Expensive garters

[Ryachanira]

Okay I obviously have no knowledge about the snake market, with my one little blind rescue snake.. haha. But just wanted to say, that IF my husband would let me get another snake (which since we got Silv I have been begging for, with no avail), I would totally be all over those blue babies.... completely gorgeous. I actually told him that if Silv died I wanted a blue snake next. Luckily Silv didn't die.

So really no point to this post except that your blue babies are gorgeous and that personally, I find them more attractive than the first snake, and would be willing to pay more.

[ConcinusMan]

I must add that just like flame easterns, their color varies. That very bluest girl I have is really the exception. It is unknown at this point if very young babies will appear blue at all. It's possible that they "color up" with age.

Here's some pictures illustrating the varying color:





I have no idea what babies look like. I imagine they are anery right from the start of course, but I don't know how blue, if at all, they will be. I guess we'll find out next year.

[ConcinusMan]

[gregmonsta]

But then again I have no idea of the American market and won't consider wholesale in the future (considering that a lot of wholesalers aren't terribly well known for care provision).

And end up keeping them all because they don't sell? No thanks. I was forced to drop the price down to almost nothing because I need to move them and nobody was buying otherwise.

referring to my earlier statement. Part of the difficulty for you will indeed be partly due to the fact that people can self-collect (having seen statements like 'I don't see the point in paying for a garter when I can just go and get one.' on this forum before).
But at the same time if you want to be taken seriously as a breeder you do have to stick to your guns on pricing.
Shops/wholesalers will expect to pay peanuts because of the availabillity of WC and thats were private breeders have to stick to their guns in order to keep CB established at a higher price due to a degree of quality assurance.
If you drop the price to WC level you're throwing future plans out of the window. If people aren't buying spread the advertising, go to shows, etc. Anything to increase your profile.
After your first year you may find that feedback/referral from previous customers will stand you in better sted next year. Fingers crossed

[kibakiba]

Honestly, I would pay a lot for an annery concinnus, from Richard. I already know that he is someone I can trust when it comes to shipping off a snake and it coming to me exactly how it should. Sure we butt heads over stuff but even with that I wouldn't hesitate to buy another snake from him, if I had the time, money and proper heating for them. Heck, I'd be all over any blue garter I could find. I'd be more reluctant to buy from someone I haven't bought from, reputable or not, than I would buying from someone I already know and trust.
That is just my opinion, though.

[mb90078]

But at the same time if you want to be taken seriously as a breeder you do have to stick to your guns on pricing.
Shops/wholesalers will expect to pay peanuts because of the availabillity of WC and thats were private breeders have to stick to their guns in order to keep CB established at a higher price due to a degree of quality assurance.
If you drop the price to WC level you're throwing future plans out of the window. If people aren't buying spread the advertising, go to shows, etc. Anything to increase your profile.
After your first year you may find that feedback/referral from previous customers will stand you in better sted next year. Fingers crossed

I can see two sides to that argument. I see where you're coming from, but on the other hand, as someone new to breeding, offering snakes at below market value is a good way to get people to jump at his offers. Building a customer base for future transactions is important. Like you say at the end of your post, your reputation is important, and part of building it may mean you make a few less bucks early in your "career". If you simply hold out until someone bites, as ConcMan fears, he may not sell any, and certainly wont generate any buzz. There are certainly different ways to approach the game. But patience is important. Again, I'm not an experienced snake breeder/seller myself, but I'm just basing this on observations that I have made, combined with what I have learned about the way business in general works.

[ConcinusMan]

My main concern is I had a lot of babies and was working 7 days a week. The babies were getting big fast, and trying to feed that many of them while keeping them from fighting was getting to be a real PITA. They were selling but not fast enough. That's the main reason I let a lot of 10 go for $5 each.(+shipping) I just wanted them gone and to a good home. It was much easier on me to take care of the rest after cutting down on their numbers.

You know, I didn't think much of it at the time but my first two transactions, and my first two times shipping were with reputable well known people. Don and Shannon. I've actually dealt with Don several times. I've bought and traded snakes with him on several occasions, and he has received snakes from me more than once so I guess that's a start. Shannon is the only breeder other than myself that has an adult pair of the blue anerys (that was my very first time shipping)and yet I have a feeling if we both produce litters and I sell mine cheaper, hers will still sell first. She also has the benefit of selling them at shows since she's in PA and close to them.

The only show I could possibly get to just flat out doesn't allow sirtalis', native or not. If it's a sirtals of any subspecies, I can't bring them to the show or sell them there unfortunately. Radix would be fine, but no sirtalis'.

[Spankenstyne]

"Seems that snakes as an investment isn't a good idea."
This sums it up wonderfully.

Keep and continue to work with what you're passionate about & don't sweat it. Garters in general aren't in huge demand in most places, it's a small niche of an already fringe hobby, you'll drive yourself batty trying to rationalize demand for certain species & mutations. Unless you enjoy the business world, the business end will only stress you out.

Best of luck with the blue concinnus, I know that I absolutely love the male I got from you & hope to be able to add some females in the future. It's really unfortunate that the babies didn't make it but all things considered with the abnormal circumstances and time involved (all from my end) I'm really happy the male at least did. At the end of the day I was very happy with how you handled the transaction and would certainly deal with you again.

[drache]

see, Richard, you made a beginning

and yeah - sitting on a bunch of babies who need more care than adults is a hassle
"you know, the easier it looks, the harder it hooks - there is no such thing as easy money" Ricky Lee Jones YouTube - Rickie Lee Jones: Easy Money

[ConcinusMan]

I tend to think the babies didn't make it because they sat there at the importer for what was it, two weeks? or else they just don't know how to care for them or handle the shipping when it comes to babies.