Increasing mole damage,but no funds available for control measures !

[Steve Albano 21]

We do gopher and mole control on a couple of cemeteries, with the vast majority of the damage being caused by gophers. This place was 120 acres of gopher mounds, we took over 2,000 gophers off this place during the first month.

 

[earth-thrower 493]

I know for a fact that pre-2006,the majority of golf courses in my part of the world,were well catered for by ' the man with his poisoned worms '.This is why i didnt have many.Since then most of the greenkeepers have tried to tackle it themselves.Many of them only manage to catch the odd one,therefore its not kept on top of,so the mole damage gets worse every season.Very occasionally though,youll find a greenkeeper who has the 'knack' and excels at it !( no chance of a job here ! )I think ive probably ' missed the boat ' and should have tried to get in there roundabout the 08-09 period.( theyve had too much time to practise, LOL )

[earth-thrower 493]

Interesting Steve,i like the photos.Can i ask you mate,how soon would you roughly expect other gophers to take up residence again, after your initial clearance of this site ?

[mackem 26,686]

does that mean you be selling them trap things of yours back to the uk molers direct

Steve,you seem to have missed this question asked by Logun earlier as your product is a tad steep from killgerm

[Moll. 1,770]

I only charge £5 per mole, it is the normal price up here. My two main places, i do not charge a call out fee as they are my permissions and i go their most days anyway. The moles are relentless here at the mo, i seem to have traps down constantly.

[3175darren 1,100]

Have you tried pro trapper for steves traps?I have just ordered ten from there,around here the farmers frown at £5 a mole,saying that some do,some dont they seem to want to pay around £3.50 to £4.50 but thats not viable somtimes with the travelling

[Moll. 1,770]

Actually just got another farm to mole trap this afternoon. I do volunteer (dont get payed) trapping grey squirrels to save the red's. Went to set some traps at a new place and through conversation with the farmer, and the fact i do the greys for free, the farmer asked if i would do his moles

I was recommnded by a different farmer i also do the greys for. Sometimes doing things for less leads to more

[mackem 26,686]

Have you tried pro trapper for steves traps?

£7 each on there darren?Iwasnt aware pro-trapper sold them until you pointed it out,I thought kill-germ had distribution exclusivity in the UK?

[logun 91]

i thought kill germ to had the uk sole rites for them ,, ain't sure if i seen them on the e,bay to back for sale ?

[Steve Albano 21]

Well I don't sell them direct to Pro-Trapper. But I do sell through a lot of different re-sellers here in the states, and I don't always know where the traps will wind up for sale. And I agree that with shipping, import duties, retail markup, and VAT, our traps are expensive in the UK. We might sell direct to the UK again at some point, but no immediate plans to go that route.

[mackem 26,686]

And I agree that with shipping, import duties, retail markup, and VAT, our traps are expensive in the UK. We might sell direct to the UK again at some point

If you agree the mark-up is exorbitant(And it IS),and your also contemplating selling to UK-direct again,well,no time like the present Steve

[logun 91]

Well I don't sell them direct to Pro-Trapper. But I do sell through a lot of different re-sellers here in the states, and I don't always know where the traps will wind up for sale. And I agree that with shipping, import duties, retail markup, and VAT, our traps are expensive in the UK. We might sell direct to the UK again at some point, but no immediate plans to go that route.

im sure you will steve,.trap ain't as successful here as you thought it would become i guess,,. nice to have a sole distributor like kill germ only to find pro trapper4r and few others selling them to .so not the monopoly you would have hoped for maybe,plus the fact the duffus got a huge fan base etc,, anyway if i was you i would sell them at about £3 each,OK lot less than now but more sales = more turn over = more revenue etc,, best sell lots at lower rate than few at higher rate .

[Steve Albano 21]

so not the monopoly you would have hoped for

 

Who says I hope for a distributor to have a monopoly? That may or may not be in my interests. It depends on several factors.

Edited November 20, 2011 by Steve Albano

[mackem 26,686]

It depends on several factors.

Your the one inside the box steve,you know your sales and profits,but from outside the box our perspective is the KG price is ripping the arse out of it,no sour-grapes for KG they have to make a profit but does it have to be so much Please be sure to let us know if you decide to sell direct to UK customers again because no matter how good your product is on principle some people wont buy them from KG because of the exhorbitant mark-up.

[Steve Albano 21]

Hey Mackem, yes I know that 's the case. I know they do end up being expensive for the UK market. Thanks for your thoughts on it.