Why do prices vary so much on morphs?

Also, some sites have not been updated in a year or three and the prices are out of whack with the current market.

I very rarely see prices vary by that much on a single morph. From $700 to $5000 for the exact same snake?

Now, you can pick up average quality pastels from Joe Breeder down the block for $50 all day long. But a high quality pastel from say, NERD is going to set you back around $300. And it is WELL worth the difference.

I think more likely, either you are visiting site that have not been updated in a long time, or the visual morphs you are seeing such a huge difference in price in carry a het or perhaps even a double gene, For example a pastel pied or yellowbelly pied instead of a plain pied. Or a Pied het axanthic, or pied het clown.

Gale

$5000 wasn't a price I actually saw; it's just an example of the large difference in price between one site and another. Sorry, should have clarified.

I hadn't considered the genetic part of the deal, though.

All I'm looking for is a snake to own as a pet, not to breed. I don't know near enough about BPs to even consider breeding.

I already know what look I'm going for with both the piebald (a lot or mostly white) and albino (high contrast) ... it's just a matter of sifting through all the websites google pulls up, trying to figure out who is a reputable breeder I'd like to go through, that other people with more knowledge would trust, and then finding a reasonable price.

Look on kingsnake.com there are great animals on there for great prices... But be careful who you go through. Make sure to check on fauna for their reputation to make sure you are getting a good animal from a good breeder.

What your paying for is the breeder and the care the snake is givin, the length of time said breeder had to invest into the morph your buying and the morph its self

Factors:

1) Quality. Higher quality animals will be priced higher, in general.
2) Name--the name of the breeder, that is. You'll pay a ton more to NERD than you will to someone who's just started breeding this year.
3) Desperation. Someone who's bitten off more than they can chew may need to sell their animals as quickly as possible, in order to keep them all fed. Someone who is very well established and has plenty of funds to spare can hang on to them indefinitely, and will charge more.
4) Knowledge--some younger breeders just don't know any better, and will under-charge (or over-charge).

YOU have to do LOTS of research in advance of buying, if you're going to get a high quality animal for a fair price. You have to understand the trade-offs in each of the above factors. If a deal looks too good to be true--it probably is. There are scammers out there, so buyer beware.