Mystics

[littleindiangirl]

Not entirely true. Although IMHO that mindset is the reason the market prices continually drop so much. The buyers only set the price if you let them. If everyone wasn't so desperate to make a quick buck and was willing to hold on to their snakes rather than continually trying to undercut the next guy, the market WOULD be stable. Unfortunately, that's not going to happen until all the "get rich quick" people get tired of the game and move on.

Not to mention (this is my grievance) buyers expect to have the prices lowered the next year. We've gone on so long with dropping prices every year, that buyers just expect prices to drop like they deserve it.

That irks me. When people are in the mindset of "Well, Clowns last year sold for $3500, I should be able to pick one up for $2500, or even less."

Then along comes Joe blow, sells his Clown for $2200, and now the market has to follow because buyers EXPECT everyone else to follow, and it works!

How many excess animals do people have every year that they can't sell them all and MUST drop the price? Or have buyers trained the sellers to drop price because otherwise they are dreaming and no one will buy from them for having "over priced" animals?

How many times have you read someone publicly criticizing an Ad for being over priced and insane if they think they can sell them for that much? People call them rip offs and gripe about it, then they turn around and gripe that they can't sell their animals for as much as they paid 2 year ago. Well waddya know?! You mean you can't sell it for as much as you paid?? Amazing.

[WizzySRT10]

People also seem to forget that breeders are in business to make money and pay the bills just like the rest of us. I've been thinking about buying another snake. I rather a quality snake then something that is bred and shipped out of the door with out some food in them and taken care of. I love seeing these new morphs I might not love all of them there's defently ones out there I'm keeping my eye on.

[m00kfu]

Just to add to this, seeing as how we're already quite a ways off-topic in this thread... if you think about it, when selective breeding is involved the price should actually go UP each year. Being that each successive year is actually improving the traits of whichever morph you are selectively breeding, that is an improvement. I'm not sure how much NERD charges for their "top of the line" lemon pastels, but I guarantee it's not $150.

[t-Roy]

Is Phantom a mojave? Looks like one. If not, how do I create a phantom?

[EmberBall]

If the Mystic proves out to be the same gene as the Phantom, why would someone pay $10K for a Phantom when they could get a Mystic for $2K or so?

It is the same with a YB or Goblin, or Sulfur or Fire. If they make the same Super, two lines are probably going to be similarly priced.

[muddoc]

If the Mystic proves out to be the same gene as the Phantom, why would someone pay $10K for a Phantom when they could get a Mystic for $2K or so?

It is the same with a YB or Goblin, or Sulfur or Fire. If they make the same Super, two lines are probably going to be similarly priced.

I think if the Mystic proves to be the same as a Phantom, then the price of Mystics will probably go up some (but not to 10K).

[Kryptonian]

What does this morph look like?

[MattZ BallZ]

Ok everyone that replied to this thread, let me start off by saying dont talk about prices when you and everyone with a brain will rather buy , lets say bee for $500 then pay $1000 its comon sence, same snake same morph but cheeper.. I have a pretty decent collection but most of us on here are like me , small basement breeders that also like me are not in it for the money.. right so why do you guys charge the prices that big breeders charge. im not trying to be the one that disagrees with everyone but if i can negotiate a price with someone and get it cheeper damn right im gonna do that. and its the buyer that sets the price. but like you guys said about the mystic and phantom, i say that once they become part of the average persons collection then the price will drop, like all other morphs that lost value. but ralph davis askes 10k because he can and not because they are worth that much, im sure ralph wont loose if he sold them for 1k or 2k im sure there lots of work and time that goes into the rearing and breeding of these animals i know, i go through it everyday. but 10k for one snake is crazy but thats what they are worth to ralph and i can respect that... but look at them from the inside out and they are regular normal ball pythons.. ok i know im contridicting myself but ultimitaly the 10k snakes will one day be worth the same as a normal ball python which if you want my opinion the normal wild color of the ball python 100 years from now will be more treasured then an entire collection of morphs... lol so i know im gonna get crusifed by this but i can take it... be gentel

[Doxster]

Ok everyone that replied to this thread, let me start off by saying dont talk about prices when you and everyone with a brain will rather buy , lets say bee for $500 then pay $1000 its comon sence, same snake same morph but cheeper.. I have a pretty decent collection but most of us on here are like me , small basement breeders that also like me are not in it for the money.. right so why do you guys charge the prices that big breeders charge. im not trying to be the one that disagrees with everyone but if i can negotiate a price with someone and get it cheeper damn right im gonna do that. and its the buyer that sets the price. but like you guys said about the mystic and phantom, i say that once they become part of the average persons collection then the price will drop, like all other morphs that lost value. but ralph davis askes 10k because he can and not because they are worth that much, im sure ralph wont loose if he sold them for 1k or 2k im sure there lots of work and time that goes into the rearing and breeding of these animals i know, i go through it everyday. but 10k for one snake is crazy but thats what they are worth to ralph and i can respect that... but look at them from the inside out and they are regular normal ball pythons.. ok i know im contridicting myself but ultimitaly the 10k snakes will one day be worth the same as a normal ball python which if you want my opinion the normal wild color of the ball python 100 years from now will be more treasured then an entire collection of morphs... lol so i know im gonna get crusifed by this but i can take it... be gentel

As another "basement breeder" (well I havn't succesfully bred anything yet but I intend to) I agree with you. With all the other hobbyists out there it must be a struggle sometimes to get the animals sold. As most hobbyists are not in it for the money, we also need space to keep going, new hatchlings every year takes up alot of space and if we don't get them off our hands we can't keep breeding, and that's what I and alot of other hobbyist wants to do, that's our goal.

However there is another side of the coin, as always. It's the big breeders that set the standard, they are the ones that keep proving out new morphs year after year and with their endless collections and endless creativity they also keep making new totally awesome combos that we hobbyists wouldn't be able to do. Or we would be able to but maybe not want to put in all those years just to see what hatchs out, maybe it's not as wicked as we imagined and we end up disapointed and we feel that all those years are wasted. We need the big breeders to stay alive in the business and they need us to keep buying the next flavour of the month snake, and they know this, it all evens out in the end, maybe not cash wise (I'd be happy if I just break even one day) but out of the joy we get from our reptiles.

[J.Vandegrift]

I think if the Mystic proves to be the same as a Phantom, then the price of Mystics will probably go up some (but not to 10K).

As Adam said, the asking price probably will go up if they prove to be a new line of Phantoms...for a few days. The problem with the way the mystics were marketed is that once the buyers know they have been sold for $2500 or even less they are not going to accept paying a whole lot more than that no matter what the super turns out being. Exactly what happened to the Mojaves. IMO no morph should ever be sold to the public until the super is proven but most people are far too impatient for that.

I also really doubt Phantoms are actually being sold for 10k, but that is just a guess. Asking price and selling price are usually two different things.