Why would anyone buy a rack?

[Kara]

There are racks & cages out there for every price range & every budget. Just because they may not fit into yours does not make them "way overpriced." Keep in mind that enclosure builders have bills & employees to pay, but they also have to price their products at a level where people will buy them steadily enough to support day-to-day business.

I feel that many enclosures out there (and I've tried several different types over the past 15+ years) are pretty fairly priced for the quality you get and the functions they are built to perform (i.e. Freedom Breeders, Vision, AP) etc. The quality, the longevity of the product, the purpose-built design & materials used all go a LONG way towards providing the optimal environment for an animal, and that all adds into the overall value of such a rack or cage, especially when dealing with a larger collection.

Also keep in mind, not every cage or rack is perfect for every situation, and that affects one's "perceived value" of that product. The more "open airflow" design of a Freedom Breeder, ARS or Vision rack would not work as well in a space that was not specifically climate-controlled (i.e. for a couple of snakes in a one-bedroom apartment with temps set for human comfort), but is a better choice for someone who has a calibrated snake room with ideal temps & humidity. For that purpose, it would be a case of "too much rack" rather than too much money, and as such of a different value than it would for someone who could utilize the rack for its actual, intended use.

I currently have 200+ snakes, and could not imagine the time it would take to build enclosures for them all here at home. KNOWING that I can call my preferred cage manufacturer and get exactly what I want in a reasonable time frame and know that it will work for my situation is way more valuable than the possibility of saving money by building them at home. They have the tools, the resources & can get better pricing on materials than I ever could for the quantity that I'd need to do so myself.

I guess that was a long winded way of saying, "It's all a matter of perspective and experience." And no worries there kiddo...your post certainly didn't ruin my day. Hope it didn't ruin yours, either. It's been a fun debate.

I dont care if you were to buy or not. I would love to buy. The whole point is that people were missing the point. All I was saying is that racks are way overpriced for the materials used to make them. Thats it. Then people were telling me you can buy used. Well, EBAY,obviously you can by anything used. And then compare it to getting a car fixed and labor. There is no labor in a manufactured product. All I was trying to say is that the pricing is outrageous. Im all for buying used. And I would love to buy a new rack in the future just not at those prices. I was also talking about full size racks and people keep bringing up 4 bin racks and smaller racks and that is not what I was referring to. In the end all I was saying from a buyers point of view. That it seems a little pricey for a NEW and LARGER rack then say an HD tv. Now the ones that come in your house and install I can understand asking those prices for. But they should be cheaper and charge and installment fee if the buyer so chooses to have them install it. But you can all keep being critical of me wanting people to stay on topic with the post and not bring up a bunch of things that arent even apart of what I was saying. Either way I really dont care, so think what you want of me. My only concern is the care of animals and the ablitly for others to be able to purchase resonably priced items to take care of their animals properly. I could get into the prices of just little bushes and trees and extras and those rediculous prices as well. But it obvioulsy wouldnt be a convo to start on this forum. Hope I dont ruin anyone elses day with this post...lol.