If it's too good to be true....

[JulieInNJ]

...it probably is. We've all heard it and possibly said it - when a deal for a snake looks like a steal, buyer beware.

Here's where my concern comes in. I eventually want to hobby breed. I know I will never make money off breeding; I'm not doing it to make money but because I'm crazy fascinated by my animals. I would like to make enough to offset a some of my yearly costs, but I know I'll never turn a profit (or even break even at this point, lol!) and I'm truly okay with that. So being that I want to hobby breed, anything I don't hold back I'd sell, but probably at nothing near breeder's prices (for example, a male albino for $100 as opposed to the normal $300ish you see). I'd be doing that because 1.) I'm an unknown, and frankly just don't have the reputation to charge breeder prices, and 2.) I'm not looking to profit.

So if you were to come across an add by a new/unknown breeder for a visual morph, and thought the price was too low, would you ignore it completely? Would you investigate it? What would you do?

I would love to hear from breeders (newer and established) as well. Did you start off with low prices and gradually increase as your reputation was building?

[Kinra]

I'm kind of in the same boat as you, I will be having my first season this winter and I just want to hobby breed.

I think on here you will find people who will buy from you, especially if the price is right, but on kingsnake.com selling a $300 albino for $100 you might not get as many hits.

My game plan for selling babies is to sell them here, to my local herp society and some of the local pet stores for cheap. Then maybe someday I will get a good rep and be able to sell on kingsnake.com.

[pigfat]

If you put up a website and I saw that all your snakes had a clean environment and all looked healthy I would still buy from a new breeder. It helps when you at least have experience in owning snakes for a while and "raising them up" if you will. My biggest deal is that I wanted to buy from someone who knows what they are doing and as long as you can prove that, I see no problem in getting credit. I'm in the same boat as you, I have a 100% het. albino and I want to breed because 1) Im already addicted with my first snake and 2) In my own opinion I think some prices are just ridiculous and I want people who love snakes but dont have a butt-load of cash to be able to have one...like myself lol.

[AK907]

...it probably is. We've all heard it and possibly said it - when a deal for a snake looks like a steal, buyer beware.

Here's where my concern comes in. I eventually want to hobby breed. I know I will never make money off breeding; I'm not doing it to make money but because I'm crazy fascinated by my animals. I would like to make enough to offset a some of my yearly costs, but I know I'll never turn a profit (or even break even at this point, lol!) and I'm truly okay with that. So being that I want to hobby breed, anything I don't hold back I'd sell, but probably at nothing near breeder's prices (for example, a male albino for $100 as opposed to the normal $300ish you see). I'd be doing that because 1.) I'm an unknown, and frankly just don't have the reputation to charge breeder prices, and 2.) I'm not looking to profit.

So if you were to come across an add by a new/unknown breeder for a visual morph, and thought the price was too low, would you ignore it completely? Would you investigate it? What would you do?

I would love to hear from breeders (newer and established) as well. Did you start off with low prices and gradually increase as your reputation was building?

Depends on how extreme we are talking here. We certainly aren't going to sell a $300 snake for $100 just to get it gone because we aren't well known. I would be wary of someone selling stuff ridiculously cheap. If its THAT cheap, we have reason to believe there is a reason. That reason is not usually a very honest one. Now if it is $250 for a $300 animal, that is another story. That just makes me believe someone has a good deal.

We aren't established breeders. We will make you a good deal, but that is it.

[JLC]

I think if you value your animals and your business (even if it's "just a hobby", if you're buying and selling with any regularity, its a business)...then you should price your animals accordingly.

It's not a bad idea to have a slight difference in price just to get noticed...but to price your animals at 1/3 the going rate (as per your example) is...to me...a red flag. Besides just the suspicion that you might be scamming, it also says to me that you have no confidence in yourself, your business, or your animals.

One person in particular that I know has tremendous respect for both herself and her animals. She is also a hobby-level breeder/business person and does it for the love of the animals and not for the money. But she has never, ever undercut her prices at all. In fact, because she takes such care to buy and produce quality animals, she tends to charge higher than typical prices, and never has issues moving her animals, even when she very first started selling.

DON'T undersell yourself or your animals. Instead, take this pre-business time to let folks get to know you and understand your motivations and passion for the animals. Then, when it comes time to sell, you won't have to convince anyone that you're worth looking at just because you have crazy-cheap animals.

[JLC]

And one more thought on "growing into" higher prices... K-marts don't grow into a Macys. Once a K-mart, always a K-mart.

[Kinra]

And one more thought on "growing into" higher prices... K-marts don't grow into a Macys. Once a K-mart, always a K-mart.

I don't think it's so much as growing into higher prices as it is expanding who you are selling to. My first year or two I'm sure I will sell most of my animals to my local herp society and local reptile store, but hopefully I will be able to sell to a broader market eventually. Anything I sell to my local reptile store I'll consider my self lucky if they offer me half of the market value but when I do sell to the broader market I can charge what other people are.

[JLC]

I don't think it's so much as growing into higher prices as it is expanding who you are selling to. My first year or two I'm sure I will sell most of my animals to my local herp society and local reptile store, but hopefully I will be able to sell to a broader market eventually. Anything I sell to my local reptile store I'll consider my self lucky if they offer me half of the market value but when I do sell to the broader market I can charge what other people are.

There's a difference between wholesaling to pet stores, private deals with local friends/acquaintances....and creating a retail face for the public. So my words are directed at folks who might consider creating public ads on places like Fauna, Kingsnake, even here...and/or having a "business website" with their available animals listed.

If money really isn't an issue (and I completely understand that money isn't the motivating drive behind the OP's hobby/business goals) then I see nothing wrong with offering an albino for $100 to a local friend at your herp society or wholesaling the normals to a local petstore for $10 each. It's the face of your business that is presented to the public that I'm writing about.

[Freakie_frog]

Did I price my snake lower and work up to higher prices? No. Now due to what I was breeding my animals I offered were in the Hobbiest end of the market. As my collection grew so did the price of the animals I was able to offer for-sale.

Price difference is a marketing tool that for a myriad of reasons is not excepted in our industry. No other industry do you see people getting openly dragged through the mud as bad people for running sales for weekends or 50% off for memorial day ect ect.

My suggestion is that if you want to sale your animals market your stuff accordingly, and price it right and you shouldn't have a problem.

[JulieInNJ]

You've all made some really fantastic points.

And Judy, you're right when you say there's a vast difference between wholesaling and private dealing.

I'm thinking it just comes down to what kind of a price difference will send up a red flag. Something as significant as a 1/3 price (to use my albino example, lol) would probably send me running as well. Whereas discounting for shipping, or a flat 15-20% off the going rates, may be a little more reasonable.