Why do prices vary so much on morphs?

What I mean is, you can go from one website to another and the prices can be different on the same morph by a grand or more.

I'm already looking towards my next snake (after having my first for only a week, lol) and I've been looking at the albinos and piebalds in particular. But the prices vary so much ... how do you know when you're being robbed of your money?

1) sex, male vs female
2) size/age/if proven breeder
3) there are more to looks than a particular morph. Some animals are good examples of their morph, others aren't, and people pay attention to that sort of thing.

Well, I understand about sex; obviously females will cost more. That's the same for any animal.

But as far as looks and all that ... I mean, some websites have all their piebalds around a certain price no matter how much white they have on them, and that price could be 5 grand (as an example). Go to another website, and the same variety of piebalds (in terms of amount of white) could be as low as $700.

it depends alot on where the breaders are located and how easy a certain morph is to get in that area, also the bigger the breader the cheaper they can sell each snake for as smaller breaders have relatively high costs per snake.

The best way to guage what price a BP should cost is to look around and try to find the best deal.

i think that you also pay for the reputation of a breeder.
spooky

I would suggest trying to decide what qualities YOU like best in the morph then try and find an animal that shows the qualities for a good deal from a good breeder. For example if you like low white pieds then look for one and when you find one you like go for it! Obviously make sure the snakes healthy first though lol...

Everyone above has mentioned the many possibilities of price fluctuation.

I think if you are seeing a piebald for $750 and another for $5000 the animal for $5000 is more than a piebald, such as a piebald het or (insert other morph here). They look the same but have much more going on genetically that's more valuable to a customer. I haven't seen a hatchling or even sub-adult piebald for $5000 for quite some time now.

if your interested in pieds (for breeding purposes) the amount of white has nothing to do with the amount of white in the offspring.
spooky

Depends also on whos name its got behind it. You can get a pastel male for 40 bucks but an equal weigh male from Graziani will cost you around 200. Its on what bloodline they have. Just like in dogs some are from a more refined bloodline and are worth more.

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Originally Posted by k8nkane

What I mean is, you can go from one website to another and the prices can be different on the same morph by a grand or more.

I'm already looking towards my next snake (after having my first for only a week, lol) and I've been looking at the albinos and piebalds in particular. But the prices vary so much ... how do you know when you're being robbed of your money?

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I wonder this same thing myself and wonder how do people come up with their prices. I don't think you should have to pay for everyone's reputation as well. I'm fairly new to this and I have a few favorite big breeders. But got a great deal from a small local breeder. So now when I look for prices i'm going to look at both. good luck in the future. Ohh check out www.royalconstrictordesigns.com they have package deals for hets for certain morphs as well!:O

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.