Status of our Industry

[zoologist]

Is there an organization within our community that tracks cash flow/revenue/individuals sold for the various divisions and subdivisions of our industry? I.e. is there any one tracking how many boas, pythons and husbandry supplies are sold? Imagine a herpetoculturists stock market. It would be interesting to see trends and the direction of the market. Discuss!

[Gloryhound]

Be nice, but too many animals exchange hands in cash deals and trades to really keep track of it all. Hundreds of hobby breeders have sales that are only a couple hundred or thousand a year and they really don't want electronic records showing those sales as big brother is watching and waiting to tax you till you are broke and left with a paper bag as cloths.

Granted, if these same people kept good records and filed as a business, most would see a net loss which would result in a decrease to their primary income. Then again you can only run a business so long as a loss before the IRS is going to get suspicious and start sticking their nose where it does not belong.

[zoologist]

Good point. I was thinking something anonymous that showed trends but not who sold them or exact numbers, more of a generality. I hear people say that the Herp trade is a multi-million dollar sector, but who's counting?