Baby Male Pastel.. Should I Go For It??

[Russ Lawson]

I've said this to several people before, and I'll say it again: Price should be one of the LEAST important deciding factors in determining whether to get an animal or not!

Bargain buyers generally end up with poor quality animals, or poor examples of whichever particular animals they get. First and foremost, you should pick an animal that looks great to you. This is easier to do with a lot of species after you get a general idea of how their colours will change as they age. However, if you see an animal that looks stunning when it's young, in most cases it will turn out to be a stunning adult as well. People should be very familiar with any sort of animal they are considering purchasing. They should be saving links to websites where they've seen nice examples of that particular animal. Better yet, they should gain a preference for characteristics within a species, locale, or mutation, so they can be discriminate about the animal they are purchasing.

Also very importantly, you should know the individual you are dealing with. There are far too many scammers, liars, and just all around bad people that you might subject yourself to dealing with if you don't know any better. Do your research before making any purchase. Check the person's website if they have one. Look into what sorts of animals the person is known to work with or specialize in. Look the person up on the BOI, or the feedback forum here. These are all good ways to get an idea of who you may potentially be doing business with. This is not to say there aren't any good little guys or hobbyists (I'm still a "little guy" in the business myself) who may not have had too many sales up to a certain point, but that is one of the things forums like this are great for - so you can get to know people you may well deal with in the future. Everyone's got to start somewhere... but Craigslist is not the proper place to do so, and if someone's actually passionate about these animals they'll have no trouble finding far better places to post.

After you've done some of these sorts of things, that is the time you should concern yourself with the price of the animal, and begin determining whether it is worth the price to you. Go ahead and think to yourself what you believe you should pay for the animal. If it's listed around the same price, I'd say go for it. Most of my buys have been from seeing the animal in person, or seeing a picture of the animal and saying to myself, "Wow, that's a stunning example of a(n) [species/locale/mutation]!" Most of the breeders I bought from I already knew for their good reputations. Price was not really an issue.

Sorry for the bit of a rant. Just sort of irks me to see so many "should I get x animal?" or "is x animal worth y amount?" threads around on the internet. It is your money after all, get what is worth it to you!