Taxi owners this has been bothering me so I must ask please reply.

Bill, that's probably the best advice to be found in this thread.

 

First off Brother this is b/s. Just because someone can turn a deer in a little over a month dont mean they have shabby work, nor does lower prices mean they do bad work either. I can turn a shoulder mount with out a board for 150$. Why? Because this is my first season out on my own, Don't have clients lined up, so thats why its so cheap to draw them in. Then eventually when I start getting more I can up my prices. But that in no way shape or form says that I do shabby work.. Not doggin ya, just thought I would let ya know thats not always the case.

 

So basically you're just trying to under cut everyone else in your area to get business right?...Your not by chance in NC are you? We need another $150 guy here so we can work him to death! The last one made it 2 years and quit broke and divorced!

 

whores are cheap too.

First off Brother this is b/s. Just because someone can turn a deer in a little over a month dont mean they have shabby work, nor does lower prices mean they do bad work either. I can turn a shoulder mount with out a board for 150$. Why? Because this is my first season out on my own, Don't have clients lined up, so thats why its so cheap to draw them in. Then eventually when I start getting more I can up my prices. But that in no way shape or form says that I do shabby work.. Not doggin ya, just thought I would let ya know thats not always the case.

Can we see a picture of one of them $150 deer? Put your money where your mouth is.

 

But T!...Even with Whores, You get what you pay for! ;D

 

Mike, the only BS here is coming from YOU. Let's say the forms cost you about $45 after shipping. You probably buy the cheap $3 eyes and use Bondo you stole from work to do the ears. You use caulking from the same place as hide paste if you use anything and you steal borax from you mother's wash room. The backboard is probably a cheap composite that you pay maybe $16 for. Now you have $64 in the mount. Since you're bumming off your parents, you don't need to worry about the electric and water bills and you're using a butcher knife from the kitchen and the form is bolted to a 2x4 stuck in a vise in your dad's shop. You bum dad's stapler and staples to tack it to the backboard and you're done. Now I might buy that since you only take 3 hours to mount the deer, you're making almost $29 an hour. Not too shabby when you can pull it off.

HOWEVER, if you're using a quality form at $45, quality eyes at $13, earliners at $6 along with about $2 worth of clay, $5 worth of hide paste, $1 worth of paint, $1 worth of epoxy putty, $1 worth of thread, and $30 for a panel you're already into that gross by $104. You spend about 4 hours on the mount and you had to buy the stapler, the needles, the fleshing machery, the DP, and pay for the lights and water, you're actually paying your customer to mount his animal.

So which one are you?

 

George $225.00 for a Squirrel.? $225.00?? are you sure? Is that a fact. I mean $225.00 want to do some wholesale squirrel work for me. LMAO

 

EJ - you can't even get a ho with the name Angelica for that price! Did the $165 guy go out of business? That's too bad now I have to refer them to someone else cheaper than me. Got anybody in mind?

I am part time and this past year with my mother almost dying 4 times and ending up with a liver transplant, it took about 1 year turnaround. Mostly I limit my workload by price, the highest I know of in a 30 min drive, maybe 45min.

 

Ain't that a Fact! ;D

I was just talking to George on the phone when you logged in! I told him I was waiting to see what kind of comment that @#$#@! Greg Waite made! ;D

 

Tenbears, that's local guys only. For all out of state work there's a 50% handling fee. In this area they don't bring any squirrels into the shop. But now that you've posted that, I may have to raise them another $75. LOL

 

Greg, EJ was telling my you have a way of saving money building earbutts. Maybe that's how Mike is doing them. LMAO

 

Mike, sorry to offend you so. With what little experience you claim to have, I am not quite understanding how you can be so sure of your philosophy. I charged $200 my first year in business and had a great turn around time. I even thought I was "all that". Then I went to my first competition and found out I was a long ways off. The difference between todays $450 - one year waiting list and my 1988/$200 - 2 month turn around time was experience, knowledge, and OJT. I have photos of some of these old mounts and I must say, I was ripping my customers off. It was pretty embarrassing work. Hopefully, George never runs across one of my old mounts. I would really love to see one of your mounts. Please post your work, we may all be wrong. Good luck in your new profession. By the way, after adding numbers and figuring all factors. I figure, a whitetail shoulder mount cost me nearly $175 to mount. As George stated, you really need to look at cost, you are going to work yourself to death and make no profit.

 

George - EJ will have to fill me in on the earbutt thing. If you have ever spent any time with him you know that the gauge reads full. Of course, now that he has soooo many mouths to feed, maybe he'll loose some of that. ;D He also has a new tannery that is helping him keep his prices low. LMAO.

 

Thanks again George,its a reassurance I dont feel bad about my years turnaround and Im only part time.The hog is tanning and the bass is fanning Mr I can't wait.Go back to the 2 weeker you threaten me with price shopper.

 

I am fairly new to the taxidermy world. I have been doing fish for about 4 years, and started deer and mammals last year. My turn around time on deer is about 4 months compared to last years 2 months. As George stated, being new to the business is one reason people have short turn arounds. I now get more calls on deer and mammals than I do fish.

 

How do I put this nicely, George shut the heck up, your old and senile. As soon as I can get some pics I will post, but i wanna see some of your work oh great taxidermy God. Reading posts on here from you I use to respect you, but now i put you on the same plane as Oldterryr.

 

I have seen a few pieces done by George, and I must say they were very well done. I think George's credentials will withstand most taxidermy critics. Looking forward to the pics.

 

MikeOU812,
You never did answer my question? Do you live in NC? If not would you move here? We need another Cheap Guy! ;D

 

Nope, and nope. kentucky, the most expensive taxidermist around here is 290 for a shoulder mount. The money isn't here to be able to charge like everyone else does.

 

Just thumbing through the taxidermists listed in Kentucky. It looks like Harry Whitehead is getting $450 and though John Griffith doesn't list his prices, I would guess him to be in the $400s also. Mike, I bet if you researched the state of Kentucky you could find several experienced taxidermists charging appropriately.