That's an excellent point--and breeders should also do the math. You can hang on to your own stock and sell it off yourself over time, but if you sell a lot to a pet store, even at a greatly reduced price, you are saved the cost of upkeeping those animals yourself. If this is a store you feel good about selling to, everyone wins. You don't have the cost and time of maintaining animals while you wait for them to sell direct.



This can save you the loss in profit you took by selling them for less money to the store. Ask the store what they will be selling your animals for, as well as what they will offer for them. 50 to 60% markup is perfectly reasonable. Keep in mind that they are also shouldering the cost of upkeeping the animals while they wait for them to sell.



Pet shops also need to be aware that breeders need to upkeep and care for all of their animals, breeders and offspring alike. They don't have the costs of running a storefront, but they do have other business costs, and the breeders need to make a profit as well. Imports are cheap for a reason. To some customers, that's all that matters...but those customers will never keep such an animal alive, because they won't be willing to pay for the necessary veterinary care an import must have. This isn't a person who will come back to buy more products from you. Their initial purchase is it, because their animal will most likely die. Then they'll blame the store that sold it to them.



Take into consideration the cost and difficulty of maintaining breeder animals, and establishing and caring for newborn offspring when you make an offer for CBB animals. If you need to price them beyond what the market will tolerate in order to make a profit, it's better to turn the breeder down and tell them the truth about why, rather than making an offer that would cause them a loss if they accepted it.



Here's another possibility that I haven't seen implemented: consignment. If the animal doesn't sell in X amount of time, it goes back to the breeder. The store pays nothing up front, and both parties profit if it DOES sell. The store is still responsible for upkeeping the animal while it is there on display for sale, but this is a much lesser risk than if they had purchased the animal outright, and it didn't sell. The store could even agree to split the cost of upkeep with the breeder. I personally would love to have a GOOD store offer me this option. Unlike mammals, adult reptiles sell for higher prices than younger ones, so there is no loss to the breeder if their animal doesn't sell while it's in the store. The store's loss is minimal.

I'd personally even be willing to cover upkeep and food costs for the animals entirely, if a store allowed me to place them there for sale. I wouldn't expect to take as much of a loss as if I'd sold them the animal outright, and don't think they should expect as high a markup, but I think it would work well for all parties concerned.



What's your opinion, as a store owner?

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