POLL: dragon auction

[ChristinaM]

Well, the time has come to start thinking about selling my babies...so over the next day or so I will be taking pics of the babies and starting to list them.

I'm wonderring though, how many people would be interested in a dragon auction? As I am willing to auction off one of my babies to get the ball rolling. Please vote :)

[ICULIZARD]

If you are trying to unload the dragons quickly, I would suggest doing wholesale to stores instead of Auctioning off babies. This is viewed in a negative way by all other breeders and it seems a lot of buyers as well. It's a great way to kill the market and will effect you in the long run. If you wholesale it saves you time, money for feeding etc. and you get the money all at once and don't have to put up with people saying that they are going to come buy dragons and then not show up.

JMO

ICULIZARD

[ChristinaM]

Nope actually I am not trying to wholesale them or get rid of them quickly. I'm in no hurry whatsoever. Thanks for your opinion.

I haven't heard anything about an auction being viewed in a neg. way by all other breeders. In fact you are the first to say something like that.

Seems to me, there was an auction at the last expo :) And I've heard it went pretty well. I see no reason to not try it.

With alot of great breeders out there, sometimes sacrifices need be made to get your name out there. And such is the case, I'm willing to let a gorgeous baby be auctioned to promote myself, and get some nice colours out affordable to the working joe :)

[ChristinaM]

Please, I would definately like to hear more opinions on this :)

[Classic]

I'm not a dragon lover but i think it is a good idea. If you choose to sell them in that fashion. I say, go for it.

Brian
HighWaterHerps

[vanderkm]

I am not a lizard person, but my opinion is that I would not buy or sell an animal through an auction process. I far prefer that a seller establish a price that reflects the quality of the animal, and as a buyer, I decide if it is worth it to me.

I think there are better ways of showcasing your stock as a breeder - to me there is just something about auctions that devalues the animal because it places the value at what the 'market of the moment' is, rather than what the 'value' is. To me the 'value' is more important and as a breeder I prefer to set that amount (and live with keeping animals that don't sell) rather than have it depend on only those people who may want the animal at one point in time.

I would rather showcase breeding stock by giving animals (for nothing) or trading to other serious breeders than to have them go to the highest bidder. Just my bias though - love auctions for other stuff!

mary v.

[python_diva_06]

i think it's an awesome idea! if i had space for another encloser i would so bid! i say go for it!!!

[ChristinaM]

Thanks everyone :) The more opinions the better......I see alot have voted no, and I'd like to know why :)

I would definately be for donating one to a good cause :) But I don't know of any right now.

I am thinking of only auctioning 1, just to get started. I do NOT intend on selling them all like this. And I'm in absolutely no hurry to sell. Thought it would be a great way to get my name and babies known.

For those who think I'm trying to "unload" my babies, that thought could not be furthur from the truth. I am NOT a wellknown breeder, nor will I ever be.....I am NOT a person with expensive stock, like breeders like Capitol Dragons ( although if I had the money I'd be tempted as they are fantastic )....nor will I ever be.

I am a plain Jane, incubating only what I believe I can find homes for, and frankly, because egg laying shortens the female's lifespan, my girls breeding will be over as they are my pets, I love em and want them to live as long and well as they can. I am not a professional breeder.

this is in no way an insult to the great breeders out there, not at all. I respect and admire Tim from Capitol Dragons.....he's got some beautiful dragons, and has done some excellent work, as have many other breeders.... I'm am nowhere near their league, nor do I want to be. It's not me :) I leave the breeding projects to the Pro's, and just breed for me....if I don't sell one dragon, that's fine. I will keep and provide for all of them. That's why I only incubate what I feel I can handle.

anyways, I've gone off enough for now.

[Snow]

auction dont sound like a bad idea... unless u do it threw ebay.

[yager_ps]

I say no... Its seems very inpersonable and there is tons of babies out there right now, which are very inexpensive. I agree will ICULIZARD about it killing the market and viewed as VERY negative by breeders.

Myself, I don't buy dragons for stict bloodlines. I like some of the nice colours available but would rather buy a more inexpensive dragon who I will like just as much and put that saved money towards things for him or her.

Breeding dragons aren't a get rich quick idea. You should be doing it because you love to. I have babies due to hatch in a few weeks and will sell them rather cheaply to people who can care for them.

[Cruciform]

I don't see the logic of people arguing against an auction because it is an animal, as every day in agricultural centres everywhere animals are auctioned off for feed, stud, or pets.

Claiming that it devalues the animal is also spurious, as anyone at eBay can tell you that the majority of auctions for items you can find at retail finish above market value. It's a side effect of the bidder mentality. Though eBay doesn't do animals so it's hard to judge if they would do as well. Reptibid, in my humble opinion, is a joke and can't be used to guage the market either.

On the other hand, an auction for one little critter sounds like a pain in the butt to run. You risk being accused of fixing the price with shills for one thing, and that could hurt your reputation down the road, whether you decide to expand to breeding or stick to raising as a hobby.

If the auction thing was going to be a regular event, I'd say go for it and just keep accurate records of all bidders and their identities. If it's just a one shot thing, best to just name a fair price and let the little one go for that.


On a side note, do all beardies like shiny things? At the pet store the other day, I had a little beardie practically dancing in the cage to get at my keys. They weren't tapping the glass or anything, just swaying back and forth and he looked like he was ready to come through the glass for them :) Really cute.

[beardiedragon]

I would not bid on a BD unless it was exceptional and therefore rare or hard to find like this

http://www.beardiedragon.com/KSposts/a12.jpg
BTW this BD is NOT for sale.

As was said before, there are sooooooo many BDs already for sale at set prices. If you like the bidding process however there is a site for that, reptibid.com. (didn't impress me)

[ChristinaM]

Originally posted by yager_ps


Breeding dragons aren't a get rich quick idea. You should be doing it because you love to. I have babies due to hatch in a few weeks and will sell them rather cheaply to people who can care for them.


Did I say I didn't care about my babies? :confused:
I don't get where you would even begin to get that idea.

Thanks for the opinion, but can you leave the assumptions/accusations out please?

[Capital Dragons]

I respect and admire Tim from Capitol Dragons.....he's got some beautiful dragons, and has done some excellent work

Thank you so much for the complement. Complements like that makes all the hard work worth wile. Thanks!!

Well auctioning off one baby can be a great idea for getting your name out there. I would keep it a silent auction so people don’t assume that the winning bid would be the actual value of a dragon. But who knows, you might get a great bid depending on how nice the dragon is.

As everyone has been seeing, the sellers market for dragon has been crashing. I remember selling normal dragons for 60$ea back in 1997. Now certain larger chain pet stores are buying normal dragons for 15$ea! That blows my mind! I’m going through 60000 thousand crickets a month just for my babies now. Raising a baby dragon up until it’s first shed (four weeks in most cases) costs at least 15$ per dragon.

I breed dragons solely out of a true fascination for an amazing lizard. I am a registered business but I have no dreams of becoming rich breeding dragon. I’m lucky to be able to barley cover the costs of my “hobby” with what I make off the offspring.

We all need to keep in mind that there should be a set value for bearded dragons. I think that a pet store should sell a normal dragon for at least 80$. I have stunning babies now starting at 150$ea. That’s half of what they would have been worth even just a few years ago.

I think there is a few things people should keep in mind before attempting to breed their dragons. First I would look into trying to find potential homes first or ask local pet stores if they might be interested in the dragons. Next keep in mind how much baby dragons need to eat. Baby dragons can grow to around 80-90% of their total size in the first year. They are eating machines! It can cost a small fortune to feed baby dragons.

Anyways, These are just my thoughts. I guess this post got a bit off topic of the auction but it certainly relates to the bearded dragon market.:D

Tim Daly
www.capitaldragons.com

[K1LOS]

The cheaper an animal is, the more likely there is to be impulse purchases, which leads to poorly kept animals in most cases. I agree with Tim, babies starting at $80 in petstores is a good price. Cheap enough that anybody serious about it can afford one, expensive enough that moms won't buy one on a whim for their inexperienced child with no knowledge of how to care for it.

as to the auction thing, i see nothing wrong with it. Other breeders can use it to gauge where the market is these days. And you don't start the auction at $0, you start it at something reasonable, but below the actual value of the animal. After all the bids, the dragon will likely sell for exactly what it was worth if not more. my 2 cents.

Geoff

[ChristinaM]

I, for one, will not be breeding my dragons again :) This yr is my first and only year, personal decision but will share if wanted and when I have the time :)

My local petstore has several of my babies and he is selling them for 89.99. ( my yellow x snow ). Dragons in the city range from 99.99 and upwards.

I've called around and yep, I can verify people paying 15-20$ wholesale for dragons.

I would not reptibid my dragons. nope. reptibid does not impress me whatsoever.

If I do decide to auction one of my babies, it will indeed be a silent auction, noone will know what the dragon actually went for, and there would be a minimum starting bid which may cut out the cheap impulse purchase ( hopefully ).

I do appreciate the feedback I've been given, and am glad people continue to give it. I've still not made a decision on auctionning or not.

[ICULIZARD]

.

[beanersmysav]

I just purchased my first 2 beardies ever from auction on reptibid. I've bought my Sav from a pet store, and the same with my armadillo lizards and truthfully most pet stores around my area at least dont know jack. I go there with more information about the reptile then they can give me. I acctually bought a lot of 5 babies because a few friends of mine were curious about getting their reptiles online. As far as it being a good idea its a great idea because you make more money than you would selling to a pet store may not be your key idea but petstores only want to give u bare minimum and then you will see they price it up to extremes. example a buddy of mine had a friend who just gave his bright yellow beardie to the petstore for free because he knew the owner well. I went in there recently to inquire abotu the dragon learning she now wants 150.00 for the lil guy.... 150% markup haha. So I think its better to sell online the people who buy them more than likely want them if they're seeking out to find them online and it also makes them available to those who have half assed pet store that dont supply them with the animals they need. I do reccomend reptibid people seem to do well on there. just my oppinion.

[infectedgecko]

Number one: Just dont give to crappy stores like petco or any other low budget store that has even one diseased or mited animal or anything like that! Even if they dont look healthy! Id prefer to sell in the city or state your in. And to have personal meetings with someone willing to come to you or you both meet halfway. reptimart classifieds are also good if you know who to trust. reptimart.com. If you do care about your babies dont give to petco they suck... If you live in my area washington then id probably buy all your beardies since I Have alot of tanks and am getting 50 gallons and bigger in the next months. If you believe in shipping id buy em off you. But auctions i do not enjoy so i would not bid.

[infectedgecko]

Would you take 35 dollars for a baby beardie?

[ChristinaM]

$35, if it was been wholesaled possibly ( as in large number at that price ) :) ( but I'm Canadian )

have no fears, there's certain petstores I refuse to sell to :)

[infectedgecko]

Um in spokane washington just this morning i was in a petstore called north west seed. I was lloking at beardies. And out of the blue this nice lady said i breed them. I said wow you do! she said yah i sell em to certain reptile shops for 30-40 dollars. I asked wow can i get your number id like to buy some. she said sure ill go ask the pet person for a pen. she wrote it down on a paper bag. bam she said 30-35 dollars for a baby and 90-100 for adults. And she had a adult beardie with her on her shoulder. Very large and very healthy looking. Sure not all of these words were exact but u get the picture. I hope.

[ICULIZARD]

Ok infectedgecko.....just wanted to point out that Christina's babies are not "Normals".


The lady that did that is a disgrace. She stole a sale right from under one of her customer's noses. (or if she hadn't sold that particular store dragons before, she stole from a competitor in a store that they pay the rent for) I for one would NEVER put money in someone's pocket that does business this way. In the past we have had people ask us if we will sell to them (when we take them into stores). The answer is always NO...they can deal with the pet store. We never give our company name or number and if we did.....I would expect the store to be very upset and not deal with us again. Do you expect any type of customer service or help from this type of person once they have your money? Are you even ready for a dragon yet, have you done the research and set up their enclosure etc??

JMO....

ICULIZARD

[ChristinaM]

I'm going with ICU on this one.

It was funny, I owed the petstore one more dragon, and brought it in one morning.....a lady bought it right then and there....we talked for a good 20mins. Yep, she took my number ( its on the petstore wall of ads ) as she would like a second dragon in a while and is interested in something with a little more colour than the ones I take to the store. I told her they'd be more expensive than the ones in the store :) She was fine with that. She mainly wanted a birth certificate for the dragon she bought, and to see it's parents.

But moral of the story, why would I screw the petstore out of a sale? The store has done great things for me, and the favour is returned. I played saleslady for the dragon this woman bought....never did it cross my mind to say hey, I'll give you something cheaper than what the store sells em for.

The store is nice enough to let me put my dragon ad up on the wall, even though he sells my dragons. Reason being, I don't give him the ones with kick butt colour. He doesn't want those, he wants just "normal" looking ones. My advertised price is higher than what he sells my dragons for.


But yep, I get the picture there Infectedgecko. And its not a picture I like :( nor one I would put myself in.

Thanks for the input tho.

[ICULIZARD]

Christina.....it is totally different if the store allows you to post your information at their location. I don't see a problem with that at all since they don't want to buy any of your higher colour morphs due to lack of demand or reluctance to pay higher prices.

We have had a few people try and buy directly from us at petstores at wholesale prices. Wholesale prices are lower so the store can mark them up and make their proffit. Wholesale prices are usually applied when a store is buying a 5 or 10 lot, not for one dragon.

It happened to us at a certain store that sells reptiles in Hamilton. We had brought an order of dragons to the store and while there a lady showed interest in the bearded dragons. She asked if she could call me directly or meet me outside and buy one instead of paying their prices (even though I thought they were very reasonable). I did not give her any of our info. If a person searches.....they can find out the main breeders in their area without the breeders stealing from the petstores that support their hobby/business. Glad to hear Christina that you agree, it give me hope that there are still people out there that have good business sense and morals.

:) (now I promise I will keep my opinions to myself!!)

ICULIZARD