What motivates them? I know there's the whole supply-demand thing, but that's probably the simplest way of looking at economics that exists. I want to know what motivates any particular breeder to put any particular snake for sale at a certain price. Possible causes I see are:

-Supply-demand (definitely the biggest factor for a new morph)
-Cost to produce (often seems overlooked with low-end morphs)
-Kingsnake.com (ruining the industry?)
-Quality (health, feeding response, disposition, looks; Brian Gundy sells his "Gold Blush" normals for several hundred dollars)
-Temporary conditions (show prices, got-to-go sales, time of year)
-Age (older snakes cost more, but not enough more than hatchlings, it would seem, to offset the cost of raising it to that age)
-Breeding habits (sell off bad breeders for cheap, just to get them out of your hands)
-Reputation (people will pay more to deal with big names, though they often have the most interesting stuff)
-Anything else?

So, say cost to produce: Why is it so often overlooked? A big deal in this seems to be that nobody can turn much of a profit without either being big-time (debatable) or hitting it big with a new morph. Perhaps this problem wouldn't exist if breeders stopped competing directly with imports and petshops?

I know squat about economics, and I know not everyone's out to make a profit, but why shouldn't you at least get what you put into it? Whenever someone talks about making money off this, people say "You'll never turn a profit" or "It's near impossible to turn a profit" or "It'll be forever before you even break even" (<---most reasonable, and true with any business). Prices change altitude like a butterfly, and often just drop like stones. I'm just asking, "Why does it have to be this way, and why can so few people at least make up the cost of housing and feeding enough to produce a few hatchlings with those hatchlings?" If Brian Gundy can sell normals for a few hundred dollars, then why can't I if I think they're just as good looking, healthy, and cost me as much?