This is a tough part of the Safari industry and arranging things for people. Anytime you list prices for each "item" or Species those prices would be based on a single species hunt. I don't know anyone who would go all the way to Africa and hunt only a single animal. However we never know if the prospective hunter is looking at 3 animals or 12 animals. That number will have the single biggest influence on the price for me.
If I were to post prices for each species individually just as everyone else does I would likely scare hunters away because the prices would have to be based on a single animal safari without knowing what the whole safari was to consist of.
I have an unbelievabley flexable pricing schedule at my fingertips. I can usually make a safari work out for anyone interested and serious. The best way to do this is for me to know how many people are involved( 1X1 or 2X1, or a whole group) and what animals are needed.
The way I do this is to balance the cost of doing business against the total cost of the hunters and the game. Certainly 1 hunter by himself in the lodge with a full staff will cost significantly more then 6 hunters in the lodge with the same level of staff. Not to mention the reduced price of each animal because I only need to make enough money to pay the bills. The more game shot the cheaper each animal becomes. The more hunters in camp the cheaper it is to run the camp, per hunter.
I have found that actually talking to people about this in person or on the phone or even by email is the right way to get a feel for what each hunter or group needs. Then the price can be determined and the deal will either fly or they can keep shopping.
To just make a shopping list of game prices and a high daily fee is not a realistic method to make this business work for me. I know it's the way everyone else is doing it but I think it's the lazy way for an outfitter to let people shop around without really being serious about a hunt.
When people are serious they want to talk about the details, that's what I want. My means of doing this may not be familliar when you look at other sites with prices listed. Remember that I'm not a booking agent and most if not all these other people are. They are selling something they don't own with prices they were given by the Owner of the business. They get the price from the African safari company add their percentage and post the prices. I don't have to add a percentage to each animal I just need to know the whole package desired by the hunter and balance that against my costs.
I am a part owner, a full partner in this business. I don't have a list of prices I have to follow. I can make the hunt cost what ever I want to make it. I just need to know what people want out of the safari and I can then make them a very competitive if not down right cheap safari package. I can even get the airfare this year through a broker for about 1150.00 round trip from Atlanta to Joburg. Once a hunter books a hunt with me I will help them with anything they need as far as travel and firearms import information. That's all very easy and never a concern.
There is no risk with our hunts. I'm there on site and anything presented to you before the trip I will be there to make certain it is what you have while your there. I don't send you on your way hoping for the best. With just over 150 hunters now I have a great list of references and lots or happy clients. This is a 5 star top of the line operation in every way.
I guess I may not have the "user friendly" list prices everyone wants to check out for fun, just to imagine what the whole thing would be like. However anyone really serious will like what they hear when we sit and talk about the arrangments one on one!
Let me try this example, what if General Motors had a Website with listed prices for each car as a fixed price, but with none of the options involved. They would have to list the maximum cost assuming everyone would want to have every option. That would spook most buyers because of the high cost. Yet if they called and said I just want two options or no options the price would be much lower then listed
It's the same situation I'm in. I need to know exactly what people want before I know how much it will cost them. This is totally custom arrangments. Everyone is different in what game they want and how much they can afford. I won't put up piece by piece prices, I just don't agree with the way the business is currently run. It is run that way because 99% of the people are "booking agents" or Safari companies who are leasing land to hunt on. We own our property, the Safari business and all the game! We make the rules because we don't work for anyone but ourselves, and our hunters!
My Email is jjhack@earthlink.net Send me your questions or a phone number and we can put something together.
