Cost vs. Quality

Instead of voicing my opinions on this, im just going to say I agree with everything Robin has said.

a personal example would be, a few years ago I found a spider female I REALLY wanted. her price was $1500. at the time, average spider cost was $1000. I was so impressed with the animal and wanted her so bad, I didnt even ask if the breeder would go lower. I just gave him what she was listed for, period. Im not saying asking for a lower price should be frowned upon. but I personally thought this snake was well worth the extra $500... countless people on forums laughed at me and called me a tool. but.. in the end.. im still smiling :]

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by rabernet

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.

---

i know youd pay for the quality you want as would i but lets say that someone were to produce an animal of the same quality of the one that you do and your price is 15% lower than theirs that doesnt mean that yours is 15% lower quality.

if you didnt get yours already and one of the other 2 that got the ones that youd be just as happy with turned around and sold it for $100 less would you not of got it from them instead of where you did?

im not saying that people shouldnt pay for what they want but sometimes you can find exactly what you want and pay less for it at the same time.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by 771subliminal

i know youd pay for the quality you want as would i but lets say that someone were to produce an animal of the same quality of the one that you do and your price is 15% lower than theirs that doesnt mean that yours is 15% lower quality.

if you didnt get yours already and one of the other 2 that got the ones that youd be just as happy with turned around and sold it for $100 less would you not of got it from them instead of where you did?

im not saying that people shouldnt pay for what they want but sometimes you can find exactly what you want and pay less for it at the same time.

---

:) Thank you
thats exactly what I wanted to put out.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by 771subliminal

im not saying that people shouldnt pay for what they want but sometimes you can find exactly what you want and pay less for it at the same time.

---

Sometimes you can, and if the seller also happens to be highly reputable and there's nothing shady about it, then you can do this dance: :banana:

I'm not one to knock price-checking, believe me -- everybody likes a great deal, and if you can get what you want for a good price, then I don't think anyone would begrudge you for doing so.

However, what I think people are trying to get at is that it seems that a lot of folks just getting into BP's just want XYZ morph, and they want to pay the minimal amount they can for it. That makes sense and it's perfectly natural to want to get a great deal, but the problem is that everybody who gets into this game is planning to breed (a relatively unique situation in various animal circles, and least AFAIK).

Right now, it's still quite possible to sell morphs on the basis of "this is XYZ morph." A dirty brown pastel that barely looks better than a clean normal will still sell for a bit more than aforementioned clean normal, just because it's a pastel, will produce more (ugly) pastels, and can be used as a building block to produce combo morphs ... But the margin is decreasing, and I honestly wonder how long it will last. I think that in the future, if you want to be able to sell your offspring, you're going to need to be able to compete in a saturated market even more than ever by offering morphs that really look great, not just morphs that kinda look like what they're supposed to if you take your glasses off and squint at them.

In addition, I am in complete agreement with Robin in that I don't really get the point of breeding just for the sake of breeding. Granted, I enjoy breeding a variety of animals and I can completely agree that it takes husbandry and enjoyment (and, potentially, disappointment and sadness!) to a whole new level ... But it's not just because I enjoy the process, but because I always want to improve whatever it is that I'm looking at. I have a thing in my head (chinchilla, snake) that doesn't quite exist yet, and I want to make one. To me, that's what's cool and fun about it (on top of the cute little babies, of course).

I think that with morphs, it's too easy to fall into the trap of "I want a bumblebee, all I need to get it is a pastel and a spider" ... But will that bumblebee really be all that great of an animal if you used a brown pastel and a dark spider?

Not to say that I believe it's morally wrong for people to breed lower-grade snakes -- if that's all you desire to get out of it then that's your prerogative to do so. But I guess my point (did I have a point? wow!) is that you have to like the animal first, not just the price, or you're going to wind up disappointed eventually.

To me, when I look into a rack tub I want to see a snake that really makes me smile, every time. And I want that snake's offspring to make me do a dance when I see them pip. There are so many freaking ball pythons out there, you see a great deal every week ... It's finding an exceptional-looking specimen that's rarer. (And sometimes you find both at the same time, and then you do the banana dance.)

I apologize for my inability to be pithy. (I had an English teacher tell me that I write too much ... That's a bad sign.)

i go for look ether. of course everybodys taste is different. i saw a mojo in a reptile magazine. it was the hottest mojo ive ever seen. now i search a loooong time to find´such an animal- and if i find it, i pay a price that these animal is worth to me. if he sells it for 100 bugs under market priece- great i buy it. if he sells it 100$ over market price- i still buy it. cause it is worth to me.

and u must have something in mind. u can buy a cinnamon for 200$ and buy a pastel for 100bugs. u breed em and get pewters u can sell for 600$. but i would buy a cinni for 400bugs and a pastel for 250bugs. and i sell the pewters for 1000bugs.

of course were this just an example. but in gerenal i would say: buy top quaility snakes for fair prices and u will sell the babies for fair prices!

u can find pewters everywere- so u could sell em only over the price if they average. but when u have top quality pewters, people will run ur table down...

plus- u have wonderful babies where everybody is jealous about.

im so jealous about a cinni and a lesser i saw here....


edit: i think the future in ballpython breeding, will be selektive breeding. of course is the shooting for new morphs a topic, but i think a part of the market will focus on producing the nicest lessers and the nicest cinnis...