how hard is it to start selling?

[cmack91]

i was wondering how long it takes to start selling BP's you produced after first starting out breeding.

lets say i was producing mojaves and a couple lucy's (plus normals) in my first clutch ever, how soon is it likely that i would find buyers? lets say i didnt have a website, but i provide pictures and whatever paperwork i can? (idk how the paperwork thing works)

also (to those that have been going for a while) do you sell all your snakes every year? and how many years untill you started selling everything you produced that year?

sorry for all the questions, but i really want to get started in breeding, but i want to know i have a shot at selling the animals i produce

[John1982]

Visuals shouldn't be too bad so long as they look nice and you offer them at fair prices. You won't need paperwork since you're talking about visual morphs. It's a good idea to stick with dom/co-dom while you build up your reputation - you probably wouldn't be able to sell recessive hets as anything other than "normals" until you've been around a while. Don't let this disuade you from getting into recessive gene animals if that's what floats your boat, just be prepared to keep all the hets or take a major dive when selling them until you've been around a while and built up some positive customer feedback/trust.

[Raverthug]

It just depends on what your selling ect. Like was already stated. Go with codoms to start. Another option is to get to know some of the reptile stores around you. They wont pay full amount for the animals but its better then having animals you cant sell and have to feed.

[jjmitchell]

First, producing quality animals at fair prices (fair for the customer and you dont cut your own throat), always be up front with people. And most importantly remember that your reputation is all you have in this buisness. Treat people the way you want to be treated. It may cost you outta pocket to make a mistake right, but it will be worth it.

[Bigfish1975]

Before I even started, I made contacts with a few of my local reptile shops and even a few other small pet stores. I also met a number of other breeders at some of the reptile shows. These relationships were a big help in advice as well as eventually moving any offspring I would produce. 2011 was my first year breeding and I was able to produce 33 beautiful babies. I held back 5 Pastel YB girls and was able to sell or trade the remaining 28. I deal with a few codoms, doms and recessives, and I keep detailed records of all my pairings. I like to take photos of any breeding activities so that I can provide any buyers that aren't familiar with my collections proof of genetics. I haven't put together a certificate of genetics yet, but its in the plans for this year as I've increased my number of recessive animals.

There are a few other ways of moving them as well. Shop owners may buy, trade or even hold animals on consignment for you. Faunaclassifieds.com and kingsnake.com are good places to post available animals. There's always reptile expos as well. Hope this helps give you some ideas.

[Raverthug]

bigfish hit the nail there

[cmack91]

Before I even started, I made contacts with a few of my local reptile shops and even a few other small pet stores. I also met a number of other breeders at some of the reptile shows. These relationships were a big help in advice as well as eventually moving any offspring I would produce. 2011 was my first year breeding and I was able to produce 33 beautiful babies. I held back 5 Pastel YB girls and was able to sell or trade the remaining 28. I deal with a few codoms, doms and recessives, and I keep detailed records of all my pairings. I like to take photos of any breeding activities so that I can provide any buyers that aren't familiar with my collections proof of genetics. I haven't put together a certificate of genetics yet, but its in the plans for this year as I've increased my number of recessive animals.

There are a few other ways of moving them as well. Shop owners may buy, trade or even hold animals on consignment for you. Faunaclassifieds.com and kingsnake.com are good places to post available animals. There's always reptile expos as well. Hope this helps give you some ideas.

i was thinking of mainly dealing with codoms at first, maybe ghost too, are their any that would be considered a "must have" to start out with? i was thinking a female mojave, female pastel, and male lesser to start out with. and then maybe add ghost and black pastel the next year

[Raverthug]

theres no must have. What I want and what some one else wants can varry. Breed animals you would want to personaly own and that look good for you. At the end of the day if your not proud and happy about what your selling if not then how can you expect any one to want what you sell. You should always be trying to increase the quality of the morph to the best you can.

[Bigfish1975]

I would say the only must haves are the ones that you truly enjoy. I started my collection with a Pastel YB male and started looking at a bunch of different morphs. When the idea to enter the breeding as a hobby I started doing my research, building contacts and picking everyone's brain. Some of the best advice I got was to try and focus on a handful not a bucketful of morphs. I focus on the YB (the one that got me started) Mojave, Orange Ghost, Pinstripe as the base of my projects. I have these as fun projects and I recently added some albinos and het albinos to the mix as a fund project.

[cmack91]

im going with what i like for sure, i guess i'll have to start brainstorming, thanks everyone