Are we selling ourselves short?

[VanHelden Game Calls]

Maybe I am fuzzy in my recollection, but it seems the price we ask for our calls have been dropping year to year.  I understand you have to find a place in the market but mass production is getting more.  Are we as craftsman selling ourselves short?

Great for the buyer though

[Longbeardfever4ever]

Some callmakers undersell, some oversell.. When I see a custom call for under $35 i shake my head... The callmaker deserves more!

[VanHelden Game Calls]

We are all underselling.

I understand some(ME) its a hobby and  just want to recoup supplies and get there calls out there.   But I question calls being sold for less then the machine calls.

Just rambling thoughts here.

[Longbeardfever4ever]

I tend to agree. I work hard to make a really good sounding and looking striker at a price that gets me a couple extra bucks in the bank.  But when I see machine made strikers that are just as much or more than mine I get upset. Sure it takes talent to make something on a cnc plus man hours but!!

[ol bob]

Earl Mickel gave me the best advice that i ever got about call making he said that when you lowered your prices you started going out of business.

[dirt road ninja]

As a consumer, I think most custom calls are under priced. I've told a builder on this site the same a few weeks ago. I believe  I'm getting more then I pay for.

[lightsoutcalls]

    I had to increase my prices this year due to material costs rising and shipping costs rising.  It helps to shop around.  For instance, I just paid $7 a board foot for a padauk board.  When I looked at a couple of other suppliers online, they wanted up to $11 a board foot.  Prices of metals fluctuates, so the cost of my copper surface material is based on the copper market on the date of order.  My dymondwood blanks (get 6 strikers per blank) went up about $2 since last season...


   I enjoy making calls.  Even more, I enjoy the relationships made with hunters over the years that buy the calls.  When I get a picture back of a smiling customer with my call in one hand and a dead turkey at his/her feet, that is GOLD to me!  That said, I also have a family and bills to pay.  God has blessed me with the talents and skills to build calls and with contacts and customers that purchase them.  I recognize that and am thankful when folks come along requesting a product that, with God's help, I can produce that makes them happy.  I understand what making calls has cost me in money and time.  I know what I have given up to be able to put a good call in the hands of a customer. 

   If some want to just cover the cost of their materials, that's their choice.  Me?  It has to be worth my while to head to the shop instead of the woods on days that I would rather be hunting.  Can you buy a cheaper call?  Sure.  Will some of them call in a turkey?  Sure.  It's a free market, buy what you want.  Just be sure that down the road, you're still going to want what you buy.

[deltaeta]

I'm not a call maker but I think you guys aren't charging enough. These calls are artwork.

[North of 8]

Earl Mickel gave me the best advice that i ever got about call making he said that when you lowered your prices you started going out of business.

Earl told me that when calls were peaking in price that also ten new call-makers a week were popping up. He also said that 10% will make it, the others will price themselves to high because someone told the maker his/her calls are as good as the best. An awful amount of truth has been proven from that. New call makers need to expect to cover material cost and charge a minimal charge for their craftsmanship. When they improve their calls,and earn the privilege from customers reviews and sales, than they can increase price, but not go wild.  Suggestion, review the prices calls sell for at NWTF call making competition. I could go one for hours on this subject. pay what you think it is worth is the buyers mode. Set your price accordingly.

Earl also that these callmakers that start out high, haven't "paid the price", "paid their way".
Than they lower their prices and than wonder why no one is buying calls from them.
Get them out to your prospective buyers and guarantee satisfaction in the sound. Also, remember, a lot of buyers do NOT know how to correctly play calls.
As most makers like Whitt, Mann, Mero, and so many more successful makers paid the price. I remember buying calls for $50-75 from many of the BEST. They can justify their price increases.

[ncturkey]

I am more of a buyer than a call maker. I make a few wingbine calls a year for my friends. I have never sold a call.  I have bought a few over the years. Some I have bought have been way under priced. Some pots I have bought worth the price just for the pot call alone. I have told the guys that under sale thereselfs that they need to charge more. Know you gyys and gals that are charging what you should do not go up.  

[pappy]

Let us examine our worth before we decide to raise our prices, like Wendell, I agree that material cost has sky rocketed, I also agree with ol bob, "Earl told me that when calls were peaking in price that also ten new call-makers a week were popping up. He also said that 10% will make it, the others will price themselves to high because someone told the maker his/her calls are as good as the best"
There is a level of professionalism that suggests higher pricing would advantage the maker, but it is a very unstable level to reach, years of experience, countless hours spent in design and thousands spent on materials and equipment, help us as "artists" reach this level. This is when I feel price increase is justifiable, but........let's also not forget why we are making calls in the first place.....to continue the art, to carry the torch of those before us, sharing out talents with those who enjoy hunting as a heritage that is slowly dissapearing in this country. you could toss a quarter in the air, call it heads or tails, as the pretense of reaching the decision you make  to raising your prices, it is simply not feasible to out price your self, quality is the key to pricing, honest hard work, is the force that turns that key to open the door to securing the level of "custom call maker" then and only then should we find the luxury of reaping from what we sowed. One last note, DON'T GET TRAPPED IN THE BETTER THEN THOU SNARE as I have known several call makers who believe that if their calls do not sell for the hundreds or thousands of dollars they have labeled them with, then the buyer doesn't deserve their time or product.

[smurf]

When I started I sold a few calls and have since tried to buy them back having learned how bad they really were.  Since then my clls are usually gifts or go to auctions for charities.  I tried, at first, to emulate others---that was a mistake.  Many of the calls I've seen on here are beautiful pieces of work and the maker deserves the recognition and price that he receives.  A business owner once told me if you have more business than you can handle then your price is too low.  If you have no business then your price might be too high.  You have to figure out where your prices belong.   That's my 2 cents. 

[handcannon]

When I first started selling calls, my idea was only to get my calls out there and try to get feedback so i did not charge much for them. I was not looking to make a profit, only to pay for supplies. Now, I still look for feedback but I know I'm not pllanning on relying on this to pay bills. I just want to build a call that the average guy who wants to try a handmade call can afford. I enjoy spending time in the shop testing myself and making new acquaintances from what callmaking. I'll keep my dayjob.

[VanHelden Game Calls]

Great responses.

So many different views to look at.  I guess its us as individuals that get to decide

[North of 8]

 

Pappy,
YOU SAID IT ALL AND RIGHT ON!!!!!