I remember reading a few years back in Breakthrough state by state averages on taxidermy work. Just wondering, What is average prices where you live? Deer Heads Only Im in northern Ohio, its around 300-325 dollars.
Return to Deer Taxidermy Category Menu
I charge $375, average I'd say $275, but as low as $165.
Yes, we have a few of those guys too! $160 When theycall and ask for price and say so and so will do it for $160, I say then you better take it to so and so!
stop by the other night with a deer for his son. Asked how much, $375, he says "Hmmm, I was thinking $300" to which my response, "Hmmmm, I was thinking for $300 you need to take it to someone else". I guess he did.
Here we have most of the taxidermist anywhere from $350-$450. When I see the price for $250 I sometimes question the quality of the mount. However I am not sure what everyone else thinks. I am going into my first year of taxidermy. I have been contemplating on how much to charge. I think that the couple of mounts that I have done thus far look pretty good. They look 100 times better that the ones that you see with the big buggy eyes. That is my pet pieve. I was thinking about charging $275-$300 for my first year.
and go with it. If you do it for 300 just go with it and they will come. If you do it for 350 they will come. They might question you but if they do they can find somebody else, thats the way I look at it. Just think about all the time and labor you have to put in it. If he says that hes going to Joe for 200 and he has 25 years exp. at taxidermy tell him to go, but stay firm and don't back down they will come. Tell them to come and see your work at your shop. I let my work speak for itself. I was born in a Artist family and thats my motto. I'm a rookie also but play hard and don't give up.
I assume you are referring to whitetail deer.I am charging
$350 for a blacktail deer mount--am I asking too much?
I just upped my price to $425 from $375. But Im probably the highest priced in my area. I think others are around $350?
I get $390.00 for my heads and plan on raising my price to $400.00 this fall to where I will stay for a few years. I have no problem getting the price I ask. Don't lower your price a few dollars just to get a job. stick to your price and if they don't want to pay it then you don't need them anyway. There is a big difference between quantity and quality. I know a Taxidermist who get $565.00 and he lives about ten miles from me. He does very nice work and takes in well over a hundred deer heads. When you are good people will pay for your services.
Just for entertainment, I thought I'd toss these in. I picked up a flier from a local full timer...
Pronghorn: $675
Caribou: $795
Deer: $605
Elk: $975
Moose: $1,475
Full mounts...
Caribou: $4,800
Goat: $3,200
Fox: $925
Cougar: $3,000
Bobcat/lynx: $995
I don't know this guy personally, so I don't know his work. I know another full timer personally, who's prices are similiar. He's generally overloaded. A year wait, minimum. His wife works for/with him. Sent at least one kid to college...
My price is $560 for deer and I will be raising it soon to $595. I can't believe these low prices. After telephone calls, logging in, talking to clients, skinning, fleshing, salting, tanning, time to order and recieve supplies, mounting, finishing and contacting the client to come and get his mount (sometimes over and over), and most importantly SHOP AND OPERATING OVERHEAD EXPENCES, I cannot see how it is possible for you guys to make any money of your under $500. WOW seems like all these training classes, videos out there have missed one very important lesson, Business and making money.
My prices
Deer $560 (WT, Mule or balck tail)
Antelope $560
Elk $895
Moose $900, $1,050, $1,300. Shirias, Canadian, Alaskan
LS Black Bear $2,900 Min plus the base, plus open mouth
LS Cougar $2,900 plus base, plus open mouth
Life size Fox $795 plus the base, plus open mouth
Mallard $320
Canadian Goose $450
Bear Rugs $165 per linear foot
Don't talk it wrong please, I am not bashin anyone but I am totally surprised.?
Almost all of you do not charge enough. I'm glad to see some of you have recently raised your prices or will do so soon. Here's a quick example of how I figured my price for a standard closed mouth whitetail shoulder mount.
I determined that the supplies to mount a deer were approximately $130. The supplies included the form, eyes, ears, salt, scalpel blades, cost of tanning and shipping at a commercial tannery, cost of shipping for supplies froma supply company, critter clay, hide paste, Apoxie clay/sculpt, mod-podge, staples for back of mount, mache, drywall screws, paints, needle, thread, hanger for back of mount, septum, epoxy for earliners, and there's probably several other things I didn't mention as I don't have my complete list in front of me right now.
I used a 30% markup on supplies. $130 x 1.3 = $169 (Round up to $170 for this example) Now your supplies and markup alone are $170.
I consider myself slow and it takes me about 12 hours to mount a standard closed mouth deer head from the time I receive it until it is ready to be picked up. I also do quality work. For this example assume I pay myself $22.50/hr and assume an overhead rate of $5.00/hr which totals $27.50/hour. 12 hours x $27.50/hour = $330. $330 + $170 = $500 for a standard shoulder mount.
Now this is just an example. I only do it part-time and my real job pays my benefits, 401K, etc. If your hourly rate and/or overhead rates are higher, and at least your overhead rate probably should be, then the cost of your mount will be higher. An overhead rate of $5.00 is very low and in my example doesn't include rent/mortgage, business insurance, health or dental insurance, or retirement savings, etc. So really $500/deer head still isn't going to cut it for a full timer that wants to make a decent wage and have benefits.
This may sound harsh but it's the truth - you guys charging $300 and even $400 aren't charging enough. By not being fair to yourself and raising prices you work for peanuts and the public comes to expect low prices. Look at your clientele. Are they driving a new turck or SUV? Did they shoot that deer with a $700 rifle with a $500 scope, or a $700 Mathews bow? What did their out of state hunt cost them? Get the picture? A lot of customers can pay more than what you're going rate is but they have come to expect low prices for taxidermy work. In the example above, if they won't pay the $500 price tag for me to mount their deer, they can go somewhere else. Again, I am not dependent on getting a great deal of work, but it shouldn't really matter because again, you need to be fair to yourself and therefore charge accordingly. Taxidermists also need to educate the public better on what it takes to produce a quality mount and why it costs what it does (or should cost for a lot of you that don't charge enough).
In the prices above, lets assume that the cost of supplies is constant and a 30% markup is used so those costs total $170. At $300, your hourly rate to mount a deer in 12 hours is $300-$170=$130/12 hours=$10.83/hr. Your take home pay would be about $9/hr or less after taxes, overhead, etc. At $400, your hourly rate for a 12 hour job is $400-$170=$230/12 hours = $19.17. Not too bad but remember out of that $19.17 taxes,overhead, and benefits need to subtracted. So now maybe you're down to $15-18/hour or less. If you can mount a quality deer head in less then 12 hours that's great, but the numbers won't be that much different from the examples in which I used 12 hours.
You will have to do some calculations for your own situation but in general, the example above (a $500 deer head) is not at all unreasonable and is probably still too low. I think I'll raise my prices again.
Good response. I was typing while you were too and you beat me to the submit button.
Wow!I am going to raise my prices!Thanks for all the info,
it is a big help.
I agree with you 100%, but here's my deal. In my area, which has been particularly hard hit with textile jobs being sent overseas. The busiest full timer near me is at $325, I'm at $375 and going up.Then there are the other taxidermist that won't go up and are killing themselves to earn a few dollars. But being fairly new and building a reputation, guys around here are just getting to know me. I am not defending it but until your rep gets up and people get to know your work they just won't throw down that kind of money.
I sure see your point Brian, Unfortunatly the business world is kinda like the survival of the fittest, the weaker of the species goes down and the stronger survives. At prices as low as you guys are charging just hope and pray your the one that survives.
Again don't get me wrong as I do not meen to bash anyone, but numbers don't lie they just proove who is on the bottom. Wish you good luck.
Unfortunately, too many taxidermists focus on what the "other guy" is charging and not enough on what is needed to charge to earn a living. One must seriously consider if your goal as a taxidermist is to have a fun hobby where income isn't an issue versus supporting a family. A business course would certainly be recommended. You would be astounded at just how little money is earned on a deer head after all is said and done. If all taxidermists would rally together and increase their pricing, we would all benefit and there no longer would be the cheaper "other guy". Prices should vary somewhat but not in the range of hundreds! Keep in mind that taxidermy is art. We are not governed in any way regarding what to charge for our work. The sky is the limit and anyone who continually lowers their prices to beat out the competition is actually hurting the entire industry. Remember, no one questions a painter or sculptor about the price of their work. We all need to have that same level of pride. Americans spend more money on daily "junk"...myself included! If someone really wants their deer mounted, an additional hundred dollars spread out over a year is not going to break the bank.
Im glad so many responded to this! I think that im a bit low also, problem is that too many other guys in my part of the state (Ohio) arnt charging enough $ and for me to get even $400 would be tough. I would probably get 5 heads a year but on the other hand, since Taxidermy is not my only income, only extra cash, I should set the standard and maybe others will follow. Thanks to all who responded and please dont forget to say what state your in. Im not ending this so please responding!
I just had a Plumber at my shop today and he fixed a Leaking water pipe . He charged me 85.00 for the job and he was done in ONE hour that included running back to his shop for a ladder which was only a mile away 2 miles total but he did not even Blink a eye when he gave me the bill . Gees 85 an hour would be nice. He used about a foot of copper pipe for the job.
GG
i charge $700 for a standard mount
Taxidermist here in Cen. Texas charge $495.00 - $600.00.
After doing all the caping, prep work and then the actual
mounting (the fun part)the mount has to be detailed.
That comes out to what... $40.00 an hour or one mount a day?
And that has to be day in day out to make any profit.
AND, then factor in the percentage of customers that
never pick up a mount.