Well from my experience. The prices at the shows are fair but if you WERE going to buy a snake at the show. Your best bet is to wait on the last day so you can possibly get a better price. I understand how you feel about wanting to hold and meet the snake before you buy it. That was one of my concerns when i started buying my collection but there aren't a lot of breeders around here. I've been fortunate enough that all the snakes I bought online have been great and the breeders have been wonderful to me. As someone said, as long as you do a bit of research on the breeder you might be buying from, you'll be okay on purchasing online if the Herp Show doesn't work out for you.