Everyone is so FIRM!!

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Originally Posted by Deborah

So Joe Schmoe produces an animal and sells it for $300 less than everyone else and all of the sudden everyone has to match HIS price? Nice way to start a negotiation :rolleyes:

How about buying Joe Schmoe’s animal instead since the price is better? :confuzd:

If I see an animal I truly want, I will by it period even if someone else has the same mutation cheaper, it’s not about the deal, it’s about the snake something I can be proud to add to my collection.

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I did say the average price. Not the lowest price. Then negotiate a price to where we both agree to.....I thought that's how negotiating works? It really depends on the situation...Of course I won't low ball $300 off their asking price. I wouldn't even ask. That's just silly

$300 is a relative number, depending on the initial price. Big difference if the snake is $800 vs. $3500. Better to think in percentages. And this can also be relative in relation to where the price stands in relation to market.

In the end, offer what you are willing to pay on the spot, and they will take it or leave it, or negotiate. Those are really the only options.

I don't haggle on animals usually unless its localish and I'm going to be spending awhile in the vehicle to get it and the seller isn't meeting me 1/2 way. IDK it annoys me when people try get me to go significantly down from an already fair price on something I've spent a great deal of energy and effort producing. Perhaps I'm just thin skinned.

Sent from my VM670 using Tapatalk 2

The problem with asking for $100 off is the original asking price. If someone wants $500 for a snake, and you ask for $100 off, that's a lot. 1/5th of the asking price.

Think about it in terms of a sale at your favorite store. If something goes on sale for 10% off, it's a good deal. 20% is really good. Anything over 20% is something you snag without a second thought, even if you don't need it.

Most people in my experience are willing to entertain a 10% discount. It all depends on how you ask.

Case in point. Last season I hatched out two vanilla males. Both were outstanding examples, and I had a lot of people tell me so. When I took them to a show to sell, people were commenting on them all day. Even a fellow breeder of vanillas told me he wished he'd hatched vanillas so nice.

Guy comes up and looks at them, sees I am asking $250 each. { Which by the way was $75 less than the other breeder with vanillas. } Anyhow, he asks when they hatched etc. Then he says, "I'd like one, but I'm only going to pay $200." I told him the price was $250, and if he thought it was too high, he could pay $325 at the other table. He shook his head and says, " No I want one of these, but you are asking too much. I'll give you $200." I told him if I was already $75 lower than another breeder, how on earth did he figure I was asking too much ? He gets all huffy and snotty, and he leaves.

Later on, good friend and fellow breeder stops by, and he's admiring the boys. He tells me he's been thinking about adding vanilla to his projects for a while now, and if he's going to do it he likes mine for that. I said thanks. As the show is closing, he comes over and asks how we did. I told him not bad, the other vanilla sold and the three normal siblings had as well. He congratulated us and said he still wanted that vanilla male, but he'd bought a lot before the show and was a little short on cash. I laughed and told him I'd sell it to him for $200 if he wanted it, which he did and he paid cash right then.

Now, why did I turn down $200 from the first guy, but offered the snake for $200 to the second guy ?

Attitude. Plain and simple.

Gale

I don't imagine 'FIRM' means 100% firm, like many people here said. If you put up an ad for a snake (or anything really) and put: "Open to offers", can you even imagine the kind of offers you'd get? The moment you say 'Offers', people assume that you'll take anything. You'll get low-balls, or even non-cash offers. I had people before trying to trade me household items for things I was selling. "I'll trade you that desk you're selling for a broken Xbox". Are you kidding? Haha.

Creating a relationship between the seller and the buyer is critical. I would rather sell one of my animals for a lower price to someone I know is genuinely interested in THAT animal (perhaps not even for just the genetics, but for the animal itself) than to sell my animal to someone who is just e-mailing me short and basic e-mails. No personality, no background, no nothing.

You can tell a person's tone by how they approach a sale. If you are in sales, you know this. You know that the people who are open, charismatic and willing to chat it up a bit are the ones more likely to be flexible with their prices. The ones that are short, blunt and to the point often don't wiggle much.

At the end of the day, it's great that you want to make a deal. And most people are willing to make a deal. For some people, it's a matter of how you approach it, and whether they feel 'comfortable' with that deal. If some stranger walked up and just expected me to beat someone else's price, I'd tell them I'm not interested. However, if someone came at me logically, patiently and was open about the whole transaction, I might be more flexible.

I just went through this with a local breeder. I was willing to pay full price for one of her hatchlings. We got to talking and I told her about how I wasn't breeding and had no means to breed anytime soon, but I loved the morph and could only buy one BP (I'm out of room now, as I saved my last spot for my BP). So I was more than happy to pay full price for a pet. However, she counter offered me and gave me a reduced price, because she was happy it would be going to a home where it would be spoiled, haha.

It's all about communication and connection. If you don't communicate and can't connect with someone, then your chances of making a deal are slim. We're all people, even breeders. The more you show them you're genuine, the better the transaction should go.

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Originally Posted by domenge

I notice on ball python classifieds that everyone is so FIRM!!! and not willing to negotiate a deal, or at least somewhat close to one. Why is this? In a market where there's so many of the same morphs available you'd think prices would be a little more competitive. So I'm just curious as to why? I understand your not going to budge that much but maybe it's just how I was raised.. Always making deals and also looking for the best deal... Whats your opinion on this all? Also, do you know a decent breeder who is cool to deal with and has some wiggle room every now and again?

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For my part, I simply HATE negotiating. I try to price my animals according to their worth on the market. I'll do deals for multiple animal orders. But haggling? I just despise doing it. I've done it, but I don't like it. It may be because I'm bad at it, to be sure, lol.

Prices ARE competitive--you need to realize that. These animals are worth what most folks are asking for them, and people are firm on their prices because the animals WILL SELL FOR THAT PRICE. Why should they accept less than people are willing to pay? What's the incentive to make a deal with one person, when someone else is willing to pay full value?

Also, what's the advantage to you, if everyone's willing to come down in price? What that means is just that you'll get even less for YOUR offspring when you produce them. You don't want that. Lower prices aren't a good thing. If you're looking for a pet, sure--but if you're looking for an investment to breed, and want the best return on your investment, the less prices come down, the better.

One other small pet peeve....if the animal is $250 or less, don't ask for free shipping... that just makes me grind my teeth. That's usually at least $60, and it's a substantial chunk of money off of the price. Most people who do that don't seem to realize exactly how much shipping costs.

I have had pretty good luck negotiating with sellers, but I also buy alot of my snakes from the same few breeders. Return business is awlays appreciated.

On the other hand...if I see the "perfect snake"...It's coming home with me regardless the cost. Even if it is well above market price.

I have gotten a few deals from breeders without really trying to haggle. Usually I will contact them in regards to one snake and then further talking to them end up buying another because of a deal. I have had this done with every snake I have purchased from a breeder I have purchased online.

I have contacted breeders asking the usual questions about a snake and in further conversation I have had a Pinstripe, Pastel, and het albino thrown in the deal for cheap.

The things I feel help make the breeder willing to make a deal with me are;

I always pay in full 100% THAT day within the hour of the deal. I don't want them to back out of the deal or sell the snake I made a deal on to someone else.

I never ask them to pay for shipping. I always give them my zipcode in the first inquiring email so they can give me the exact shipping price.

I always start with the initial snake that I will buy for the breeder's asking price even if he/she doesn't throw in the second snake at a deal. I never ask for a discount on this snake.

Shopping around hatching time. Most breeders are trying to make space in their rack and are more willing to make deals on snakes they weren't able to sell from last season.

Knowing the market price will be super helpful. If you know you are already getting a good deal on a snake, don't try to go lower. The breeders are not stupid, they know the going market prices.

Reptile shows seem to be the places that you can get the best possible deal. I was able to get a BRB hatchling for $125. Not only is that a bit cheaper than market value, he was the only breeder selling them and he only had four. That was his asking price and I wouldn't have dreamed about asking for less considering that was exactly what I was going to the show to find.

Craiglist is my only exception to these "rules". I refuse to pay market price on a snake on Craigslist, especially hets. If I am interested I am upfront and honest in my first email saying I will give you $x and I won't go higher. Let me know if you are interested. I am sure I have insulted some people that way, however I feel the gamble is higher buying from Joe Blow from down the street. If I am going to pay market price I am going to get a "better" snake from a breeder.

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Originally Posted by JohnNJ

No one should be INSULTED by any offer, even a low ball offer. Just say no thanks.

If someone says they wouldn't give you two cents for your snake, THEN you should be insulted.

As they say in the old neighborhood, it's not personal; it's just business. :cool:

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Agreed, anyone who is insulted by being offered money is a fool and I don't deal with fools.