BP Auction

[Lockes]

This will be my first season producing ball pythons for sale and I have come up with a marketing idea to get the business name recognized in the industry.

Our Reptile industry is not as large as in the States but there is a market for Ball pythons.

I have bred my male pastel to normal female so will hopefully get a few pastels.

My idea is to mark a single egg and auction it.

I will have a starting bid price for the egg and numerical substitutes for the egg in case it dies before hatch.

The bid price will start at the going rate of a normal ball python (+- $125) but you stand the chance of acquiring a pastel ball python that normally goes for around $650 here in South Africa

What you think?

[zx92027xz]

It sounds like a good idea... But there are a lot of things that could go wrong.

i dont know if youve ever heard the phrase dont count your chickens before they hatch... but the same applies for snakes.

anything can happen. also who knows, you might get lucky and get a BUNCH of pastels. then youd feel a little silly for selling them for 200 a piece.

[WingedWolfPsion]

Well, I think he's hoping they'll be bid up higher than that.
It's sort of like buying a 50% het... lol

[Stewart_Reptiles]

Why would someone bid on an egg? Would you buy a BP without knowing what it looks like or it’s gender?

If someone wanted a Pastel would they just buy it or bid on an egg taking the risk to end up with a normal?

[zx92027xz]

i was thinking about this more today at work, and i realized just how bad the idea is... for a buyer and a seller.

for the buyer there is too much of an oppurtunity to get scammed. i mean youre not going to ship the egg, so whos the say that you didnt just breed two normals together and just sent out a buncha normals saying tough luck to everyone. i know we have your word, but that only goes so far.

and also how do we know that you dont just have 2 eggs that go for $200 and 2 that go for $500 (unlikely...) and hatch 3 pastels and a normal... or 3 normals and pastel... how do you divide that up??

for the seller, if you know that the market is going for better prices than youll probably get, then why dont you just sell a little below market. theyll sell.

its not a good idea.......

[WingedWolfPsion]

Someone who was already established well could probably get away with it, but it does require a lot of trust.

[J.Vandegrift]

and also how do we know that you dont just have 2 eggs that go for $200 and 2 that go for $500 (unlikely...) and hatch 3 pastels and a normal... or 3 normals and pastel... how do you divide that up??

I think he is saying that you would bid 1 specific egg and get whatever hatches out of that egg regardless of how much you pay for the egg. I don't think it is a good idea either but I think you may have misunderstood what he was saying

[zx92027xz]

no i understand what hes saying.

what i am saying is, he isnt going to ship you the egg........ and is he just going to sharpie the egg? saying paid for by <this person>?

its totally based on trust. the only way id do it is if i was standing right there when they hatched so i knew he didnt say that "the" egg i paid for was the hatchling i got.

and id have to be in vegas. haha