Hi Robert,
I apologize if you and Rosella spent time on this. I have a few days before I leave for safari and I do not wish to be a victim of ignorance. I need a plan before I leave.
When I ask for an estimate in a professional sense it is an 80% confidence number. I can give you that level of confidence on most topics, the cost to restore a purdey, cost to deploy an ERP at a Fortune 500, cost to rebuild a 57 Chevy from the ground up. It's nothing more than an estimate at 80% confidence.
When I don't get an 80% confidence estimate within minutes I'm left to question. Is there a kickback, is the process so wrought with inefficiency and waste it cannot be determined, or does the party not know the area of business of which I'm asking.
I got the answers I needed by doing it on my own in 30 minutes out of sheer ignorance because this isn't my business. It appears to be $120-$150 a hide to dip/pack plus freight, crate and shipping. That's enough for me to decide what to leave and what to export for taxidermy here.
It also allows me to negotiate in Africa for taxidermy becaus I'll have a BATNA to letting them do taxidermy, dip and pack as option B.
It also tells me about TCI too. I asked. You asked. Another party asked. No one got a straight answer. So either they are trying to calculate referral kickbacks or they don't know their business well enough to create an instantaneous estimate, or they use a scientific authoritarian management style where no answers can be provided without the director general approving an answer.