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Re: Do Many taxidermist actully make good money?

get a federal license, and what kind of a question is that, you anwsered it yourself, think about it

 

Re: Do Many taxidermist actully make good money?

no.

 

Re: Do Many taxidermist actully make good money?

keep your day or first job

 

Re: Do Many taxidermist actully make good money?

Let your wife work, You pulled the reigns all those years. It's her time. ;D

 

Re: Do Many taxidermist actully make good money?

I know of alot of taxidermist who make it full time and Iam sure they make money..I myself have to work a part time job.....but make maybe just alittle ,as Iam always buying things for my shop and its a sanity thing for me...if you love what you;re doing, and put you heart and soul into your work,,the money is just a by.product,,just my 2 cents

 

Re: Do Many taxidermist actully make good money?

richest job in the world

 

Re: Do Many taxidermist actully make good money?

I agree with rick carter.

 

Re: Do Many taxidermist actully make good money?

Good is different for all of us but I agree With Rick--not Many. But, there is much more to life than money--at least for me.

 

Re: Do Many taxidermist actully make good money?

I agree with Rick and Gary. Along the lines of what Gary said, this business has made it possible for me to spend time with my wife and kids that I would never had been able to do otherwise. I could never put a price on that and it continues to pay dividends as time goes on.

 

Re: Do Many taxidermist actully make good money?

If they are good business men and women they can make a comfortable living. People think that it is a glamorous job making big money. NOT !!

 

Re: Do Many taxidermist actully make good money?

Finally, so GREAT answers to this ageold question. A "good busniness man or woman can make a comfortable living" if they want to work their asses off. "Making money" is a gradual trip because YOU have to gain the experience (if you have the talent) before you can ask a premium price for your work. Most of us who do this for a living learned long ago that you don't do it for "the money" but for the love of doing it. Keep your day job.

 

Re: Do Many taxidermist actully make good money?

Wow, somebody gets it besides me...LOL.

X2



Compared to getting a college degree Taxidermy will fall short. Personally I make enough money. We have always had food, shelter and evrything my kids ever needed. Notice I said NEEDED not WANTED. my wife does work though and has our healthcare....BUT she's NOT a nurse or some other money maker....she just has a factory job.

We have an average house(below average to many I suppose). Vehicles that run. A boat....not a new one.

The one thing I have WAY more of is TIME. Life is short....money means very little......time with your family is worth millions.

 

Re: Do Many taxidermist actully make good money?

This is an interesting issue and one that frustrates me.  I've wanted to do taxidermy full time for years but the biggest issue I have is the amount of money charged for that work.  A decent wage is different to everyone, but if you look at other professions a decent wage for a small business owner is nearing or exceeding 6 figures.  I'm sure that I'll get some arguments for that statement but I think that is not out of the realm of possibility or at least shouldn't be.

Just looking at that figure, and estimating that your typical taxidermist can put out 150 pieces per year (I know it's different for everyone), that means that a person would need to make $667/piece to get to that mark of $100,000.  That's impossible to achieve in today's market unless you are doing something like African and really pumping them out.  Maybe I'm one of the slower taxidermists so I would have a hard time putting out that many pieces to begin with.

Now let's say that you all think I'm crazy for suggesting a wage that high and let's cut it by a 1/4.  Let's make it $75000.  Even at that figure a person would still need to MAKE $500/piece on average.  Again, nearly impossible in today's market for the typical guy or gal.

Now let's drop it to $50000.  At that figure a person would need to make $333/piece.  That's more achievable but remember, you must MAKE that much, not charge that much for each piece on average after all other expenses are paid.  This tells me that a taxidermist reaches a ceiling pretty quickly in this business at $50000 or LESS and that's really humpin' it too.  The key word in that last sentence is LESS.  I personally don't know how you guys can put out that many pieces per year for the prices that are charged without really burning out.

I simply cannot justify leaving my job for that kind of money.  Even as a part-timer, I've quickly realized that doing Whitetail shoulder mounts for others just isn't justifiable at the prices I was charging.  I jacked my prices up pretty high for my area last year and I intend to leave it that way.  If the work dries up, I guess it means that I'll have more free time for my family and to do my own work.

I wish that the public and even taxidermists themselves would recognize their own talents and charge accordingly but I know that will never happen.  It's a shame too because it would be a great profession and there are so many talented people that will never make what they should in this business.  I guess that's why you see so many really talented taxidermists turn to teaching once a certain level is achieved.  They realize that there is no money in just cranking out work.

 

Re: Do Many taxidermist actully make good money?

I wish that the public and even taxidermists themselves would recognize their own talents and charge accordingly.

Thats the one statement that will never happen. Taxidermist are the first to cut their prices for more work. i.e. Work for less. What it takes is a couple things. You either get tired of working overtime or you just get tired.

Then comes the newbie who is going to blow the taxidermy world wide open by working for less.

Its beyond me why anyone wants to do any work for less than what you can make at McDonalds. It dont make cents!!

 

Re: Do Many taxidermist actully make good money?

NO!!!! I first started as an apprentice, and could not figure out why he couldn,t pay me much? When I finally got to the point to were I was mounting a few heads a week and he still couldn,t pay me, I thought this guy is taking me for a ride! I had it all figured out in my head and on paper that this will be a easy money maker, YA RIGHT !!! I went to competitions etc to get FREE classes etc I met Richard Christoforo and he told me just do it( PART TIME) you,l much happier, lol, who the he!! is he to tell me what I should do!! well being as STUBORN as they come I didn,t listen and here I am 43, single, no kids, time or money to the thing I love to do !!!!!! like hunting ,fishing,motorcycling . If I wasn,t so dam stubborn I would get a real job or a wife with a good job LOL I do love what I do thats why I do it BUT I do not make GOOD money doing it (Sorry Richard I should have listened) LOL

 

Re: Do Many taxidermist actully make good money?

Here is the problem with your thinking and why taxidermy is so tough a business.


Customer Pool: Only 10% of Americans Hunt and/or fish. Out of that, 10% of those ever get anything mounted in a year. In the state of Ohio there 11,000,000 people. That gives us 1,100,000 to work with.....110,000 that will get something mounted in 2008. Divide that by the 2000 or so KNOWN to be practicing taxidermy in Ohio that leaves 55 mounts each for us. Sure some guys will get 200 mounts.....some will do 2. Still not a very big client base.

Again guys will say "you need to go out of your area" and "my client base is not from here". No doubt those that are succesful have wide client bases....but comparing taxidermy to other PROFESSIONS that DO have that local client base....taxidermy falls far short.

The Need for Taxidermy - There are too many taxidermists for the amount of work available. I know of 20 guys in my county of 88,000 people. Using the earlier numbers there are 44 mounts per guy iof available work. My county at the MOST should support 8 taxidermists at the level you are asking for. There are many crappy taxidermists out of that 20, however even if they only take 20 mounts each a year that is quite a number for me to lose. Lets say there are 5 GOOD taxidermists fighting for the 880 mounts available. 15 hacks take 20 mounts each....or 300 mounts. That leaves the 5 decent guys with about 100 each. Enough to live, but hardly plumber/electrician/mechanic numbers.

On top of that WHO NEEDS taxidermy? NOBODY. You HAVE to hire a plumber/doctor/lawyer. You can saw your rack off. Taxidermy is WAY DOWN most guys lists of "must have" items. Most guys do not have trophy rooms, they might have a couple mounts but that is it.

Taxidermy "Profession" - What exactly makes a guy a taxidermist? Well you go to your garage and paint a sign that says "taxidermist".......and voila' you are a taxidermist. You cannot be a Doctor, Lawyer, Barber,Plumber, Realtor or an Electrician in the state of Ohio without training and a LICENSE. Other professions that do not require training like Mechanic or Landscape/Lawncare don't require it BUT you have to get it or fail miserably in that profession.

Sure a Plumber can $charge$ for his work. In most towns you HAVE to use a certified Plumber for work.....unless you do it yourself. I know a guy who charges $200 more than the going rate for deer heads here.....he got 5. Sure he made "more money per head" than me....however he is screwed if he plans on making a living.


Taxidermy is right up there with gold teeth on the scale of necessity. That's why it is so tough to make money at it.

 

Re: Do Many taxidermist actully make good money?

Yeah Jim, you could always play for tips......the guitar that is..............

 

Re: Do Many taxidermist actully make good money?

I make good money, just never enough of it!