Mouth Call Prices

[mwr]

I can only speak for myself I guess, but, I have the cost of padded mailing  envelopes, which I also pay shipping to get,. When you buy latex, frames etc you have shipping on those,. You have loss...as in not every call comes out right, your going to ruin some,...wasting material. Sometimes the US MAIL loses your package, you duplicate the order and resend it to the customer...As the maker I lose but that's just what you do. ...Sometimes the latex you get is so wrinkled it's unusable especially proph...the plastic can I use to ship the calls in cost more than the traditional little snap case but I use it cause it's cool and usefull. ..and on and on and on.

I'm nobody but I sell a few calls...and I always try to be fair. But yes, there's a lot of cost involved proportional to the actual cost of the call., unfortunately I do have to factor it in. Not out to make a killing, it just a sick hobby that needs to pay for itself.
Mark
Edit to say...not trying to justify anything or anybody just trying to shed some light on the subject overall.

Your calls and cases are great, Mark!!

[LBA]

XT Outdoors (XT Calls) are $5 each or 5 for $20. Great prices for solid calls. They have some higher priced ones too made with materials that arent available any longer. No shame there imo

[jblackburn]

You're also paying for consistency. Gooserbat, Hooks, a few others, if you find a call you like this year, you can buy one next year or in 3 years and it will run the same as the call you fell in love with.  Of course this is barring the latex suppliers from changing the latex, which happens sometimes . . .

I know when started using mouth calls years ago I bought big names from walmart. Id usually buy 2-3 of each type and none of them played just a like. I did not pay much attention to that until I got on staff with Sam at Gooserbat and started using quality built, consistent calls.

[Houndstooth Game Calls]

When you sit down and say build 200 mouthcalls nobody thinks about how many times that call is actually handled. Stacking of reeds thats 600 times you handle one pc of latex on say a 3 reed call, I also process my own proph so we cut each proph reed that goes into a call, trim latex off frames thats 200 times, cut the top reed thats another 200 times you hold that call, tape that call thats another 200 times, die cut the shape of the call thats 200 times and packaging thats 200 times. Theres lots of times that little call is being handled. But most people dont count for all that time some one has in getting it ready to sell. Nobody thinks of actually how much time they have in preparing one package to be shipped... Theres alot of handling and time that goes into that cheap aluminum and latex. Most people  never account for their time that goes into a process of manufacturing. JMO

[mspaci]

Mine are cheap, I started making my own, sound better too.  Mike

[deerbasshunter3]

When you sit down and say build 200 mouthcalls nobody thinks about how many times that call is actually handled. Stacking of reeds thats 600 times you handle one pc of latex on say a 3 reed call, I also process my own proph so we cut each proph reed that goes into a call, trim latex off frames thats 200 times, cut the top reed thats another 200 times you hold that call, tape that call thats another 200 times, die cut the shape of the call thats 200 times and packaging thats 200 times. Theres lots of times that little call is being handled. But most people dont count for all that time some one has in getting it ready to sell. Nobody thinks of actually how much time they have in preparing one package to be shipped... Theres alot of handling and time that goes into that cheap aluminum and latex. Most people  never account for their time that goes into a process of manufacturing. JMO

And to think, as much as a call is handled, we still take it right out of the package and pop it into our mouth to run it... I kid, of course, as I assume the call maker is wearing gloves while making calls.

[TauntoHawk]

When you sit down and say build 200 mouthcalls nobody thinks about how many times that call is actually handled. Stacking of reeds thats 600 times you handle one pc of latex on say a 3 reed call, I also process my own proph so we cut each proph reed that goes into a call, trim latex off frames thats 200 times, cut the top reed thats another 200 times you hold that call, tape that call thats another 200 times, die cut the shape of the call thats 200 times and packaging thats 200 times. Theres lots of times that little call is being handled. But most people dont count for all that time some one has in getting it ready to sell. Nobody thinks of actually how much time they have in preparing one package to be shipped... Theres alot of handling and time that goes into that cheap aluminum and latex. Most people  never account for their time that goes into a process of manufacturing. JMO

And to think, as much as a call is handled, we still take it right out of the package and pop it into our mouth to run it... I kid, of course, as I assume the call maker is wearing gloves while making calls.

Man I give mine a good mouth wash bath first.. gets that latex taste off too

Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk

[Rzrbac]

I know this much, I found two brands and some particular models I'll be sticking with all because of this forum, Hooks and Gooserbat.  Not sure what the Gooserbat calls sale for as I won the two I have but the Hooks are 5.99 in Jonesboro, AR and I'm down there quite a bit. I know the same place sold Gooserbats so I should be in good shape.  Nothing worse than paying $12-$15 for a call and it goes straight to the trash can.  Especially when you bought the same call a few bucks cheaper a few years ago and it was a much better call.

[GobbleNut]

  Nothing worse than paying $12-$15 for a call and it goes straight to the trash can.

Every time I hear someone say that, I cringe.  I used to do the same thing until I figured out how easy it is to make a lousy call sound good by just using scissors to modify the call to find out where the "turkey" is at in it.  Sure, some calls still end up in the trash,...but a heck of a lot fewer than before I started modifying them to find that hidden turkey.

[Gooserbat]

I can say a lot here but I'll try to keep it somewhat condensed.  First it's not just a call your buying but it's the hidden overhead.  When I burn gas running up and down the road to stock stores and spend nights in motels and live on McDonalds and gas station boritos the cost is over $100 per day. I spent over 10 days doing it this year. 

Next is liability insurance. Another $1200.

Then the clamshell and insert for packaging that's expected by said stores (and goes straight in the trash). 

Then the cost of a website. 

Can't overlook the material cost including snap cases. 

Then I have to sell wholesale at a margin that affords profit on both all the listed overhead and at least a reasonable percentage of time invested. 

Then I show respect for my dealers who support me and keep my direct online price  at MSRP while allowing those stores to offer at MAP price. 

And then there's shows...At $500-$850 per table.

That's why premium mouth calls especially those from a company that builds less than 4,000 pcs annually cost  around $10. (And I might add the majority of which are sold at wholesale not full retail.)

The flip side is the guy who sells a few from his truck or on Facebook or may have a website but doesn't wholesale can undercut someone like me who does wholesale. 

I'm in no way complaining but just breaking down the facts of the mouth call buisness.  I hope it's a little more clear as to why we as call makers have to price product in such a way other wise it's bad buisness and that means no buisness.

[mspaci]

Too expensive & inconsistent, thats why I started making my own. Mike

[Dark Cloud]

My hats off to the good custom call maker,I've made few handmade calls but not a lot.That said in my opinion a good callmaker deserves every dime they can get from any call they make.The time and money spent ,the calls thrown in the trash ,trying to get the sound you want ,it don't come easy.there's a lot of what I would call fly by night people thinking its a thing ,they're going to do over night and make a big break and a fortune in the hunting industry.The one thing these people don't understand is you can't buy that ten to twenty years of experience that Good callmaker has that you got when you pull his call out to use.
With that blabbering done,it's fairly easy to get on the Internet and buy supplies and get instructions to make a call,I personally wouldn't pay some of the prices that out there,I learned a long time ago if you can't afford or just think its to high to buy make your own.

[mspaci]

Just to be clear, I had to make some diaphrams & toss some before getting it right for me. Same with pot calls. Its was some work to get it right. It was a fun process though & always learning to make them better. In the long run the benefit to me is that I can get exactly what I want. I can also get another quick if needed. Mike