ASF Price gouging?

[Freakie_frog]

Hmmm thats funny I give mine away.

[ThyTempest]

I would probably give mine away too once I am established, but to start, I dont see charging the same as a mouse to be a bad thing. It helps cover my start-up costs of hardware cloth, tubs, food, etc.

Also, not sure what is meant by your location, but if it is MI, I would gladly pay you for your ASF's, especially if you are not charging 5 dollars a piece.

[Freakie_frog]

I would probably give mine away too once I am established, but to start, I dont see charging the same as a mouse to be a bad thing. It helps cover my start-up costs of hardware cloth, tubs, food, etc.

Also, not sure what is meant by your location, but if it is MI, I would gladly pay you for your ASF's, especially if you are not charging 5 dollars a piece.

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Mississippi.. LOL

[BT41042]

Hmmm thats funny I give mine away.

I do too...Out of all my snakes I only have 1 BP and 1 JCP that are hooked on them...I give my excess to my buddy - Around 20 a month...
BT

[Freakie_frog]

I do too...Out of all my snakes I only have 1 BP and 1 JCP that are hooked on them...I give my excess to my buddy - Around 20 a month...
BT

I got them to get two of mine started back and now I got to rotate them in with mice just to keep from getting over run.

[sweety314]

I do too...Out of all my snakes I only have 1 BP and 1 JCP that are hooked on them...I give my excess to my buddy - Around 20 a month...
BT

Well, hey then....how about throwing / flying some MY way??

The teeny-tiny mice are $1.49/ea. If I buy 'em 15+ at a time, then in about 2-3 weeks, some MAY be large enough to be a good meal for my picky eaters. Luckily, I may not have to do mice for much longer for the adults that were fasting, but I still have 3 babies that will eat only live mice, and then sporadically. So I'm now looking to find a 1.3 or 2.5 to start breeding my own ASFs. Since I have ratties as both pets and food, it wouldn't be that much more to breed and feed my own.

Unfortunately around here, there aren't any ASFs. We have ONE local petstore that MIGHT be carrying them right now...but since I haven't SEEN the animals, it's hard to say. Plus the clerk called them "large fancy mice" which if they ARE ASFs, tells me the clerk doesn't have a clue.

Either way, I'm trying to track down a source/ breeder who would be willing to ship some ASFs. Becky was generous to offer mice, but I'm thinking I'd have better luck w/the ASFs.

Whatever....yeah supply and demand is a lot of it, and a lot of it is ppl willing to pay extra if it means getting a picky eater to eat regularly and thrive.

[Mike Cavanaugh]

Either way, I'm trying to track down a source/ breeder who would be willing to ship some ASFs. Becky was generous to offer mice, but I'm thinking I'd have better luck w/the ASFs..

You can't ship live rodents. (unless you define shipping as putting them in your car and driving them somewhere!)

[TekWarren]

A couple years ago I wanted some of these rodents but was simply NOT going to pay $75/trio here in MI. I got some in a trade instead and never looked back. Today was actually my first ever reptile show that we sold at. I put my rats up for $2 each, male or female, any size and sold a grand total of 8 all day. I think folks are entitled to price their animals to get out of them what they put in. I also think there are people who "cash in" on animals when they are a commodity in an area. These rodents breed in great numbers so propagation should not be to difficult. Like my vision or not I don't think asf rats should be hard to come by or any more expensive than other rodents. People told me asf rats would not catch and that made me want to spread the word about them even more. Could I have charged $5? yes since there was no competition and it doesn't sound like anyone has sold asf in Grand Rapids, MI since they first started popping up. Would I feel right about the price...no. I didn't even cover the cost of my table let alone the drive to the show and back. I am satisfied with just sharing what I know about them with others and getting people talking about them.

[sweety314]

Weeeeell, I had to be in Albany at the vet's on Monday, so I stopped by the local petstore.....Yeah, they ARE ASFs, but the owner SWEARS that they're mice, "b/c that's what the breeder said they were". We stood there and argued (well, okay...not really ARGUED) but debated. I wanted to make sure we were talking the same language.

I mentioned searching online, and the confusion of why they're actually RATS and NOT mice, but the owner was basically, "oh well, then the name change must have just happened this last week, because the breeder I bought these from says they're mice." J. H. C!!!

I guess I was enough of a butthead, that she went in the back and brought them out. I told her I just wanted to make sure we were talking about the same furballs. She got two litters, (females were supposed to be open, but weren't) which is better for her, but they're juuuuuuuuuust getting close to weaning size and sooooo tiny. I've lost some mice that were that small, from that petstore. I don't want to pay the $5/ea. and then have them DIE. She's "going to call me" when she puts them out on the sales floor.

If I could get a 1.4 or 2.3, yeah, I'd even pay $5-7/ea. if it meant that in about 3-4 months I'd be able to feed my picky babies and having them EATING regularly.

[wolfy-hound]

I think the only way you should call any price gouging is when you HAVE to have the product. I. E. gas, groceries, milk, water...
ASFs are not a "need" for 99% of reptile keepers. I had them once, and I don't regret not keeping them, as I had no luck with them at all, and didn't find my snakes would eat them any more readily than regular rats.
If you can get $15 each, charge it. If you want to breed them yourself and charge $0.25 each, go for it. It's your animal, then you get to set whatever price you want. If I want to say my normal male baby ball pythons are $200 each, then it's my right to say so. If people buy them for that price, then I'd be ecstatic.
Of course.. people won't pay that.. so I don't price them that way. If your local show has people willing to pay $5 each for ASFs then good for them! I paid WAAAY more for my first trios, that's for darned sure.
Just because it's more than YOU would want to pay, doesn't mean it's "price gouging". I wouldn't pay the price for brand name shirts when I can get the same item for a fraction of it... but I wouldn't say the store is gouging me by charging more. I just buy the cheaper shirt.
Same with any product. If you don't like the price of ASFs, then buy mice. Or rats. Or gerbils. Whatever floats your boat! As long as your snakes are happy and healthy and eating, it doesn't really matter.