Why are people so cheap?

ilia · 08-23-04, 08:20 AM

I'm not trying to offend anyone here, but I have noticed many posts where people are looking to get cheap animals. Also when people come back form shows in Canada they say that most people just come to browse. I live in NJ and go to many shows in the country. All of the shows that I go to people are buying and the breeders make out pretty well.

So what are your opinions on this?

Ilia

dank7oo · 08-23-04, 08:46 AM

Often it is just a matter of people liking the animals and not being able to really afford them.

Jason

BoidKeeper · 08-23-04, 08:48 AM

The Canadian market is not the US market. There are a lot more people with a lot more money in the US so generally breeders do make out better.
Also I've found a lot of people in Canada don't care where they get their reptile from as long as they get it. They don't care where they get a ball or who produced it as long as they get a ball. Eventually when people get tired of losing animals they will either get out of the hobby because they are too cheap to pay for quality instead of wild caught garbage or they will see the difference and start to buy from breeders at shows or on line.
Don't get me wrong I have nothing against saving money or getting a good deal but with herps you get what you pay for. The other thing that bugs me is when people ask breeders if that is the best they can do on their price because they've seen so and so with them for cheaper. Sometimes they actually say that they can get a WC for x number of dollars and ask if the breeder can match that. That sort of thing happens a lot with GTPs and ETBs at shows in the US. People expect the CBB GTPs and ETBs to be the same price as the WC garbage.
Cheers,
Trevor

Samba · 08-23-04, 08:59 AM

Sometimes you get what you pay for... I bought a beautiful patternless female leopard gecko for $30.00 bucks once only to have her die (still in quarentine) within two months. A lesson well learned! =)

jungleguy · 08-23-04, 09:24 AM

me personally i love going to canada shows but only when the exchange rate is up

mykee · 08-23-04, 10:02 AM

Trevor nailed it. The Canadian reptile community is not as "aged" as the American reptile community. We up here, are still a good ten years behind our brothers to the south. That and Canadians are not picky with what they get, but are REALLY picky when it comes to what they'll pay.

seann · 08-23-04, 11:08 AM

Jason Is right, Some people like me, got to save a crap load of money for college or other expenses, I Personally get what i want, If i can negotiate for a price that fits my need i will hey i save a few bucks , and just because lets say somone that doesn't have their own website or a well known name average joe that breeds and sells snakes cheap doesn't mean you get what you pay for you have to know what you are buying first and be able to spot anything wrong when people buy corns off me i feed the lil guys infront of them and teach them about them just to make sure they know everything! but If you are going to grab a snake for a cheap price you bteter make sure that the Lil dude is eating, is healthy has no diesiese and you know what you are getting into I would not buy a snake for cheap before looking at the lil guy and making sure hes alright, and i am not down with keeping wild animals, I have paid for herps cheap and got a healthy lil dudes, but you can never be sure! just get your knowlege off the guy or gal you purchase off of before you suport some dude that dont give a sheet about his animals!

dank7oo · 08-23-04, 11:27 AM

Exactly Sean. I have to pay for my entire university education, along with any other "wants" I have. Luckily I am going to get a crap load of scholarships (and if I am lucky a LOT from American colleges if I choose to go down south), but if I didnt I would not be in this hobby at all. My parents are also leniant, by loaning me all the money I need for my herpsand large purchases I dont have the money for at the time (just finished paying back a $2600 debt for a trip to Greece and Italy).

Again, like Samba said, you get what you pay for. I would never search out the cheapest animal I could find, but rather pay the extra 50, 100, 200 for an animals from a reputable breeder/seller.

Jason

seann · 08-23-04, 11:56 AM

Hey to go to the states for college do you need to take satees? I wanna move to california and live beside Billie Joe!

madison.s · 08-23-04, 11:59 AM

hey i buy a spotted python from ******** and found out it was a children and it was wc not cb and i paid alot of money for it. so a good name don't mean any thing these days

ilia · 08-23-04, 12:05 PM

I really appreciate that everyone was so mature about this. I didn't want to start another war.

I'm only 15 but I'm willing to pay a few extra bucks for a quality animal. I feel bad for the reputable breeders that put so much hard work and time into their animals, only to have someone sell that same animal for 50% less.

Ilia

rwg · 08-23-04, 12:55 PM

The premium of buying from a good breeder is only worthwhile if you care about getting high-end stuff. For "pet" animals, I wouldn't care who bred it so long as it was CBB and healthy. I go to the shows whenever I can even when I'm not buying. I love seeing what people are selling and how much it's going for. Call it market research. When I get into breeding you can bet I'll be buying premium stock, and paying whatever it costs to get it.

As for haggling, I dont see anything wrong with it. I dont do it much myself, because I'm not good at it, but you dont have to take it personally. You know what you're willing to sell your animals for...you can always say no. If I have $100 to spend, and you have something for 120 that I really want, I may ask you to make a deal. I'm not saying it's not worth 120. I just cant go any higher at the time. Again, you can say no. It's not personal, it's just business.

rg

hhw · 08-23-04, 12:58 PM

Well, I think for the most part, reptiles cost more up here. There are the exceptions of course. Now, considering how cost of living is less here, and thus supposedly the cost of breeding, that doesn't really make that much sense. In addition, since there is less money blowing around up here, you would expect prices to be lower... after all, market prices usually mean what the market is willing to bear, rather than just a fixed price that most people go along with while some others don't. Obviously, nobody sells their animals for less than what they think they could get and still sell them all. Therefore, I think the people selling their reptiles for cheaper (strictly referring to CBB here) are just more closely reflecting where supply meets demand.

With that said, I really don't believe in buying anything WC unless CBB is unavailable. People who know enough to come to forums like these especially should know better.

Cruciform · 08-23-04, 01:23 PM

I'm not sure how the cost of living in Canada is supposed to be less than the US. We pay more for fuel and food, and are taxed more heavily. We pay less for medical out of pocket obviously, but that's just taken out of our paychecks anyway.

Our dollar does not go nearly as far either.

What surprises me about the reptile market is I've yet to see a breeder mention a no-offspring contract. People who breed show-dogs, cats, or other mammals will often have you sign a contract saying that you won't breed the animals or sell any accidental offspring, or put a clause in there that requires you to have the animal neutered or spayed in a specific amount of time.

Since there's no widely accepted system of providing papers and identification yet, it's impractical to implement, but I would not be surprised to see it happen in the coming years and have an impact on the way animals are priced and sold as well.

Linds · 08-23-04, 01:39 PM

People are cheap for their own reasons, I know that I can't afford many of the animals I would like, but I don't bitch and whine. It will just have to wait until a time I can. I know this is often the case with many people, but some are just not willing to put much money in to a reptile for other reasons, possibly because they just do not see it as something of that worth. It was unbelievable the amount of people that would come in the store and not want to soend more than $20. They would complain at a $50 animal. It's pretty crazy. Too many people complain though, instead of jsut respecting the market and its relationship to their situation at the time. If you can't afford it then that is that, and you shouldn't exepct people to lower their prices on that account, or that it means that the animal is all of a sudden overpriced.

Quote:

Originally posted by Cruciform

What surprises me about the reptile market is I've yet to see a breeder mention a no-offspring contract. People who breed show-dogs, cats, or other mammals will often have you sign a contract saying that you won't breed the animals or sell any accidental offspring, or put a clause in there that requires you to have the animal neutered or spayed in a specific amount of time.

Really? We've always had show dogs, and anytime we've purchased them the contract has been the same - we cannot spay/neuter the animal, but can only breed it to an animal approved by the breeder. I thought all show dogs were supposed to remain intact, unless they were poor examples of the breed.