Price Ranges for Certain Morphs

[Clink]

I have seen so many variances in the prices of designers, I was wondering what everyone though the average, or reasonable, price for certain morphs are:

RAPTOR (classic)
NOVA
ENIGMA

I know all of them depend on the quality/appearance, etc. But I have seen Nova for $800 and for $300. I have seen RAPTOR at $400 and at $75.
If there is a website that has all of this that would be so helpful. The only problem I see is that all these websites I go to have the word SOLD where the price was. I guess it will change next year as well due to demand...
Thanks for any help!

 

[Wandering Paddle]

it really depends on the Breeders reputation and his/hers breeding stocks genetics and lineage

 

[Nigel4less]

Unfortunately anyone can price their animals at any price they desire so there is no straight forward answer.

 

[Roaming Reptiles]

I know it would never happen but it would be nice if there was a standard. Or maybe away to grade them and that would help price them.

 

[R.E.F]

YEs, a breeder can but a nova for sale for 100$ if he want to

 

[Clink]

Haha, that would be nice...I would love more regulation or grading, just so some people know they are getting a good deal, getting what they paid for, etc.
I just don't want to over or under price things when my babies start producing next year.
I hope to make Nova with what I have, some RAPTORs, but I don't think $800 is reasonable for a Nova.
Eh, we'll see

 

[Allee Toler]

I'm going to start breeding in two weeks, I have 1.0 HISS electric tang, 0.3 TUG Carrot tails, 0.1 SHTCTB, and 0.2 tangs.

I'm only going to sell the babies for $50. Lol. $150 is a CRAZY price for a baby reptile. They only put the prices so high because they can. I can too, but I don't want to do that. Shipping alone is crazy for over night, so why have them fork over even more just for the reptile?

 

[Wandering Paddle]

I'm going to start breeding in two weeks, I have 1.0 HISS electric tang, 0.3 TUG Carrot tails, 0.1 SHTCTB, and 0.2 tangs.

I'm only going to sell the babies for $50. Lol. $150 is a CRAZY price for a baby reptile. They only put the prices so high because they can. I can too, but I don't want to do that. Shipping alone is crazy for over night, so why have them fork over even more just for the reptile?

I dont know about you,but between heating, lighting, feeding, cleaning, medicating, and just the overall time involved, i rack up what i think is worth quite more than $50 in my geckos. i think my "normals" took enough work to deserve $50...

 

[Allee Toler]

I'm getting the breeders for free. It's a co-ownership. They've also been sent with full tank set ups minus the tanks, which I bought on craigslist pretty cheap. So far, I've spent not even $20 on them.

I also breed my own mealworms, waxworms, mice for pinkies and superworms. I'll only need to buy crickets, which I get a dozen for ten cents from LLL.

The co-owner is moving and needs to downsize her collection. She bred for the fun of it, not for the money and she'd rather know where her reptiles are going than sell them to someone who will abuse them. Plus in a few years, I'll send them back to her when she wants them back. We signed a contract and everything. Lol.

So I may or may not make money. But it doesn't matter to me. If I make money, great. It'll be saved for my reptile supply store I'll be opening in 5 years (hah 5 years, but I have to finish school, and save money) which has been my goal since I was around 7.

As for other expenses, like electric bills, I only have a $58 a month bill, I'm in a small 2 bedroom condo. The geckos are in my dining room. Cleaning is just cleaning to me. I clean the tanks as part of my routine in cleaning the house. I would scrub the shelves anyways, what's a couple walls in the tanks? Things in the tanks and dishes get run through the dish washer weekly. I was given a hobovator by my cousin who got married and decided he wanted "real" kids, and not to breed anymore.

Feeding the feeders? My roommate's a vegetarian. Whatever she doesn't eat, she puts in a bin for me to sort through. If it's good feed for the feeders, it gets washed and tossed in with the worms and beetles. All in all, I spend about an hour a day going through everything.

Vet bills? I have a special needs hypochondroplasia dwarf leopard gecko. I'm at the vets every other week for shots for her. I pay $6 a month for her insurance, and I don't pay anything but 5% of the entire bill. Each additional reptile is $4. But my vet is great (Dr. Boyer here in San Diego) and he does checkups for free, some labs for free, and does house calls.

So I don't think I'm going to regret selling the babies for $50. ;]

 

[Wandering Paddle]

okay, your prices are your call....
im not in it for the money (im in it for the miracle of nature that is genetics) and im certainly not ever going to sell any of my herps to someone that would abuse them, as you put it. Im not trying to be rude, im trying to be real. I work 4 to 7 days a week as a manager at a restaurant and understand that it takes hard work for me to earn enough money to be fortunate enough to own the geckos i do (15 of them currently). I also breed my own mealworms, they eat my bearded dragons leftovers... which are picked from my own garden ( which is also very time consuming). On top of that im about to start my associate in science so i can major in biology... money is a major factor in my life (one of societies major flaws) and i think my efforts and time are worth the money.

 

[Allee Toler]

I don't work, my fiance does. I stay home cooking and cleaning. I just moved across the nation, but my fiance works two amazing jobs making more than enough to care for me and our leo obsession. Right now, money's not an issue at all. So yes, I will price them as I choose. I don't see you being rude, I see you spending a lot of YOUR time to care for your geckos. I care for them too, spending a lot of time with them. I, unlike you, don't work, and I have online school starting in two months. I have the time to work leisurely, so to me, it's not working. It's enjoying what I do with them. So why should I over price some SHTCTB's just because of their lineage? I'd love to find some great morphs for $50! If I can afford to sell them at that price, then you shouldn't be saying I should price them more. I'm not losing money from selling them that much, I'll be making some decent profit. Roughly a $35 return with each gecko sold. I don't need to make a profit. If I feel a leo needs to be worth more, I'll raise the price. I've seen people trying to give an arm and leg for a gecko, I think it's ridiculous. It's a pet, not a car. I'd never spend over 200 for a gecko. My cousin bought a $2000 dreamsicle. He's nuts. He's got bills to pay. He had to borrow money from my mom to make rent! And he spends $2 grand on a gecko.

 

[Wandering Paddle]

i will agree 2000 is excessive. Especially since you can take two $900 geckos and produce multiple dreamsicles yourself. You are in a fortunate position with your geckos.

 

[Allee Toler]

I know I'm in a good situation, so why not produce high quality geckos and sell them affordably to help those who are tight with money? It just makes sense to me. I know when I was short with money, I wished someone sold food cheap. Lol. But that was before Nick (the fiance) got his new job as a manager at WalMart. He refuses to quit his old high school job at Game Crazy, so he technically works two jobs. Even if he only works 8 hours a week at the GC. Now that I've been though living off of ramen and counting pennies to pay for rent, I know how hard it is to get a great deal on something amazing, like a great HISS and TUG bloodline.

I'm starting their breeding next week, so I should have some babies for sale two months (or so) after the first eggs are laid. ;] Lovely little babies they'll be. And the best part, I know I'm doing people a favor by selling them at a low price. They'll get photocopies of the female TUG breeder's certificates, to show their lineage.

 

[mainelygeckos]

I too stay at home while my hubby works. It does make the time I have with the geckos more fun and less time consuming. I plan to start breeding next season (as there are a few more things I need..including more geckos ) $58 light bill?? Aren't you lucky LOL ine runs around $150 a month and that before my geckos so they haven no effect on it. I will breed for the love of the hobby and these beautiful animals not for the money but I would have to agree with both of you on a few aspects. I agree that there are people that cannot afford to pay outrages prices for so call superior morphs (myself included) but at the same time I also agree that it's not a good idea to sell them too low. I have normals and SHTCT that if and when bred I would not sell for prolly less then $50 as I think there are way too many now that are sold too low. Granted these are the more easy to come by morphs but man I don't have a vet that helps me like that or gecko insurance? Is there really a such thing? To get health insurance for my animals would be fantastic but I am on the other side of the country and have never heard of that I guess. Just seems Allee that you are in such a sweet spot when it comes to your animals. And unfortunately we aren't all as fortunate and the time and money we have to put into our leos to take care of them has to, in the end, have some kind of re-embersment just to break even. And that is all my goal is I am not about profit at all.


sry for long post sometimes I'm long winded

 

[snared99]

There will always be a range for prices, the more rare a morph is the higher the price. The whole pricing situation is like a pyramid, new and low numbers equal higher money. It is totally fine if you want to seell SHCT for $500 or $50, there is always a quality or reputation difference, obviously you need a reputation to sell $2000-$3000 geckos, thats a tons of mola and you want to trust the person with that much money.

It is a free market and there is room for all kinds of breeders, may that be People who breed $50 SHCT or those who choose to breed the $2000 new morphs. As long as the geckos are taken care of properly it doesnt matter. There might not be that many people forking over $2000 for a gecko, but trust me they are out there..lol

 

[Allee Toler]

Lol. My insurance is called VPI. There's information at vet offices, and online. They don't advertise for exotics, but when you call and ask, they can give you a set up. Over a year ago when I got it they advertised for exotics, so since they haven't canceled me, I'm assuming they still do it.

If a gecko pops out all pretty, if coarse I'm not going to sell it for $50. $50 is the lowest price I'll go, and if someone wants a gecko bad enough (locally, there's a lot of reptile lovers) I can adjust my price to fit their needs. I'm not going to be a big time breeder (like a few I've run into at shows, they're not flexible at all) who won't take even $5 off the price. It's just stingy.

I should get some really nice geckos from the TUG Carrot Tails and HISS Electric Tang. They'll obviously be priced a little more. ;]

 

[snared99]

"If a gecko pops out all pretty, if coarse I'm not going to sell it for $50. $50 is the lowest price I'll go, and if someone wants a gecko bad enough (locally, there's a lot of reptile lovers) I can adjust my price to fit their needs. I'm not going to be a big time breeder (like a few I've run into at shows, they're not flexible at all) who won't take even $5 off the price. It's just stingy. "

Actually it is not stingy, I myself have taken price drops for individuals(esp return customers) But i do not think you have a clue what it take to run a decent size colony of breeder leopard geckos. No offense, and this is not to be a argument here. Serisouly it costs thousands of dollars to feed them, hundreds of hours a year to properly care for them, and thousands of dollars to build a nice collection and rack systems. Not to mention utilities are much higher for a big breeder etc water/electric.... So no it is not always being stingy it is reality of sometimes this is slightly a business and certain things need to be covered to enjoy this awesome hobby. Just because they are a big breeder does nto mean it is a business, but it is nice to break even while your enjoying this hobby

 

[Allee Toler]

I can understand that. My cousin bought the $2grand dreamsicle, and he couldn't get any price drop at all. THAT is what I meant by stingy. He'd still be selling it for a good price. My cousin had to ask me for an extra $40 just to make it to the "sticker" price. The guy kept saying the price is the price and if he can't afford it to go to some no name breeder who sells common morphs. Which I think was completely rude. If they're selling only $1grand and over geckos, and getting good business (my cousin made me wait in line for nearly an hour), I don't see why they can't drop a few bucks, especially when it's $2grand and only $40. If it's a $300 gecko, I can see why they won't budge. They won't be getting a big enough return on a lower priced gecko, but it's a 2 grand gecko. He must be feeding them some really expensive feeders to not budge. ;]

Not to mention it's ugly. Lol. I don't like dreamsicles, personally, but this one was really splotchy. I called my cousin crazy for wasting that much money on an animal he can't even keep once he has his baby. Once the baby comes, his whole collection will be up for grabs since the baby's room is currently the reptile room. He's got 7 months left. Knowing him, he'll push them on me. I don't have the room for them. He needs to sell them, and get the money for the baby.

 

[acpart]

How a person sets prices also depends on their priorities and needs. I agree that it makes sense to factor in the cost of feeding and caring for the geckos when figuring the price. Here's another way to look at it: I love breeding my geckos but the only way I can do it is if I can sell all that I produce. Otherwise I won't have room to keep them all, not to mention the expense of feeding them year round. I also, at this point (though this may change) have been able to sell all my geckos without needing to ship and would like to avoid shipping as long as possible. In order to accomplish these goals I do the following:

--I avoid producing very high end geckos that I wouldn't ethically sell for a low price

--I limit my total number of breeders

--I work to be a niche provider for people who want healthy pretty geckos but are not going to spend $500 on them

So, in other words, my pricing (generally under $50, actually) is more of a reflection of my desire to produce the number of geckos I want and to sell them all than a reflection of the time and money I've put into them.

Aliza

 

[Neill]

I may be completely out of turn here (just had my first hatchling EVER not a breeder yet)... BUT. I have always liked SMALL business. Where you are the business it is you, your numbers, your inventory, you, you, you. I am also a huge pet owner, cats, dogs, fish, snakes, and now geckos.

This is totally my business side coming out. When I was 13-14 REALLY 13-14 years of age, I went into Comic book shows with my own table (lets think its a reptile show). I too had some fun clever ideas to undercut some competition. It worked wonderfully for the first few shows. I was in the money, I now had every other vendor at the show hate me for under cutting the prices. A lot refused to do business with me, and the other half told there customers about me. I would even buy comics from chain stores the day before the show, sell at show, and if it didn't work out bring everything back to store for a refund. (a lot of vendors did this trick as well). Thing is this bits you in the end the few really good items i had (EXAMPLE: maybe a high end morph) where gone at the first show, thanks to my sweet pricing. That's what brought a lot of the customers over to me. Now that all I have is some every day run of the mill comics (EXAMPLE: wild caught, basic morphs) people went back to the other vendors that have been at those shows for years (also the fact that they all bad mouthed me for undercutting).

If anything you do have a great setup your lucky! Don't get into a bad business practice because of it. If you have high end morphs get the money they deserve. I myself am working with a bunk SS male(wont mate), a SHTCTB male, a blizzard male and female, and enigma female, an mack snow female all the other ladys are normals.

I right now can only make pretty much blizzards and maybe a couple of different hets. I'm totally cool with that. I plan on putting what ever money I manage to make back into the geckos. Maybe get a cool high end gecko, or maybe get a sweet rack system, and new nifty setups for them. First thing I did tho, was I contacted a breeder in the area I live in. They are on this forum even. I said "I think in the end I would like to breed and sale geckos like you do to cover my own cost". If I make any money that's great. I looked to see what there prices where. They stated they sold on the lower end of the spectrum, and to some pet stores. So now I knew what they worked hard to get and sell for. By no means do I want to step on there hard work that wasn't done over night!

Anyways I lost my train of thought and I feel I'm rambling at this point. So all in all if your going to breed and sell. Look around see your fellow breeders and help the growth of this hobby/business/fun don't hurt it and hurt others just trying to make back what they put in.