Quote Originally Posted by joepythons View Post
Depends on the look of the reptile .
Thats a point that would warrant them selling the animal for more, just like how it warrants NERD selling animals for more based on their looks. It's about what the consumer will actually buy, a consumer is drawn to the big breeders, and rightly so since big breeders aren't the walmart of ball pythons but the quality controlled factories of ball pythons.

What it comes down to is trust, the big breeders already have trust from the consumers, making new and old consumers alike more likely to purchase from them, while the independent breeders need to either prove that they are somehow as good or better than the big name breeders, or they can undercut them and move animals. Which is what a lot of these people do.

However it's potentially cruel to the animal to sell them for less than the already highly discounted show prices, those animals may end up in the hands of less respectable individuals who will, in the future, sell low quality animals to people after they have bred them. Or worse yet the animal gets force fed, or ends up with a respiratory problem.

I'm just saying that just bellow show costs is as low as you should go if you really care about your animals. Although personal deals with people you already know may see even lower costs.