My Studio VS African Studio A Match Up... COSTS

[harden]

Using one guy I know he gets things out in 99 days guaranteed.
He is a $10 -$20 more per trophy than who you used, Your's can ship after 60 do it he had got them ready to ship and in the air under a year total.
My studio is what some consider slower than others . Because I do all the work, ALL of the mounting, Nobody mounts anything here but me. Paul Sews and gets forms ready salts and prep skin. I mount them all, Jamie helps sew and finished everything. Running about 9-10 months at the moment will change back to 6-9 in a few months.

 

[Royal27]

Using one guy I know he gets things out in 99 days guaranteed.
He is a $10 -$20 more per trophy than who you used, Your's can ship after 60 do it he had got them ready to ship and in the air under a year total.
My studio is what some consider slower than others . Because I do all the work, ALL of the mounting, Nobody mounts anything here but me. Paul Sews and gets forms ready salts and prep skin. I mount them all, Jamie helps sew and finished everything. Running about 9-10 months at the moment will change back to 6-9 in a few months.

Even assuming 10 months taxi time and four months D&P that ends up about the same. No real difference there it seems in this case.

 

[Wheels]

I hope you don,t mind me asking royal but what is the tanned buffalo scrotum for ?

It seemed like the thing to do at the time!

I'd wanted to get a draw string bag made out of it, but was then told it was too thick and tough to do. So, it will likely end up on a shelf, or perhaps on a plaque of some type.

My father had a buffalo scrotum set on the coffee table and used it to hold groundnuts and cashews when we lived in Africa. It fit with his sense of humor, and mine. When we moved to the states, the nut holder disappeared. Mom thought it a little to redneck and socially unacceptable.

Just a suggestion Royal.

 

[PHOENIX PHIL]

My father had a buffalo scrotum set on the coffee table and used it to hold groundnuts and cashews when we lived in Africa. It fit with his sense of humor, and mine. When we moved to the states, the nut holder disappeared. Mom thought it a little to redneck and socially unacceptable.

Just a suggestion Royal.

Redneck? Sounds like something that Brit cretin @spike.t would do....

 

[Wheels]

Redneck? Sounds like something that Brit cretin @spike.t would do....

True. Wouldn't be surprised if he hasn't done it already.

 

[Royal27]

My father had a buffalo scrotum set on the coffee table and used it to hold groundnuts and cashews when we lived in Africa. It fit with his sense of humor, and mine. When we moved to the states, the nut holder disappeared. Mom thought it a little to redneck and socially unacceptable.

Just a suggestion Royal.

I'm going to suggest this to Nancy. Will tell her it was @spike.t idea. She will believe.

 

[spike.t]

I'm going to suggest this to Nancy. Will tell her it was @spike.t idea. She will believe.

know people who had them made into purses/handbags for their wives........dont know if they told their beloveds what they were or not though.............

@Wheels as above ........"True. Wouldn't be surprised if he hasn't done it already."

"Redneck? Sounds like something that Brit cretin @spike.t would do...."

...now @PHOENIX PHIL ....phil calling someone that in the uk could get your head kicked in amongst other things.......but as you are colonial of obviously questionable ancestry i will let you off this time........

 

[PHOENIX PHIL]

know people who had them made into purses/handbags for their wives........dont know if they told their beloveds what they were or not though.............

@Wheels as above ........"True. Wouldn't be surprised if he hasn't done it already."

"Redneck? Sounds like something that Brit cretin @spike.t would do...."

...now @PHOENIX PHIL ....phil calling someone that in the uk could get your head kicked in amongst other things.......but as you are colonial of obviously questionable ancestry i will let you off this time........

Must be the Irish in me coming out.....

 

[spike.t]

Must be the Irish in me coming out.....

oh shit no hope then.........

 

[johnnyblues]

I'm going to reserve much comment here. Be it the taxidermy cost or shipping costs. I'm not reall 100% sure if each safari costs would the same. I know how much Bill C paid for his giraffe, that in itself is thousands of dollars. Has to be a savings somewhere.

 

[BRICKBURN]

I hope you don,t mind me asking royal but what is the tanned buffalo scrotum for ?

I used mine for a marble bag. ( No pun intended)

 

[BRICKBURN]

Lot's of factors going into this type of service.
If you skip, for the sake of argument, the quality parameter and just look at numbers you are still going to have a tough time doing apples to apples.
Africa is a continent not a location, as noted. Last time I looked the US has a few destinations inside the borders as well. (Anyone looked at flight costs from Anchorage vs NYC to RSA?)

I know an AH member was set to use Dennis for his work and he lives in Asia. I think he has concluded the quality is worth the extra shipping charges. Good on him.

For those in other countries subject to insane currency fluctuations a 30+% hit on the cost can make it untenable.

I think this thread provides one very good point of information, don't make an assumption about taxidermy costs (home or in country), freight/shipping, brokerage, transport, etc.
If it matters to you, gather the current information on all the inputs and make a rational decision.

Keep presenting the facts for everyone to see. I like an education and a good old myth busting moment.

 

[Buckdog]

royal remember I am not the best at getting my point across and don't break it down like you to who I am talking to sometimes. The style question was directed towards dennis not you and he explained it on his last post at what he feels he does. He states his quality is better and I say in his eyes it is and others may think the same. I am saying to my eyes if I was picking I like others better. That is pretty plain and simple I think. Hell he maybe able to give me the plain simple look I like but I go by what I see.

Dennis not sure if prices have changed but the numbers you listed above do not match your online pricelist. Plus I am still going by your older catalog that read a 30% fee on top of shoulder mount for a pedestal mount plus base also. So if your giving more of a discount and a free mount if over 7 animals you may want to look in to that as you could be costing yourself business.

My break down of cost maybe different from coppersmith as mine went through new York. I paid 400 or 450 to clear crate with the lioness and plains game in crate. Had up to 2 weeks to pick up with no storage charge after that there is a fee. It cleared in 7 days.

I really do not care how it priced out as long as your happy with what you have now. It is really that plain and simple but I am once again giving the side this info above maybe not true in each case is all. Don't read anymore into my comments other then my points are meant to help others just like how your post is doing. The point is if guys do there homework get quotes from dennis or any other shop then pick and a place in SA they like. They will see cost difference for themselves and can decide. It is just another step of planning the hunt and can be done before the hunt even starts.

Now here is my break down by what I know using Dennis's catalog and my bill from relive.Hell just on my giraffe by dennis's catalog my mount would cost 7500 for a pedestal mount and then I have the turned neck which would be a custom pose but I will just use the catalog price of 7500. Then I would still have dip/pack ,some type of shipping charge here and backskin tanning cost to. So say maybe 8500 having done here in the states. I have 5500 with shipping and backskin tanned all in and there is 6 plains game animals in that crate to. By my math that is a saving of 3000. Then add the eland pedestal which is in the crate to and I paid 1250 for would be 2000 here in the states. So now my saving is 3750 plus the 300 to 500 hundred I saved on each of these mounts kudu wall ped , zebra ped ,2 blue wildebeest wall ped and blebuck shoulder mount. My saving on just this one crate is around 5000.00.

I have done plenty of figuring when I decided to have mounts done over there. For the most part it is a wash on saving money if you have under 5 animals or certain kind of animals depending on who you use here in the states. You start getting more animals and bigger animals there is savings to be had and up to each person if and when they think it is worth it.

Ok Bill C you are asking for this lets see the pics of that kick ass african taxidermy that so special and cheap?? I personally dont care if taxidermy costs a little more as long as it is good.

 

[BRICKBURN]

Ok Bill C you are asking for this lets see the pics of that kick ass african taxidermy that so special and cheap?? I personally dont care if taxidermy costs a little more as long as it is good.

Bill has shared a lot of pictures of the work he has had done in other threads.

http://www.africahunting.com/threads/the-start-of-dakotas-lioness-mount.22064/#post-183721

http://www.africahunting.com/threads/pictures-of-mounts-ready-to-ship.10081/#post-76590

 

[PHOENIX PHIL]

oh shit no hope then.........

Aye!

 

[harden]

Phil I'm with your or at least the 1/2 of me that's Irish..

 

[billc]

Ok Bill C you are asking for this lets see the pics of that kick ass african taxidermy that so special and cheap?? I personally dont care if taxidermy costs a little more as long as it is good.

I never said my stuff was better. Others like to bring up quality and theirs is better. I am not judging anyone or anyplace. I have what I like others like what they like. I think I am ok and have the right picking who I like for my stuff.

I did start another thread with my break down of cost for all to see. Anyone can use it for what you will.

 

[robertq]

Wow! $1,030 to clear a crate?
I paid a little over $500 with Flora & Fauna.

The

It's not all of what SSI does.

It boggles my mind how much people spend to go on a safari and skimp about the most important part: bringing your trophies safely home.

It’s all about service…..What does Coppersmith, F&F, D&L and others do for you but push the button to make entry and clear in the US?

We only handle hunted trophies and we have no one in our category of service in this industry that can say they do what we do, therefore, there is no comparison. Clearing is just a small piece of the puzzle….it’s all the hard work in managing the entire export/import process that starts before you even go on the hunt that makes the difference.

With Coppersmith, F&F, D&L etc., everything is up to you to coordinate. Period. Approval of inventory of trophies and documents is up to you and only when all the shipment is packed and off to a shipper do any of these companies come into focus. Just like the incident in the thread called “Swift Dip South Africa”. This hunter is going to occur another shipping and clearing charge so where was the savings? Who had their finger on the pulse? The hunter has no one to be upset with because true to history, everything was left up to him. Problems happen, but we are proactive in preventing things like this from happening.

Also another insight to what we do: A clients’ shipment containing elephant hunted in RSA would not be ready for another 2 months. Since we care and are on top of all the changes going on, we got involved with Nature Conservation to separate the shipment so that at least the tusks could come home before the deadline of Jul 5th. At first, NATCON would not separate the shipment and denied the permit. We do not take no for an answer when it makes no sense. We moved heaven and earth to get the permit issued and the tusks arrived on 4th of July. This is not the agenda of all the other companies.

Lastly, in the all the years we have been in business, we have NEVER had a seizure. Can the other companies say the same thing? We also have 7 offices to accommodate hunters' location for pickup or local truck service to final destination that is a help and savings.

Best,
Robert

 

[tedthorn]

I have scoured the web for the past 2 years looking at taxidermy

You might just save some money getting your finished taxidermy done in Africa or by your buddy that lives close by who's pretty good on local deer.....but

I have yet to see a picture of any African taxidermy that comes close to the work of Dennis

 

[harden]

Like me, you Bob have a specialize service of course. a different kind of service for hunters. And you promote it and do well.
I personally in my 35 years in the business have never and I repeat never had a client shipment moving from Africa into my studio had anything seized and lost in any shipment, Elephant, Rhino,cats, or any cites pieces. The only time was ONE caracal was cites expired?, The dip pack agreed their fault and they paid for the return and the new cites and the shipping back for one little caracal. Do things get seized, yes once in a while, but then putting fear into people about it is the same as saying some of you will die today in car accidents..and some who read this may as there are 117 deaths ever day from car accidents.
I do know brokers that check inventory and all the paperwork before it leaves Africa to make sure it is correct and will have no USDA or USFW issues..We get shipments in from you and many other brokers, you have handled many of my affluent clients as they have met you at SCI shows and wish to deal with you.