Morning Gripe: A thought on lowering prices too far

[WtGreg]

All these people who have ridiculously low prices I just want to yell at sometimes. Unfortunately I can't go into there ads and post this, but tell me if anyone else with a touch of business sense agrees with me here (or argue, whatever you like):

So I see ads where people are undercutting prices to try to sell off what they have, when it doesn't sell, they lower their own low price. Undercutting the competition is a business tactic, true, but I saw a person who did this lowering, and more lowering still the other day and was fine until I saw the same person post a complaint about the market dying and how unfair it is that they can't get their balls sold for what they want (gonna throw in another detail in a minute, so hold on)... Dumbass, YOU are responsible for this. Alot of factors come in like the power-breeders who breed a gene out like crazy to sell loads off and prices go down as the genes become more available, as one example, but you are one of the factors. Every time an idiot who doesn't know that is a sale price you posted sees your ad, he thinks suddenly this is the new price, then posts his at that price. When he can't sell he reduces it. The next idiot sees that and it continues. This goes on with every "lowest price you'll find" ad and over the course of the year things drop and drop. Next year you will make the same complaint without thinking "hey, maybe the prices dropped because everybody over did it last year and I was one of them."

Let me pause: I know there are many factors to prices, so don't give me a lecture over how many there are, this is just a gripe about one specific factor.

I have posted ads with sales on groups, or "reasonable offers accepted," but I don't post when I accept a reduced offer and I try to look at what's out there versus where I feel it should be and find a balance instead of trying to flat undercut in my ads. This is hard when people are expecting the next lowest price to be posted. I have talked to others who hate to put sales at risk, but try to do the same thing with the idea that maybe this decline can be help if people are seeing the higher prices versus the lowest prices, so the next person will post in between them, not at the bottom of them. Some depend on prices reducing gradually instead of dropping like they do when this scenario plays out. They aren't living at home with mom and dad, their job-made money goes to living and the snakes are a hobby that is hopefully paying for itself as you go and perhaps may make a little on the side too. Then there are breeders that this IS their job-made money... oh I could go on about that discussion alone for many more paragraphs, but back to John Doe above:

His complaint was that he can't make back what he spent on his balls and his parents are pissed.... hold up, what? I did some snooping (clicked on his FB page) and the kid was 14! He listed points that he couldn't believe about the market, but it comes down to him being too young to understand the business side of how things work. He relied on his parents and could afford to undercut his own undercut price. He didn't know how to ship and complained those who did were why he couldn't sell his snakes. He complained on and on about all the wrong things, but kept coming back to how bad it is he had to keep reducing his own undercut price. Well kiddo, you need to learn that it is this undercutting for quick sale that is one of MANY factors that affects the market, so you could be to blame for a little bit right there. If you don't understand how a market works, or how a business may rely on shipping, or....so on... don't complain about it being everybody else's fault. We are all a part of the market whether we do these things or not, so we can all be blamed if nothing else just by producing more genes and getting them out there. We all have to suffer when prices drop, but it is the market as a collective, it isn't the market attacking you as an individual (that's basically what his complaints came down to, it was unfair to him). People will lower prices and we can't control everybody, we all complain and hate to see it, and hate to have to compete with the reductions others give, but that is how it is. The best thing is to think are you in this for the money like this kid was, or the hobby of breeding the snakes. If you look at this as a money maker, you will end up sounding like this kid, but further need to figure out how what you do this year can affect your making money next year. Instead do this as a hobby and love what you do, and the market is a perk at that point, not the main factor (obviously if you are a breeder with a shop as your livelyhood, this is a little different). I just realized I did actually contradict myself above, but rather than fix it, I will leave it be as Babies are crying and I have to go have a life off the computer. I would love to go on, but instead, on the last point about hobby versus solely for the money, the final part to Doughy John's rant (and this is what set me off to post this gripe) was that he now wants to get out of balls because it isn't worth it to stay in them if he can't make "real good money" off them...REALLY?!?!

[sho220]

I don't have any business sense, so what are you supposed to do if your babies don't sell for X amount? Raise the price? Leave them at the same price and continue to lose money every month on the feed bill because they don't sell?

edit: those are serious questions...not trying to pick a fight.

[rabernet]

I don't have any business sense, so what are you supposed to do if your babies don't sell for X amount? Raise the price? Leave them at the same price and continue to lose money every month on the feed bill because they don't sell?

edit: those are serious questions...not trying to pick a fight.

"I" would quietly wholesale them to someone if I were that desperate. There are plenty of breeders out there that have demand for animals they they may not have at the time who would be happy to take them off your hands and make a profit selling to their customers.

Sent from my Samsung Note II using Tapatalk 2

[wienkeg]

So, this kid keeps lowering his price, but won't bother to learn to ship his balls? He is simply cutting himself out of a too large a part of the market. If I see someone over 50 miles away with "local pickup only"... the snake/doodad/cage/whatever better be a super low price, or I won't consider the drive, simple.

Now, if he offered shipping, and couldn't sell after lowering his price, this is a different story. It means that the demand is simply not there, and possibly everyone *should* be dropping their price to meet demand and consider not making that morph if they're not making money on it, thus dropping supply for next year.

I'd also imagine he's selling "junk". I prefer to look for quality animals, and I feel they will always command a premium.

Maybe suggest to him he find a wholesaler, and see what they'll pay him for them, as his price approaches this price, he should just wholesale.

Sorry for the rant, but these are my insights/observations as an economics/business junky

Breeding balls sounds like a tough business, I don't think I'd ever try to make a living at it.

Maybe try to talk some sense into this kid If his prices are really too low, just buy them from him, and turn around and wholesale them, pocket the profit Then he'll get out and everyone wins

[Mike41793]

I don't have any business sense, so what are you supposed to do if your babies don't sell for X amount? Raise the price? Leave them at the same price and continue to lose money every month on the feed bill because they don't sell?

edit: those are serious questions...not trying to pick a fight.

Send them to Mike

[Dave Green]

If you have the room to raise up some of your babies for a while there is a huge demand later on. I find early in the season and after the new year are when stuff sells the fastest. It's amazing how I'll have some common stuff on my site for months with little interest and then in February I wish I had ten more. Patience is key.

[brock lesser]

This is something you should have planned for before you even thought about breeding,
do I have the space and or money to house and feed them if they dont sell.
Momma always said "Dont have them if you can't raise them"
Seems like every kid with 3 bp's thinks they can breed them and make millions in a month.
So sad for the animals, they are the one's suffering for our choices.

[zeion97]

If you have the room to raise up some of your babies for a while there is a huge demand later on. I find early in the season and after the new year are when stuff sells the fastest. It's amazing how I'll have some common stuff on my site for months with little interest and then in February I wish I had ten more. Patience is key.

I understand this.. I know last year in March when I got my taxes baxk it was right before Tinley Park and I bought 5 snakes. (is a lot cobsidering I usually get 1 a year teo at the most)


Overall... I don't like when people cut prices. It really ruina the marjet. I ubderstand how people want to get a low price, I mw an id be happy to get a bananna for ~$500 while others would clearly hate that. However my focus rifht now is the animal themselves and not breeding. So

[WtGreg]

I don't have any business sense, so what are you supposed to do if your babies don't sell for X amount? Raise the price? Leave them at the same price and continue to lose money every month on the feed bill because they don't sell?

edit: those are serious questions...not trying to pick a fight.

Good question, and picking a fight or not, a good point to bring up regardless.
This is honestly tough to answer as there are many approaches, each with question of what your goal is. Save time and money I would say do the suggestion of selling to a breeder or reseller at wholesale. desire a set amount and don't want to go lower, bring it up in size and sell it later. It looks like alot of what I would suggest has been covered. The thing is how you approach each of these options. Don't post lower and lower and lower. Want to move it out fast, sell it wholesale because you'll end up at that pricepoint anyways by lowering it constantly, and save the time spent over the period of constant lowering. Try a sale and then raise the price up. Try a package deal. So many options, you will get a feel for them as you get deeper into breeding and then selling them off.... Just don't post lower and lower without reason. You are shooting yourself and the rest in the foot without knowing it. The idea is keeping a separation between your prices and deals/discounts. Be discreet about deals. These days everyone wants something for nothing and feels they are entitled (for some reason) to it. If you are in this for the money like Doughy John, get out of breeding now as you may be disappointed. So many options and each with different points, so like I said, tough to give one direct answer. If you are trying to breed for the fun, but also make a business out of it, think of it like a business and not like a kid who sees $100 for a $300 snake (or however you want to work the math for that example) as a huge profit because you've never seen that much money and you don't have to pay for other things because you are still living with mom and dad.... sorry, that last line was a little direct and targeted at the one who pissed me off....

[WtGreg]

if you have the room to raise up some of your babies for a while there is a huge demand later on. I find early in the season and after the new year are when stuff sells the fastest. It's amazing how i'll have some common stuff on my site for months with little interest and then in february i wish i had ten more. Patience is key.

bingo!