Cyn -

Being a 20 year veteran of the reptile commuity, I continue to be a student of the market in this "hobby industry". As such, I would like to share a few of my learnings.

1) Chris nailed what is currently happening in the "boa" market ... "prices fall because there are more choices, it is not a decrease in demand". This is probably the single most important point to understand. This simple piece of knowledge will guide you in all your current boa decisions, especially what animals to work with and how to price them on the open market.

2) I still advocate the basic economics of "supply and demand", but it took me all summer to understand how "too many choices" comes into play. I like to focus on supply, not demand. Supply is what it is, while demand is created by a bunch of marketing hype (not my game).

3) Still focusing on "supply", I work almost exclusively with "recessive" genes. This is where supply will always lag that of dominant and co-dominate genes. It is a slower-moving market and will last much longer, both in continued demand and stable prices.

4) EVERYTHING SALES! I sell everything I advertise at my asking price ... babies and adults ... NO Trades. It oftentimes takes a while (even up to 2 years). New successful breeders expect their babies to "fly out the door", and when they don't, they become fustrated and reduce their prices. The same patience that you need to raise up your boas to breeding maturity must be applied to selling on the open market. Sales is an entire subject to itself, but just remember that to make a sale, you need the right animal at the right price and the right buyer that wants that animal and has the money at the time you are selling, and both these pieces have to come together at the right time. This is why you see my same classified ads reposted ... this is the only way I can control the "timing" piece of the equation. Case in point ... I may run the same ad for 2 months without any interest, and then at 2 months and 1 day, 3 buyers come out of nowhere and the boas are sold.

I need to go do some animal care. Hope this helps.

Bill

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