Hi guys, i'm in a financial engineering class and I have a project for the class. One proposal I have is for the market analysis of the exotic reptile trade, mainly ball pythons since encompassing the entirety of the reptile market would be quite the task. The exotic reptile market is a very interesting market because it is based solely on supply and demand since it is a free market with no regulation.

Can some of you guys who have been in the python hobby give me some history of pricing on some ball pythons. I'm curious about single gene animals like the Pastel, spider, cinny and double gene animals like the bumblebee and pewters. Mainly on the most established morphs that created the designer morph craze.

Currently we can get bumblebees for around 300-400 dollars, but that wasn't always the case. How much were these animals back in the 2009, 2010?
My friend was telling me that bee's in 2008 were going for 1200 dollars, same with pewters. Do you guys think Bees have finally hit the bottom, or will we see bee's going for $100 and eventually to normal ball python prices due to the saturated market? Do you guys feel that there should be a regulated standard price bottom for two gene morphs, three gene morphs, etc.. or should we stick with supply and demand for pricing?

I feel like the same thing will happen with fire, enchi, calico combos which are still fairly expensive now but within a few years when most small breeders have these morphs, their worth will drastically decrease due to a saturated market.