I just got done with a rant on this already but I am so pissed of about it I am going to start another thread here.
First of all, I want everyone to know that I am not aiming at anyone in particular. This is a general statement. And I am willing to listen to anyone's point of view. I might like it but I will listen.
I am sick to death of some of you telling someone that his or her animal is worthless. You know who you are and so do the rest of us. If you dont like hybrids dont buy them. Dont however tell everybody else that its worthless. Likewise if some one says I have such and such, what is it worth? Dont tell them its worth 20 bucks. If that person paid 50 for it it was obviously worth 50. I dont think people should get raped on something like a hundred for a straight normal corn but come on, who are you to say the rootbeer is worthless or the creams are worhtless.
Secondly, I am tired of people doing what was mentioned above when it comes to morphs. I will sell all of the snow I get this year (somewhere between 45 and 75) for 45 and up. I am not Rich nor do I pretend to be. I wont match his prices because I cant match his inventory. Rich should be considered the WalMart or cornsnakes. The rest of us are the little grocery owners. None of us should compete for price as we surely cant afford to piss someone like him off. If he were to say drop the bottom out of the market what are you going to do with your stock then? I dont have to compete with him mainly because most of my customers dont know of him. I am trying to "CREATE VALUE" I will always ask for more than I expect so when I have to barter with someone I end up with as close to what I want after the sale is done.
Third, just because you have a snake, say a miami phase, for 40 bucks and I have one on the next table for 50 bucks does that mean I am overpriced? No, it means I either think I have a better example or if I am getting the 50 you should be getting it too. I think I expressed this in my thread "cant we all agree" on the genetics/hybrid forum. This is directly related. If you guys keep lowering your prices without the inventory needed to accept the low margin, you will be broke and not doing this very long. I dont care what you guys say, if you are doing this with more than a couple of pairs, the loss of cash every year will grow tiresome and you will quit or you dont pay attention to your checkbook very well. This was part of my point with a so called " book of standards" not to tell you what your animal is worth but to judge for yourself what it is worth. I really think some of us should slow down and evaluate what it is we are trying to accomplish and proceed accordingly.
I dont claim to have the most knowledge on cornsnakes or herps in general but I have grown up dirt poor and I mean ghetto child to be a very successful business owner. Not from enthusiasm but sheer determination to succeed. I know a few things about capitalism and economics and I certainly know that most of you do this for a hobby but you all would like to make a few bucks while your at it. I will or I wont be doing this for very long as I think the "big breeders" thought when they started doing this. If they couldnt make money at it do you think they would be where they are now?
First of all, I want everyone to know that I am not aiming at anyone in particular. This is a general statement. And I am willing to listen to anyone's point of view. I might like it but I will listen.
I am sick to death of some of you telling someone that his or her animal is worthless. You know who you are and so do the rest of us. If you dont like hybrids dont buy them. Dont however tell everybody else that its worthless. Likewise if some one says I have such and such, what is it worth? Dont tell them its worth 20 bucks. If that person paid 50 for it it was obviously worth 50. I dont think people should get raped on something like a hundred for a straight normal corn but come on, who are you to say the rootbeer is worthless or the creams are worhtless.
Secondly, I am tired of people doing what was mentioned above when it comes to morphs. I will sell all of the snow I get this year (somewhere between 45 and 75) for 45 and up. I am not Rich nor do I pretend to be. I wont match his prices because I cant match his inventory. Rich should be considered the WalMart or cornsnakes. The rest of us are the little grocery owners. None of us should compete for price as we surely cant afford to piss someone like him off. If he were to say drop the bottom out of the market what are you going to do with your stock then? I dont have to compete with him mainly because most of my customers dont know of him. I am trying to "CREATE VALUE" I will always ask for more than I expect so when I have to barter with someone I end up with as close to what I want after the sale is done.
Third, just because you have a snake, say a miami phase, for 40 bucks and I have one on the next table for 50 bucks does that mean I am overpriced? No, it means I either think I have a better example or if I am getting the 50 you should be getting it too. I think I expressed this in my thread "cant we all agree" on the genetics/hybrid forum. This is directly related. If you guys keep lowering your prices without the inventory needed to accept the low margin, you will be broke and not doing this very long. I dont care what you guys say, if you are doing this with more than a couple of pairs, the loss of cash every year will grow tiresome and you will quit or you dont pay attention to your checkbook very well. This was part of my point with a so called " book of standards" not to tell you what your animal is worth but to judge for yourself what it is worth. I really think some of us should slow down and evaluate what it is we are trying to accomplish and proceed accordingly.
I dont claim to have the most knowledge on cornsnakes or herps in general but I have grown up dirt poor and I mean ghetto child to be a very successful business owner. Not from enthusiasm but sheer determination to succeed. I know a few things about capitalism and economics and I certainly know that most of you do this for a hobby but you all would like to make a few bucks while your at it. I will or I wont be doing this for very long as I think the "big breeders" thought when they started doing this. If they couldnt make money at it do you think they would be where they are now?
Besides... I'm in it for the genetics aspect as much as anything else... Since I can't keep all the offspring, I need to sell some of them, right? Around here, there's not much of a market for corns. If I tried to sell corns locally for higher prices, I'd be sitting on them for ages. And corns eat... and food costs money. If I sit on them too long, they eat far more mice than they're worth, take up shelf space, and mean I have to spend far more hours cleaning cages. 
