Why would anyone buy a rack?

[Kara]

It's funny...you say you "understand" but still come in with a condescending tone towards anyone who had a different opinion than yours. It's not a matter of someone's free time being "so limited" - obviously people just have different values & goals with how they want to spend their free time than you do.

If you want to go build racks, go build racks to your heart's content. Just don't knock those who choose to buy. It REALLY is that simple. Cage manufacturers are an integral part of this hobby and industry. Looking back on how much caging technology has changed, evolved and adapted to meet the needs of providing better, more efficient, species-friendly housing for all the different types of critters available in the reptile trade, it's pretty impressive. Keep in mind that a lot of cage builders have spent most of their lives investing in, researching, upgrading, changing, and improving their cage/rack designs. They've tried and failed, tried again and succeeded, met customer demands, suggestions, etc. There's a lot of thought & detail that goes into many of the caging systems out there, and the people behind them are an important aspect of the herp hobby.

Also, have you been to some of the cage builder's shops, like Freedom Breeder and Animal Plastics? Do you know how their products are built, how much of it is done by hand vs. "manufactured"? For some reason you seem to have this visual of a giant factory cranking out cage after cage...believe it or not, that's not how it works. I've visited both facilities - there is a lot of work & individual hands-on detail that goes into each unit, and each facility has a team of people whose jobs depend on the quality of work they do & cages they provide to their customers. Just some food for thought.

Thanks for all of your points. For those of you who think I was being rude for my one comment we you are intitled to your own opinion. Because obviously I know you can buy anything for cheap and for any budget. I thought it was obvious that I was talking about freedom breeders and other nice racks that are manufactured and not had built. All I was saying is that I work full time and I enjoy building things. I get a sense of joy out of creating things. Probably the same feeling that most of you get when you get that new clutch. I understand that obviously that some people can afford these racks and I could if I wanted to I just dont want to. And dont think you can calculate your own personal labor into the cost of your rack unless you were planning on selling it. Now if it is only like $40 bucks more to just buy it, well obviously just buy. And If every hour of your free time is worth $50 then I dont even want to know why your free time is that limited. But I guess everyone has their own opinions on how they look at this post. It just became much more than I was personally trying to talk about. So this thread is garbage to me now.

P.S. Thanks for the few of you who actually understood what I was talking about in this thread and sorry if it offended any of you who spent that much money on a rack. In some cases I understand but to me I could make any rack Ive seen for half the price.