And resetting a 330 takes longer than putting a new cage trap down. Pricing is the hardest part of ADC work, because if you are going to do it full time. You need to make a full time wage. So it's not a "well it only takes a few minutes to set a cage trap and then pick it up and dispose of the animal"

Typical single raccoon causing problem:
Customer calls and takes 15 minutes to discuss their issue with you
Drive to customers house 10-50 minutes
Discuss at site the raccoon problem, write contract, set and bait cage, customer hand-holding as you explain everything they want to know 15-45 minutes
Return next day to pick up raccoon, talk with customer, get payment for raccoon 15-20 min
(No time added for driving to pick up as it should be in route for day)
After you return home for the day you need to take care of raccoon, release or euthanize & dispose 15 minutes, and clean cage and reload in truck
So this is basic easy raccoon job : 1 hour minimum to 2 hours

So how much per hour. Oh and is that raccoon job going to be the 1 hour or 2 job, do you know before you price it? Or do you decide to charge for an average if 1.5 hours per raccoon ?

Oh wait you have to record the capture and keep records of it 10 minutes for administrative time

What about the time on the phone with the person that decided not to hire you, or worse the one that had you come out to the house and didn't hire you. (Someone has to pay for that)

Insurance? Advertising? Phone? Vehicle cost ?

$69-$100 hour is what may cover all above costs for that raccoon

So cost to capture one raccoon $138-$200

And the customer sees you at their house for maybe 25-45 minutes

SEE WHY EVERYONE SAYS " it depends"

Some operators numbers are lower some are higher. This is just an example, hope it helps

And in the north you have 7-8 months to make 12 months of wages

very well said Michigan Trappin!

I no longer charge per animal. I give a flat rate based on my overhead and profit I want to make. Head count can cost you money. Like when a homeowner calls and the mother raccoon has moved on because they beat on the walls. Or landowner shoots the beaver so you don't catch as many. Too many things to vary as said that will determine what YOU should charge. Good luck

Bingo

Pricing surely can be tough. Lots of variables. After a while you can price it so you don't short yourself. I still don't really know how to deal with chipmunks because they are small and to me insignificant so I don't charge a lot. I guess most charges should be by the trip, mileage, time spent in setting, resetting and not by the animal. With beaver for local I do a set up and a per beaver charge, but for long runs I just give them a dollar amount per trip, take it or leave it. Beaver used to be a job, walking the ponds, canoeing, lots of time that I don't now spend very often. Many roadside repeats can be set in a minute or two, even new jobs, real money makers even when the price is not high. Some beaver jobs with a pair may start to finish take a few hours total and less than an hour of work, one check. Saw squirrels mentioned. Not a guy that does a lot with bait, I sure do love baiting dumpster squirrels, bazillions of them sometimes. Don't know where they all come from. Made a makeshift transfer box so traps can be reused. Squirrels fire out of the cages like a rocket, fun to watch.

Michigan trapper hit the nail on the head if your doing this as a business you have to be able to pay yourself and all your overhead. It takes time to figure it all out the longer you do it the easier it gets. This is my third year in business and I'm now full time still working out undercharging but you have to get away from pet animal charges. We are a very specific service and in most cases the only one in a town so think of it that way.

I live in a rural area the people here are smart enough to go to the big box stores and buy a cheap hava hart catch their nuisance coon drive a block away and release it lol only to have it return the same nite twice as hungry, I have caught a few nuisance coons here in town that have been caught so many times their heads are bald from fighting the cages! NEEDLESS TO SAY THEY DID NOT RETURN THAT NITE!!

First don't base your business rates by what the competitors charge. Your need and operating expenses may be entirely different. Remember this you can stay home and make no money you don't need to work at it. If it was easy everyone would do it.

If there is not much driving involved. I charge $100 set up + $150 for three days of trapping , with the customer helping me out by checking traps and reporting capture. If my feet leave the ground I charge accordingly , Beaver more.
Removing animals for me is pretty close to a money looser, nothing more than a foot in the door to do the necessary structural repairs.
Being a great trapper is okish . Being a great people person salesman is important. Most people have is back asswards.

I cant their is no competition for over a hundred miles! You guys that do it for a living what insurance do you recommend that will be the biggest factor on chargin. All the other costs can be covered easily enough. Short of something catastrophic like theft or a natural disaster! If a home owner in this day and age don't understand fuel and cost of living exspenses they shouldn't be calling to hire someone in the first place. If I decide to do this I want to do it rite the first time. And by that I do not mean I will go out and buy a fleet of new trucks and a building. I sleep easier nowing all the legal aspects are covered and covered again. insurance, taxes , those are the silent killers.That and spending beyond your means