Log In
This will be a bit lengthy but for those that care to read I think you will find it interesting. No names are mentioned or known in this survey so no need for anyone to get upset.
When I was preparing for one of my seminars at Surry I wanted to do something a bit different and thought provoking so I came up with a very simple survey of eleven questions. There was approximately 45-50 folks in the seminar and only 35 filled them out. Don’t know why the others didn’t because there was absolutely no way to know who filled them out, no names and only circle the answer. This is the questions and results. Results are the number to the right of the answers.
1. How long have you been doing Taxidermy?
Less than 1 year 7
1 to 3 years 6
3 to 5 years 5
Over 5 years 17
2. How did you learn the Taxidermy Trade? Some had multiple answers
Self taught (videos, books, internet, etc.) 21
By working with another taxidermist 13
Instruction from private taxidermy classes multiple students 4
Instruction from private taxidermy classes one on one instruction 5
Taxidermy program at a teaching facility (such as Surry Community College) 14
3. How much are you currently charging for a basic whitetail shoulder mount?
$300.00 or less 8
Between $300.00 and $350.00 10
Between $350.00 and $400.00 8
Between $400.00 and $450.00 2
Between $450.00 and $500.00 2
Over $500.00 2
4. Do you set your prices according to what your competitors are charging?
Yes 12
No 21
5. Are you a member of your states Taxidermy Association?
Yes 10
No 25
6. If you answered no why not?
No interest in learning new techniques and skills
Feel intimidated by other taxidermist
Believe there is to much “politics” involved 4
I’m too busy to attend the convention and competition 10
Other (explain if you like) 6
7. Do you compete or if not do you plan on competing in the future?
Yes 23
No 12
8. If you answered no why not?
I don’t think I’m ready 7
I feel intimidated by those that have been doing taxidermy longer than me
I see no benefit in competition 1
I do not want to take the time to compete 2
other (explain if you like) 3
9. How much do you think your total expense is to complete 1 shoulder mount Deer?
75.00 1
100.00 12
125.00 7
150.00 8
175.00 2
200.00 2
225.00
250.00
10. How much total time do you have in a commercial shoulder mount Deer? ( from the caping out process to hanging it on the wall to be picked up.)
6 hrs. 1
7 hrs. 1
8 hrs. 5
9 hrs. 2
10 hrs. 7
11 hrs.
12 hrs. 5
13 hrs. 1
14 hrs.
15 hrs. 2
16 hrs. 3
17 hrs.
18 hrs.
19 hrs.
20 hrs. 3
11. Do you have problems getting completed mounts picked up?
All the time
Yes quit a bit
Occasionally 11
Seldom 8
Never 6
Average rate for 1 hour of pressure washing is 60.00 to 100.00 an hour.
Average rate for 1 hour of mowing is 42.00
Average rate for 1 hour handyman service 50.00 to 85.00
There were comments written on several of the sheets that I will not post. I will make no further comments but I believe this should generate some discussion or at least make you think. We really need to educate ourselves in this profession.
I see a lot of prices staying low because their afraid to loose busyness. I’ve went up the last four years and stay just as busy.this fall I’m charging 450.00. I know a local who is swamped because he is to cheap.working twice as much for less.bring your prices up.
Im a member of my state association and I’m competing this year.use to be intimidated not anymore.
Political? Yes some case’s are.doesn’t stop me from competing. I’ve seen a whole showroom of competitors know who won the blue and knew who deserved it! Thats part of it.don’t wear your feelings on your sleeves if your gonna compete.
I wish all taxidermist’s would set the bar high. That way the busyness would benefit as a whole for everyone.
Great survey, hopefully it will get some wheels turning….
July 22, 2011
Offline
Well, there were 12 people who answered: $100 to #9
and, 12 people answered from 10 to 12 hours to #10, so lets take 11 hours as the average.
$100 divided by 11 hours is $9.09 per hour.
18 people answered $300-$400 to #3
Lets assume that 12 of those 18 are the same people that answered #’s 9 and 10 with the answers i’ve posted here. And, just for fun lets say they are right in the middle at $350 bucks for a shoulder mount.
Im gonna make this simple, we are not gonna figure in rent, electricity, insurance, advertisement, 10 answered yes to being a state member, but we will not count that either. Or competition fees and travel to shows because 23 said they compete. Oh yeah, and education. And tool replacement. Taxes and bookkeeper/CPA.
so:
$350
-$100 (11 hours at your shop rate of $9.09 an hour) that by the way is $1.34 above minimum wage.
-$50 for form
-$7 for eyes
-$4 earliners
-$15 misc. (clay, thread, hide paste, hanger, sandpaper, needles, staples, knives/scalpel blades, salt, paint, fillers ect. ect.)
-$20 shipping
______
$154 left for all the things I didn’t include. I didn’t figure in any kind of tanning either.
I know I left off other things as well but wanted to simplify as much as possible.
I think this shows you will be in the red with each deer head you do.
So the more deer you do, the more money you loose.
By the way my numbers are fairly conservative.
Herman, your question #12 should have been do you enjoy working for free?
It is amazing to me there was no one that said 225 or 250 for what the total expense is on a deer!!!!! It took me a while but after spend some time with guys that have made it in this industry I finally figured out how to figure cost. I plan on going up again this year for the simple fact supplies are going up electricty is going up gas is going up and so on and so on. The one that really gets me is why out of 35 that answered the question about being a member of their State Association only 10 were members????? They were at Surry so I wonder if they think that a state show can’t offer them anything????
Tuggy it is really pretty eye opening to compare these little surveys. For instance, 7 of those that have been doing the work for 5 yrs. or more are still under 350.00 a deer. I am in NO WAYknocking these individuals because if not for some encouragement and pushing from some great taxidermist I would still be there. Bottom line is, the only way we can get paid what our work is worth is to charge for it. If you noticed at the end of the little survey I put down the average charge for 3 services that, although very important service do not take a great amount of skill. One of my customers was in the shop this week and we were talking about these issues. He is a Charlotte Fireman and does landscaping on the side. He charges 40.00 a hr. just to mow, not counting all the other things he does. Sometimes we think we don’t have much overhead. When I was preparing to go to Surry I had to take a lot of stuff due to teaching the seminars. I started thinking what it would cost to replace all my tools, stands, supplies, paints etc. When you think about it we have as much overhead and expense as all these other services. A lot of good taxidermist just don’t realize what there spending. It is good to see a few folks responded to this post and hopefully a lot more have been encouraged to think about it.
I just hope this will open one or two eyes because i know for a fact it took me several years to see what I needed to charge to make it and not go over the top and put myself out of business!!!
You should have come to my price class. Nothing fancy, but I showed them how to come up with basic cost for their shop and supplies. Without even adding in labor 1 guy was charging LESS than his own cost! He was paying his customers $27 PLUS doing all the labor for FREE! Most guys let their competition set their prices. Sorry, but I won’t let anyone decide what I want to charge! This is still America! It’s not a dictatorship…Yet. Most of us will have about the same cost in materials, shipping , and tanning. Our overhead will vary from shop to shop. But it all boils down to what we want to charge for our hourly rate. In the class I did at Surry, I broke it down to the basic essentials. If you charged for a deer;
$303= $5per hour
$366= $10per hour
$492= $20per hour
$555= $25per hour
One day, I’m gonna make what the guy with the lawnmower makes, $40 per hour!:biggergrin:
It’s nice to see this debated in an informative a courteous manner (would not be this way on you know where) . I have been part time for 10 1/2 years. I was 50 years old before I started. I can’t think of many other proffessions that experience plays such a role in achieving a high level of quality. ( except maybe a surgeon…practice specimens are harder to come by!) I know I have not been running my business as a business. I guess I used the excuse that I had a full time job and didn’t need to pay the bills with my taxidermy work. I am retiring from that job in July and plan on starting another career in the financial services industry and growing my taxidermy business. For those who may read this that are just starting out, I hope my experience will get you thinking about where you want to go with your taxidermy skills. I started out just wanting to do one of my own deer. I was lucky enough to work with a guy who had a little part time taxi hobby and I did a couple of my mounts with him. I found the taxi net website in 2001 and I did get a wealth of information from it. I entered the 3rd deer I ever did in the Maryland show and Hilton Epply judged it. It was an awful mount! He was very kind and didn’t even laugh at it. I learned sooo much from his critique. I met Dean Ursiti at that show. Dean had won 2nd in the World Masters Division ( I forget the year 2002/3 maybe) I ended up taking 2 seperate three day work shops with him. I have bought many VCR/DVDS, joined my state association, make the trip to Surry almost every year, and am planning a week with Vince Flemming in August. My Mom always said” If it’s worth doing, it’s worth doing right” . I only do mammals. I only get a few calls for fish and birds and at 60 years old, I want to spend my time impoving what I like to do, instead of trying to do all things. That’s your decision to make. You will waste a lot of time trying to improve your work if you do not seek help. I have found your fellow taxidermist are among some of the most generous professionals you will find when it comes to sharing knowledge. About the 2nd year I had been mounting deer my wife said if I was going to get serious about this that I needed to get out of the corner of the basement and build a shop..so I did. I took part of one summer and built it myself. It is not very big, 16 X 24 vinyl sided ,running water ,heat/A/C, TV, and home to my Austrialian Sheppard ( wife calls it world’s most expensive dog house) It helps if your significant other supports you. Mine comes with me to Surry and drives around to yard sales or just kicks back in the room. Makes a nice mini vacation. I know this is long winded, but I guess what I’m saying is it is possible to enjoy something so much that you can loose focus on the business end. To charge top price , you have to put out top quality. It is true in taxidermy work that you don’t always get what you pay for. You will not build a large clientel over night. I have the upmost respect for the full time taxidermist who support and raises a family on taxidermy work alone. There are a couple taxidermist in my area who have priced themselves out of the market($750+deer) ..in this area maybe not your area. I charged $400 for a shoulder mount the last two years. I can’t do it for that this year. Material , shippping cost, electricity, taxes have dictated that. Plus I’m giving myself a cost of living incease. One of my customers picked up his deer last week and said a friend of his was bragging that he only paid $225 dollars for his mount, and when my customer looked at it he said it was cut from the back, down over the side and had staples holding it together. Probably a good chance the guy that mounted this didn’t belong to the VTA! When your work is good enough , charge for it. I am guilty of underpricing my work for fear of loosing some work. It is hard to break that mindset. I plan on correcting that this year. Thank to all you veterans and active military. I get to do what I do because of what you did & still do. Thanks to your faimily’s sacrifice also. God Bless.
May 3, 2012
Offline
I found the survey very informitive. I will be charging $450 for a mule deer shoulder mount this year. I have researched some of the other shops and found a wide variety of prices, some as low as $300. I enjoy the compitition part of taxidermy. My first compitition was in Reno for the worlds,I entered as a novice being my first time and only doing taxidermy for a year. I had no idea what to expect I only knew that my seminar time slots were full. I loved it and I scored a ribbon but most of all I was able to get a great critique on how to better my work. So if there are some out there that are a little hesstant about competion, go and you will be amazed at how much your work will improve by talking to the judges who scored your mount and the seminars you can attend.
I’d like to add a couple of things here for consideration. Now don’t get offended at the 1st point. #1 Most of the time (at least 95%) a person doing taxidermy knows what his work is worth. If the survey could also show the level of work to go along with some of the answers then you would know why they are where they are. This is not said to tick anyone off so…. hang in there with me for a few before your hair stands on end. #2 The more work you take in the less productive you become. This is when you MUST consider the overhead needed in the cost of a mount. In other words you end up working customers more than taxidermy. I was however surprised to see how low the average price was. I especially like the analogy of what others charge for their time in their chosen or part time endeavors. I charge $475 plus $50 for a backboard.
I would disagree with you John. In all my life and my travels, 95% of taxidermists that i’ve met, charge the same or less than the competitors up the road. Most taxidermists are afraid that they won’t get as much work in if they charge what they are worth. But since most ….nevermind. Don’t want to start a fight.:biggergrin:
John the economy varies town to town, state to state. I could assume by your price you think your the best, but you could also be the low baller in your neck of the woods . You might need to raise your prices. I believe there is a lot of talented taxidermist that know their work is worth a lot more, but they have to pay the bills.that’s why prices are the way they are.
Good discussion here guys. Why do you suppose that those who earn national recognition with high quality mounts are not the low priced guy in their area? Or why do you suppose the guy who puts out sub industry standard work is never the highest priced in the area? I submit that it’s because they both know what their work is worth. I think this is just as much a part of the equation as the economy in the area, etc. I agree with you Page that it’s scary to step out on a limb with prices. Isn’t it interesting how everyone else comes along when one decides to raise his prices whatever his reason is. On another note for some being the best is not just about quality. Turn around time may be more important, just saying. Thanks guys, I appreciate your view here.
