How much should I sell 2i a emp. Scorplings

Quinquangular

Arachnoknight
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May 11, 2013
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I plan on sell like 10 out of my 15 emperor scorpions online on the for sale section here.
How much should I charge for each individually?

I tried to google for sale slings or prices, couldn't find.
 

Patcho

Arachnosquire
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My god, I hate this question so much I just want to stomp on a rusty nail barefoot.

$2. You should sell them for $2. Not a penny more.
 

Quinquangular

Arachnoknight
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My god, I hate this question so much I just want to stomp on a rusty nail barefoot.

$2. You should sell them for $2. Not a penny more.
Well. I couldn't find out any recent prices so I had to ask.
It was a question, no need to be all angry when prices aren't outright there for people to find.

Last thing I found from a guy selling 2i emps online were for $34 (was 20 British pounds) for 4 babies in some forum in '11.

Not trying to question or doubt you, but I thought the import of Emps are a lot less and prices got up?
 

dementedlullaby

Arachnobaron
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tarantulacanada is selling one inchers (CB) for 10$ a piece. You're in the US so I imagine about 10-15$ or so is probably a good price point. Not sure the availability for you guys of course. But I can't imagine it would be more than here.

You can always over charge people on craigslist but keep in mind you aren't guaranteeing them to a good home. I find people purchasing these kinds of specialties online (generally, not all the time) will be more devoted to the animals in question. Personally I'd prefer to just find anything I need to rehome a good home first :). hth
 

Quinquangular

Arachnoknight
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tarantulacanada is selling one inchers (CB) for 10$ a piece. You're in the US so I imagine about 10-15$ or so is probably a good price point. Not sure the availability for you guys of course. But I can't imagine it would be more than here.

You can always over charge people on craigslist but keep in mind you aren't guaranteeing them to a good home. I find people purchasing these kinds of specialties online (generally, not all the time) will be more devoted to the animals in question. Personally I'd prefer to just find anything I need to rehome a good home first :). hth
Yeah, I REALLY want them to have a good owner, hence selling them here to at least some experienced or highly interested members.

So, what's with that person above saying.... they're $2? I mean, I don't care about money much but, no one sells that little from what I see on websites and other forums.

but, I'll try to get on CL and see if I can find an experienced person, maybe.
 

Patcho

Arachnosquire
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Sorry, I don't mean to be part of the arachnoboards dickery, but I do hate it when people ask others what they should charge for their products.

Imagine a brand new grocery store calling you up and asking how much they should charge for cereal.

Now imagine asking other people what you should charge for something you're selling -- the decision is entirely up to you. Of course, be within reason, and think "how much did my scorpion cost, and what would I pay for my scorpions babies?" Then charge whatever you want.

My tone may sound angry or hostile, but really, I'm just over here having a good laugh. The question should not be "how much should I charge," it should be "how much do I want to charge?"
 

Quinquangular

Arachnoknight
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194
Sorry, I don't mean to be part of the arachnoboards dickery, but I do hate it when people ask others what they should charge for their products.

Imagine a brand new grocery store calling you up and asking how much they should charge for cereal.

Now imagine asking other people what you should charge for something you're selling -- the decision is entirely up to you. Of course, be within reason, and think "how much did my scorpion cost, and what would I pay for my scorpions babies?" Then charge whatever you want.

My tone may sound angry or hostile, but really, I'm just over here having a good laugh. The question should not be "how much should I charge," it should be "how much do I want to charge?"
Well, I guess I should restate my question.
I don't know what the average pricing is on 2i Emperor slings, so what are the average prices in dollars?
Seems more clear, meh.
 

Galapoheros

ArachnoGod
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I don't blame you for getting opinions on pricing these. The supply and demand for emps has changed, as I predicted years ago, that's right, my hand's on the horn! I warned people that I heard of the coming export restrictions with emps a few years before it happened. It looks like my old "warning" comments were deleted too, I can't find them anywhere! Oh well, I don't blame people for not believing it, it could have been bogus info but there was no reason for this importer to lie to me, I wasn't buying anything from him. I acted on it and soon bought my stock two years before it happened, trying to get a second gen now, really glad I did that. I see them in stores now labeled "not for sale", they are trying to breed them. Anyway I think the price may drastically go up and down for a while, the price is what people will pay. For an idea what people will pay, might as well ask. You may worry about bias from people wanting to buy them but imo, I bet most people that comment are people that don't plan to buy but are just using their imagination so that would be good. I think I would go for at least $7. It's a hard call for me because the benefit of having younger animals is that they should last longer, so that should raise their value, of course the risk is them dying before they are adults.
 

Olsin

Arachnobaron
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I agree with Patcho....this question is a no brainer. Asking potential buyers what you should charge for your product smacks of weirdness.
Instead you should check out prices for adults or simply remember what you gave for yours and set your price for the youngsters slightly lower. Start close to the adult price and adjust it downwards as time goes according to how quickly you want to sell them.
If on the other hand you are in fact very interested in making money then try and sell them at double what you gave for your adult....Regardless of what ever strategy you choose, don't expect to sell them quickly unless your prices are very low (and then it's still not guaranteed)...It's mostly youngsters that buy these scorps and generally speaking, youngsters are usually not financially secure....Most experienced keepers have already tried emps and if they don't still have them they usually don't bother with them again...Hence, noobs and youngsters are generally the market for these scorps.
And Galapoheros.....we all knew Emp restrictions were going to happen before they happened and we all guessed it would affect supply/demand/prices.....as it has turned out though, AFS's have just taken emps place and prices have remained pretty stable...The specific market for people looking particularly for Pandinus over Heterometrus will be/is very small even by scorp market levels. A big black scorpion is a big black scorpion to most people.
The build up of posts through the years and across any scorp forum worldwide focusing on Emps pet hole status must also be having an affect. This compared with Heterometrus that usually enjoys a much more interesting/active position within those same posts.
In my mind Emp/Heterometrus visual similarity together with pet stores quickness to swap over to Heterometrus and the globally documented opinions of Emp contra Heterometrus = no increase in Emp prices.
 

Galapoheros

ArachnoGod
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It's that by luck, I heard info on the time-line, I think more people would have taken action if it were not anecdotal info but an official announcement instead. But that's just the way it goes, I was there and saw how serious the guy was about it, I just couldn't convince people. I think some thought I was trying to raise the price out of fear but I wasn't selling anything. Yeah most people expected tighter restrictions eventually but until then, in cases like this, it's just human nature to wait until it happens with no time-line, by then it's often too late. Ken is selling emps for around $70, a lot higher price than the old common price of $15 and I have a hard time finding any others for sale. Here's my hunch, I think they will be available again but with tighter regulations. That importer said that farmed emps could be exported legally, then he said, "..but who's going to do that?" I think somebody will do that over there, at least working something out.
 

sschind

Arachnobaron
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It's that by luck, I heard info on the time-line, I think more people would have taken action if it were not anecdotal info but an official announcement instead. But that's just the way it goes, I was there and saw how serious the guy was about it, I just couldn't convince people. I think some thought I was trying to raise the price out of fear but I wasn't selling anything. Yeah most people expected tighter restrictions eventually but until then, in cases like this, it's just human nature to wait until it happens with no time-line, by then it's often too late. Ken is selling emps for around $70, a lot higher price than the old common price of $15 and I have a hard time finding any others for sale. Here's my hunch, I think they will be available again but with tighter regulations. That importer said that farmed emps could be exported legally, then he said, "..but who's going to do that?" I think somebody will do that over there, at least working something out.
Most likely the same thing will happen with emperors as happened to the Madagascar geckos (Pareodura and Uroplatus in particular) Word got out that they were not going to import them any more and the prices skyrocketed. Then they started importing them again and the prices stayed high.

I guess it's time to put my emperors together. If Ken is asking $70 for adults CBB babies are going to be worth a fortune.

As far as the AFS taking their place like Olsin says I have heard that they are not as docile. I have no experience with them so I don't know if that is true or not. I'm sure a lot of people handle their AFSs and are fine but with emperors you almost had to try and make one sting if that's not the case with the AFSs then I don't think it will be an even swap. That is if vendors are honest.
 

Galapoheros

ArachnoGod
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I don't see them for sale anymore at Ken's site, don't know what's up there. Well Olsin was saying that people tend to like the defensive nature of Heterometrus. imps generally get bigger, many people like that, a matter of preference of course. Some populations are on the small side but I grabbed some of the bigger ones a long time ago.
 

Formerphobe

Arachnoking
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The last price I saw at a pet store, after they went on CITES, was about $30 for a juvenile. I heard through the grapevine that the big chain stores will no longer carry them because of the CITES status.

They are easy enough to breed in captivity. I can't seem to stop mine from having babies.

I don't see them for sale anymore at Ken's site, don't know what's up there. Well Olsin was saying that people tend to like the defensive nature of Heterometrus. imps generally get bigger, many people like that, a matter of preference of course. Some populations are on the small side but I grabbed some of the bigger ones a long time ago.
Ken still has P. imperator listed on his site. Or he did a few minutes ago.

with emperors you almost had to try and make one sting
I don't routinely handle my Emperors, but when rehousing or harvesting from the communal tanks, the larger females wouldn't hesitate to sting if I gave them the opportunity.
 

trailblazin02

Arachnopeon
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Mar 13, 2013
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Sell them for what u think is fair. If people don't like it they can look else where for them. I've been looking to get a few for a while but rarely see them available. So if u do sell some I'll be watching.
 

sschind

Arachnobaron
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The last price I saw at a pet store, after they went on CITES, was about $30 for a juvenile. I heard through the grapevine that the big chain stores will no longer carry them because of the CITES status.

They are easy enough to breed in captivity. I can't seem to stop mine from having babies.


Ken still has P. imperator listed on his site. Or he did a few minutes ago.


I don't routinely handle my Emperors, but when rehousing or harvesting from the communal tanks, the larger females wouldn't hesitate to sting if I gave them the opportunity.
I guess I knew that females could sometimes be more aggressive. I have a male that I handle with regularity but my female does intimidate me a little (I got her when she had babies on her back) In your opinion would you say the AFS are generally more aggressive.
 

Formerphobe

Arachnoking
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I guess I knew that females could sometimes be more aggressive. I have a male that I handle with regularity but my female does intimidate me a little (I got her when she had babies on her back) In your opinion would you say the AFS are generally more aggressive.
I've only ever kept Emperors.
 

iamthegame06

Arachnosquire
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i sold my 3rd instars recently on CL for $5 each and all 13 of them sold in one day..i was honestly surprised that a lot of people were that interested in them, i got quite a few emails in one day of posting it lol
 

Anonymity82

Arachnoprince
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I would probably sell them for 15-20 a piece. If someone wants all ten than maybe drop it a couple of bucks. Just my opinion. It's not a rip off like 70 dollars (last time I checked there are still quite a few available for much less and they're still super popular being the presumed number one sold scorpion in this country at least before the very recent CITES changes, and they're easy to breed and have a long life span) and you're not just giving them away either. Of course, if you don't care about money (lucky you) then sell them really cheap to people you trust enough to care for them properly.

Most emperors sold were sold to beginners who saw them in the pet store and said "Hey, look at that huge scorpion! I want it!" and I don't think that will change when they look at the AFS now being sold in place of emperors. As the Emperors' prices go up and their numbers start to dwindle you can bet the AFS's are going to look a whole lot more appetizing to the walk in buyer. Hmmm, 65 dollars for this scorpion that looks slightly cooler than this 20 dollar scorpion? To the enthusiast though, the emperors will likely become a hot commodity and some will probably pay the higher prices just for this species. Emperors will likely become more popular to the serious enthusiast since they're no longer imported. People hear "rare" and they just have to have it! I kind of want one now! :p Personally, I'd much rather have this species if I wanted to get into the larger scorpions: Pandinus cavimanus. And they're much cheaper on Ken's site.

Who knows though, we'll have to wait and see. All I know is I wouldn't pay 20, I'm definitely not going to pay 40 or more. But that's me.
 
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Quinquangular

Arachnoknight
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I would probably sell them for 15-20 a piece. If someone wants all ten than maybe drop it a couple of bucks. Just my opinion. It's not a rip off like 70 dollars (last time I checked there are still quite a few available for much less and they're still super popular being the presumed number one sold scorpion in this country at least before the very recent CITES changes, and they're easy to breed and have a long life span) and you're not just giving them away either. Of course, if you don't care about money (lucky you) then sell them really cheap to people you trust enough to care for them properly.

Most emperors sold are sold to beginners who saw them in the pet store and said "Hey, look at that huge scorpion! I want it!" and I don't think that will change when they look at the AFS now being sold in place of emperors. As the Emperors' prices go up and their numbers start to dwindle you can bet the AFS's are going to look a whole lot more appetizing to the walk in buyer. Hmmm, 65 dollars for this scorpion that looks slightly cooler than this 20 dollar scorpion? To the enthusiast though, the emperors will likely become a hot commodity and some will probably pay the higher prices just for this species. Emperors will likely become more popular to the serious enthusiast since they're no longer imported. People hear "rare" and they just have to have it! I kind of want one now! :p Personally, I'd much rather have this species if I wanted to get into the larger scorpions: Pandinus cavimanus. And they're much cheaper on Ken's site.

Some people, just like Whole Foods, will over charge like crazy because they're such a well known name and they know SOMEONE will pay whatever ridiculous price they so choose. I hate whole foods now. I went in there and saw they were charging 5 dollars more for Justin's spread than Kroger. There's no reason AT ALL to charge that much more for something. I walk through that store and almost everything is at least 50 cents to a dollar more than other stores. But the store is so busy! It must be nice, having extra cash to just throw away. 9 Dollars a pound for their hot bar which isn't even as good as your average home style buffet. Sorry, I used to love whole foods but over time I realized just how much of a rip they really are. Kroger has a growing organic and natural food section and I hope they keep growing since they don't charge the crazy prices whole foods does. Again sorry, I'm feeling much angst at that place right now lol.
Wait, people sell slings for $70? Seems like a rip off to me lol. I can sort of understand for $70 for an adult but that's still a bit pricey, I see some for $50 at most usually, besides Ken who does $70.

I think ill do 15-20 and lower at "bulk" orders. Need some money for new enclosures and a new tarantula and get a new scorpion species. Maybe I can trade instead too... I'll donate a few to an insect zoo and one to my favorite biology teacher at school to keep as a classroom pet - closely under the care of me!
 
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