Reptile Delivery Scotland - Page 5

reptilesrock · #41 (**permalink**) 09-05-2008, 02:43 AM

Using this method, seemingly similar to your own way of pricing, it should have been quoted from RT as 100 miles at £0.255 (£25.50) and 120 miles at £0.31 (£37.20) so £62.70 altogether

laura1486 · #42 (**permalink**) 09-05-2008, 03:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nerys

as far as i am concerned, there is no debate as such no..

at the end of the day, i have been doing this for the last 8 months, and speak from experience gained by actually DOING it not just thinking about it..

by the time you remember that you have to drive from where you live, to the collection, to the drop and then home again..

i made teesside to leeds 67 miles btw.. tho of course did not have postcodes to work from...

for me, that 67 miles.. would actually have come to 320 miles by the time i had done the trip..

now... my real running costs.. as in what i know the car drinks.. is around £15 for 60 miles at the moment..

that means, that just to cover my fuel, will cost about £80.

then you need to take into account wear and tear, insurance and so on.

and then you need to think about charging something for your time too.. that trip will take almost a full working day 7-8 hours... how much does a courier earn a day.. well minimum wage say, thats about 5.25 an hour now?

so 5.25 X say 7 hours = £driver salary of 36.75 for the day.. and lets face it, that amount is pitiful for what has to be done..

so.. regardless of what your link says, or does not say.. i know that the "60 mile" trip you talk about.. would cost me, in reality.. about £80 and 8 hours out of my life...

and you wonder why we don't do it for peanuts???????

i have to say, if someone said to me, as you have, that it would be cheaper to hire a car and do it themselves... i would answer "be my guest" *grins*

thats not a dig at you as such, just... its NOT as simple as you and rob like to think, and having spent the last year doing such trips on and off, all i will say, is try it yourself... you will soon see what i am getting at

N

been their and done it my self.... it was exciting and to be honest it was worth every second of my life to deliver a reptile to some one who has the same love for them as i do.... so therefore paying for my time.... BS.... shouldn't be like that... but if that is all you are in it for then get a real job.... be paid for your time instead of a hobby.

plus another thing... selfishness never won anything. help one person... you may get the same help back.

Rob Wallace · #43 (**permalink**) 09-05-2008, 08:33 AM

Wow, i have really started something here havnt i ??

Nerys i never once said it would be easy, i never once said there wasnt a lot of work... all i did say was that i personally and i am sure a LOT of other people would really really like an RT style busines.

If you can do it .... and Reptile Taxi can do it then why shouldnt we have somebody up here do it aswell. Even if you guys linked up with each other, im kinda feeling you are trying your hardest to put somebody off... but then again you are still doing it... ( i am guesin out of passion ) therefore i think a like minded person up our end would be an excellent idea.... Not an easy idea. But excellent all the same.

faroopnorthsnakes · #44 (**permalink**) 09-05-2008, 09:33 AM

I think it could be a great opportunity. As previously said it would be hard work and it is definitely not a get rich quickly idea but hey, you would be out and about, doing something good!!

I would quite fancy it but I am hopeless at driving distances and my 3litre shogun would push prices up somewhat lol.

I would certainly use this service if it were offered and if it could work in conjunction with the other services then all the better imo.

TianRunty · #45 (**permalink**) 09-05-2008, 12:17 PM

i'm looking into it atm. I have more than enough time on my hands, love driving and love animals so I dont think it would kill me to do it. i already have transport as well so i wouldnt need to put major money into starting it. just need to see about the cert

Nerys · #46 (**permalink**) 09-05-2008, 12:28 PM

long post, but hey, i have a mass email broadcast transmitting, so why not!

rob, not not trying to put you off, as said, just warning you that its not all easy lol.. you do have to factor various things in thats all.. as said.. for me to do scotland to scotland works out impractical for both me and the buyer!!

laura.. as it happens i have a full time job thanks lol

i do Gremlins part time on my own time.

people like RT, who are doing this full time, are doing this as a business, not a favour, and as such, yes, i don't see why they should not factor in their time as a cost, they do afterall, have a living to make !! luuuuurve.. whilst being nice and all that.. does not keep the mortgage company happy, and if someone is doing this as a living, i believe they have the right to make a living from doing it. RT, Gremlins, Petwheels.. we are not charities you know!!

Quote:

plus another thing... selfishness never won anything. help one person... you may get the same help back.

i have to admit this comment makes me chuckle, you have no idea over the years of how many times i have bent over backwards to help someone for nothing, i do it for the pleasure of knowing i can, that i have the time, or the skills or the knowledge to help someone who does not. and yes, many people do the same for me.. thats how life works, but to me thats not something to remark upon, its something that just is. i've driven miles, spent hours, given animals and equipement away.. but its not something i shout about doing.. i don't need to make myself feel good by telling people about it.. doing it is reward enough in its own right..

i rarely make a "profit" from doing gremlins, but i enjoy driving, and i enjoy meeting new people and visiting new places, which is why i do it.. i guess you could say that was a passion yes rob, i have met some lovely people, and some even lovelier animals, by doing it, that much i do know, but i certainly could not keep myself, my house and my animals going by it ROFL.. which is why i do not do it full time

worth every second of your life... fair enough.. yes, it is always nice when peoples eyes light up when they see their new animal, and having delivered several hundred from primates to land snails, i see a lot of smiley faces believe me.. is it worth every second of my life tho? good god no.. there are plenty of things its worth, but not every second of my life for sure!! when some of my runs leave here at 9am, and return at 5am.. when i still then have to spend 3-4 hours hours looking after my own collection before i get some rest.. when i am fitting that round a full time job and some 800-1000 animals...it might FEEL like it takes up every second of my life however!!

reptilesrock.. i tend to charge one way milage, rather than both ways, but X the milage by 0.45-0.5 depending on what vehicle i am in, where the run is and so on.. as said i often do bolt on trips, to combine on costs for people... i don't tend to factor in where i am starting to and returning from.. unless as said, it was something like exeter to newquay.. or glasgow to aberdeen. most of the time, jobs like that, i simpley turn down, as it would just be silly on costings, but not always, if i am doing a run down there anyway, then i can look at adding on local short haul trips without it becoming stupid. i do also pass on people to RT quite often, if its something thats uneconomical for me to do, but may fit into one of their runs.

(sorry working down peoples replies, so some of this may be a bit dis jointed!)

reptilesrock... the calculations post.. blimey.. err.. now that is complicated!!! i think you should write it into a program, lol, so i can just stick in the relevent postcodes and it will calculate the rest.. *grins* its interesting to see tho, when its worked out, how similar the quotes are.. your lowest is 62 or there abouts.. i reckoned on 65-70, but if you add in business costs (ie wages and admin) then more on 90 or so.. and you came to 86 or so with the calculation you worked out.. on that principle, bearing in mind most of the time i do not factor in a salary for myself, i would be better working on your calculations lol lol.. but interesting to see others perceptions of what a service is worth and so on..

in reality, if i had been asked to quote on your job, unless i had a run going that way anyway, or could book others is.. i would have probably advised you speak to RT about adding it into one of theirs lol.. i get more enquiries about trips within the north midlands downwards, than i do that way upwards, so tend to have more combo runs going out from lincolnshire across and down, rather than up. hence why rob, i don't disagree that scotland could do with its own within scotland runner.. i just think you need to be realistic about costs..

personally i think, and always have, that a good idea is "satalite" runners.. ie people who act within their areas, that link in with other areas.. for instance.. sarah (as in squaddie79's missus) if she could drive, would be well placed to cover dorset, cornwall and devon. rob here, would be well placed to cover scotland.. someone like casey, if she could drive, would be well placed to cover the north east.. and so on.. if there were then known dates for link ups between the satalites, things could be worked in conjunction with others. the main problem with that, is the animals security and health during this time. i've often picked things up, held them overnight, and taken them on the next day.. but not everyone is happy with this, including me when you pick up a snake with mites say.. and not all animals are suitable to do this to.. primates in travel pens for instance, are not ideally left in them for any more time then strictly necessary.

you would then really need to have exotic animal insurance in place for where ever you were keeping the animals in holding.. whilst we all like to think that we are nice people.. if someones animal dies in my care.. they are going to look at me for an explanation. i have, in most cases, no idea of the animals past, or health record.. don;t forget most of the buyers buy unseen, so it is potentially easy for someone to diddle you with a sick snake. not all illnesses are spotable on "sight", many animals are already packed so the courier does not even see them... etc etc etc.. its nice to do favours for mates.. but even mates turn sour against each other at times, you need to think about insurance, purely to make sure both you AND the buyer are protected if something happens..

say i am couriering £9000 worth of animal, and i have a crash.. and the animal dies.. sure, its a tragedy, but more to the point, i have to be able to cover the fact that someone has paid thousands out, and got nothing in return.. and people will fall out just as fast over a 25quid corn, as they will a grands worth of royal..

i have often treated reptiles i have picked up for mites, whilst on the way to their new homes... mites is one thing i will treat instantly as soon as i spot it.. i just don't really want live mites from a strangers collection anywhere near my own reptile, thank you kindly!!! i have had to turn up at drops, with a snake covered in diemite oil, and get the poor people to turn their bedroom upside down into a q'tine zone for a snake with mites, poor things, lol, but better that than me hand it over and not say 'owt.
(incidently.. laura, i don't charge for things like that, lol.. its done out of "lurrrrve" - trouble is.. as said, luuuuurve does not pay the bills...)

actually, its done out of it being in the animals and my best interests to do so. is that love? or is that common sense??

reptiles rock - 0.3 for the full milage - me to the collection, to the drop and back to me.. would work out, in almost all cases, to be more than what i would quote.. (still.. sounds good to me)

also.. tax free wages.. well.. i am not sure how ditta and crew work, as said, they do this full time as a business, i do it part time as a hobby.. i am guessing, if they are an official business, that they declare tax and returns at the end of the year as does any other business. TSKA for instance, files tax returns.. these cover gremlins, or will do from this year (ie last tax year) onwards. as such, any "earnings" are not tax free, and are actually as accountable as any other form of income.

anyway... i would guess i have lost most of you by this stage..

for those who read it all, thanks tho!!!!

lol

Nerys

Nerys · #47 (**permalink**) 09-05-2008, 12:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TianRunty

i'm looking into it atm. I have more than enough time on my hands, love driving and love animals so I dont think it would kill me to do it. i already have transport as well so i wouldnt need to put major money into starting it. just need to see about the cert

tian - thats the easiest bit of it tbh!!!

just get the forms through, fill them in, send them back, wait for the doc to arrive

this is what gets me about all the people who are offering things like hamm collection, or other runs.. when it is so damn easy to get the cert, why not just apply, be responsible, and cover your arse by getting one?

N

gaz · #48 (**permalink**) 09-05-2008, 01:13 PM

seems no one ever figures out what something will cost until they get on and do it,i sometimes get people whinging about the price of my snakes,as if it cost nothing to run this place,in fact this breeding faciltiy? (sounds very pretentious) sucks up £18,000 a year and i'm sure anyone doing the courier thing gets through money like water too,i dont courier personally anymore(cept by request) but at the charges i see quoted on here no one is going to make any money and fast.
regards gaz

Nerys · #49 (**permalink**) 09-05-2008, 01:24 PM

indeedy..

a lot of the issue is time, and the fact that, understandably, both buyer and seller want it NOW NOW NOW..

if things could be planned more, it would be cheaper..

for instance, take you Gaz..

if you had 30 people who all wanted a snake couriered from you, to various places in the uk.. you would be bound to get a fair few of them that would be covered on one run, if you planned it right.. wales, to bristol, somerset devon and so on.. back via the midlands or round the M4 M25 loop would take you thought most of the home counties and so on.. or from wales up the m6 and into the north and north west, etc etc..

but it would be reliant on someone paying you, maybe a deposit, and then balence nearer the time, and then waiting until enough other people booked in on the same route to make it viable.. if you were charging a set fee of £30 per drop for instance.. you would know you would need X amount of people to cover doing a run from wales to the north west, or wales to essex or whatever..

that would then entail you being happy to hold an animal, and pay the subsquent feeding housing and husbandry times and costs, until such time as enough people booked on the run to make it a go-er... and depending on the deal with the buyer, potentially having to wait some time for full payment, and as you and i both know, Mr Bank Manager does not work on love alone.. bills are bills, and banks do not accept credit notes these days, mores the pity.

i know you, gaz, do a lot of shows and tend to hook up with people there, but you get the example i am trying to make i hope.

see, that sort of thing could work well with a pre-planned link run to scotland..

N

reptilesrock · #50 (**permalink**) 09-05-2008, 01:26 PM

There is no real need for people to begin slating others calculations and suggesting that they are cheaper etc, all i did was put VERY SIMPLE FRICKIN MATH to use and it came up with 'X', at the end of the day, if it shows that some people are charging BS prices for a simple delivery task, then so be it.
I cannot understand how a 60 mile journey would cost £15 in fuel, are you using a frickin M16 Fighter Jet?

''I know what my car costs me'' blah blah blah BS!

I know also a couple of things, don't assume that because i am a uni student that i am some young inexperienced idiot that hasn't driven a motor vehicle before, i also, whilst doing a full time degree, afford my time to being a Director of a £multi-million / annum turnover business, experience is something i am not short of.
If our company staff reported back at a £15 60 mile journey, i'm afraid it would be bye bye time.

You run 'Gremlin Rides' as a credible business do you not?
You entered into this discussion, obviously very foolishly, and you received feedback and criticism from people that also drive vehicles, (yes thats right you are not the only one ya know!) and you have turned defensive as a result of questions and simple figures put to you.

Either back out gracefully and so ''sorry but my costings are of a private matter'' or admit that your costings, as i have already told you, as a major contributor to the UK motor research has told you (AA), are simply wrong at best, or made up.

I am not happy with the sarcasm you display in answering questions put to you, genuine honest no quibble questions. I have held off till now, but you display the exact same manner throughout this thread and it simply is not on.

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