Reptile & Amphibian Forums

first id like to say that im not trying to sell anything and that this is more of a general question.

when a company wants you to name a price for wholesale how do you know what to ask if youve never bought at wholesale and dont know the normal asking price?

thanks for all reply's
adam jeffery
-----
" a.k.a. farfrumugen "
When I die, I want to go peacefully like my Grandfather did, in his sleep -- not screaming, like the passengers in his car.

>>first id like to say that im not trying to sell anything and that this is more of a general question.
>>
>>when a company wants you to name a price for wholesale how do you know what to ask if youve never bought at wholesale and dont know the normal asking price?
>>
>>thanks for all reply's
>>adam jeffery
>>-----

come up with a price that would be as low as you are willing to go, per snake....add a few dollars for each and start from there.
Leave room for negotiation. And make sure to add in your shipping cost.
-----
Corn snakes and rat snakes..No one can have just one.
"Resistance is futile"
Jimmy Johnson
(Draybar)
Draybars Snakes

_____

wholesale in the reptile trade is typically the lowest price you are willing to sell your animals.

If you think about it, typical prices of reptiles you see at expos and on breeder lists, is 'wholesale' as you are buying direct from the source. Pet store prices are what I would call 'retail' usually with anywhere between a 100% to 300% mark up. (or at least here in Canada, that seems to be the trend.. I can buy an albino corn snake baby at a reptile expo for roughly $50, the local pet stores here sell them for about $199 which is more like 400% more...(though they advertise that price for 'assorted cornsnake babies' which may mean more than just a single recessive animal)

Somebody wanting the wholesale price of a large order of animals...this tends to mean even greater savings. Pretty much add up all the snakes he wants, multiply that with the minimum price you want per animal, then give a 10-40% discount. Quote him that price but be flexible if he wants to bargain...thuogh keep in mind the minimum you want.

Take my advice with a grain of salt as I never sold wholesale...nor bought wholesale though I have seen whole sale prices and MSRP lists for various things. So the above is my suggestion, and may not reflect actual wholesale/bulk costs.

It really also makes a difference on how many he wants to buy to get wholesale prices. If he only wants to buy 5-10 animals...almost not worth giving him wholesale prices...especially if you know you can sell those ten at your full price easily. Also the individual costs per snake and rarity of the morph (or demand of it) will make a difference too. IF nearly ever corn snake breeder has the same morph, can't expect to get top dollar for them, unless you are the only producer in your area and its in high demand.

If he wants a 100 snakes then sure give him a discount, you can also include shipping...especially if an extra 10-20% discount would loose you more money than paying for shipping costs. OR offer an extra discount if he picks u the snakes from you directly, save you all the trouble of packing etc.

Another thought, how fast do you want to sell and how fast do you think you can sell the snakes individually? As you have to care for each snake till they are no longer in your care, if you hold on them for another month instead of dropping your price 10% (for instance) will you end up paying the difference feeding the snakes for that extra month?

IE: guy wants to buy 100 anery babies at discount. You want at least $40 per snake so you offer all 100 snakes for $450. He says lower it to $380 and he will buy them all now. THis means he wants the lot at $20 less than your minimum for the lot (ie $400). You know you can sell them all the snakes at a reptile show in one months time, priced at $40 (say this is market value, though for the US I am sure its not...but this is just an example). Will taking that extra $20 off the total minimum price you want be profitable for you in the long run? Lets see.. 100 corn snakes babies you feed pinky mice once a week...so a month would be 4 feedings. So 40 pinkies in total will be eaten by the snakes. Say you pay roughly $.50 per pinky mouse..(probably cheaper than this in the US especially when order large numbers, but adding in the time to feed them all, and regular care you have to put in (ie labor costs LOL) for that month period (plus electricity to heat the cages) so you end up saving $20 by not having to feed those 100 baby corns for a month. Thus technically you are not loosing out by reducing the cost of the lot to sell now.
-----
PHLdyPayne