I am sorry to hear about your child i will pray for healing 
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That is absolutely terrible. I wish you all the best. I know how scary it is to have a family member who has cancer. My mother has had cancer twice and both times were stressful in a way it’s impossible to describe to someone who’s never gone through this. And like @rmleone , I will also be praying for you and your family.
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getting together and fixing prices would be unethical. FreeMarkets dictates prices, sometimes this will benefit consumers sometimes sellers.
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I truly have no issue with the prices the way they are. Like some others have said if someone is just looking for a pet they’re likely to go for the reasonably priced stuff. I have animals on both ends of the spectrum…. A couple of rescues, two bought at a lower price point as pets as well as a good deal of higher price point animals that I do plan on breeding.
Now if someone is selling a $800 dollar reptile for $100 bucks then I’d be suspicious and honestly a bit annoyed. But personally I’d be very apprehensive about picking up an animal like that.
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Certain species and morphs are produced in a way thst resembles a pyramid scheme, in my opinion. The person who creates and distributes the first of anything will always be on top. That person then releases a few specimens of a new morph to a few people. As time goes on, those few have great success with the new species or morph and sell/release some them selves. As more time goes on, even more of a once new or rare species becomes common. That ultimately will bring down value. Everyone wants whats new or rare.
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As I see it, it comes down to a couple things. One is a natural market adjustment based on the economy and heavy market saturation. The other is, in today’s world, a brand (and some brand recognition) is required to stay on the higher end of the price spectrum. I sell a certain amount of snakes, simply because people have seen me at reptile shows and/or followed my social media for years.
As much as no one wants to hear it, it’s time for pricing to come down on basic/common animals from the tier of the hobby experiencing the most market saturation. Unfortunately, that’s ball pythons and crested geckos at the moment. The Super Show in SoCal generally has 150 vendors. Half of them are only selling ball pythons and cresties. If you’re going to compete at that tier you have to ask yourself what have I done to set myself apart from those other breeders. Take BP breeders as an example, there are so many of us that can and do produce 100-250 babies a year. That quickly adds up to thousands of animals. There are over 40,000 ball pythons listed on MM right now, and over 3,000 cresties. That’s just what’s listed here, not including the innumerable people who only do shows or wholesale.
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People are way overproducing animals, way more animals than you will ever have buyers for. Everybody thinks they are gonna make money and their animals are the best. 40k balls theres not even a 100 active regulars people on these forums i see like the same 20ish people, of course i don’t know the amount of lurking wallflowers but there definitely not 40k and not everyone is on the ball bandwagon, id rather stick to my rosys and inverts not to disparage ball lovers i just feel they are way oversaturated.
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I think in America there are many markets that “fix” prices such as gas stations, sure you might get some cents difference but for the most part they all keep the same prices like every gas station ive seen in LA is 7.00 or pretty close to that. Staples like eggs meat milk all are consistently priced the same.
I could be wrong but i think theres agreement not to undercut your competitors it may be illegal but there is definitely price fixing going on.
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Damn, I didn’t realize there was that many balls on here (I am a boa lover, and may dabble in a ball later down the line). 40k balls compared to 4k boas. Blows my mind.
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That is the norm though. The number of forum users is always tiny compared to those that are using the classifieds section. I imagine a large number of people that would use the forum don’t even realize that it is here.
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I whole heartily agree with people who do not take the time to make A name for themselves to be able to sell what they breed I am not into Geckos so not 100% sure how the market works but in the BP community Quality will always trump Quantity . But all the covid money thrown around sure seems like people coming out the woodworks with no name no brand and cutting throats because they just want a quick buck and not looking to make A name for themselves. So we just move on to bigger and better projects and let them runts stay in the cheap combos
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All businesses take real hard work and dedication, these people typically put themselves out of business.
Im not gonna look through 40k animals ill get bored a few pages in. Im willing to give a chance sometimes but if i get burned im definitely not using them ever again.
They say for every one person, that person is likely to tell 3 people but if its bad they are likely to tell 10 people ( something i learned in retail) now with internet, social media, forums and other sites that reach is 10 fold. Now it won’t take long to either make or break your reputation, reputation like trust once lost it’s seldom gained back.
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I hope you are wrong i believe that agreement would be illegal in USA
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I decided to look into this specific situation, since there was a species and morph used as an example, and for the most part these cheap geckos are coming from…Literally some of the biggest names in the reptile biz. Not just in geckos but overall in reptiles, period. These people have full businesses, work in multiple species, and often have several different revenue streams aside breeding.
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They do say good quality tang geckos.
I assumed leopard geckos…which again, massively popular and massively overbred.
But at least they are tangs I suppose! My problem with a lot of the lower end leopard gecko breeders is just muddying up everything. Or trying to find a gene in anything.
For example a lot of normal/low end Leo’s have a small degree of orange on the tail, but newer breeders would list it as 10% carrot tail and people would gobble it up not realizing it was nothing special. =\
This person isn’t even complaining it’s not what they were saying they were… Just cheaper. So cool?market and demand
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I’m pretty sure that we’re thinking of the same seller, but they are breeding quantity over quality. I don’t think most breeders would buy those geckos for projects since they are very low quality. But, because there are so many for sale from that seller, I could see how that could change the market.
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I think of it more akin to collectable cards. I don’t know about how many can relate to Magic the Gathering, (92-3ish) i got into it when it 1st started before it took off. I estimate i made about 10k easy eventually the craze hit hard and suddenly everyone is selling cards, looking for those valuable cards to resell etc. I got out of that racquet like 2 years later. They just kept cranking out more and more and until it just ran outta gas i guess. I don’t even know if anyone even plays anymore. I saw 2 kids playing it in a comic book shop a few years back but that core frenzy died as quickly as it came, most people lost more than they gained and really the only ones that made any real noney besides the company were the ones who were there at the start.
I don’t think its like a pyramid scheme but a MLM because there is a product but not everyone has that sought-after item, the more people breed the less value they can become.
Im sure some people who got into breeding ended up with stock they couldn’t move and put out way more than they made, especially now with all whats going on economy wise etc.
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In a way I’m kind of put off by the people who have a ton of super cheap animals up. I’m generally also preferring to look for quality and for sellers who may have a bit of a name. If I plan on breeding or having a really nice display animal I’d rather give money to someone I know who puts in time and effort in caring for their animals. Whether I randomly start having discussions with them on reptile discords I’m a member of, or I chat them up on Instagram. Even meet them on here and hit it off talking about animals I’m always more likely to purchase from someone like that.
I agree that to make a decent amount of sales in this business your interactions with the community play a huge part in it. Whether you are a smaller or a larger seller.
I’m also trying to make friends and grow relationships with people…. Helping those new to the hobby…. Mostly because I love nerding it up with other reptile people but on the flip side people hopefully will be willing to buy from me when I do start selling (stuff other than isopods) 
I just often wonder how much time these people who throw up 50 geckos or ball pythons or whatever like waaaaay cheaper than everyone else put into the care and also the education of others who are new to it.
Sorry for being so ranty…… just more of my general thoughts (disorganized as they may be) on the matter.
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I know someone who started out in the 80s with a small hole in the wall pet store he bought out and turned it around and now he is huge in name and animals always doing egg reveals etc.
He doesn’t sell a ton of animals in store, and most of the animals he does sell in store are what I’d call pet quality which is fine.
His morphs look amazing and his display animals are just so awesome.
When i was younger i would always buy pets from him. But now there’s barely anything he sells in store that wow me. Im sure his animals he breeds and sells online are better quality, but i also almost see it as mass produced assembly line just cranking out hundreds and hundreds of reptiles.
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MtG is still super popular. They have new releases at least 2x a year. 2.45 billion in net revenue in 2018.
The OG Black Lotus is still the holy grail of cards.
A friend of mine is even going to a big tournament in Vegas at the end of the month. Otherwise I sometimes play MtG Arena online and get my butt kicked there. It’s just buying and playing your cards online instead of physical. Or grinding for some freebies and such in events.
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