Are Morph Market and King Snake good barometers of industry price?

Hello all,

I have been away from the buying side of the hobby for a few years now and am wondering if the prices I see listed on KS, Fauna, and MM are accurate reflections of the "going rate" for certain morphs? I.e. if a specific morph combo is listed by multiple sellers on MM for around $350 (with some variation) is that a fair price to expect to pay at a show or from another private breeder?

I am mainly concerned with how these prices compare to show prices, but welcome thoughts about other areas as well.

In general they are a good way to gauge prices if you take the average between known breeders.

Unknown/new breeders/desperate people may have very low prices that do not reflect what the current market is.

Show prices are generally within range but sometimes higher as well, depends on who as what and competition.

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Often times I find prices at show are about the same as the online average with the added advantage/savings of not having to pay shipping. :)

Thanks guys. That's about what I figured. I need to do more digging on KS and Fauna to determine if the handful of prices I saw listed on MM for a particular combo are accurate.

My next local show is in October, so I have some time to do more research.

Thanks for your input!

Asking prices are not selling prices. I can ask $1000 for a muddy pastel male all day long. Doesn't mean it'll sell for that.

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Originally Posted by bcr229

Asking prices are not selling prices. I can ask $1000 for a muddy pastel male all day long. Doesn't mean it'll sell for that.

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I have heard this a lot... I've never been "confident" enough in my knowledge of the going market price for a particular morph to offer less than asking price to a seller.. I think some of my BPs, which have all been show purchases, were over priced, but I wasn't sure I knew that at the time. I have been more careful with my purchases online, but always went with a seller that had what I considered to be a fair price..I've never offered someone less than what they asked for in person or online, so I'm not sure about the etiquette.

In your opinion, if a particular animal seems to be over priced (based on the average prices of other sellers) what do you think would be a fair % off to offer? like 10-20%, etc?

I wouldn't offer less than 15% off, and that's for a cash FTF deal.

Bear in mind too with online prices that there are shipping charges. So, if I find a $200 snake in California I liked, I would pay $225-250 cash for a similar one locally since cross-country shipping was $80 for the last one I received.

In line with the "asking vs selling" price... morph market does allow you to filter to just show "sold." I know for me there's sometimes also a difference between "what it's worth" and "what I'm willing to pay." (And that goes for anything).

Thanks for the input guys. I will check out the "sold" animals on MM (I didn't know you could filter them that way). That may give me a better idea on the fair market price of the morph combo I am looking at.

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Originally Posted by artgecko

Thanks for the input guys. I will check out the "sold" animals on MM (I didn't know you could filter them that way). That may give me a better idea on the fair market price of the morph combo I am looking at.

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Does anyone know if the price on "sold" animals reflects the actual selling price or is it the advertised price?

For instance, if a snake is advertised at $200 + shipping, I offer $225 shipped, and the seller accepts, does MM get updated or not?