It's interesting.
In 2004 Spiders were around $10K
In 2005 they were were around $3,500
In 2006 they're around the $1,000 mark.
It appears that each year they decrease to around 33% of the previous years prices.
In 2004 Pastels (females) were around $3,500
In 2005 they were around $1,200
In 2006 they appear to be in the $600 range.
Yellowbellies definately took a HUGE hit.
In the beginning of 2005 they were available for $5,000 (either sex)
By the end of 2005 they were available for $2,500
In 2006 males are readily available for $500 and females $1,000.
That's 20% of the value of the starting 2005 price for females and 10% of the price for males.
What is driving prices so low so fast? I think it's a number of factors.
Micro-economic level -- "the Ball Python market."
1) As Gary mentioned -- people needing fast cash and dropping the price to move them quickly.
2) Many people got into the "ball python business" to make money and they started with Pastels. They are finally producing babies and discovering that it takes 2 - 3 clutches to break even with their initial investment. They can't trade up anymore because most breeders are producing their own pastels, so they sell cheap. This leaves them with very little money to reinvest and very little encouragement to do so. I expect many of these beginning breeders will exit the business, taking their money elsewhere.
A reduction in money and reduction in the number of buyers means less demand. Less demand means lower prices to encourage those with money to buy your snake.
3) The number of co-dom morphs that can be produced in a very short time. You can produce 4x as many co-doms than simple recessives because you can skip the heterozygous stage and the years required to raise them up for breeding.
4) The sense that the "ball python market is crashing." Before everyone thought they would make good money in ball pythons. Now, the mood is that prices are crashing and balls should be avoided. It's short term thinking that I think is flawed. Prices are going lower due to supply and demand, but the ball python is an incredible animal and it's exciting to work with them.
5) Space to house ball pythons. Not everyone is capable of maintaining 100 to 1000 animals. As their racks fill up they have to decide what to sell to make room for new animals, or they pass on making new acquisitions.
Macro-ecnomonic Level -- The economy.
1) Housing prices are flattening out and in some cases starting to decline. This means the days of refinancing your home to pull out $100,000 to buy a Banana Ball are probably behind us. This again means a reduction in the amount of cash flowing into the market.
2) Rising gas prices (lower now that we're nearing election season -- the oil companies know it's better for Republicans to be elected than Democrats -- watch for prices to go back up after the election).
3) Inflation -- It seems everything is going up in price except for ball pythons -- groceries, natural gas, electricity.
4) Massive auto worker layoffs / buyouts.
5) The war in Iraq, threats from Iran and N Korea, etc.
So there's much more going on in the world that's impacting the ball python market than just what we see within the ball python market.
I think anyone buying morphs with the idea of producing straight morphs is missing the bigger picture. Each morph is like a color in the breeders palet. It's from mixing the genes that we get different, unexpected and exciting new lines.
The yellowbelly, for instance, is one of the most amazing morphs out there. What other animal produces such varied results? Breed it to another Yellowbelly and get an Ivory. Breed it to a Whirlwind and get a Super Stripe. Breed it to a special granite and get an ebony. (And there's more that it does that most people aren't yet aware of.) Anyone who is thinking about buying a yellowbelly to produce yellowbellies is missing the point completely. The animal can't be looked at for what it is ... but for what it does. That's how I feel about all the different morphs. The problem is the small breeders palate is limited.
The excitement and joy in this business comes from proving out new morphs, creating exciting new combos, from getting a clutch, incubating it and watching them hatch. Making money from the sale of the snakes is important in that it allows me to feed my animals, buy more animals and pay for some family stuff, but it isn't my favorite part of the business.
If you purchased a co-dom and are bummed because prices are lower now, you're faced with two choices, cut and run or be in this for the enjoyment part. Add to your palate and have fun. If you do what you love, the money will follow. Ask Bryan Barczyk. I met him in the early 1990's when he was about 4 years into his business. Corns, Kings, Burms and just starting with Balls. Now 20 years later his business is gigantic. You can't stick with something that long without having passion for what you do. Passion for money will only take you so far.
Best regards.
Python Joe
