How do you guys charge?

I’m going to try my hand at ADC work next year and this summer so I was wondering how you guys charge so I could get a gauge on how I should.

I tell them it'll cost $xx much to do the job. If they agree to the terms, I do the job.

What type of work are you wanting to get into?


There are many ways to charge, depending on the type of work, length of job, frequency of problems, customer expectations, distance to job site, costs, etc and the list goes on...

I’ve charged by the catch, by the hour, by the job, by the day. They all can have their place, but it depends on expectations. With beavers, only one matters and that’s the last one. What and how you need to charge is something that you will have to figure out, because what works or doesn’t work for me may work or not work for you.


Generally speaking, I charge a per trip rate plus mileage for beaver work. Usually a full charge for 1-2 locations, and discounted rates for multiple locations. I am almost always willing to work with customers on the arrangements if they want to. It could be $75 per trip, it could be $200+ per trip. It all depends. If they want to lock in a price, I look at the job, estimate the number of trips it’s going to take, and we agree to a price.


Jobs may be similar, but many have their own sets of challenges.

Bob and Sons is where you should get your Liability Insurance that many folks will want you to have. There could be others, too.
That is another expense you are covering, on top of gas, time, gear, paperwork.

I am somewhat new to this myself, but here is something to think about when you start planning how to charge.

These are prices I made up on the spot, but are relatively close to what they actually cost. These aren't all the things you will need and you may not need all of them I listed.

Insurance 1000
Commercial Vehicle Insurance 2500
Business Startup 500
Business License 50
Business Cards 20
Phone 1000
Website (could do your own) 200
NWCOA Membership 250
$5520


Say you plan to do 100 jobs this year. On a per job basis you will need an average of $55.20 for each job just to cover these costs. This number goes down with the amount of jobs you do, but remember they are all annual costs so they need to be planned for each year.

If you do 1000 jobs this cost goes down tremendously per job, but it is still there and something you have to remember.


Remember to not sell yourself short, but also remember to be fair. When I started by myself I was charging low prices, because I was paying (what I considered to be a lot) for advertising and didn't want to lose any potential customers because of cost. On occasion I did things for free or very cheap. Not a great business practice, but I can tell you it helped me get good reviews and those reviews matter.

Now I can do 1 job for the price of what I was originally selling 3 for. You can't be afraid to charge what is right or afraid to sell any extras. Many customers don't know the things they need, but actually do want them once you give them the idea and the peace of mind that it will solve their problems.

Sometimes when I hear what other companies in my area are charging for things I do, it makes me cringe. People are paying it though and I will work my prices up slowly but surely , as long as I think it is fair.

Often times, wildlife work can be won or lost based on a $10 difference in quotes. You don't need to beat the other guys by hundreds of dollars. If you are going to provide the same quality of service it should be valued the same.

How many other WCOs are in your area? Call and getting pricing. You do not want to sell yourself short.. charge about what they charge if not the same.. undercutting your competition will only bring the value of our business down in that area over time. Do your homework, even if your new to this side of trapping.. your value is worth something..

I was wondering the same thing. We are about to go full speed in about a month. We had a pond with muskrat and the old man wanted them gone we just trapped as a favor for him but it was about 8 traps we set, took about 2 hours because the whole pond was rock wall years back made it difficult. Me and my son were figuring $150 setup $35 per catch would have been what we may have priced. I dunno if that would be low of high. Local wildlife agency is charging $75 per catch but they really don't care if they make a catch or not.

Ill ad a new question here maybe someone can offer an opinion. I have a local time share group needing wildlife control. Do you all usually do a retainer fee or just charge as you are called?

Also curious, have any of you guys ever let customers make payment installments of a job? Where I live is a low income region until you get out of the country side. I considered this but it seems a bit tricky.

How much time do you think you'll spend tracking down payments every month?

I am new to the business, too. I am sure there will be a lot of squirrel, coon and bat jobs, but I need to get out the on some big beaver jobs. I would enjoy killing my self at this the most. 😂😂😂😂

Whatever you come up with, stick to your prices. Guy called me couple days ago wanting some beaver removed. I talked to him about all the details and he stopped me and said, "you aren't going to charge me for this are you?" I told him to call me back when he changes his mind.

Yeh once he realizes it will cost more to ignore it than to fix it he will call back

I just started trapping for hire this year. The problem in my area is that there are hobby guys that go after the beavers and coyotes for free. I’ve found several willing customers over the last few months, but a good trapper that I know locally told me that he gave up on making side money because he could never find anyone that was willing to pay, and he’s a very busy electrician.

For me this is a supplemental job, but I’ve just tried to shoot for the $200/day average mark. I set out on the weekends and just maintain the line through the week before work. It’s tiring, but I want to build this into a real business that I’ll do for my “retirement job” someday.

I was told to make it worth my while, and we should all help one another by not crashing the market!

There is so much that goes into it, ease of access, distance, how you're treated by the client, is the client a business or a little old lady with a woodchuck under her porch. I have set rates but adjust accordingly after evaluating all the variables. Recent squirrel job I quoted 100 setup, 50 per squirrel. They were in the attic, actually a crawl space. Got 15 flying squirrels in three checks, sometimes 3 per trap. I knocked that price back quite a bit, they now refer me to others in their community FB site.
Just finished up a beaver job for a state facility. They told me upfront they had to get three quotes to submit, state regs. So I quoted 150 setup 75 per beaver. Was easy access, very little sign. One guy they didn't like his approach and discounted, other guy quoted 300 setup, first two beaver free, anything after was 150 per. I could see there were only 1-2 beaver here. I figured quick in and out. I got the job for being cheaper, but either way it would have cost the same as there were only two adult beaver, a male and pregnant female.
So much to think about, so many variables. Be flexible.

There are a multitude of philosophies in business. Many have value for their own right, plus they get you thinking as a businessman about business issues.

It may help to read some articles about what you are really doing - selling a solution to a very unusual problem.

Also read about how to present concepts to customers so they willingly agree to issue 1, and issue 2, and then automatically to issue 3 - your sale.

Also read about the relative value of your or any services.

Read about keeping track of ALL of your business costs, payments received, and time expended. Some jobs simply cannot generate enough return. Even if not charging hourly, for your own understanding keep track of the time you put into a job. Sometimes the results may surprise you. Example - someone wanted to hire me for a job that was farther than I usually go. I told them the price for the job if local + the extra charge for fuel, mileage, and driving time. (I made sure that the extra price was fair so I would not resent the extra drive time if hired.) That way they could decide if they wanted to pay extra to hire me - they did.

Learn to price jobs (within reason of course) so that if hired you are happy to do the work.

Sometimes small or medium jobs actually pay better than large jobs. I like the variety of all job sizes.

Establish minimums. Even if just for your own consideration. For example, my truck does not start for less than $XX.

Read about various pricing ideas and how people react to the actual numbers involved in pricing.

I decide when to work for free. Sometimes a situation will arise where I want to donate my services or help someone for free. What I do not want is for someone to stiff me so they decide when I work for free. So, with new customers I price out the project and collect payment in full before they go on my schedule. That may sound harsh, but it protects me and simplifies office work - no billing on standard projects.

Be responsible for each job. Sometimes a job is more difficult, takes longer, or there are odd issues. Be professional and handle it in stride. If necessary, add a couple extra days at no extra charge. Impress the customer! Likewise, prepare the customer that there may be variables which may cause the project to take longer and cost more $. Do your best to evaluate situations so you complete them on time and on budget.

Some customers do not want budget services. They want premium services, immediate attention, quick communication, and speedy results. And they are willing to pay for it. Then again, there are potential customers who resent paying for an animal problem and do not place any value on the trapper, his skills, or equipment. These people are impossible. Fortunately most customers are somewhere in the middle - they are willing to pay for excellent services. Those people keep me in business.

Prepare for questions and answer honestly.
Think about questions as opportunities not obstacles.

One of my favorite questions is “Will this be expensive?”. Sometimes the answer is easy - and I say not really. That customer is surprised, pleased, and impressed and then tells everyone she knows. But in the case of an expensive project I know the customer is already understanding, expecting, and preparing for the expense. When discussing a job that will be relatively expensive, I tell customers that yes it will be fairly expensive, and then immediately reassure them that I give my customers the best and most value for their payment. I am experienced, work wisely and efficiently, and use very good reliable equipment to give them the best results and the most value for their payment. And yes it sounds old fashioned, straightforward, and honest - because that is how I do business.

Best wishes with your business.

If you are doing it for a living, it is no different than any service business.
Estimate what your expenses are going to be, how much of an hourly wage you want to make. Total everything up, then double it. Once you do that you might not starve to death.
Don't dwell too much on what you think what someone will pay for your service. Think more about how much it will cost the customer if they don't hire you. Then all you need to do is come in with a charge which is reasonably less than the amount they would have had to fork out if they never called you.