What's your hourly shop time

Not enough!!!!!!! Been in the business 6 years, and still building my business, I still don't charge what the shops around my area are charging..... But then I get a pension check and really don't have to have an income from my shop. {nice to have thought} The worst part is customers leaving mounts in the showroom for 18 months,,,,

 

$96 /hr for a house call is hard to compare to a shop rate.. usually they charge for 1 way of the commute too.

House call usually is more expensive.

Pending what I'm doing my rate is between $35-150/hr.

Usually repair work is towards the higher end.. and I charge a minimum of $100 and sometimes it only takes 1hr..



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$30/hr. More for repair/refurb work

 

$50 to $150 per hour depending on who it is for and what I am doing.

 

I was in a auto body shop today . The shop rate sign was between 45.00 and 65.00 per hour depending on what was being done. Plus they mark up the parts that they buy WHOLESALE . Not like taxidermy where your customer can buy at the same price as you , or the come in with a McK catalog or a ripped out page. Don't you love when that happens.

 

Just remember that taxidermy is not a necessity. A plumber, electricion, refer man , mechanic, those guys are if something goes wrong. Taxidermy you can do without so you can't compare rates.

 

What does a refer man charge? Is he from Colorado?



;D

Kerby...

 

$75/hr ---

 

For new work, just to be clear my BILLING RATE for clients (not MY personal hourly rate) varies by specie but for restoration work I bill out at $45/hr and that includes most materials (minimal with fish). And of course all of my costs - materials, overhead, directs and indirect costs are included in that rate so I'm not getting rich! But, that rate is based on a lot of figuring based on MY expenses. So, you should take these numbers with a grain of salt. The cost of living is higher here than many areas.

Jeepers Richard, you must've walked into an auto shop from the Twilight Zone with those cheap rates! Every auto repair shop I know around here is billing out at $100/hr minimum. And that's the tiny, one man shops! Also, a side note. Only time somebody ever handed me a McKenzie catalog questioning my prices was for driftwood. Of course I explained to him that this is a business, blah, blah, blah. But, eventually I ended up telling him that he could go ahead and order his one piece of driftwood from McKenzie, pay the shipping and take his time to place the order and then he could drop off the piece of driftwood and supply it himself. So, he did. But, the piece he ordered just didn't work very well with the size of his fish or the direction of the position he wanted. So, I credited him for his piece of driftwood for what I would have paid for it (12% less discount plus $5 less shipping costs) and let him pick out one of my pieces for the cost difference. He was happy but I think learned a lesson about business as his move ended up costing him MORE for my driftwood than he would have paid for it the first place!

 

$75 per hour minimum.

 

Yup Kirby, those Refer men are well over paid probably over 100 bucks an hour all tax free. We're in the wrong business. Lol

 

$82.00 per hour...no matter the job

 

Fish, I had a customer come in and ask for a specific deer manikin by the McKenzie number! But then he didn't question the mount price.

 

The answer to the hourly problem for taxidermy has been going on for years. Lets face it , 90% or more taxidermists don't charge near enough. Supply companies dont treat taxidermists like business people because most are not business people. How many REAL businesses pay retail price for their supplies?? If your not charging $50 to $75 you not making what you should. In my area it is very hard to charge enough to make a living because there are dozens of low ballers out there working for nothing or very little. Unfortunately that is taxidermy.

 

Randy, just splitting hairs here to make a point, but what is "enough"? And how much is "making what you should"? The fact of the matter is like any other business, the market pretty much drives our prices. When you have an industry saturated with multiple levels of talent - where many consumers cannot see the difference, complicating matters. And an industry that costs basically nothing to get into - minimal costs, zero education dollars and basically no up-front investment. Then, obviously you can see why most cannot command those rates! In this country, in my state it costs me $25 bucks for a license and "bam" I'm a taxidermist! Not too many industries out there where you can jump right into without ANY investment really and make the dollars you're/we're talking. A few do. But, some of these numbers I'm pretty certain people are blowing roses up our arses! OR, these people do like 3 mounts a year. The fact of the matter is I don't think this industry DESERVES the high wages that many keep complaining about! Just like any other entry level job that requires minimal skill sets, this market is saturated with those types of individuals. Most of us have no commute and therefore no associated commuting costs and that gains me 10 hours a week here in Chicago without commuting time. So, we get other perks like some of our time back - my time is most important for me. But, not the big bucks. Besides, the numbers that some are talking would exceed the salaries of many professionals and those in the trades. Sorry, but this industry does not warrant those types of wages. The market tells it all...

 

Best reply I have seen in years FishArt

 

Excellent post Fish!!!
But in addition I believe fear drives our prices not the market. We as an industry are afraid to raise our prices because we "may not get in enough work!!" Which therefore dictates a self imposed income ceiling!

Another issue that muddies the hourly rate is that I have up to 4 Taxidermist's working and in peek season including skinners and misc staff up to ten individuals working. So w the exception of their hourly rate or salary then my operating costs come out to substantially lower than some much smaller shops on paper. It gets complicated pretty quick!

 

Taxiserv, how does the operating cost come out lower than for a small shop? Is it because more is accomplished in the same time frame or something I'm missing?

 

At least a hundred an hour. A fellow I worked with, out Reno way, once reminded me that you may have to do it twice. So when things go perfect you can double that. I deal with a lot of interruptions running my business and those need to be payed for. I have kept my expenses down by investing in my own shop, sculpting my own forms etc. I also target an elite clientele! If you you don't make enough money you will be forced to be nothing more than an upholsterer.