I believe the price hike may also be because they are more desired.... a good lineup of females are likely to be paired with one or two males. say you have a male spider; to be most efficient in breeding, multiple females(such as a pastel, lesser, and pinstripe) will be best in achieving a greater number of clutches rather than buying a male for each female - more females= more clutches= better investment lol. Just my theory that seems to make sense to me.