the petco sale

[CritterLover]

I was in PetCo the other day and saw, once again, a sale tag on the bp's. They are selling them for $30. Does anyone else have problems with this? I just feel that it is not right to have sales on exotic animals. I think that this encourages impluse buying by people who have no idea how to provide the proper care for the animal. I know that many breeders have their bp's priced around $30, but seeking out a breeder and then buying from a breeder requires effort on the part of the buyer which makes it non-impulse. Also, breeders typically talk with their clients to help them with care needs. I just cringe at the thought of John Doe walking into a PetCo and just randomly buying a bbp because it is cute and he is saving $50...what a deal!!

Am I missing the big picture here or do some of you feel the same?

[Aric]

Ive only been to one Petco (Marietta, Georgia) and from that experience, IMHO, they have NO right to sell animals. Dead animals everywhere. Not just a couple but 10-20, frogs, turtles, snakes everything.. Extremely disturbing to see what poor conditions they lived in. And yet when you said something to them about the dead animals, everytime there excuse was "oh they are just asleep" or "no they are not dead, thats just the way they act"

[Alecz]

usually when they are having the sales its because they have too many and are getting more in and they are going to be overcrowded, it's to get rid of them fast. Does it increase impulse sales? Probably, and the petco I live by informs you correctly on the care of these animals, its the nicest one I've been to, but I have heard horror stories about other petco's.

[frankykeno]

I don't know if that's so true Alec as the last $30.00 sale PetCo had it seemed to be pretty much every store everywhere. Personally I hate those sales as we see a pretty immediate increase in posts on all forums from people who never really wanted a BP, they just grabbed one up because "it was a great deal". Some PetCo's are great, the one here in Toledo is fantastic but some aren't and could really care less if you've go $30.00 you get a snake and not one bit of advice on how to care for it.

[Sputnik]

I was in PetCo the other day and saw, once again, a sale tag on the bp's. They are selling them for $30. Does anyone else have problems with this? I just feel that it is not right to have sales on exotic animals. I think that this encourages impluse buying by people who have no idea how to provide the proper care for the animal. I know that many breeders have their bp's priced around $30, but seeking out a breeder and then buying from a breeder requires effort on the part of the buyer which makes it non-impulse. Also, breeders typically talk with their clients to help them with care needs. I just cringe at the thought of John Doe walking into a PetCo and just randomly buying a bbp because it is cute and he is saving $50...what a deal!!

Am I missing the big picture here or do some of you feel the same?

Sales also happen because of a rival store in the area. I think they have the right to charge what they want.

[Alecz]

yea, I do agree with you on that. I hate to see people get any animal whether it be exoctic or not and not know how to care for it. Alot of people think because it's a good deal on price, why not get it. That's why when I bred my sugargliders I never once sold any of them without knowing if they people knew anything about them without me having to tell them, then the things they didn't know I informed them of and sent them to a bunch of different sites on careing for them.

[jbkd]

The other side of this whole deal is that as a hobby/industry we tend to over produce/import and these have to be sold somewhere, somehow.....
Someone was willing to sell these snakes to PetCo at a great price so they can turn around and offer them at a great price. Retail sales are a science and it is amazing what people will buy just out of human nature. (if you are really bored one day, read 'Why we buy' by Paco Hill,(i think))

Also, How did you get into the hobby? I would bet if you polled reptile hobbiest you would see a high number of folks that bought a reptile at a pet store due to some promo.
I got into the hobby by working at a pet store and one of my fellow employees pawn a really bad bull snake off on me at a great price. The rest is history.

[mikerccie]

I get this same feeling in my gut when I go to the May, June, and July reptile shows in Indy. There are people selling unsexed BP's for $15.00. Right next to the green Iquanas for $10.00.

[frankykeno]

I doubt PetCo is getting those BP's from any small time breeder with some spare normals. They are more likely getting them from some import supplier at a few bucks a snake and making quite a tidy profit of them.

[Rorryy]

Yep, they got me! I went in looking at frogs and came out with a BP. I have other snakes and had been thinking about getting a BP, but yes, it was more or less an impulse buy because of the price. I still didn't get out of there until I spent $200 though! All I bought was a 40g breeder, more aspen and a uth. The others are right about marketing and sales.