I want to start making and selling HDPE cages

I plan on making HDPE cages and selling them for prices within $50 dollars of ap cages or the same price and some of the other 2 top pvc cage manufacturers. (BY THE WAY LIST 2 OTHER GREAT PVC CAGE MAKERS)
I have been looking into the designs of how these cages are made from over 5 different cage makers and have came up with the best ideas from each of them and want to implement them.

And yes every cage maker you know who uses pvc will use pvc foam board with the exception of one that uses CPVC but there is no excuse for people to not buy an HDPE cage because its a superior material in every way over pvc foam board.

HDPE is better than Expanded pvc foam board in every way, its a fact.

The only thing that could stop you from buying would be reputation which is something I would need to build. And that is for me to figure out and I am proactively working on it, by march I will have DIY guide on me building a HDPE cage and making a video for youtube for the visual learners. I will make a website that will offer information for free. I want to give value and I plan on doing that by showing and teaching people what I wish I knew when I first got in the hobby at 12 years old (21 now) like thinking petco and petsmart were the only places to get reptile stuff. Until I found out about craigslist , local reptile shops , lll reptile , forums , youtube videos , DIY videos.

It took me years to learn these things. But yeah just a lil bit of my vision. Im a web developer by the way so I make a good income already so im doing this because I love reptiles specifically monitors and snakes(Carpet pythons, green trees, and ball pythons).

Im sure alot of us in here can share that genuine love for reptiles and for me , I can come home tired from a 8 hour shift from work but still be able to come on my computer and research and learn about reptiles and my computer stuff as well. So its a love I have , as corny as it sounds. Almost to a fault my family says why I dont spend as much time with them and its because I enjoy what I do an im really focused. But thanks for reading.

Looking forward to see where this goes.

So are you planning on going big and starting your own little company or is this going to be like a hobby and just doing it yourself like in your basement or garage?

I know the one complaint people have on here about these kinds of enclosures are the long wait times. The companies custom build them with individual orders. But the quicker way would be to build a few different styles which are designed the most popular way stock them up and sell and see what goes. And listen to peoples input's.

Maybe some poster who like these kinds of cages (like dakski) can post what they like and would like to see come with your cages. You could build say 4 different styles in different sizes, stock them up somehwere and then start making more to replace the ones that sell the best. But you might need to hire some people and have a place to produce and store a few. (Unless you can come up with one style almost everyone likes in different sizes.)

In this day and age of bankrupcy's I would make sure I have the money in your bank first before shipping. And send them in a fairly timely way packaged in a way they would always or most likely arrive in tact and un-broken. If you can do this quickly and have nice cages people will start buying and bragging about them.

Having your own business can be a gamble but I have seen some people do well having their own business, but it is a bit scary at first for them but then they end up helping others have employment.

It sounds like you have a pretty solid plan in place. And I definitely think there's a place in the market for another quality enclosure option.

If I'm being honest though, I personally wouldn't purchase an enclosure without being able to see it in person or at least be able to hear some testimonials from reputable sources. I'd have a real hard time dropping AP comparable prices on an unknown enclosure.

I think your best bet would be to start selling locally. Hit some expos and bring some examples of your "standard" sizes as well as show some of your "customizable" options.

Reputation goes a long way, and without any reputation at all I think you'll have a hard time with online sales. But I could be wrong.

I wish you the best and I'll be watching to see how you do. Good luck!!

Honestly, as a part time business owner and working the trades for most of my life, if there is anything I have learned it's that your quality of work will always speak for itself. If you are good at what you do and create perfection everytime, reputation will come naturally. I have very much thought about selling my own racks as it's very easy for me to do. I built my own PVC racks and it went really well. The joints are perfect, its square, its strong and it looks good. What more could you ask for. The hardest part I had when I first started contracting was convincing a customer that I am competent at doing the work. Especially being a 22 year old kid. This was because of my lack of a portfolio so the first few jobs I only made 25-50% profit. Now it's much higher however when I quote a job I can show them very close examples of MY work, not come good searched work that it "will look close to this".

My part time company is a hobby but of course I like having the supplemented income of the work. Just don't get into this thinking you can half ass the craftsmanship. If the words "close enough" ever come out of your mouth, just re do it. Believe me you will be glad you did it in the long run and in a market as saturated as it is with good workmanship, you will fall to the side if you decide to cut corners.

Just my 2 cents, I love seeing guys try to start up things like this.

Also,I've never seen cages made with PVC foam board. I built everything with 1/2 PVC solid sheets. Expensive but awesome finished product (about $115 here in snow mexico) It likes to bind in table saws though, router tables are the way to go if you have access to one.

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Originally Posted by Weremey59

Also,I've never seen cages made with PVC foam board. I built everything with 1/2 PVC solid sheets. Expensive but awesome finished product (about $115 here in snow mexico) It likes to bind in table saws though, router tables are the way to go if you have access to one.

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Expanded PVC is pvc foam board, from my understanding. It's a solid pvc sheet, despite the name.

Hmm I wasnt aware of that. I never needed to use PVC until I got into reptiles. I'll see if I can get a picture of my racks for you.

Every cage here is HDPE.
https://i.imgur.com/J4pdgbw.jpg

These are Pro-Line cages from Constrictors NW. Ed Lilley no longer makes these cages, or cages period.

The only other HDPE maker I know of is Monster Cages. Mathew Martin is still in business I believe.

I have really enjoyed these cages and have no regrets going with this material.

You may fill a niche if you go into business as I don't think there are many cage makers using HDPE.

All of my cages are naturalistic and set up for display, yet they are still easy to clean and maintain.

Best of luck.

Ok first, sorry for the late reply I was at work but it's pretty lax and I thought I set up email notifications but they're no coming it's kinda annoying. Ok now Thank you all for your feedback very much I want to really individually to each comment cause there something in each response you all made thanks (: