Bass-Boys Posted October 26, 2008 Report Share Posted October 26, 2008 I have been working on how much it really takes & cost to make the baits.. please compare your notes to mine to see if I am on the rite track. shoot left my notes @ work.. I will post some apx. of what I mean. then will get my notes and post. stuff like.. I get apx. 52 drops of color per 1/2 teaspoon. 2--teaspoons = 1 table spoon on Softner & glitter I have notes on how many table spoons per. oz. and howmany oz. per cup.. 128 oz. per. gallon thats 3-4 table spoons per 1/4 cup (2 oz ) 258 table spoons per Gallon and 625 oz. per 5 gallon of plastic.. a table spoon of Scent cost a lot !!!! @ $55.00 qt. when a table spoon of salt very cheap.. also what size container you buy of each product is huge on cost.. have any of you set down and really figured out what it cost to make 1- 5-1/4" stick bait worm?? I have been working on this to the exact drop and its very hard to do.. I am going to go get my notes and post more later today.. Jeff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bountiful Waters Posted October 26, 2008 Report Share Posted October 26, 2008 It is very hard to do. What I recommend to increase profit is this: Order less often and in bulk.This not only saves on volume, but shipping will eat you alive. If you are the only one pouring, your time is not a cost I factor in, but when you have hired help, that is a direct impact. One of your biggest profit eaters are free samples. Do not get into the frame of mind that giving free samples to everyone that asks is a good business decision, it is not. Be selective with samples and package them seperate and in less volume. These a few things I have learned in the beginning. There will be many more posts on this topic as this topic is on our minds daily. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bass-Boys Posted October 26, 2008 Author Report Share Posted October 26, 2008 (edited) B Waters, great advice... I have gave away a lot of stuff with very little return.. shipping will kill ya.. apx. $ 10.00 to ship 2- QTs. of supplies $ 15.00 to ship a Gallon $ 25.00 to ship 5 gallons of plastic. these are apx. because the distance it has to travel makes a dif.. ---- corrections to my 1st post... 8-table spoons to a 1/2 cup 256 table spoons per gallon 640 oz. per 5 gallon ------- more info... 1-table spoon = 1/2oz. 8-teaspoons = 2 oz. 8--table spoons = 4 oz or 1/2 cup. scent can be 86 cents per. table spoon @ qt size.. if you buy it buy the 4 oz its over a dollar a table spoon. So use worm oil when you can.. Now salt can be cheap... 2-3 cents per. table spoon..!!! plastic is apx. 25 cents an ounce thats with a 5 gallon jug.. It looks as if you want to make any money you better buy plastic by the 55 gal drum.. Jeff Edited October 26, 2008 by Bass-Boys Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Delw Posted October 26, 2008 Report Share Posted October 26, 2008 Bags are the biggest cost in making baits and so is advertisement. buy enough plastic that you will use in 1-2 months at one time buy enough colors that you will use in 6 months buy enough glitter and hilites that will last you a year buy everything in bulk. if you dont charge you own labor for making baits your basically screwing yourself why should your labor be free? no one else's is. you aso have to look into things like. more molds thats a really easy one to miss. look at it this way you have one mold, you pour let it sit to cool, take out baits, reheat plastic, pour again. for someone using a 2 cup pryrex its a few molds, for someone using a gallon or bigger plastic holder its more molds. if you had enough molds to pour and by the time your last pour is finished your first pour is ready to take out(cooled) thats esentually how you want ot be set-up. think about it. its takes 1-10 mins for a mold to cool, you can mour how many baits in 1-10 mins if you had the molds, then look at getting a pouring something to hold more plastic to pour faster. its a never ending dilema on what to to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bountiful Waters Posted October 26, 2008 Report Share Posted October 26, 2008 (edited) Del, the way I look at it, it is already factored in, everything else is extra. You don't set your hourly wage, you figure up what you made after it is done. Not a very exact science at that. Would you say your rate is $8.00 an hour before you price it? I do not think so. Once you add an additional 30-50%, your wage is in that margin. You have to raise that margin if you are paying extra help based on the volume. Just my opinion. If anyone else is adding a rate into the pricing, I would be curious to see that. I just use a percentage above my expense. Edited October 26, 2008 by Bountiful Waters change Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bass-Boys Posted October 26, 2008 Author Report Share Posted October 26, 2008 Del, yes Lam bags can be .10 - .20 cents each.. Bags are my 2nd highest cost after the plastic cost. to save time & time can be money.. you are correct on the number of molds.. I have your molds,, Bobs & Lure Craft.. with yours, 2 pc. 1 bait I only have 1 mold another I have 2 molds another I have 3 molds with the 3 molds I can pump out a lot more Baits.. with the single mold it gets hotter & hotter as you go.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Delw Posted October 27, 2008 Report Share Posted October 27, 2008 Bountiful Waters I see what your saying, your already counting in shop time. yeah you don't want to put that on top of hourly time also. lots of people forget that you have electricity costs, parts that wear out clothes to clean, space to make the product in etc etc.(over head) if you sell at exactly what it cost to make them then your already loosing money and wasting your time. I was assuming most guys dont have a shop rate for pouring. I wouldnt pour anything for less than $45 per hour shop time + plastics scents etc etc and if its your own product and your selling add %30 on top of that for profit, thats what you sell them for. then you look at the market, if lets say yamamoto is selling a bag of senkos for 7 bucks you should be at the same price if not with in a dollar. its foolish to sell something at %50 less than what others are selling as your just ripping yourself off. custom colors should be same price or higher. when selling to shops that sell your stuff then you need to come down from the public price. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bass-Boys Posted October 27, 2008 Author Report Share Posted October 27, 2008 $ 45.00 an hour would be much easier to make if you made molds.. not near as much compitition.. $ 45.00 an hour to hand pour plastics would be very hard to do.. you would need.. apx. $ 1000.00 worth of each mold you were pouring. then buy plastic in 55 gallon, all other stuff in 5 gallon glitter by the pound. color by the QT. Then like you said, sell them @ almost Yami's price.. mite do it ?? then there would be the electric bill ??? for --6-- heated pots.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GB GONE Posted October 27, 2008 Report Share Posted October 27, 2008 Del is 100% correct. Time is your largest expense whether you account for it or not, whether you pay yourself or not. If you had 20 4-cavity molds and needed to make 80 sticks or had 1 4-cavity mold and needed to make 80 sticks, the cost of your materials (ingredients) is exactly the same. The only variable and the only expense that changes, it the time invested. It has to account for something in the equation, especially if you look at this "hobby" as a long term deal. I still am not sure how to measure it and account for it though. But I am certain that you should factor into the cost equation at least minumum wage for whomever is doing the pouring. Whether you actually pay yourself is a whole different ballgame. Jim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Delw Posted October 27, 2008 Report Share Posted October 27, 2008 (edited) think about it just in rent and utilities your looking at about $20 bucks per hour for most rent places. if someone pouring baits can't charge $45 an hour labor the system isnt working and your better off working for someone. too many times people discount the fact that they are using ther own time, property, electrical etc etc. what happens is eventually it catches up with you, you will get tired of doing it cause your not making any money, or you will start to see in 3-5 years that your just getting by but barely. I have seen this happen to way too many guys over the years, they charge way way to little for baits, yeah they are selling a ton of them and are real popular with everyone except there wife trying to pay bills. what happens if you decide to take the next step and rent a place cause your really busy and teh wife says enough. if your not charging at least $45 bucks an hour, you wont be able to pay your bills. so now your back to the house and making a mess. its always easy to lower your prices its hard to raise them. plus dont forget you need to invest money to make money, so why give it away for free cause when that tool your using breaks or wears out will you have the money(from the bait pouring business) to buy a new one or will it cut you short? remember the worst thing you can do is going into business to make friends/people happy by selling stuff cheap. your friends don't pay your bills. one of the other things to consider is DONT pour for friends unless they pay full price, as if they don't pay full price or always want a deal they are not friends they are just useing you cause you have something they want. Edited October 27, 2008 by Delw Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GB GONE Posted October 27, 2008 Report Share Posted October 27, 2008 So true Del!! Your true friends will not take anything for free as they realize it costs you something to make the baits you give them. My close friends talk my stuff up so much, I owe them way more baits than I have ever given them!!! Jim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bhorlings Posted October 28, 2008 Report Share Posted October 28, 2008 I'm going to have to agree with Del and Jim. I just created a spreadsheet that factors in everything including labor, overhead, mold cost depreciated over time, raw materials, labels, ink for labels, scent, flake, advertising and whatnot. I also calculated out how many baits per hour I can produce along with cooling time and pouring time. Also I can tell how many baits I can get out of each container of materials. It's taken me over a month of tweaking on the spreadsheet. A bag of 5.25" sticks (Qty 8 per bag) costs me $3.31 to make and I pour with a presto pot and that is just cost alone not including markup. Granted I currently buy in small quantities and not in bulk. I was selling them for $4.00 per bag. Not anymore. I upped my qty and my price. I am "charging" myself $5 per hour overhead on top of my labor rate for utilities, rent, cost of pouring pot, cabinets, microwave, cups and what have you. I know that number is low too! I now truly understand how much I and we are leaving on the table by pricing things very low. You can justify it to yourself all day long that it is a hobby but if you really want to make some money you have to incorporate all those costs. It is scary to me to see people selling a bag of baits for $3 because I look at what it cost me if I where to buy at larger quantities and I would still lose money. Okay... I will get off my soapbox now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alsworms Posted October 28, 2008 Report Share Posted October 28, 2008 Sometimes we forget the small stuff. Del mentioned utilities. My electric bill easily TRIPLED when I poured. Bottom line is don't leave anything out when doing your figures! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
