Kelley BlueBook of Ball Pythons...

[meowmeowkazoo]

Do people even proofread their posts? There are some posts that I read it and still have no idea what the person was talking about due to so many errors. But on to the topic at hand. There are so many new morphs coming out daily that I highly doubt the industry is in trouble. As far as that post goes its utter rubbish. Just a guy that's upset that he can't sell his animals at a high price. Myself being a breeder just starting out I look at any business plan. If you want to sell your product you have to be cheaper. When my company is looking to have work done we take 3 bids. Whoever is cheaper takes the work. We do take into account quality but with snakes quality is in the eye of the buyer. I have bought some snakes at a fraction of big breeder prices that looked way better. When I sell my animals I will be looking at what that particular snake is going for on several sites and sell it for just under that. That's the way business works and there is no getting around it. If I want to sell I have to be cheap. Nothing against nerd but I would never buy a snake from them. Not because I don't want to but because I can't afford to. They price their snakes so high that I'm not willing to pay for the nerd name. I can't get the same quality from some guy breeding out of his basement. Just my .02

Colin Weaver isn't exactly "just a guy that's upset he can't sell his snakes." I believe he genuinely cares about the welfare of the hobby. Because you are a new breeder (as I am), is it so hard to believe that somebody who has been around longer may know more than you about the ball python market?

And don't you think it would bother you if you have some good quality stock (quality is not ALWAYS in the eye of the beholder) for sale, and some schmuck lists his morphs for a LOT lower? Then you get people emailing you saying "Well this guy listed his for $300 less than yours, will you sell it to me for that price?" Then of course, you get some people who list theirs for that same low price to be competitive, and it starts a horrible chain reaction which ends in the value of the animal lowering significantly.

I don't know how you feel, but it would bother me.

I recently saw somebody post about how they bought a pair of Albinos a few years ago, and now they won't even make their deposit back in the first clutch, because prices have dropped so much.

As a community, I feel it's important for us to maintain high standards. Not just with the health and quality of our animals, but with pricing as well. It's incredibly selfish for somebody to price their animals well below the asking price, thus risking the value of EVERY animal of that morph just so they can make some quick cash.

I know a few people on here (Robin comes to mind) who are very picky about the animals they breed. They charge slightly more than market price, and they have no trouble moving their animals. Why? Because they've put the time and money in to producing a great product. They deserve to make more money because they've gone to the extra effort. I seriously never even see animals up on Robin's website because people are buying them before she has a chance to list them.

I will hopefully be producing my first clutch next year, and I strive to be more like the people who produce quality, and charge a little extra for it. Not because I want to make the extra money, but because I want to be proud of the animals I produce. I want to sell animals knowing that I'm sending a really good quality snake to my customers.

And I hope I will never be responsible for lowering the price of a morph just because I'm desperate or impatient to sell.