Heh....in a way, everyone is right. That is because everyone you ask will speak from their own personal experience. There are pros and cons to ANY method of buying animals, whether you're talking about pure bred dogs, farm animals, normal snakes, or ball python morphs. But I'll try and break down the basics for you:

1. REPTILE SHOWS & EXPOS
This is one of the preferred methods for choosing ball python morphs. I don't believe there is much (if any) truth that vendors intentionally get together to set prices for the day. It IS true that prices may be higher in the morning, and then drop as the end of the show approaches, because vendors want to sell as many animals as they can before the doors close. SO...you can try to plan your purchases accordingly. The risk to shopping that way is that someone will buy the animal you want before the end of the day. Vendors are almost always willing to negotiate, too. So don't be afraid to ask for a lower, but still reasonable price. The benefit to the shows is that you can hold and inspect the animal right away. The drawback is that as often as not, once you walk out of the show, you lose all contact with that vendor, so whatever happens with the animal after the purchase, you're stuck with.

2. BUYING ONLINE
Certainly a LOT of risks involved in this method. But there are a lot of ways to mitigate those risks, too. Take your time to get to know who is who...make friends with those who participate online....learn who you can trust. Most online retailers will take pictures of specific animals and you can choose based on pictures....but of course you don't get to see the animal in person until you have it paid for and shipped. I prefer to personally choose an animal...but...there are a number of people I would TRUST to hand-select an animal from their collection for me without seeing a single picture. I trust that they already have supreme collections to begin with, and I trust that they would choose the best of the best for me. THAT is the sort of online business that I am willing to do. But it takes time to get to know people and businesses that well.

3. LOCAL BREEDERS
If you can find a local breeder who is willing to let you see his facility and hand-pick an animal, I have a hard time seeing a down-side to that. Like being at a show, you can see and examine an animal before purchase. But unlike the show, the vendor is not so anonymous and you'll likely have follow up care available if you need it. The trouble here is that not many breeders are willing to let just any joe-blow come in and browse. They're not running retail pet stores, after all. But if you, again, take the time to get to know them...both to trust them and to earn their trust...you might be able to work something like that out.

And one last note...I don't mean to imply that all expo vendors are "anonymous"...far from it. Often there are "big names" there to buy from...and you can usually pick up a business card or get contact info if you ask for it. But as often as not, a new buyer is so excited by their new purchase, they forget to even look at the name on the booth, much less pick up contact info. Just something to remember when browsing the shows.