We packed up and attended the Tampa show this past weekend. Mostly had various ball morphs on the table but also had some nice boas and a few other odds and ends that have fallen into my hands over the last few months. Similar to Daytona, there were several Ball python dealers on the scene. Vast majority of them had some really great stuff! Tony (show promoter) did a great job on getting people in the door. Venue stayed pretty full most of the time and I had just the right number of people in front of the table most of the time. Enough to sell to and not so many that I couldnt talk to anyone. Also had a good mix of dealers, from the cheap imports all the way up to 30K animals of all types (turtles, colubrids, boids, spiders, and about everything else), just what most consumers like to see. Why all of this in the Ball forum you ask? Well, with all the market naysayers in here of late I thought I would get my .02 cents in. I think the ball market is just fine. We sold four pastels (in a building filled with them). All for what most would consider fair market prices. Didn't give them away, nor did we take anyone to the cleaners. Why did we do better than many on this during a time of classified stagnation you may ask? For one thing I think the average BP "investor" has become a little smarter than they used to be over the last year or so. It used to be a mad dash to "invest" money regardless of what it was or if it was worth your time. Going or gone are the days of mass numbers of dummies grabbing up anything they can get, mortgageing the house to do it or killing a dozen credit cards. Atleast I hope so. They are our worst enemy. When they melt down it tends to make a big noise. I think Daytona proved out that point as well. I think the reason we sold all but one of the pastels we brought was simple. We had bigger, fatter, better looking animals than most. The lesson is patience and food. We feed them like we mean it. Several of our '05 female pastels were at or above 325-350 grams. Majority I saw this weekend were below 150 grams. Now I realize that many of them were quite likely later '05 babies but most were not. Those that were will grow a little and guess what, they will sell for a fair price as well. Also gone are the days of maintenance feeding of offspring in the hope you will not have to feed it more than 5 times before you sell it and make back your initial investment 20 times. Works great on $25 animals but not so great with $1000 animals. It was fun but it couldnt and shouldnt last. It is also nice when it happens but in a more and more competitive marketplace that just isnt going to cut it anymore. I would be willing to bet that most all of the non-giveaway priced pastels sold this past weekend were the bigger ones to smarter consumers. So to all of you "sky is falling" criers out there, you are missing the boat and the big picture. Many said I would have a hard time "giving away" my 05 spiders this season. Several in this forum. I didnt half try and they were all gone in a couple of months. All for fair market value. Ended up wishing I had more. Same on the pastels, just about out for the season. I produced a good number of het albinos this season as well, sold two pair just this last week and dont have very far to go on those this season either. In fact, out of about 50 balls that are more than $100, many of them several thousand $$, I only have about 20 left to sell. The sky isnt falling, your just going to have to work at it a bit and also realize that there is a market place outside of the internet. Often a better one, just not as easy. Invest carefully and within your means, take your time (takes about 3 years) and do it right and you stand a better chance of making money in this market than almost any other investment out there.
Reptile Basics Inc
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Rich Goldzung
Reptile Basics Inc
www.reptilebasics.com
