Re: How much money do you think people like RDR and BHB make a year?
Thank you for the detailed response Neil. Breeders like you are what small timers like myself look up too.
:0)
Re: How much money do you think people like RDR and BHB make a year?
It is truly amazing the humility that I have seen in this hobby/industry. I work in the oil field in Texas and I own my own business with my family. You never see people helping each other in my industry. People want to screw you every chance they get, they give you miss information and try to hurt your business at every single turn.
I really respect a lot of these guys who are so willing to help because that is how my father raised me and it is so rare to find good people.
Re: How much money do you think people like RDR and BHB make a year?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Pwilliams58
I was just listening to the RR with Chad Brown and when he said: "Lets say I produce 1000 babies this year, and sell em each for a couple hundred bucks, well guess what, I'm doing pretty good!" This got me thinking, obvious Brian produces over 1000 babies, and Ralph sure does a helluva lot too, and alot of them are worth ALOT more than a couple hundred bucks. So...how much are we talking a year here? Obviously they have to pay their staff, and sink thousands into new animals, but really, how much are we really talking about? 100,000? 200,000? 500,000? 1,000,000?! I think we have conclusive proof that this is the greatest job in the universe. Thats more than a freaking doctor or lawyer makes.
ok Ralph may make alot of money, but keep in mind, if I'm not mistaken he holds down a 9-5 as a general construction contractor. So even he has to hold down a job to make sure he has everything taken care of. So if you think your gonna get into BP's and make loads of money, it just isn't gonna happen. When I was still breeding boa's and blood's at my height i had produced my first snows out of dbl het X snow. I got 16 of them and guess what it took me over a year to sell them all. With rats and bedding and electricity, I don't think I made any money on half of them. Snows were selling for over 2500 when I produced mine and I'll bet I got an average of 1200 for them. Which means I sold/traded some of them for way under value. So no breeding snakes is not a get rich quick deal its a passion thing. When you figure that out you won't care what anybody else "makes" because you'll be to busy having fun doing what you love lol.
Re: How much money do you think people like RDR and BHB make a year?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
fishmommy
I think it's a very high risk business.
Overhead costs are significant and constant. You spend lots of money to produce the product, and it keeps costing you until you sell it.
The product is perishable and high-end morphs are never guaranteed.
I'd think you'd be upside-down in the business for a number of years to get going, and the risk of going upside-down again never goes away. All it takes is a contagion or a power failure to wipe you out.
It's amazing to me that anyone can really succeed in the business. I have loads of respect to the few that have managed to do it :)
A contagion could be very bad. That is why maintaining a clean environment and doing quarantines is so important. As for power failure, I would be surprised if the bigger breeders do not have back up generators. Brian with all his animals and the cold winters likely does. He seams to have to much business sense to not have a back up plan for such problems. I only have a few snakes (6) to relive my childhood love of collecting and raising reptiles. On my porch is a generator for the winter power outages in the country.
I know a lady who runs a rescue shelter and has 20-25 personal snakes on top of her rescue shed inhabitants waiting adoption. Not a business by any means. A snake room was built in the back yard and you guessed it....... back up generators. It is amazing to see what some big dealers have been able to accomplish while doing what they love.
Thanks guys for your hard work. I advise anyone who has even a small collection and lives in an area that gets cold to invest in a generator. I would bet Ralph Davis being in the construction business has a few generators that get used if he has a winter power outage.
My neighbor's generators are wired to his house's electrical system. Power goes out, generators get cranked, and one flip of a switch and his whole house has electricity again, of course he is an electrician by trade. Those here who are not so lucky often spend a lot of time there during outages at the neighbors house. Too bad for me he doesn't like snakes.:colbert:
