The Ball Python Industry

[elevatethis]

If I were investing that much into a project, I wouldn't be advertising it at all. If you want to keep something secret, then DON'T TELL ANYBODY. Instead I see breeders leaking out tidbits of info here and there and giving out sneak peaks to a select few that then go out to the forums to advertise for them (everyone likes free advertising don't they???). It seems that people want to get credit for discovering and producing the morph before all the work of figuring it out is done, without the risk that someone else, who may be working on a similar project, gets the chance to name it and exploit it first. Sounds like a classic case of wanting to have your cake and eating it too.

Well then...I think we would both agree on one thing that is a huge bummer in the ball pythons industry:

Egos!

[Freakie_frog]

You appear to be lamenting what is called a "free market economy" while advocating what is generally referred to as "anti-competitive business practices".

Not in the least. Because in an anti-competitive business many of the tactics practiced by those in it are what have hurt the industry as we know it today
Anti-competitive practices can include:


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-competitive_practices

• Dumping, where products are sold into a market at a low price which render competition impossible, in order to wipe out competitors.
• Exclusive dealing, where a retailer or wholesaler is ‘tied’ to purchase from a supplier.
• Barriers to entry (to an industry) designed to avoid the competition that new entrants would bring.
• Price fixing, where companies collude to set prices, effectively dismantling the free market.
• Dividing territories, e.g., you get everything west of the Mississippi, we take everything east
• Limit Pricing, where the price is set by a monopolist to discourage economic entry into a market.
• Product tying, where products that aren't naturally related must be bought together; this prevents consumer choice.
• Resale price maintenance, where resellers are not allowed to set prices independently.
• Coercive monopoly - all potential competition is barred from entering the market

These are the things that have driven the market into the crapper. Dumping being the biggest one.

What I am "lamenting" over is the slim that does what ever it takes to make as much money as fast as they can with no long term commitment to the market in which they operate.

Example: if I have 200 pastels and everybody else is selling them for 150.00 and I just can't sell them fast enough so I sell mine for 75.00. Because my over head and capitol expenses are lower than most everyone else's my commitment to the market maintenance is lower than theirs and so I dump the market. Now to maintain sales everyone else must lower their prices in order to compete.

Which is why if your doing this as a hobby and not to pay the bills you shouldn't have a problem pricing your animals competitively within the market mean. But if your just trying to move as much product as quickly as you can you "Price to Move".

Hope that clears up my thinking

[MarkS]

Well then...I think we would both agree on one thing that is a huge bummer in the ball pythons industry:

Egos!

Yup, Egos do tend to get in the way of real progress.

Mark

[Freakie_frog]

Yup, Egos do tend to get in the way of real progress.

Mark

Just curious how so.

Why do people get so frustrated that they don't know what is in the Inferno, or what the Super Lori looks like.

[ladywhipple02]

Not to be a wise guy, but the Airlines are pretty much either fighting off banctruptcy or have gone out of business altogether and the prices are higher than ever with the quality of service worse than ever. Its not a healthy industry at all. I hope that you are not correct about the similarities.

Actually, that answer isn't wise at all

The airline industry is NOT going bottoms up. On the contrary, it is healthier and more competitive than ever. You have to take a step back from the news headlines and rumors to really appreciate it.

Yes, many of the big boys have gone under... but only because they couldn't---or wouldn't---match the up and coming low cost carriers. And their places have been filled by others: either lower-cost carriers or legacy carriers that were willing to modify themselves.

The same thing happens in all free markets. Lets say there was a breeder out there still trying to sell regular albinos for $5000 a pop. Think he'd get it done? Nope... he'd go belly up and little breeders would rush to fill his place. The big boys can still charge a little more for their name and quality, but let's face it... if they don't move with the tide and at least keep their prices in the ball game, they're done for.

I can send you a couple text books on the airline industry if you want... amazing stuff, really.

[daniel1983]

Why do people get so frustrated that they don't know what is in the Inferno, or what the Super Lori looks like.

Because they don't understand the mechanism causing the delay in 'announcement'.

After Brian's interview on reptile radio, it was pretty clear that he held out on the Super Lori until the website and show go online. Great marketing!! All those people who wanted (and demanded) photos will most likely tune in and check everything out. I wouldn't have done things any different and appreciate what Brian did from a business perspective as a main component to this INDUSTRY. However, from my HOBBY perspective, I really would have liked to see some more shots of the Super Lori sooner. See once again, people do not know how to seperate the hobby from the industry. I have seen a couple of people use the two words interchangably in this thread too.

With the Inferno, I really have no clue what Kevin's intentions are......ha ha...either he knows what goes into the Inferno and is waiting to see if he can make more before saying anything, or he crammed so many freakin' morphs into one animal that he is waiting to be certain that it is what he thinks it is .... No big deal to me though......what makes any of us important enough to know what is going on 'behind the scenes'?....Coke does not give out is recipe for soda, Ms. Fields doe not give out her recipe for cookie dough......why should Kevin give out his recipe for a morph? ....I think people are too greedy and impatient to wait to find out the real deal....ha ha....and you are just going to see more and more 'secrets' as people start producing more animals with 5-8 genes in one morph....better get used to it

[Emilio]

Love the animal's the color's and endless oppurtunitys with them. I'm with Adam let's try to tune everything else out.

[MarkS]

it was pretty clear that he held out on the Super Lori until the website and show go online. Great marketing!!

Brian has been teasing us and making promises for over two years and you call this great marketing??? I pretty much have to disagree with that. I used to be excited about seeing the Super Lori too. But after that much time has passed with nothing new forthcoming, I frankly don't care anymore. If you don't add anything new to the plot, You can only hold an audiences attention for so long before they lose interest.

[Larry Suttles]

What do you feel is lacking in the Ball Python Industry?

What do you feel are great things about it?

Great thread Heather!

Animals are number 1 always

What I'd change.

I just wish there were mooore people. Even though it's growing daily it seems the community is still pretty small as far as hobbies go. Although you wouldn't know it coming to Bp.net cause there's tons of peps here!!!!!

Friends are just a click away!! you gotta love that

[JenHen]

Great thread Heather!

I just wish there were mooore people. Even though it's growing daily it seems the community is still pretty small as far as hobbies go. Although you wouldn't know it coming to Bp.net cause there's tons of peps here!!!!!

I'm doing my part in speading the news, we are going to take a few of the our BPs to my son's 6th grade science class next week. Our normal male will eat anywhere, anytime so we are going to put on a little show. He eats f/t so we will not totally freak out the girls. Hopefully we will have a few kids interested in taking any normals we produce....

The snakes are the best part of the industry and the folks in it JUST for the money are the worst.....

Jen