Cost vs. Quality

I have been hearing lots of people say that its better to look for quality in an animal no matter its cost. When people hear that (or at least me) it sounds like they are saying that looking for good prices is bad an dropping the market. In my opinion it is best to look for the perfect animal but still keep in mind the cost. What would you think if you found a almost perfect pewter with a kink in his tail for only $250?

I shop the snake and the breeder first and if I find the snake I like from a breeder I like than I am willing to pay more.

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Originally Posted by jjsnakedude

What would you think if you found a almost perfect pewter with a kink in his tail for only $250?

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Oviously not perfect :rolleyes:

Pet quality yes, but would I pay $250 for a kinked animal if plan where to breed him? NO

Sometimes you can get a good deal! If you like the look of the animal and it's cheap, why not? Usually if you get a good quality animal and/or it's from a well known breeder, you will pay a higher price! A pewter with a kink, great for a pet not a breeder! Thats the other side, quality animal makes quality babies!!!

Quality for me is buying the very best example of an animal that I can find and knowing that animal is going to have a higher price tag than it's more common expressions of that same gene.

For example - pastels. There are superb pastels and then there are average pastels, and then there are pastels that are hard to even tell that they are pastels.

I'm going to pay more for the superb animal. I don't want average, because my breeding goals are not to produce average. I'm also not going to sell superb animals at average prices.

Here's an example of a female that I paid $100 more than all the other female pastels that breeder had for sale at the time - and she was worth every single extra dollar (to me). The seller had her marked as an exceptional animal, I agreed that it was an exceptional animal, and I had no heartache over spending the money to acquire this exceptional animal.

http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e9..._f_1_600_0.jpg

To me it shouldn't be about cost, it should be about how much you want the snake, period.

If you find a snake for say, $50. It is one you've been wanting but it doesn't look like it eats well, or maybe the seller seems shady, or what have you. Sure you can buy the cheap snake, but will you be happy with it ?

On the other hand, say you find the same kind of snake for $200. The breeder has a stellar reputation, has feed and shed records for the past year, and every time you look at the snake you just think 'wow'. Do you think you'll be happy with the snake, even if it cost way more ?

I hope that makes sense. :weirdface

For example, I've seen cinnamon babies for as low as $75 and as high as $325. When I wanted to buy a cinnamon female, I looked at pictures for a week, picking out what I liked about certain snakes versus others. So when I went to my local fair, I knew just what I wanted my snake to look like, and what the maximum I would spend was. Sure, I could have walked out of there with a perfectly decent cinnamon for around $125. But none of them had what I was looking for. When I found THE girl, she had it all! High blushing, crazy pattern, lots of flames, and a black back to boot. I knew she was a once-in-a-lifetime find, and didn't bat an eye at giving $275 for her, even though she was the most expensive one there.

If you buy what makes you happy, price isn't as important.

Gale

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Originally Posted by rabernet

Here's an example of a female that I paid $100 more than all the other female pastels that breeder had for sale at the time - and she was worth every single extra dollar (to me). The seller had her marked as an exceptional animal, I agreed that it was an exceptional animal, and I had no heartache over spending the money to acquire this exceptional animal.

http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e9..._f_1_600_0.jpg

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i agree with you but price does come into play too, ive seen 3 or 4 people that picked up siblings to your pastel that look great as well, now when all of you have offspring from these there is a great chance that the offspring could all be the same quality. but that doesnt mean that you wont charge less for yours than one of the others would for theres.

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Originally Posted by jjsnakedude

I have been hearing lots of people say that its better to look for quality in an animal no matter its cost. When people hear that (or at least me) it sounds like they are saying that looking for good prices is bad an dropping the market. In my opinion it is best to look for the perfect animal but still keep in mind the cost. What would you think if you found a almost perfect pewter with a kink in his tail for only $250?

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I would say it's about $250 overpriced. A kinked snake should never be sold in my opinion.

I was just using the pewter male for an example. But I do have my eye on a perfect female pewter for $500. Some people dont get my point either. My point is just because usually a great example of a morph is going to cost more dosent mean you cant look for better prices. Sometimes people make post that get the feel that if you look for better prices that you degrade the market and dont care for the animals.


Off topic-

:O

Robin that is a totally sun-like pastel. Awsome Find!!

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Originally Posted by pfan151

I would say it's about $250 overpriced. A kinked snake should never be sold in my opinion.

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Kinks can happen for two reasons: genetics and an injury. If it was an injury and doesn't affect the quality of life or breeding of the snake, I don't see a problem with it.

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Originally Posted by jjsnakedude

I was just using the pewter male for an example. But I do have my eye on a perfect female pewter for $500. Some people dont get my point either. My point is just because usually a great example of a morph is going to cost more dosent mean you cant look for better prices. Sometimes people make post that get the feel that if you look for better prices that you degrade the market and dont care for the animals.

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There's nothing wrong with looking for a good price, just remember that others might not want to wait for a better price to get that nice snake. Also, there's no such thing as a "perfect" snake. Snake quality is very subjective. People like different qualities in a morph, and what you may think is perfect might be unappealing to someone else. Pay what you think the snake is worth and what you can afford.

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Originally Posted by 771subliminal

i agree with you but price does come into play too, ive seen 3 or 4 people that picked up siblings to your pastel that look great as well, now when all of you have offspring from these there is a great chance that the offspring could all be the same quality. but that doesnt mean that you wont charge less for yours than one of the others would for theres.

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Actually - unless they talk to Garrick, there's no way to know which ones are her siblings - all the pastels he's had up don't all come from the same clutches - and he's got two super pastels that he's running through his females. That's four sets of pastel genes in the mix (2 sets for each super). And Garrick said that his supers are crossed lines, so he can't even say which line is which. I know of two others that were priced as high as mine and two members here each purchased them, and I would have been happy with either of them as well.

Will all my offspring be the best example of a pastel? Certainly not - but will my offspring be graded and priced accordingly? Absolutely. But by being very selective in not just my morphs, but also my normals, and selectively breeding for certain traits, I increase my chances of producing nicer animals. For me, it's like, why bother breeding if I'm breeding just for the sake of breeding - breed to produce the best you can - that starts with having nice animals as your foundation animals.

I know that my tastes aren't the same as others, so I can only buy and breed what appeals to me - and for ME, I'm willing to pay to get what I want.