Fair Market Value!?!?!?

[ang3l3s]

when i look at people selling 15$ tangs and 35$ whatever i usually check cause maybe it's a good deal BUT 99% of the time i`m disappointed and would RATHER Spend MORE AND GET AN A GRADE WHATEVER of said morph, some people settle... others save and buy quality, it`s all a matter of perspective. The gecko market is as kelli said but everyone who has them loves working with them and that is why there is a huge community even with a flaky market.

 

[darkridder]

These are all good points aside from the poster who has added nothing but insults.

I am not a leo breeder, more then likely will move back into them again next year, but I work with crested geckos and have been for the last few years. The market in general for most species of reptiles has dropped considerably. In the past years selling crested geckos at $50-$100. This year geckos I have sold previously in the $85-95, that particular line sold quickly, often in only a few short days. Now I am having trouble moving them at $65. Yes I could lower it, even sell my geckos at $20-25 for some of my lower end guys. But by doing that I could be screwing myself in the future as those people could be taking those geckos, breeding those. Then they price their geckos lower and end up keeping the market lower. But then what do I do, keep them all? Thats alot of babies to hold back! I think if the economy picks back up, things will even itself out, just have to be patient for the time being.

 

[Sunrise Reptile]

These are all good points aside from the poster who has added nothing but insults.

:main_laugh: Nice cheap shot. :main_thumbsup:

 

[darkridder]

Well I am a classy lady (laughs histerically)....I cant stoop to their level, makes me as much of a pompus ass as they are

 

[goReptiles]

If you're going to make complaints about how other people are charging for their reptiles, be prepared for some insults. Everyone has the right to charge what they need to charge or feel that the reptile is worth. Sometimes, you have to drop the price in order to sell the reptiles that you have.

We can't all price enigmas at $200+ or SHTCTBs at $150+.

With everyone wanting to breed geckos, there are more on the market, meaning more competition, meaning price gets driven down. If less people bred, you would be able to charge more.

Some of the larger breeders are able to charge more because they have a bigger reputation than others who may not have been breeding for nearly as long.

You have to know what you're getting into. There are a lot of people who don't even breed for the money but the love of doing so. You will find that not everyone is interested in getting $300 for a tremper, when it may only be worth $100.

More breeders in the market will drive the price down, and the current economy is driving prices down further. It's something you just have to get over with. If you can't sell for what you think they're worth, keep them all until you can, but I bet you'll be overrun with geckos after a while.

I can tell you I've seen geckos, especially SHTCTBs of less quality that the juvies I have being sold for 2-4 times as much, but hey if they can get that much by all means. I can't so I have lower prices. Personally, I think that in many cases, it's a matter of ripping people off

 

[darkridder]

I agree with you goreptiles, everyone has the right to charge what they want for their animals. As much as I long some of the animals from the big time breeders, I myself can not see spending $700 on a gecko I know I can get from someone else for $300, yes I am paying for the name, but I also have only bought my reptiles from people I am comfortable with online. But hey if you can get $300 for a gecko worth $150, great job. It is all about supply and demand, you might think the animal is worth $300, everyone else $150, but out there somewhere is someone willing to pay $300 because it is exactly what they are looking for. It is all part of the game. I think one major issue is misrep, people take photos at certain angles, certain lighting, or in some cases alter the picture to make the gecko more the way they feel it should be presented. Then the buyer is expecting one thing and recieves another. The best way to safe guard yourself from it is to research what you are buying, like myself, I am a morph tard when it comes to leos, so I hit up my leo friends for help explaining it to me as I have done for them with crested gecko morphs.

But as for marking them really low. If you have an over abundence of them, they are lower quality, or they simply wont move. I dont see the problem with it. Again supply and demand, if the demand is low, take cars, Kias are cheaper then Nissan because the demand is higher for Nissan. Same thing with every product out there, including reptiles. There are alot of tangs out there to choose from driving the price down farther. This is a product of too many breeders. You almost need to do like stores do. For instance when I take inventory at work, I balance it to what we did last 2 weeks. Say week 1 we were up and week 2 we were down. I try to balance it so that I do not ave too much inventory. This is something breeders are not doing, looking at how the market for their reptiles are. Good 2 years ago, OK last year. If I did OK last year maybe I should cut back a bit on my breeding. But people ar enot doing this, thus we have tons of animals for cheap. I am even at fault, but last year I had a great year. So you cant just blame one person for this effect that is happening as they are just trying to cut their costs. They maybe should just take note for next year that if their production is still going to be high, consider wholesale them to stores you are comfortable with, or bite the bullet and let a female take a year off.

 

[Mel&Keith]

If I did OK last year maybe I should cut back a bit on my breeding. But people ar enot doing this, thus we have tons of animals for cheap. They maybe should just take note for next year that if their production is still going to be high, consider wholesale them to stores you are comfortable with, or bite the bullet and let a female take a year off.

Lets not generalize everyone's actions please. In 2007 we produced from about 30 females. Late that year we started seeing the handwriting on the wall. 2008 we cut back to about 16 females and this year we only used 6. We have about 60 breeders, we just don't use them all. So some people are doing this.

I personally don't agree with producing more geckos than you can afford to keep. I certainly don't fault newbies for wanting to experience breeding. What I don't really understand is why some feel the need to try it for the first time with a large breeding group. We filled 2 hatchling racks this year with babies from 2 females who were only bred once. Perhaps people underestimate the number of hatchlings they'll end up with.

 

[darkridder]

I wasnt trying to generalize all people, just trying to make a point people need to read the signs of the reptile market and make adjustments. You being a responsible breeder took notice and slimed down your production. I am just saying if more people took this action the market wouldnt be flooded, and its a great buyers market right now, I cant complain from that stand point, but for a seller, good luck getting a good price for your animal as it seems. But if you dont take notice, then you will be sitting on alot of animals. Thankfully in my case, crested geckos dont cost alot to maintain so it isnt killing me to have to hold onto them for awhile.

 

[goReptiles]

I personally don't agree with producing more geckos than you can afford to keep. I certainly don't fault newbies for wanting to experience breeding. What I don't really understand is why some feel the need to try it for the first time with a large breeding group.

I have seen many people on this forum do this. Purchase their first gecko, and love it. Two weeks later ask for tips on breeding. One week later, see that they have purchased 5 or more adults because they want to breed now, not later, and a week after that, their numbers total 10 or more. Personally, I believe they can make a lot of money, but they don't realize they're producing that many more geckos which flood the market with availables.

I've seen people ask many times, "I want breeding females. I don't care what kind." Personally, I don't feel comfortable with that.

People that are rushing, end up having more than they can chew, which in turns means lower prices to sell sell sell.

I had a first time breeder this year, bred one time, lay 12 fertile eggs that all hatched. People don't realize how many you can end up with. Surplus in numbers can cause the price to fall because demand isn't as big due to large number of availability.

 

[mainelygeckos]

I am just a newb lol but wanna stick my 2 cents in...

I own 5 leos right now..I want upwards of 7 more..yes next season I do wanna breed BUT i wanna breed at the most 3 females. Between now and then I know even for just those three females possibly laying I need to have 1 maybe even 2 more racks made by next spring. I do not want to breed just for the sake of breeding. If i did,I could do that now. I love these reptiles and will do it for the passion of the species and not profit.

I know what u are saying tho. Happens a lot and I see it a lot online. Tons of babies for sale cheap because they do not have room. It is sad to think that the cost of these fabulous creatures a lot of well known breeders have spent years on are going for little or nothing and being over bred for so called quick profit that others thought they would have. Only to find out they can't afford to feed all those mouths and they aren't selling for those higher prices they expected to get in the beginning. I want to breed good quality animals at reasonable prices but not to the extent of putting my fellow breeders out of business.

It is so sad that some of these animals are put through all this just to be either handed away almost free or die bcause someone didn't do enough research to know first off what they are getting themselves into and second that they have no forethought for the fellow breeders already in the industry. I have a ton of respect for those of you that have been doin this for 5, 10, 15 20, even up to 40 yrs. I see it as poor character to do what I have seen a lot do in this business.

And yes most of those very low priced leos are lower quality. Myself i want a wonderful looking leo for breeding. I have some leos now I will never breed not because they aren't beautiful, because in my opinion they are gorgeous, but because in another breeders eyes they are lower quality. Of the ones I have now I think only one will be for breeding and she is a normal. All the others are my pets as will some of the others I purchase in the future.

I also agree the economy has something to do with all this too but not a huge amount.

I know I'm a newb and I haven't even started breeding yet. My thoughts on this are strickly from a newbs point of view BUT I think I have a pretty good perspective on all this.