Originally posted by dougle40
<br />Royce,
That's interesting . I've toyed with the idea of making some calls just to see what the market would be in this area as I live right on a migration route . How much does a custom call sell for (average)?
I don't sell a lot of calls. Mostly give away, use myself, add to my collection, donate to Ducks Unlimited, etc.
Pricing of calls, like anything, is tricky business. True "custom" calls, made by a fairly well known call maker and custom made and tuned for a particular buyer can start at $100 or higher and go up from there. The more well known the maker the higher the price. I am an avid duck hunter and have 1 call that I paid over $100 for. It is a great call and was well worth the money. I bought it from Wade Carpenter at www.webfootcustomcalls.com . He also supplies me with my molded call guts, reeds, etc.
Another type of call on the market is a "semi-custom" call. Made by a good call maker but more of a "stock" item where the buyer might pick the material but it is tuned, etc. to more of a "standard sound. Not really custom made but very nice calls. These can sell in the $70-$100 range.
Most of the calls I've sold on the "open market" I've sold for $30-$45 depending on the material, etc. I've also sold a lot on eBay just to get them out the door so to speak. These bring around $20-$25. Mostly I sell them on eBay if it is a "prototype" or just been around a while and I want to get my money back out of them.
The problem I've encountered with selling calls is that for the "average" duck hunter who wants a call to use, they are perfectly happy with the $20 calls available off the shelf at any store. There are some nice molded poly calls out there in the stores and I have several myself. A lot of people don't want to spend the extra money for a "custom" call that they are going to the duck slough and abuse so marketing is tough.
Sorry to ramble but I've not been real successful selling calls. I don't mind too much because they are fun to make and I use a lot of duck calls. As long as I can sell a couple a year to get my money back it's worth it to me. Hope this helps.