The Figures Are In! (income/expenses)

[acpart]

After hours of calculation I have finally gotten the same numbers enough times in a row so I think I've gotten it right. 2009 is the first year I kept detailed data on my gecko-related income and expenses, so I thought I'd share:

Expenses:

Reptile purchase: $282.24 (I don't have a lot of room for new herps)
Reptile food: 1374.57
Supplies 543.60
Misc. 363.23 (includes postage pmts., vet bills, show fees)

Total expenses: $2563.64

Income:

Reptile sales : $1915.94
Reptile food: 41.00 (I sell mealworms locally)
Supplies 657.00 (I sell reptile set-ups)
Misc. 278.06 (includes postage paid by purchasers,
monthly "stipend" from Gecko Time)

Total income: $2892.00

Total "profits" = $328.36

That means I'm working for an hourly fraction of a cent at this "job", but at least I'm not costing the family to have my hobby.

Happy New Year!

Aliza

 

[chachasushi]

Wow, I'm impressed! That's some nice book keeping there. And congrats on making a profit, that's a rare feat indeed!

 

[Tony C]

What about utilities?

 

[acpart]

What about utilities?

The two main things I did not track are mileage (to shows and deliveries) and utilities. I will be tracking the mileage beginning in 2010. I'm sure there's a way to figure the utilities as well, but I don't have it in me to do all the calculations. I also am not figuring in wear and tear on the house.


Aliza

 

[gitrdone0420]

Lol, nice calculations. This was my first year in reptiles, and we have figured that I have spent around $3000 total.... >.< Yikes! With no profit!

 

[Tony C]

Electricity isn't that hard to figure out, just add up the total wattage of your heating and lighting devices, multiply by the number of hours they are on per day, divide by 1000, then multiply that by your electric rate $/Kilowatt hour).

For example, I am running 355 watts of heating 24 hours per day, and 380 watts of lighting 14 hours per day. That multiplies out to 8,520 watts of heating, and 5,320 watts of lighting per day, for a total of 13,840 watts, or 13.84 kilowatt hours daily. I just moved and haven't received a power bill yet, but assuming a rate of 9.5 cents per kilowatt hour, Oregon's average rate, it costs me $1.31 per day to power my herp room.

 

[THE WHISPERER]

The two main things I did not track are mileage (to shows and deliveries) and utilities. I will be tracking the mileage beginning in 2010. I'm sure there's a way to figure the utilities as well, but I don't have it in me to do all the calculations. I also am not figuring in wear and tear on the house.


Aliza

If i'm correct i believe you add up the square footage of all the space you use for your reptiles( I add my intire reptile room, my spare bathroom, and the space my desk takes up). figure what percent of your home your using and you can deduct that percentage from your rent and i believe your utilities.

 

[Kristi23]

Electricity isn't that hard to figure out, just add up the total wattage of your heating and lighting devices, multiply by the number of hours they are on per day, divide by 1000, then multiply that by your electric rate $/Kilowatt hour).

For example, I am running 355 watts of heating 24 hours per day, and 380 watts of lighting 14 hours per day. That multiplies out to 8,520 watts of heating, and 5,320 watts of lighting per day, for a total of 13,840 watts, or 13.84 kilowatt hours daily. I just moved and haven't received a power bill yet, but assuming a rate of 9.5 cents per kilowatt hour, Oregon's average rate, it costs me $1.31 per day to power my herp room.

Our electric bill went up a lot once we got all the reptiles set up. I want to say that it's about $50-$60 a month higher than it used to be. It shocked me how much it was.

 

[robin]

After hours of calculation I have finally gotten the same numbers enough times in a row so I think I've gotten it right. 2009 is the first year I kept detailed data on my gecko-related income and expenses, so I thought I'd share:

Expenses:

Reptile purchase: $282.24 (I don't have a lot of room for new herps)
Reptile food: 1374.57
Supplies 543.60
Misc. 363.23 (includes postage pmts., vet bills, show fees)

Total expenses: $2563.64

Income:

Reptile sales : $1915.94
Reptile food: 41.00 (I sell mealworms locally)
Supplies 657.00 (I sell reptile set-ups)
Misc. 278.06 (includes postage paid by purchasers,
monthly "stipend" from Gecko Time)

Total income: $2892.00

Total "profits" = $328.36

That means I'm working for an hourly fraction of a cent at this "job", but at least I'm not costing the family to have my hobby.

Happy New Year!

Aliza

ok how many geckos do you have? how many geckos did you sell? and do you have any babies left from last season, that are not pets or hold backs?

 

[got spots?]

Glad you made a profit. It also probably lower from gas and stuff. But still its a hobby right? If you made even a little bit from a hobby your doing good!

 

[RoninSTi]

A break even, or profitable hobby is incredible!! All my hobbies cost me money, but at least I'm having fun

 

[acpart]

Robin,
This past season I had 3.6 leos breeding, 1.1 AFT's and 1.2 coleonyx. I produced about 70 sellable leos (just an estimate since I don't have access to my figures right now) which was 60% more than last season. I held one back and have 17 left to sell. I produced 4 AFT's and sold them all, and 10 coleonyx of which I have 1 left to sell.

Aliza

 

[robin]

very cool! sounds like you had a good season

 

[supremegecko]

Other expenses that fall through the cracks (at least did for me initally), travel costs to shows/shipping location (PO or FedEx) including gas and tolls and wear and tear on your vehicle, paper and and labels and ink costs, Web site costs including the server. educational including magazines and books, shipping material including boxes and stamps and tape, any ads or business cards.
Just a few.

 

[combadao]

Aliza, out of curiosity...

I remember that you were disappointed in your first season and that in this season you were much more successful with the number of hatchlings.

After all this time, did you get to a conclusion as why you had that difference?

Congratulations on your success.

 

[adam&nikki]

0im glad some one is making a profit lol this season is looking up for me as i have 5 females that will produce eggs i have 2 crestie eggs in the incubator and a veild cham that is going to lay anyday now so i should make some money this year

 

[RoninSTi]

Aliza,

Will you be at the white plains show in 3 weeks? I would love to have a look at what you have left. I live in CT so I planned on going to white plains on the 24th I think.

 

[acpart]

Aliza, out of curiosity...

I remember that you were disappointed in your first season and that in this season you were much more successful with the number of hatchlings.

After all this time, did you get to a conclusion as why you had that difference?

Congratulations on your success.

I have no idea why things went so much better. As I mentioned in other posts, I did a few minor things differently:

-switched to calcium plus as a supplement
-cooled the geckos that wanted to be cooled
-raised my incubation temp a degree or two to be at the mid-top range for female rather than the bottom
-replaced the perlite in the incubation containers after the eggs from that container hatched.

I don't know if these methods were what did it or not. I'm looking forward to my next season because I'm going to be using the reptipro5000 and the SIM incubation containers.

Aliza

 

[combadao]

Thanks Aliza.

keep your information coming, I think it gives a good input for ideas.