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ADC pricing

Posted By: tunnel_hill

ADC pricing - 01/11/22 02:56 AM

Fairly new to doing nuisance work. Mainly doing beaver, muskrat, coyote and raccoon jobs.

Interested in how some of you guys are pricing the jobs you do.

Thanks
Posted By: AJE

Re: ADC pricing - 01/11/22 04:19 AM

Charge more for beaver than for coon or rats. It's more work & risk.

AJE
American Animal
Northern Unit Trapper
Posted By: EatenByLimestone

Re: ADC pricing - 01/11/22 11:17 PM

Of the animals you listed, we only do raccoons and they run much more than woodchucks, skunks, opossums, etc. Raccoon work is usually on a roof. Right now, on a roof with 1/2" of ice on it.

Every place will bear different pricing. Ours will sound stupid expensive at first, until you understand we run a 2 man crew for safety, up an icy roof, setting chimney traps or on dormer tie ins and pulling down a 30lb animal that can be prone to lunging. It all means you have to work slow to be safe. And that means cost.


They are hiring you for your experience and expertise. Charge enough to cover your hourly expenses and then put some money in your pocket.

Until you know what it costs to do business, you don't know what you need to charge.
Posted By: Trapper Don

Re: ADC pricing - 01/17/22 08:12 PM

Think like any other contractor. Only charge by the hour. Don't think like a trapper. Trappers are poor and contractors are not. 30 years in this business and only charge by the hour. Travel, documentation, reporting, permits, disposal fees, and everything else associated with time for that job. I only deal with beaver and only charge by the hour.
Posted By: Trapper Don

Re: ADC pricing - 01/17/22 08:19 PM

I forgot. I also charge to invoice the client. It all part of their fix. So nothing for free. Remember
4 out of 5 new ADC businesses fail. Most because they think they are good trappers and need to be good business people. All critters should get charged the same. An hour setting raccoon job is no different then an hour setting beaver traps or any other. An hour is an hour. End of discussion.
Don LaFountain l
Posted By: JoeyHalk

Re: ADC pricing - 01/18/22 10:39 PM

Something simple is that you have to get paid to drive.

Think about a job 1/2 hour away. If you catch four critters there on different days that’s four hours of just driving.

I would price it the same even if you have another job 5 minutes from that one because the chances are they won’t line up on catches or days visited. If they do, that’s just a bonus for you.

Then think about if you hired someone to do it and had to pay them to drive four hours plus their time on site.

It all adds up and if you don’t price it right you might as well work fast food and have a lot less headache lol.
Posted By: Willy Firewood

Re: ADC pricing - 01/19/22 08:42 AM

Trapper Don and Joey are giving you pearls of wisdom!

There is much to running a trapping business and trapping is one of the smaller parts.

I will give you my basic advice. Find a good reasonable priced attorney and accountant. Ask the attorney to set up a limited liability company and create some fill in the blank form documents for your business. Ask the accountant to get you set up with a business ID number and educate you about taxes, items that can be depreciated, items that can be expensed, and items that are both according to IRS section 179. Ask him to tell you when things are due in advance. Next get yourself a business bank account - you will need to take to the bank your LLC articles and your business ID number. Finally, sign up for liability insurance. Call Bob and Sons for a good deal.

Best wishes.
Posted By: We-Sa

Re: ADC pricing - 01/24/22 04:03 PM

Does anyone have “service areas” where they charge by the job (based on the target critter)?
Posted By: JoeyHalk

Re: ADC pricing - 01/24/22 06:33 PM

Originally Posted by We-Sa
Does anyone have “service areas” where they charge by the job (based on the target critter)?


Yes. Especially for moles. I quote all mole jobs over the phone. I just make sure they have a normal sized yard when asking questions.

Sometimes people ask me to come look first for moles but I just tell them I am coming with the expectation that I will start the work. Very rarely is it not moles so I try not to waste time driving around to give mole quotes. I know some places charge by the mole but not something I think is reasonable. I recently caught 13 moles on a half acre. I find it hard to believe they would’ve paid me $125/mole (competition price).
Posted By: Brian Mongeau

Re: ADC pricing - 01/24/22 10:16 PM

Originally Posted by We-Sa
Does anyone have “service areas” where they charge by the job (based on the target critter)?

I have flat rates for squirrels and raccoons inside a house.
Per animal for ground trapping; raccoons, skunks, g'hogs, etc. Plus set up.
Per hour rates for beaver.
And per linear foot rates for bat exclusion.
All prices subject to change due to many factors; height, excessive damage, accessibility, and whether customer can check traps.
Posted By: Aix sponsa

Re: ADC pricing - 01/25/22 02:09 AM

Originally Posted by We-Sa
Does anyone have “service areas” where they charge by the job (based on the target critter)?



$350-600 for small, local beaver jobs has worked well as a typical price range if a total price is needed. It goes up from there when it’s a bigger or farther job, such as boat access, walk in, etc. More important than easy money is to be thorough. I’d rather say I’m expensive but thorough than cheap and quick to leave. End of story. That comes out to $120 per trip, and it includes complete removal and dam cutting for drainage.

The $120 per trip figure for me comes from $40 an hour to, from, and onsite. Sometimes they’re closer, sometimes they’re further, and sometimes they take a little more time on site. Sometimes I charge less, especially if there are multiple locations. Farther sites need mileage payments of some sort. By sticking with a per trip price, they know what they’re spending, and you know what you’re getting. In my experience and opinion, effective beaver removal work takes absolutely no fewer than 3 trips. I generally figure for 5 trips. I’ll charge less when it’s obviously complete at an early point, such as catching a pair in an isolated, small water body the first night, but I try to always drop in at a later date to ensure completion. In my opinion, and in my area, dropping in at a later date ensures a straggler or dispersal beaver hasn’t attempted to claim the spot. This is what standing by my work means. When I say it’s finished—it’s finished, because I can’t truly know how many were there until I’m done. I rarely have to resume trapping on a courtesy check, but it has and does happen. As a matter of fact, I went to a location today with a rake and a pickax to cut the dams, because I thought it was a complete job. It is really small water, and sign suggested it was only a single. Upon arrival today, I noticed a freshly chewed stick that wasn’t there when I left the dam several days ago and partial repairs. Rather than cutting down the dam, I left it as-is, and I set snares. This is all part of nuisance beaver work, and should be included in your pricing.

I’m willing to discount trips at my discretion, and I’m certainly willing to negotiate prices with customers, although as far as I can tell, customers have been satisfied.
Posted By: Willy Firewood

Re: ADC pricing - 01/25/22 09:31 PM

Aix - “You have come far, Pilgrim!”
Posted By: Aix sponsa

Re: ADC pricing - 01/26/22 12:20 AM

Originally Posted by Willy Firewood
Aix - “You have come far, Pilgrim!”



Some of the best advice I’ve received, especially business wise has come from you over the years, so thank you.
Posted By: AJE

Re: ADC pricing - 01/26/22 01:47 AM

Sometimes it is hard to know how many critters the job will consist of. I had 1 last year where the lady thought she had 1 beaver. I ended up getting all 12. Luckily I got paid per mile + per beaver. I got 2 incidental racoons in the traps that I didn't charge for. Incidental skunks would have gotten a charge though. The neighbor ended up paying over half the bill. In hindsight it probably should have been a 2nd setup fee for the neighbor in that situation. That job was a lot of work, partly b/c I pulled traps mid winter & finished after ice-out. It's rewarding when the landowner shows excitement when progress is being made, even though they know the bill is going up. They saw all the work I was putting in & they know we are doing something that most people haven't a clue, so a person can get a sense of pride from that.
AJE
American Animal
Northern Unit Trapper
Posted By: Willy Firewood

Re: ADC pricing - 01/27/22 02:25 AM

Aix - it was my pleasure to meet, become friends, and discuss a few issues. My friend, you did the difficult work by recognizing that you could move forward better and more wisely with some advice, learning and understanding many ideas, and then selecting and applying concepts that best suited your chosen direction. When I occasionally visit here and read your suggestions to others, I see that from your knowledge and experiences, you have become the teacher. Congratulations!
Posted By: Aix sponsa

Re: ADC pricing - 01/28/22 12:47 AM

Teacher is a bit of a stretch, but I do try to share what I learn myself. I’ll be learning as long as I’m doing it.
Posted By: 305trapper

Re: ADC pricing - 05/20/22 04:23 AM

Do you actually tell the client That your rate is XYZ per hour or do you try to calculate it ahead of time?
Posted By: Aix sponsa

Re: ADC pricing - 05/20/22 11:38 PM

Originally Posted by 305trapper
Do you actually tell the client That your rate is XYZ per hour or do you try to calculate it ahead of time?



I will absolutely discuss it with the customer. In fact, I’d rather discuss it with the customer. This will help me understand what their expectations are, because if we aren’t both happy, something went wrong.

I’m not sure how much you’ve done, but in my opinion and experience, I’d say that if someone is new to beaver work, by the beaver or by the total, complete job is the way to go about pricing. Sure, it has to be worth it for the trapper, but the customer absolutely deserves fair pricing too, and this protects them. Straight hourly, daily, etc doesn’t protect the customer if the trapper can’t close it out for any reason.

If customers aren’t satisfied with beaver removal prices, or getting hooked by trappers becomes common, it hurts us all as an industry.
Posted By: EatenByLimestone

Re: ADC pricing - 05/21/22 03:07 PM

Our hourly price goes into the quote. “This is what it’ll cost to get the animal out and fix the damage. If we underestimate time, materials, or amount of visits needed to fix the issue, we eat the additional cost.
Posted By: Willy Firewood

Re: ADC pricing - 05/22/22 02:48 AM

A time study determined what is necessary in the representative trapping job..
The desired hourly rate and amortized annual expenses are then applied to determine the price of the representative job.
The total cost of the representative trapping job can be adjusted based upon distance, driving time, number of days, different locations, different species, number of days, other variables.
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