Re: What's going on with this Hobby? Long!!!

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Posted by Walt Deptula on August 11, 2000 at 09:58:23:

In Reply to: What's going on with this Hobby? Long!!! posted by Adam Block on August 11, 2000 at 01:51:16:

: I'm sure I'll end up getting hell for this one but I had a few things I wanted to address and see what the rest of you are thinking. I'm posting this in the ratsnake, bull/gopher, the corn snake and the python forums. So maybe it would be a good idea to all post replies in the bull/gopher forum as it could use some action.

: I remember a time not all too long ago (pre-internet) when I was out of my mind happy to just get my mitts on a breeders coveted price list. It was something few people had, pet stores kept locked up and the public never saw. Now in no way do I think that was a good thing, the public didn't get exposed to this wonderful hobby and very few people got into snakes on a large (50+ snakes) scale. But at that time, if you called a big breeder who was selling a pair of snakes for $500 and asked if he'd take $400, you'd get laughed at. It wasn't even something I would have thought about doing because who would you call to get the snakes from after you offended this guy, Nobody!

: In a time when quality seems to have taken a back burner to price, how do you deal with it? Some snakes on the market right now are worth so much more than they're selling for, while others are in vogue, not worth much in terms of being rare or hard to breed but they still command a high dollar amount. Can any of you tell me what's going on in this hobby? I have such a love of snakes that I honestly can't ever see myself doing anything else for a living. I just don't know how we're supposed to compete when you adhere to a high level of morals, quality, customer service and care. I mean, I'm getting priced shopped all the time by 14 year old kids. I understand this hobby has gone from a petstore market of 400% markups to some of the prices we now see. I guess in a way having so many breeders and magazines has eliminated the petstore from being the major supplier of herps, and in turn made prices and competition fierce.

: I just want to see how the rest of you are coping with things like this. I talk shop with many of you, my close friends all having in common our old school train of thought. And I know you have the same things to deal with. How many of you are starting to feel the pressure/frustation of this? I would love to hear some honest opinions on this topic.

: I'm sure I may be 100% off base with this and maybe I should just get out of trying to make this my living but I can't. This weekend alone I got 6 little (9-14year old) kids started with their first snakes as pets, that was my goal when I first got into this. I remember being a child amazed by snakes, and the look in kids eyes when they first see or get their new snake is what's responsible for keeping me going. I guess maybe it's just a buyers market right now, and without finding a nitch you have no choice but to either compete or go to wholesale, maybe that'll be my choice.

: I'd sure love to hear what the rest of you have to say, people like John Cherry, KJ, Jim Kane, Kim Caldwell, John Ginter, Scott Felzer and all the others that do this whole heatedly, money aside with nothing but a passion for snakes as motivation. And if you just want to e-mail me about it that's fine too.

: As I always say, I would love to hear what you think, agree or not. I know I can be wrong (I hope my wife doesn't see that) so let me know if you disagree.

: Thanks for reading my long opinion,
: Adam Block

Hi Adam,

A very well reasoned opinion. All you do, Adam, is stay the course. You offer healthy, parasite free animals in an age where these traits are becoming increasingly more difficult to find. It is a buyers market, and more and more we see people selling out their entire collections. This is the way of life in a free market economy. The weak die off and eventually only the strong (like yourself) will survive. It may well not be much more than survive for a while and it will probably never ascend to it's prior heights (herpdom, that is) but eventually it should level out. You might also be safe in assuming that many (not all) that sell out may not have had the same true of heart motivation as people like yourself. You have to love the animals themselves or you will almost certainly fail. Whenever and whereever people see a opportunity at financial gain, whether real or imagined, you can be certain that less noble people will jump the party.

I believe that eventually the albino craze will die off completely as will the high ticket proliferation of ball python morps (although there will always be some market for balls) and we will return to normalcy. Such that it is.

Walt

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: : : I'm sure I'll end up getting hell for this one but I had a few things I wanted to address and see what the rest of you are thinking. I'm posting this in the ratsnake, bull/gopher, the corn snake and the python forums. So maybe it would be a good idea to all post replies in the bull/gopher forum as it could use some action. : : I remember a time not all too long ago (pre-internet) when I was out of my mind happy to just get my mitts on a breeders coveted price list. It was something few people had, pet stores kept locked up and the public never saw. Now in no way do I think that was a good thing, the public didn't get exposed to this wonderful hobby and very few people got into snakes on a large (50+ snakes) scale. But at that time, if you called a big breeder who was selling a pair of snakes for $500 and asked if he'd take $400, you'd get laughed at. It wasn't even something I would have thought about doing because who would you call to get the snakes from after you offended this guy, Nobody! : : In a time when quality seems to have taken a back burner to price, how do you deal with it? Some snakes on the market right now are worth so much more than they're selling for, while others are in vogue, not worth much in terms of being rare or hard to breed but they still command a high dollar amount. Can any of you tell me what's going on in this hobby? I have such a love of snakes that I honestly can't ever see myself doing anything else for a living. I just don't know how we're supposed to compete when you adhere to a high level of morals, quality, customer service and care. I mean, I'm getting priced shopped all the time by 14 year old kids. I understand this hobby has gone from a petstore market of 400% markups to some of the prices we now see. I guess in a way having so many breeders and magazines has eliminated the petstore from being the major supplier of herps, and in turn made prices and competition fierce. : : I just want to see how the rest of you are coping with things like this. I talk shop with many of you, my close friends all having in common our old school train of thought. And I know you have the same things to deal with. How many of you are starting to feel the pressure/frustation of this? I would love to hear some honest opinions on this topic. : : I'm sure I may be 100% off base with this and maybe I should just get out of trying to make this my living but I can't. This weekend alone I got 6 little (9-14year old) kids started with their first snakes as pets, that was my goal when I first got into this. I remember being a child amazed by snakes, and the look in kids eyes when they first see or get their new snake is what's responsible for keeping me going. I guess maybe it's just a buyers market right now, and without finding a nitch you have no choice but to either compete or go to wholesale, maybe that'll be my choice. : : I'd sure love to hear what the rest of you have to say, people like John Cherry, KJ, Jim Kane, Kim Caldwell, John Ginter, Scott Felzer and all the others that do this whole heatedly, money aside with nothing but a passion for snakes as motivation. And if you just want to e-mail me about it that's fine too. : : As I always say, I would love to hear what you think, agree or not. I know I can be wrong (I hope my wife doesn't see that) so let me know if you disagree. : : Thanks for reading my long opinion, : : Adam Block : Hi Adam, : A very well reasoned opinion. All you do, Adam, is stay the course. You offer healthy, parasite free animals in an age where these traits are becoming increasingly more difficult to find. It is a buyers market, and more and more we see people selling out their entire collections. This is the way of life in a free market economy. The weak die off and eventually only the strong (like yourself) will survive. It may well not be much more than survive for a while and it will probably never ascend to it's prior heights (herpdom, that is) but eventually it should level out. You might also be safe in assuming that many (not all) that sell out may not have had the same true of heart motivation as people like yourself. You have to love the animals themselves or you will almost certainly fail. Whenever and whereever people see a opportunity at financial gain, whether real or imagined, you can be certain that less noble people will jump the party. : I believe that eventually the albino craze will die off completely as will the high ticket proliferation of ball python morps (although there will always be some market for balls) and we will return to normalcy. Such that it is. : Walt

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