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BirdWoman

Packing Rates

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I've been a packer for 3 years now and have met a lot of other packers in my small traveling adventures (boogies and whatnot). I'm taking a poll to see what the going rate is for pack-jobs throughout the country. What do you and/or your dropzone charge for:

tandem pack jobs?
student/rental pack jobs?
sport rig pack jobs?

Another question is this: if you pack for dropzone operations (i.e. tandems), do you have to do a 1099 for taxes as an independent contractor, or are you considered an employee and the dropzone witholds taxes/social security? If you free-lance, do you have to pay the dropzone a concession fee?

Thanks for the info!
"I don't know where it is that I'm going, but wherever it is there I'll be!" --quoted by me

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i posted in the other thread also. I forgot to add, when i was at z-hills, the packers there thought i was crazy when i stretched out my rig, stowed my breaks, un collapsed my slider and cocked my pilot chute. Paid $6.00 per pack and still bought them beer at the end of the day.;)

Never look down on someone, unless they are going down on you.

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It's people like you that us packers absolutely love! Everybody I pack for when I do free-lance lays out the canopy, stow the breaks and uncollapse the slider. Some of them will even run up the lines and cock the PC for me. Most of them tip at the end of the day and always check to see if there's anything I need as far as food or water. It's amazing how jumpers treat packers when they realize that if they take care of their packer, their packer will take care of them...B|
"I don't know where it is that I'm going, but wherever it is there I'll be!" --quoted by me

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It's people like you that us packers absolutely love! Everybody I pack for when I do free-lance lays out the canopy, stow the breaks and uncollapse the slider. Some of them will even run up the lines and cock the PC for me. Most of them tip at the end of the day and always check to see if there's anything I need as far as food or water. It's amazing how jumpers treat packers when they realize that if they take care of their packer, their packer will take care of them...



Exactly!! Plus, on days that I'm busy, those small things are a great help; especially cocking the PC, stowing the breaks, and uncollapsing the slider. Most of the people I pack for do this, and so THANKS guys, keep it up!! And, $5 is the going rate for free-lance stuff.

The people I usually pack for are very good to me (checking to see if I need food/drinks, buying me beer at the end of the day, tipping, etc...) so thanks again guys!:)

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at Skydive Dallas, the staff packers get 5 for a rental/student rig and 10 for a Tandem.. regular packers charge 5 for sport rigs.. the sliding price scale for different sized canopies hasn't reached us yet.

On note about collapsing the slider, stowing the brakes etc.. I try to explain to people that between collapsing and stowing and cocking everything, not to mention walk throughs, sometimes it will add 3 or 4 minutes to a pack job.. the next time you're on a short call and your packer didn't get you on... ask yourself, if I would have done all of the prep work, would I have made it? now, who's fault is it? not to mention the money that you're taking out of your packer's pocket by robbing him of 20 pack jobs that he could have done with the extra time... just my thoughts

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Deland Florida is.... U$ 6,00 for 170Sq/ft and above and U$ 5,00 for anything smaller then that.
Don't know there rates for Tamdem



I've never understood that BS - why charge more for a 170, 190, 210, 230 or 260???? If you are a good packer it won't matter and you can pack them just as fast. Don't forget the bags get bigger with canopy size.

$5/pack for sport rigs - anything more is a ripoff and you should find another packer or pack yourself. No - there isn't another side to this - it's all excuses on how to better rip off jumpers.

This includes concession stands. Think about this - a DZO charges the packers, the packer manager raises the cost of the pack job to help pay rent and to take a cut of others hard work and the packer usually doesn't see a full $5. If pack jobs cost more, it will cause two things to happen - people will make less jumps due to the increase of packing costs or they will pack for themself and probably not make as many loads since they pack slower. Wow. Sounds like a lose/lose scenario for everyone except the packing manager. Do you think the DZO would make more money from the .25/pack they take or more from an extra jump ticket. Hmmmm....I may not be a biz manager, but this seems ass-backwards to me.

Packing concessions are a terrible idea. Let competition run free on the mats, the good packers will get the customers and develop a reputation and the DZ will put up more loads. If a good packer hears there is a cash to be made at a DZ and get full price for the pack, you will attrack better packers.

Now, concessions for student and tandem rigs are a good idea to make sure the DZ equipment is well taken care of, and that there is always someone there to get the pack jobs turned around quick.
_________________________________________
you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me....
I WILL fly again.....

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at Skydive Dallas, the staff packers get 5 for a rental/student rig and 10 for a Tandem.. regular packers charge 5 for sport rigs.. the sliding price scale for different sized canopies hasn't reached us yet.

On note about collapsing the slider, stowing the brakes etc.. I try to explain to people that between collapsing and stowing and cocking everything, not to mention walk throughs, sometimes it will add 3 or 4 minutes to a pack job.. the next time you're on a short call and your packer didn't get you on... ask yourself, if I would have done all of the prep work, would I have made it? now, who's fault is it? not to mention the money that you're taking out of your packer's pocket by robbing him of 20 pack jobs that he could have done with the extra time... just my thoughts



I can pack my Stiletto 170 in 5 minutes and over the holidays I was packing my canopy and my girlfriends in almost the same time most were packing just one.

Learn to pack faster while still being good and you will make more money.
_________________________________________
you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me....
I WILL fly again.....

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On note about collapsing the slider, stowing the brakes etc.. I try to explain to people that between collapsing and stowing and cocking everything, not to mention walk throughs, sometimes it will add 3 or 4 minutes to a pack job.. the next time you're on a short call and your packer didn't get you on... ask yourself, if I would have done all of the prep work, would I have made it? now, who's fault is it? not to mention the money that you're taking out of your packer's pocket by robbing him of 20 pack jobs that he could have done with the extra time... just my thoughts




Do ya want Chedder or Swiss?:D
Dom


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at Skydive Dallas, the staff packers get 5 for a rental/student rig and 10 for a Tandem.. regular packers charge 5 for sport rigs.. the sliding price scale for different sized canopies hasn't reached us yet.

On note about collapsing the slider, stowing the brakes etc.. I try to explain to people that between collapsing and stowing and cocking everything, not to mention walk throughs, sometimes it will add 3 or 4 minutes to a pack job.. the next time you're on a short call and your packer didn't get you on... ask yourself, if I would have done all of the prep work, would I have made it? now, who's fault is it? not to mention the money that you're taking out of your packer's pocket by robbing him of 20 pack jobs that he could have done with the extra time... just my thoughts



I can pack my Stiletto 170 in 5 minutes and over the holidays I was packing my canopy and my girlfriends in almost the same time most were packing just one.

Learn to pack faster while still being good and you will make more money.



Um, BTW PackerBarry is fast and good.

Putting your rig down in a neat orderly fashion with the breaks stowed and the lines walked is just common sense. I believe I’m paying for a packing service, yes, but a little reasonableness is in order too. It’s not reasonable to give your packer a big ball of shit that will take him 15 minutes to untwist the lines before he can even start packing it. Stowing the breaks, etc. only takes a few seconds and presents the packer with a manageable starting point, a big ball of shit doesn’t.

Of course I gave PackerBarry a few big balls of shit lately so maybe I’m not one to talk. Hmm, I wonder if that have anything to do with the lineover the other day? ;)

Ron
"We've been looking for the enemy for some time now. We've finally found him. We're surrounded. That simplifies things." CP

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