Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I've been reading all the various opinions on the market. Will it stay, will it drop?

I was talking to a buddy online named Evan.
Evan made a good point. Most of these AWESOME morphs haven't even hit the pet trade yet.
Imagine what will happen when they do.
The general public likes "pretty things" and they will pay top dollar to have prettier things than the next.
Hell, people pay thousands for dogs that I would consider snake snacks. (mini poodles and such haha)

Anywho, I don't think the market will go anywhere drastically.
I mean, I have TWO ball pythons right now, both normals.
You guys should see my wishlist...

albinos
pieds
pastels
cinnamons
mojaves
clowns
pewter (bought or created by me)

and it keeps going and going...
plus, who knows what crazy creations will come our way.
I thought I was the first to brainstorm the SUPER PASTEL PIED idea...and now I see that pastel pieds are already in the makings...meaning it won't be long before super pastel pieds exist.
Will that stop me from wanting to make my own?
Hell no.

This is just my opinion, but I am sure there are MANY other people out there with an eye on one or two or twelve designer snakes WISHING they could win the lotto sometime soon.

LOL, my only problem with that " Hitting the lotto" Idea is, if ya don't buy a ticket ya can't win. And I got a wish list as long as yours . Guess I better start savin'.

Quig

Market discussions contain a considerable amount of guesswork and speculation. Only time will truly tell where a particular morph will go. Overall, I think the Ball Python market is very strong. But within the BP market different animals have different market demands. It's a roller coaster ride for sure. You also need to look at the possible agenda of people giving opinions about specific morphs. Would their comments possibly benefit them? For example, I'm biased towards Albinos and I think they are a great animal to have in your collection. In fact, I don't think a collection is complete without owning "THE FIRST REAL MORPH!" LOL.

Only time will tell. One trend I have seen is, overall prices gradually go lower. There are some that climb up but even those turn down. Keep in mind, this is not a bad thing. But if you are waiting for Pieds, Albinos and Spiders to hit $500, you'll be waiting a long time.
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Jay A. Martin
Jay Martin Reptiles

Okay. I've been thinking about this a lot, and here's what I've learned:

1) The market on any particular morph is always dropping. The more generations hatched means the more animals available to the public. The rare morph eventually becomes commonplace. Prices eventually drop. This price drop should occur gradually over the course of many seasons.

2) Any one breeder may drastically affect the current market price of any particular morph. Any one breeder selling all stock immediately after hatching at reduced prices may cause other breeders to compete at the same reduced prices. This competition may drastically reduce current market price -- market crash.

3) There are two common breeding goals -- (A) To make enough money to support the hobby while adding new morphs to a private collection and (B) To make enough money each year in order to retire from the traditional workforce.

If your goal is (A) then you've got it made. Eventually you will own any and all morphs you want, and the hobby can easily continue to pay for itself. (These people do not worry about a market crash.) If your goal is (B) then you may wish to consider an alternative long-term financial plan. Prices will eventually drop. Markets will eventually crash. Enjoy it while you can. (You have plenty of time.)

And I guess it finally boils down to one thing -- the market is unpredictable. We could talk and guess and theorize all day long.

In the end...all we can do is watch.

Chris
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“The problem with the Ball Python market rests in the advertisement of true morphs versus pseudo-morphs. Many people are simply taking Normal animals for Granite." – CJBianco

i tottally agree with you, last time i posted on this forum it was reguarding the fact that any 1 breeder could tottaly change the market. If one guy decides to underprice everyother breeder, he will undercutt the market, and cause everyone to drop their prices somewhat.

But when i said this last time everyone yelled at me and told me i was crazy. just imagine if some multinational cor. decided to invest in the ball python business. if one person/company has the will and money to start selling their morphs at say, 1/2 price, then they will drive all prices down. sure it might take a few extra years to turn a profit, but now everybody in the business would be required to either adapt prices or come up with some reason to sell their snakes at a inflated price

True. But please keep in mind that I frequently used the word "MAY" in this scenario. It all depends on how you interpret the scenario. Let me clarify...

A single breeder will NEVER crash the market alone. He may, however, indirectly force other breeders to match his lower price...thus crashing the market. In other words...it takes a group effort to crash the market. If the other breeders choose NOT to compete in price, then the market may remain strong.

Chris
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“The problem with the Ball Python market rests in the advertisement of true morphs versus pseudo-morphs. Many people are simply taking Normal animals for Granite." – CJBianco

Chances are so have hundreds of other people...and some of those people actually have the snakes to do it!