Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Who buys them? Is it just the other big breeders or are there this many wealthy collectors? In the time when Peter Kahl had the lions share of the market with the piebald and pricers were over the 25K mark it was the novelty of the time and very well worth it.There were not that many snake morphs to compete with. But with pied hets available the market became more balanced by lower cost availability and the prices dropped.The snake still brings in excellent cash but is dropping in price annually.
Now there are so many morphs, such as NERDS spiders. 16.5K to 19K and the breeder adults for over 30K.
The Mojave,lavander and T-albino,clown,platty,genetic stripe,super pastel jungle and the only in captivity produced designer snakes like the coral glo, bumble bee,pewter pastel jungle and snow for example make me wonder if perhaps the market isn't getting flooded with expensive from nature and designer morphs and if there will not be a market to spend this type of money on all that is out there? As much as I want them all I could never afford this. And as with the example of the piebald at the time being the snake of choice, there are so many choices. Will the breeders still be able to produce the amounts of snakes(such as the NERD page with the spiders)and recieve this type of money annually?
Any thoughts on this? If the market remains only affordable to the big breeders and with the ever increasing numbers cool animals out here,what is the direction of the market?

That they would only be affordable to the rich, but as things accumulate, over time the prices eventually drop... Not that a pied is gonna drop to the price of a normal, but then albinos may, YEARS from now...

It will ALWAYS be the old adage, 'Supply and demand...' It isn't like digital camcorders, where they never seem to go down in price. Were this OPEC, and breeders worked together to control supply, it would, but there will always be a greedy individual who will undercut the market to make a $. This is why time will bring that price down....

Hey, Sariel,

NO flames intended, but this has me interested:

>>Were this OPEC, and breeders worked together to control supply, it would, but there will always be a greedy individual who will undercut the market to make a $.

Seems to me (just my opinion) that the greedy individuals ARE the ones in the 'OPEC' style of control you describe. They keep the supply LOW... keep the demand high and keep the prices strongly regulated AND HIGH! Well, I produced 100% het albinos this season and will likely be selling them for about 60% of what the 'big' breeders are asking. Am I greedy because I may undercut the market? I don't think so. I'm NOT making $ by selling them at this price. I'm still VERY much in the hole on what I initially spent on the project. I guess the difference is, my motive is not pure profit, so I really don't care if I sell them for half the going rate (or more or less). I bought them because I like them and had the money to THROW AWAY. Yes, I use the term throw away because my opinion is that ALL investements are best played if you can lose the money entirely and still enjoy the same standard of living. If all the animals died tomorrow I would still be fine and it would have no effect on my financial status (yes, of course I would be upset for the animals). That's how I've always approached animals though. Bottom line is, I'm selling the SAME quality animal at a much better price. If anything, I'm being more fair to the 'general public'?! Yes/No?! Just my perspective...

Matt
p.s. - I'll be thrilled when albinos are $250 bucks ($400 a pair)... why? A LOT of people will be able to afford them and enjoy them along with myself. Plus, from a financial perspective (greed), the demand may outstrip the supply each season so selling them will be a breeze. Sounds like a win-win situation to me.
-----
"Change what you cannot accept... do not accept what you can't change!"

Tod Ashley C.$.C.

This market ISN'T like OPEC or say Digital Electronics...where the prices are fixed... In time the prices will fall, even if someone tried to 'control' it... Supply will increase, and the demand ratio will cause the prices to go down. Remember, greed is in the eye of the beholder... True OPEC is greedy, but that’s to be expected. Open ANWR…

I haven't been following super close but haven't all electronics fallen steadily? I know digital still cameras have, don't even remember what I paid for my digital camcorder.

At any rate, it doesn't really matter that some are working hard to hold prices high and some are willing to sell low. The supply will eventually increase and the price will eventually fall and eventually more people will have everything. The only questions are how fast and how low will they go.

The profit is just the fuel to run the engine to do the huge job of producing enough to go around. Even if you can't afford what you want now be glad it's expensive and profitable so there will be more later.

Matt J! I am looking into getting an Albino at a good price so I can afford an Axanthic and start my own Snow Project. I, like you, want to be able to share this beautiful morph with others! I understand it will take YEARS, but I am hoping that, with time, and others of like mind, we can offer the public beautiful morphs at a reasonable price.
What is your URL/email address? I have a female of breeding age, and I too would like to breed albinos/normals etc.
I would like to discuss this issue further with you. Could you email me privately? bludoglady@juno.com is my email address. Please put ball python in the subject line.
Thank you!

Well, this is not the classifieds section. The statement I made in my previous post should give a pretty good idea.

"will likely be selling them for about 60% of what the 'big' breeders are asking."

A friend of mine may wind up buying them all so he can incorporate them into his projects. If they do 'go public' they will be posted in the Ball Python Classifieds.

Thanks,

Matt
-----
"Change what you cannot accept... do not accept what you can't change!"

Tod Ashley C.$.C.

You'll find that this topic has been discussed in great detail many times in this forum. Maybe if you search this topic or something similiar to, you'll get high numbers of forum users opinions. It may give you a broader spectrum of people's thoughts on these issues, my guess is you won't get alot of action on this because everyone has talked about it until they were blue in the face...lol
-----
Troy James Cromwell

Contact Me

0.2 Gorgeous Teenage Daughters (ages 13 & 17)
1.0 Marine (age 19)
2.0 Future hall of famers (ages 5 & 7)
0.1 Psycho Girlfriend (age 29) Beautiful...but psycho

1,000 cold blooded companions

Always taking a moment to thank God for another day with my family and friends

Don't ever believe what their price tag says!

Set up a meeting behind closed doors with your favorite BIG boy and he will cut you a deal of a lifetime, heck some even get financing for you and even accept payment plans.

Just make sure to not mention you got a great deal out in the open, you don't want to influence the fragile (yes very fragile) P. regius industry....

Just wait till all those shelved leucistic and hets hit the market? care to finance $75K's