Reptile & Amphibian Forums

is it hard to sell pastel's and super pastels? im asking this becuase these seem to be the snakes i like and may try and breed in the future. whats the hold back rate and how would one start selling the snakes (paper work?..etc..)

Except for the ones we hold back for future breeders we sell them all. Pastels??? We can not produce enough of them. I remember a thread a few weeks back of some people that said they can not sell their pastels for $600.00. I was in SHOCK! Our females sell for $2500.00 and nice males are going for $1500.00 and I can not get enough of them for every one who wants them. The crosses that are coming in future years with pastels will keep the market strong. Supers are the most valuable of them all. The power of the super is HUGE! The only reason for the harder sell is the price but given time these will come down as well. But those that invest in them now will reap huge $$$$ rewards later with new offspring. The price is worth the investment. It is an investment with a future return that we have all seen come to pass on other morphs. You want to know why females are still $2500.00? Because to the breeders if they can not get that for them they are better left on the shelf for future breeders. I would venture to say that over the next three years you will see more pastel X ???? than any other morph. Yes there are are some others like all the dominant morphs that will be crossed to everything as well. But the pastel right now seems to be the leader. Just my opinion.

Dan

Glad to see your all ok. I can imagine that fire thing must have been scary.
Why not post some pictures of your snow girl?.....I would love to see her.
Your web site is so professional. But then you guys are # 1 with me.
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RicK Denmon

Ball Boutique,Inc.

What are we talking about?

I would think that the more private breeders would have the trouble selling their ball pythons. It is very difficult to trust an anonymous person over the internet when it comes to spending thousands of dollars. I'll be in the market for some ball morphs next spring. Needless to say, I'm willing to spend more with the big breeders I can trust.

And so can anyine else. I bought my ghost from a lesser known breeder last season and he rules. I also have a pastel on the way from another smaller name and he's been nothing but helpful and professional so far.

There are easy ways to check up on whether small timers are trustworthy or not. When you're ready to be one of the small names, too, all you need to do for people to trust in you and your animals is give them a good product and great service. Word will spread in the community and you'll do fine.

What's so great about the cheaper "morphs" is that small timers like me and you can get into them and start working with them while the big boys keep turning out reasons why other small timers like us should take the leap and invest in things like pastel and ghost. I bought my ghost last year for a third of the market price today. It's because of animals like the hypo mojave, hypo pastel and caramel glows that I see the worth of my investment. When and IF I have babies, I will probably price them a bit below what the ball python greats have their animals at to help establish myself as trustworthy, but it won't make much of a difference. Pastels are sure to be here for a long, long time. We haven't seen even a hint of what the super gene can really do. And with automatic results that can be had from a pastel, look out! I know I am one person who believes there is room enough for big names and small alike in the ball world, and it's a great and exciting time to be involved.

Smaller scale breeders and the new commers are so important. Many new breeders ask us to vouch for them. We receive many emails from new commers asking about a person who is selling something. To see if they are on the up and up. We love to give good refs to the new guy. People who buy from us and follow through with the deals and are found to be trustworthy always have us to back them up. This is how they get a name by having larger breeders back them up. I am sure the same can be said for all the larger breeders out there, We all do the same thing for the new people. Let's face it if the new guys can not sell the product they won't be back to buy more so we have nothing but success wished for them always. Look at the ball python breeding vidoes, we did them to make more people successful. Good luck to all breeders in 2004 large or small breeders alike.

Dan

to bring the price of all my stuff down and crush my clients before they can re-coup their investments...........that way I never worry about having to vouch for them........

I do it every year............it seems to work really well in this type of market............the BIG GUYS RULE!!

Have a great season Dan and Colette!!

Reow!

You hit that nail on the head..... with a 50lb sledge hammer.

Amen, my brotha.

Jen

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HerpCrazy Reptiles

We offer investment quality animals...

the quality part is there but investment?

Buy them from us, we sell the best ones cheaper,,,

Yep, buy it from us and we will undercut the market to snag the sale...don't worry, your investment is safe! When you raise your investment and breed it don't worry either, we will undercut you too and help you FAIL!

We are the breeder that needs to be noticed. We have little to offer that we can take credit for, we need catchy slogans to get noticed.

There are some people that have been there from the beginning, in fact some that created the beginning. This insight helped spawn the interest and create a niche for some of the people that were picked on in school!
Beng a bully in the school yard can be fun.

Now, if I really would say what I feel!!!

The walls have ears and things love to be repeated........

much of the time to me!

Kev NERD
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www.newenglandreptile.com
The Most Extensive Collection of Ball Python Mutations in Captivity

What about bad mouthing the big guys?

So, let me understand, when they are little and a "non-threat" they get the good refferals. Once they are one of the big boys does that change?

Hmmmmm. One million billion zillion hundred....

Dr. Evil
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www.newenglandreptile.com
The Most Extensive Collection of Ball Python Mutations in Captivity

The breeding videos are what I asked for for Christmas-- all my extra money is tied up in my new pastel baby! I can't wait to see what everyone is hatching out in five years, ten years, even next season.

I agree Dan, the BIG breeders weren't always BIG breeders and got started as just hobbyist too! Some were more lucky than others... won't mention any names (Ralph!) and hatched out some great animals that even surprised themselves that shot them right to the top of the "food chain". I think my heart would stop if I saw a Lucy hatching out of a clutch. Others, including myself always manage to get off on these side projects that so far, have not produced that "Billion Dollar Baby". But 30 years of persistance and treating all my customers right will pay off someday! My ships coming in ,it just took an alternate route! I remember a time when I would call Bob Clark at home and his wife would say that he wasn't home from work yet! Then it got to the point she would give me several numbers because she wasn't sure which of HIS warehouses he was at. Hats off to all who have made it and have had success in this hobby/buisness for it is you that fuels us small breeders to continue. And thanks to the larger breeders that let us pay for high end animals on payment plans so we may pursue our dreams too!

np

Yeah payment plans! I wanted a male albino but needed to stretch out the cash, especially with the holidays just around the corner. Most who have albinos were offering me 4 months to pay it off. The best deal however was from Rick at the Ball Botique. He gave me the best price on just the animal I wanted and up to 6 months to pay him off! Now how could I say no to that?? Such a deal.......

agree Dan, the BIG breeders weren't always BIG breeders and got started as just hobbyist too! Some were more lucky than others... won't mention any names (Ralph!) and hatched out some great animals that even surprised themselves that shot them right to the top of the "food chain". I think my heart would stop if I saw a Lucy hatching out of a clutch.

Ralphie was sitting at the top of the Ball heap with the other 4 or 5 guys long before his Lucies came out of their eggs. I hardly think that was the snake that shot him to the top. If you're gonna say that, I would have picked the Platty instead. That's what caught my eye first, and that was before any Lucies, that's for sure.
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Thanks for the comments. I wouldn't hesitate to buy from any of the small time breeders who are regular posters doling out great advice here on kingsnake. It's just hard to trust some sellers on the classifieds when they are trying to sell their normals as something that they are not.

I do keep my eyes on the classifieds and often wonder if I can trust a breeder who has a morph for sale that is considerably less than "market" price. I would love to purchase some hets, but then this opens up a whole new can of worms as far as trusting the breeder. If someone were to rip me off, it would take several years for me to find out (at which point my money would be long gone).

I would prefer to make a deal face to face (and I have done so on two occasions with people from the kingsnake classifieds). I will be putting my faith in the hands of morph breeders next year who I will probably not meet face to face. My eyes are open right now, and I am doing research on several breeders (small and big time) who I will contact next year.

Is there a forum with comments on breeders that people have purchased from?

Thanks,
Mark

"Is there a forum with comments on breeders that people have purchased from?"

Yep. You'll have to do a google search though. Try fauna and try classifieds and try board and inquiry. Shove all of those into google, b/c the mention of that board isn't allowed here. =)

Wow I didn't know life existed outside of Kingsnake.