Does pricing depend on the buyer?

Hey, y'all!

I recently made friends with the manager of a reptile shop near me (I was bored on the 4th and decided to hang out there, as they were open with normal hours, and since no one else was in the store, I got to handle a lot of their reptiles, which was super fun!) and mentioned that I was planning on breeding my ball pythons once I get them up to size. My new friend mentioned he'd be interested in buying hatchlings to sell in the store, as he thought my snakes were gorgeous, and because I mentioned I wanted to make a project out of producing some BELs. This was super exciting to me, because I was wondering what I was going to do with the hatchlings I produced. I'm not opposed to listing them places and shipping them, but since this is a local store, I could easily just drop them off.

Since I was thinking about it, I wanted to see if anyone had experience in the area or knew if there should be a difference in price point if I'm selling direct to a buyer versus if the snake is going to be resold. I've noticed that some morphs are listed a bit high (e.g., $120 normal hatchling), and I would assume this is because the goal for the store is to make as much profit as possible.


TL;DR: Should I sell hatchlings at market price, regardless of buyer? Or is there some different way to sell to a store?

Also, would there be any pertinent tax consequences from selling to a store rather than direct to a buyer? Relevant to Texas would be helpful. I'm not sure there would be, but if anyone knows... I also only plan to keep this a hobby (for now). Thanks!!

Pricing depends on the seller - what are the snakes worth to you?

The store will most likely want to purchase the clutch at a wholesale rate from you. If you just want to off-load them, and not worry about feeding and care, it's an easy way to go about it. When you sell to a store, however, you can't guarantee the snake is going to go to a good home. The store is in it for profit. If someone comes in with the funds to purchase an animal, they're typically not going to check into whether or not that person has everything to properly care for that animal. Thus why a lot of breeders will keep their prices a bit higher and ship one by one from reptile websites. There's still never a guarantee, of course, but the breeder can be a bit more discerning if they choose - and can usually ask for market price and get it.

It all depends on what you want to do. If you don't want to worry about caring for the babies, then wholesale is the way to go. You make a little and save a little. If you want to be a bit more picky about who the babies go to, you're going to spend a bit more in care and time, but you'll make a bit more from market price.

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Originally Posted by ladywhipple02

Pricing depends on the seller - what are the snakes worth to you?

The store will most likely want to purchase the clutch at a wholesale rate from you. If you just want to off-load them, and not worry about feeding and care, it's an easy way to go about it. When you sell to a store, however, you can't guarantee the snake is going to go to a good home. The store is in it for profit. If someone comes in with the funds to purchase an animal, they're typically not going to check into whether or not that person has everything to properly care for that animal. Thus why a lot of breeders will keep their prices a bit higher and ship one by one from reptile websites. There's still never a guarantee, of course, but the breeder can be a bit more discerning if they choose - and can usually ask for market price and get it.

It all depends on what you want to do. If you don't want to worry about caring for the babies, then wholesale is the way to go. You make a little and save a little. If you want to be a bit more picky about who the babies go to, you're going to spend a bit more in care and time, but you'll make a bit more from market price.

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Aha, that makes sense. I'll have to discuss with the manager more then, I suppose, and decide what I want to do from there. Thank you!

Wholesale is around 50% of retail.

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Originally Posted by JodanOrNoDan

Wholesale is around 50% of retail.

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Ouch, that's certainly something to consider. I'd much rather sell direct to buyers in that case, but it's nice to have a back up, jic.

Also depends on the store. Places around here will only give around 15 to 20 percent of retail to wholesale snakes to. Can be a life saver if you end up overwhelmed and need to dump a lot off your back fast but generally not worth it for hobby breeders around here.

Stores will never pay as much as private buyers, since they have "overhead"...the building & staff & utilities all cost them more. Also they figure they might
have the animal for a while before it's sold. As others said, it's an option if you're overwhelmed taking care of all that you've produced, but don't even dream
of getting top dollars from pet stores. They buy cheap & sell high.

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Originally Posted by JodanOrNoDan

Wholesale is around 50% of retail.

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yup or less

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Originally Posted by Charis

Also depends on the store. Places around here will only give around 15 to 20 percent of retail to wholesale snakes to. Can be a life saver if you end up overwhelmed and need to dump a lot off your back fast but generally not worth it for hobby breeders around here.

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That makes sense. The more I think about it, the more I'm leaning more toward just keeping this store in mind for a back up plan.

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Originally Posted by Bogertophis

Stores will never pay as much as private buyers, since they have "overhead"...the building & staff & utilities all cost them more. Also they figure they might
have the animal for a while before it's sold. As others said, it's an option if you're overwhelmed taking care of all that you've produced, but don't even dream
of getting top dollars from pet stores. They buy cheap & sell high.

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Oh, right, I didn't think of that. Though I did assume there'd be some drop in price, I didn't realize it'd be so drastic. I'll likely keep to private sales, then.

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Originally Posted by AbsoluteApril

yup or less

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oof. :O

Selling to a retail store means you are selling WHOLESALE which is about 70% to 50% off the retail price depending on what you sell.

Retail is retail the price is up to you if people make you an offer you can accept or turn it down.

I do both lower end stuff I wholesale unless I do a show (than wholesale after the show), high end stuff I retail and I usually get my asking price (unless it's a return customer but that's a different story all together)

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Originally Posted by Deborah

Selling to a retail store means you are selling WHOLESALE which is about 70% to 50% off the retail price depending on what you sell.

Retail is retail the price is up to you if people make you an offer you can accept or turn it down.

I do both lower end stuff I wholesale unless I do a show (than wholesale after the show), high end stuff I retail and I usually get my asking price (unless it's a return customer but that's a different story all together)

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Thanks, that's really helpful. This store is more of a specialty reptile store, but a retail store nonetheless, so I hadn't thought to consider that I wouldn't make nearly what I was hoping in selling to the store. I'm glad I asked instead of charging headfirst into that situation, oh boy!

Wholesale makes more sense for species that produce many young. You can keep whatever you're comfortable moving on your own and wholesale the remainder for a nice little chunk of change. Another aspect of private sales is the crazy. There's a fair bit of bad and ugly to go with the good - no getting around it if you're dealing with the public. Having a reliable source you can mass sell to is definitely useful. Sometimes I need a year off from "people" and just wholesale most of my stuff and maybe sell to a few of the people who been waiting for something in particular and who've kept in contact.

Did you say $120 for a normal? We sell a normal for $69.99 and that is a mark up of 54% from the cost from the breeder. Holy cow, that is a price gouge. I thought my store was overpriced, jeez.

The reptile store (not a petco/petsmart) near me frequently has morphs, but cost is way higher.. $450 for an albino BP, $400 for a male banana, $500 for a black pastel albino once. Single gene morphs are usually double the "going rate" on morph market. Not too much choice outside of the big chains around here where you can walk in and buy (and you'd be lucky to see anything outside of a normal, YB, spider rarely, pin, or pastel), so they seem to set their own prices. I think they sold a yearling normal last time I was in for $100, which is more than the chain stores nearby that have them, but definitely better care. The BP prices are nuts, though their GTP prices seem more normal from what I saw mentioned here at some point.. hatchling/still yellow around $500 (I think one is a biak, but I can't swear to it, that one might be $600)

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Originally Posted by John1982

Wholesale makes more sense for species that produce many young. You can keep whatever you're comfortable moving on your own and wholesale the remainder for a nice little chunk of change. Another aspect of private sales is the crazy. There's a fair bit of bad and ugly to go with the good - no getting around it if you're dealing with the public. Having a reliable source you can mass sell to is definitely useful. Sometimes I need a year off from "people" and just wholesale most of my stuff and maybe sell to a few of the people who been waiting for something in particular and who've kept in contact.

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Oh! That's a good idea. I'll definitely keep the store in mind for that reason as well!

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Originally Posted by Sunnieskys

Did you say $120 for a normal? We sell a normal for $69.99 and that is a mark up of 54% from the cost from the breeder. Holy cow, that is a price gouge. I thought my store was overpriced, jeez.

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Yeah! I don't know the going rates for the other reptiles they keep in stock, but the BP prices are real high.

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Originally Posted by pretends2bnormal

The reptile store (not a petco/petsmart) near me frequently has morphs, but cost is way higher.. $450 for an albino BP, $400 for a male banana, $500 for a black pastel albino once. Single gene morphs are usually double the "going rate" on morph market. Not too much choice outside of the big chains around here where you can walk in and buy (and you'd be lucky to see anything outside of a normal, YB, spider rarely, pin, or pastel), so they seem to set their own prices. I think they sold a yearling normal last time I was in for $100, which is more than the chain stores nearby that have them, but definitely better care. The BP prices are nuts, though their GTP prices seem more normal from what I saw mentioned here at some point.. hatchling/still yellow around $500 (I think one is a biak, but I can't swear to it, that one might be $600)

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I'd almost swear we're talking about the same store, as this is all fitting super well, haha! Because, yeah, it's not a petco/petsmart, and the prices on BP morphs are insane. This is what was making me think that maybe I could sell them snakes at more than a wholesale rate. I'll have to chat with the manager and see who they buy their stock. :O

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Originally Posted by skydnay

I'd almost swear we're talking about the same store, as this is all fitting super well, haha! Because, yeah, it's not a petco/petsmart, and the prices on BP morphs are insane. This is what was making me think that maybe I could sell them snakes at more than a wholesale rate. I'll have to chat with the manager and see who they buy their stock. :O

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Just checked your profile, and I'd bet so. I'm from the north Dallas area, so unless you found another store I haven't heard of... gotta be the same place. :)

I agree, they either have incredible markup due to lack of brick and mortar competition in morphs, or they pay local breeders more than wholesalers that sell to the big chain pet stores. Possibly some of both.

Definitely worth asking ballpark what they would be willing to buy from you for a few morph types. I'd be curious to hear the answer (not that I have any plans to breed... both my BPs are male and I have only 1 of each species for my others)

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If you have too many babies, you could cherry pick the best ones to sell directly and then sell the excess lower quality ones to the pet store.

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Originally Posted by pretends2bnormal

Just checked your profile, and I'd bet so. I'm from the north Dallas area, so unless you found another store I haven't heard of... gotta be the same place. :)

I agree, they either have incredible markup due to lack of brick and mortar competition in morphs, or they pay local breeders more than wholesalers that sell to the big chain pet stores. Possibly some of both.

Definitely worth asking ballpark what they would be willing to buy from you for a few morph types. I'd be curious to hear the answer (not that I have any plans to breed... both my BPs are male and I have only 1 of each species for my others)

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Yeahhhh, it's the same place. How cool! I'll try to remember to let you know when I ask. The way the manager talked about buying the babies made me think they're more choosy about what they buy to sell, so they'd act differently than a big chain store.

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