what the market will bear. That is what has always happened and that is what will happen next year.

I know that Pete had Jungles on his table fo $5,000 each at the Daytona Expo. When I spoke with Pete, I got the impression that the prices on Jungles were going up because of the Super Jungles that have been produced this year as well as the designer Jungle morphs like the Hypo Jungles, Albino Jungles, and Sunglow Jungles.

A price increase in a morph can happen and is sometimes successful...other times, it is not. Take the Ball Python market for example. One of the few price increases that has actually been successful in the Ball Python market has been the Hypo/Ghost Ball Python. However, there have also been a couple of failed attempts to increase prices - Mojaves and Yellowbellies for example. Prices will fluctuate - that is a given. Whether they go up or down depends on what the market will bear - basic supply and demand.

I think a much more likely expectation is a price stabilization. Price stablizations happen all the time and for various reasons. Once again, take the Ball Python market into consideration. When the Super Pastel Ball Python was produced, prices on Pastels stabilized. This year we saw the Pastel Clown Ball Python and this not only stablized the prices of Clown Ball Pythons but their popularity soared as well. I think it is much more reasonable to expect a price stabilization after a super form is proved out or a new designer morph is introduced.

Case in point - Motley Boas. I don't know what's going to happen with Motley Boas but now that a viable Super form has been produced, I think the prices of Motleys will stop decreasing. They held steady at around $8,000 for several years. Last year Jeremy did prove out that there is in fact a Super form for the Motleys. However, those babies were premature (if I am remembering correctly). People want to see viable, healthy babies and that's what we got this year. The prices went up last year - $8,000 on males but $9,000 to $10,000 on females - but it wasn't succesful. This year, we saw prices on Motleys being around $7,000 to $8,000 on males and as low as $5,500 to $6,500 on females. Now with the production of viable Super Motleys, I think the prices will maybe stabilize at this year's values. Motleys may possibly hold their value at $5,500 to $7,500 for up to another 5 years.

Pete debuted his Jungles in Daytona at $5,000 each for both males and females. I had previously advertised my Jungles at $3,000 for males and $3,500 for females based on last year's prices. Since I had already been advertising them at these prices pre-Daytona, I did not feel it was right or fair to increase the prices after Daytona. I had a short price increase on them during the Expo but decided to stand firm at my original prices after the show. So, as a result of the way I felt, I kept my prices the same.

Now I do have a couple of female Jungle Boas that are priced higher. However, these two girls are my holdback animals. I have had people inquire about hold back animals so I figured that instead of just offering the two, I would offer all four and if someone was willing to pay more in order to get a cleaner or more aberrant patterned animal, then so be it. Basically, I want to keep a minimum of two females and it doesn't really matter to me which two I kept.

I think $6,000 is a little high for a Jungle Boa. But once again, if someone is willing to pay that much, then that's what the animal is worth. It all depends on what the market will bear. If no one is interested in the animal at that price, then the seller will know that $6,000 for a Jungle Boa is not a realistic market price.

What will happen with next year's prices? We won't know until next year. I personally think that prices will stabilize at what they have been. I don't see an increase but I may be wrong. An increased number of available babies will of course affect the price on Jungles but what's the demand like? I have people emailing me about male Jungles right now but unfortunately, I just don't have any more to offer at this time. Let's say prices drop slightly next season to $2,500 for males and $3,000 for females. At these prices, what will the demand be? More and more people are getting into Jungle Boas because of how visually pleasing they are and how awesome the designer morphs can be. If one person drops the price to $2,000 or less (as you suggest) on male Jungle Boas and they sell out immediately at those prices, well now what? They're sold out. IF the rest of the breeders do not follow suit and keep their prices firm at $3,000 what's going to happen? They will probably sell them at $3,000.

Let's also take into consideration, the supply. Yes, a lot of people now have Jungle Boas and several of those people are breeding their Jungles this season. However, how many of them will actually produce? We all know how boas can be. You may see a copulation or two, you might see (what you think) is an ovulation and you could still get nothing. That's just how boas are. They aren't Corn Snakes. So of the six breeders you know in the Bay Area alone that are working with breedable Jungle Boas, how many of those breeders will actually produce babies? Maybe all six...but also...maybe none of them...? Why do the prices on Boas seem a little more stable than the prices on Ball Pythons or Corn Snakes - the supply. Boas can be difficult to breed.

What dictates the market price on an animal? Supply and demand.

Anyways, that's a lot of rambling. I tried to organize it as best as possible but I feel that it's still kind of a jumbly mess - it may have to do with the Nyquil I'm taking for my cold so please excuse anything that doesn't make sense LOL!

Thanks for reading.
Celia
-----
Celia Chien
www.ExoticsByNature.com

2006 Boa Constrictor Morphs Calendar
2006 Ball Python Morphs Calendar

[ Show Entire Thread ]