I am new to taxidermy. about six months ago an acquaintance, who knew I was just starting in taxidermy asked me to mount a fish for him that was in his freezer for three years. I agreed to do so, explaining that I only had limited experience with fish. After inspecting the fish I saw that it had suffered severe freezer burn and notified the customer. He asked me to see what I could do and I told him that I would still have to charge for material and minimal time at a rate of $5 per inch. The fish was 24" long and I charged the customer $120. I showed the completed fish to several other fisherman friends who said that it looked fairly good considering the condition it was in before mounting. When the guy came to pick up the fish he said he was satisfied and paid me the amount due. A couple of months ago this same person asked me to fan tail mount a turkey he shot in spring. The only things he gave me were the tail, wings, feet and beard. I told him that I could do a wall mount displaying all these parts and would charge $75. He said Ok. When I notified him that the turkey mount was complete he asked how much it would be and I said $75. He went into a rampage saying that a lot of his friends said that he paid too much for the fish mount I did and that it was not a good job. He said that he wasn't going to pay for the turkey and I could keep it. I told him that if it would satisfy him, I would not charge him anything for the turkey. He said that was fair since I overcharge him for a poorly mounted fish. Needless to say I am very upset over this incident, not because of the loss of income on the turkey mount but because of the harsh criticism of the fish mount and what I charged him for it. Although I am a novice, I love taxidermy but I am ready to quit doing it for anyone except myself. I need constructive criticism as to what I should and should not have done. Should I get out of doing taxidermy for others? needed from
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Joe
Gonna have to toughen up a bit, cause if you toss in the towel now your never gonna be the taxidermist/businessman that you want to be.....say your a novice well guess what....if you love taxidermy and stay in it your gonna find out that if you reach the top 3 % of what I call master taxidermist, you will still have this same problem.....it hurts not being able to satisify everybody and it was gonna happen sooner or later ...consider yourself lucky you get to take your lesson in dealing with the public 101 this early in the game.... take your time, pay your dues, and do your best always....
good luck (*)
From a business perspective, you did a lot of things right, seems to me. You honestly apprised the customer of the condition of his fish and stated, up front, your reservations about mounting it in the condition it was in. And you set forth the cost beforehand. Don't know if you put these things in writing, but since he agreed to the fish mount cost, and paid you, it worked out anyway.
It is unfortunate that he went postal with you on the turkey parts, but again, I think you did your best to diffuse the situation. Most customers would have been pleased to get a reduction in cost, for being the squeaky wheel, but you went a step further and offered your efforts for free. This could have potentially saved the business relationship, and for many reasonable customers, it would have, but since the guy is obviously not reasonable, it still went to h--- in a hatbox. I certainly wouldn't mount anything else for this person, were I you. But I wouldn't swear off all taxidermy work for others.
Bottom line is, I think your business instincts are okay. There's no accounting for the stinkers in this world. But please don't let one stinker discourage you. Sounds like you are very into taxidermy work,and like it a lot, and I don't think you should give up working for other people - think of all the cool mounts you may get to do if you really get into the business of it. And the potential for money to be made! You could maybe eventually give up your day job and do taxidermy all the time. I know I would love that!
The only thing you might do, if you are still so concerned, is not work on specimens that are in such bad shape - just reject them. And possibly get a contract or some written documentation system going to support your claims about specimen condition, to support the fact that the dude told you to go ahead with the mount anyway once you had briefed him on the situation, and to support the agreed upon cost and terms of payment (ie. how long a time he has to get you the money, form of payment acceptable, etc).
Keep your chin up!
First of all Even if the fish did not look great what can the guy expect
for $5.00 an inch? You get what you pay for right. You also explained to him
that you were not an expert at fish. So he should have no gripe. Now on to the
Turkey fan mount and wings and beard. $75.00 is to cheap for that also. So looks to me
like this was a cheap customer. These are the type of customers we as taxidermists would like
to get away from. I have had the same problems in the past and what I did to change it
was RAISE my prices. I know am getting $9.00 an inch for fish and $300.00 for a whitetail
shoulder mount. Some may say this is still to cheap but I can raise the price
next year a little more. I have started to get customers know that
do not worry about the cost. I had a guy just 2 days ago bring me a
rack and skull from a 19 point non-typical buck that he bought for $400.00.
I quoted a price of $500.00 to get a replacement cape and mount it for him. He left it no questions asked. And left me a $300.00
deposit. Those are the customers we want. So just try to weed out the undesireable cheap customers
and get in the good ones. And the worst customers are aquaintences
and relatives. As far as getting payed so always get a deposit.
Todd Buchanan
I would have to say if I were you I would have a new turkey display for my shop. As long as he knew what to expect and he was happy when he picked it up I don't see the problem. If the guy down the road wants to work for free let him. Charge what your time is worth if they dont like it send him down the road. There are always people who will give you problems, but when the good customers start rolling in you can weed out the bad ones.
Joe,
You did not mention it but you should get at least a 50% deposit on all your work. Do not start on any project until you get the 50%. I am willing to bet that if you had gotten the deposit on the turkey (it should have cost more) your customer would not have squawked so much. You should also have a contract that requires the customer to put his name on the line under the quoted price then you would have a legal document with which to hold him accountable.
Good Luck,
Brent Thyssen
Timber Tiger Taxidermy
I like the guy who said that your customer was cheap.... He hit the nail right on the head. This is one type of person you want to stay away from. They want everything for nothing and don't want to pay for it. Then they want a competion showpiece.
Brush it off, and don't worry about it. Ive delt with people like him for years. You don't need them or want them.
As you get more experience you will learn that you can tell somebody like that to go #@^%&&%$@$() Themselves tactfully and they will thank you for it. Sometimes this is the funnest thing to do, and it makes you feel good to. (Reverse psychology) This can be really fun.
Keep your head and concentrate on the work that you can do and will learn along the way. It's an awsome profession.
Shawn Roberts
Shawn's Waterfowl Creations
Pennsylvania
Joe
I would have charged him full price for the turkey and taken the fish
back and given a refund on it or repainted it. Chances are he would not have given up his fish.
Thanks to all who responded to my "dissatisfied customer." Each response had something different to offer and I will certainly heed the advice and greatly appreciate the moral support. You're a great bunch of folks.
Joe P
you did the right thing calling the customer about the condition of the fish prior to mounting it..i have a disclaimer that is signed by all customers including friends because beleive it or not they are the ones who try to screw you..brush it off..but remember my policy to myself is no discounts anymore not even for buddies..sounds like you tried your best to satisfy the dissatisfiable..don't through in the towel i think we all have been through this at one point..remember no discounts not even buddies...
Just how long have you been doing taxidermy? You said you were new to it. Maybe you need more experience in taxidermy before charging people for not so satisfactory work. Maybe you are not quite ready for customers yet. I'm not trying to sound like a snot ass when I say this. I don't know what your work looks like nor do I know how much experience you've had, but it was just another thought. Whatever you do, don't give up. McDonalds is always looking for a few good people, plus free uniforms......just kidding! Really, don't give up, practice on some of your own things for awhile and join your state association for more education at the offered seminars. Enter a piece and compete if nothing else for the critique afterwards. That REALLY learns ya. Plus you can talk taxidermy all weekend at a show and pick up great tips. These guys led you down the right road for when you are ready. And lastly, get that 50% downpayment and stand by your work at pickup time, don't let the customer hose you over because he thinks he can.
Good luck to you! Subscribe to Breakthrough Magazine too.
Joe I was reading the posts to your dilemma and decided that you needed some advice. But Leanna beat me to it . Don't take us wrong, we all started as hobbiest at some point. But I did not do a single mount for someone until I was satisfied that what I was doing was competent and presentable to the public eye. Fish can be tough to do in skinning, alignment of the anatomy and then reproduce the color as best you can to the fish that does not look like it did at one time. Practice and get some seminars under your belt get in your states association don't give up your study. Look at other mounts done by proffessional taxidermist from your area to gage yourself before you agree to take on work for someone. Then have that contract and stand behind your work and weed out those guys looking for a deal. Not only will you be happy but so will your customer.Hope this helps.
I am new at this stuff to and have been practicing on my own mounts for a while. I don't want to do a mount for someone else until I feel 100% comfortable with my work. There is a full time taxidermist in my area that has been doing it for ever and I know I could turn out the same quailty of work or better and he always has a freezer full the trick is his prices reflects his work he is cheap and some people would rather have a cheap mount than good one. If you feel comfortable doing work keep doing it, just make sure they know what to expect when it is finished.
All of us had a starting point at which we began doing our own stuff. Over time, we began to accept work from friends and relatives at a very "reasonable" rate. As our skills developed, we began to see people coming through the door or calling on the phone who had seen our cousin Clem's deer head and heard what it cost him to get it done. These guys that hang with Clem are pretty much like Clem in that they seek out the "reasonable" rate taxidermist because they simply aren't willing to spend any more than they have to on their trophy of a lifetime, regardless of its quality. Free is twice as much as it's worth to them. At some point in your progression as a taxidermist, you have to accept the fact that Clem and his ilk are best left in the dust. WHo needs them? If you feel your work is of a standard that it deserves better pay for your talent or time, then rauise your prices to reflect the pride you take in that work. Sure, Clem won't be coming back, or if he does, he's going to gripe and bitch at you. But he's yesterday. He'll never pay what you want or need from a customer. Instead, reaalign your advertising and marketing with the class of clientele that doesn't ask for a discount rate first thing through the door. Look for the guys who have decent jobs, or better yet, careers, like drs., lawyers, businesspeople. Really go after the guy who joins groups like DU, QU, Pheasants Forever, etc.. These guys go into January 1 with plans of spending a good part of their income on hunting and fishing. They've invested a lot of money in their habit before they even cast a shadow on your step and they consider the thought of NOT having the trophy that resulted mounted to be more ludicrous than paying top-end prices. Bottom line- if you find yourself repeatedly dealing with the same chiselers year aftr year, day after day, maybe you're directing your promotional efforts in the wrong direction. In fact, refer them to the guy down the road. let'em be his/her headache. In the time you spent defending your pricing, you could have been making money and getting work done for champion customers. And don't give up the dream of doing this vocation if you're really committed to the cause. It may take time, but you WILL get to point B. And, BTW, it was only a few years ago that I was just like you. But, after four years of listening to these ol' dogs on here, I've finally seen the light and today, I control the direction of my business, rather than let the tight-ass customers I don't need anyway tell me how I should do things. Hang tough, learn, and always remember that the opportunity to learn is often disguised as a failure.
Joe, don't give up because of one person not liking your work. You will never please everyone, especially someome looking for a freebee. I also have not been doing taxidermy very long but I do quality work which I have compared to other taxidermist in my area. My experience is that so called friends and aquaintances will expect you to give them a cheaper price because of your relationship with them. A true friend will appriciate you and your work and not haggle about a price. I still cut deals with friends but let them know it's a deal for them only. The quality of your work will speak for itself. Practice makes perfect so keep up the good work and always strive to better. The customers will come, it just takes time to build up a business so stick with it.
I ALWAYS EXPECT TO GET WHAT I PAY FOR. I NEEDED TO RAMS MOUNTED A WHITE DALL AND A CORISCAN. PAID $325 A PIECE AND I WAS UNPLEASED TO SAY THE LEAST. I WOULD HAVE PAID MORE TO GET A BETTER JOB DONE. I AM LOOKING FOR A TAXIDERMIST RIGHT NOW TO DO A AXIS BUCK. I WILL BE HUNTING FOR ONE AT THE END OF NEXT MONTH. I EXPECT TO PAY TOP PRICE. SEEING AS HOW I WANT TOP QUAILTY. THAT GUY YOU DEALT WITH IS JUST A JERK AND PROBABLY A BIG POOPER SCOOPER TOO STAY AWAY FROM NIMRODS LIKE HIM AND RAISE YOUR PRICES. THIS WILL WEED OUT THE RIFF RAFF, BUT DONT GIVE UP IT IS HARD TO FIND A WILDLIFE ARTIST THAT WILL DO GOOD WORK. STICK WITH IT.