there seems to be a wide variety in the price to mount a whitetail deer, i have been in sales for years and it seems pretty basic to determine a fair price, materials plus mark up and labor hours times your labor rate. this is what i came up with:
materials: labor:
manikin = $35 10 hrs @ $25 per hr. = $250
eyes = $11
plack = $15
misc. = $8 total charge to customer = $330.00
mark up = 15%
toatl = $80
am i that far off? I here people talking about getting around $200 for a mount. how can you make decent money? does anyone have any idea what the national average for a decent mount? I am fairly new to taxidermy so I plan on charging $295 this year, hopefully next year I can hit my goal and charge the $330.
please let me know if there is a better formula for pricing.
thanks for your comments.
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If you are confident in your work, why not just charge the $330 from the beginning? I do not have a sure fire way to determine good pricing, but there is a link to TaxidermyReference.com called "How much to stuff that deer head?" That is a good article....My advice stays the same.....If you are confident in your work....start at the higher price. Good luck.
Billy,
Are you going to tan that hide or just throw it on the form raw? Add another $40 for tanning plus shipping. How about earliners? Better add another $6. How about hide paste? You going to use any of that? Paint? Pins? You have far underestimated your shop supplies. I am at $375 and will be going up to $400 this year.
Bruce Norton
what about PROFIT?, you know THE REASON for being in business! What about OVERHEAD, even out of your home a percentage of the light and house payment etc. I have been well over 500.00 for three years now and I have competitors come and go and they charge WAY less, and I can not barely get all my work finished every year. Pricing is PRECEPTION of value more than anything. Why cann't taxidermists grasp that simple fact? Any taxidermist anywhere in this country at less than 400.00 for a deer mount is a idiot and deserves to loose money and his business, both of which are happening to him or her as a fact.
The price someone charges for a deer head is up to them, and them alone, it does not make him an idiot. While a box of Cheerios or a new Dodge Pickup across the United States probably doesn't differ much, but the cost of living varies immensely. A one bedroom apartment in San Francisco might cost $2000.00 a month, but a huge mansion in certain areas of the south might only cost $500.00 in rent a month.
Billy, I would use the search icon and type in "pricing" and you will find an entire afternoon of reading on discussions on how to price, and the why of pricing.
But do them for free and for the glory and do your very best for the ribbons. Or for just over costs and McDonalds wages. Then when you whine about how your not making it in this business and you can blame everything on someone else or even taxidermy itself.
you have to look at other people in the area as well not that it matters much, but if a guy who charges $250 and does decent work, why would you pay $500 for the same quality of work, no one will! and thats what sucks, because we should all be charging at least $300. i would say look around and see how much other people charge in your area and what you think hunters would be willing to afford to pay, example a hunter from the chicago illinois will probably be more likely to pay $500 for a deer head as oppsed to a hunter in bumblef*ck iowa who cant afford anything more than $200. am i wrong?
First of all, I would like to say that taxidermy isn't a necessity to have. It's more like a luxury. Like buying pictures for your living room wall. If the person can't afford to have their deer head mounted. Then I guess taking a few pictures of it and keeping the antlers, and putting them on a plaque is what they should do. Most people that do taxidermy for a living. Have to pay a mortgage, or rent. Pay their utilities, feed the family,ECT. I'm not going to work for $5.00 an hour just so this person from "bumblef*ck Iowa" can have his or her deer head mounted.
Coyote
Although prices may Very. Some things never change. Seems that the fact some people believe their way, or opinion is the only correct one. Is one of those things. In my lifetime I have traveled this country from end to end. I have worked in Taxidermy in many of the contiguous states. and Alaska. The one thing I know for sure. Is there is no set price. No magic number that spells success. In Massachusetts where a 1 bedroom apartment runs $600.00 a month the overall income is commiserative with the average cost of living. in eastern Kentucky, and south western Virginia. Where average wages are low. a house can be renter for $350.00 a month. Why? Because people can't afford to pay more. and overpriced items sit unsold. Especially those that do not fall into the necessity category. Wile a Taxidermist living in Hilo, Hi. Could never survive mounting deer for under $500.00 the same taxidermist in Wise County Va. Would do very well at $300.00 If you doubt this. Here is an example. I looked at several 2000 model ford f 350 deulies in my area. all equipped about the same. the average price was $18,000.00
Wile in Wise County Va. I look at several. the average price for comparable trucks was $13,000.00 at dealerships. And I purchased one with a scant 46,000 miles for $11,000.00 from a private individual. The economic base of a given area dictates the cost of living. As well as the cost of services. So you see what one charges for ones work does not make them an idiot. Close minded linear thinking may though.
You will never listen and you missed my point and always will. Here again is the bottom line fact no matter what you do or what business you are in, proven true since free enterprize began. People will pay what they think your work is worth depending on how you present yourself, your shop and your product. Not all will but enough will to keep you in business and busy and make a profit if you do it right. Go ahead, charge as little as you can, be worried about what the other guy is doing or charging, get it all in, then explain your poverty and bad luck in this business away to whatever and whoever you want, but esp. to your mirror.
What would you rather do, 100 deer heads for $250, or 50 deer heads for $500? You may not get the volume, but you make more money. ALso, something that you may not know is the guys paying $500 for a head usually show up to pay for it and pick it up unlike the guys you do them for $250. I know it for a fact. My clientell got 150% better when I rasied my prices to above my compitition.
I have to say that if you want ot practice on a hunters big game heads and charge them just for materials, that is one thing, but if you are trying to make a living, you have to make a profit or you are going nowhere.
.....When you undercut prices to get yourself "more work". If your competition is getting $500 to do a deer head and you charge $350, you are paying $150 for the privilage of mounting each head. Go ahead, the sooner you burn out the better living your competition will make!