Expensive Tarantulas

Liquifin

Arachnoking
Active Member
Joined
May 30, 2017
Messages
2,110
Expensive is usually an inflation that's causing the problem. New species into the hobby are cool, but still too expensive either way.
everything is mad expensive here in the states :c
Blame big retailers and inflation. I understand that people need to eat, pay taxes, etc. but prices that high makes no sense in the long run. Back then me and a friend use to make this joke where every place that sells T.'s at an expensive price is from either California or the west coast of the US. No offense to you guys over there.
 

TheInv4sion

Arachnobaron
Joined
Feb 26, 2015
Messages
485
Expensive is usually an inflation that's causing the problem. New species into the hobby are cool, but still too expensive either way.

Blame big retailers and inflation. I understand that people need to eat, pay taxes, etc. but prices that high makes no sense in the long run. Back then me and a friend use to make this joke where every place that sells T.'s at an expensive price is from either California or the west coast of the US. No offense to you guys over there.
It’s absolutely true all the expensive dealers are from SoCal haha this state is ruined
 

CommanderBacon

Arachnobaron
Joined
May 21, 2018
Messages
498
It’s absolutely true all the expensive dealers are from SoCal haha this state is ruined
I don't mind paying a little more for spiders if I know the dealer is awesome and I don't have to pay for shipping. Paying a little more for a specimen so I don't have to pay $50 shipping works out fine for me. I'd rather drive an hour or two (at MOST) to pick up my spiders instead of have them go through the ordeal of shipping, anyway.

Also, I usually shop at expos and have gotten to know the local dealers, so they can pretty much get me what I want, AND throw me great deals and awesome freebies.

I feel lucky to have so many of the best vendors in the US within an hour's drive of me.
 

Matt Man

Arachnoprince
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Jul 4, 2017
Messages
1,685
Xenesthis species. Difficult to breed, and when they do, they have relatively small sacs. They are literally never in abundance.

Adults of very slow growing and uncommon species as well....ones like A. bicoloratum or moderatum, or B. klassi.
I'd add A mooreae to the list as well
 

basin79

ArachnoGod
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Sep 14, 2013
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5,893
Any and every tarantula is worth the price if it's what YOU want.

Look at it this way. Say a tarantula is £500. All being well you'll have that tarantula for at least 10 years say. So that's £50 per year for something that will give you a great deal of pleasure every single day. Less than £1 a week.

Some would think that's crazy. Yet the very same ones will think nothing at saving up and spending £2000 for a 2 week holiday.

Obviously it comes down to actually being able to afford the tarantula in the first place. But I've also used £500 as a price.
 

bobbibink

Arachnosquire
Old Timer
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Aug 10, 2011
Messages
60
I’m lucky in way that I have a shop down the street from me that specializes in tarantulas. They actually know how to keep T’s! An example, I bought a A. Chalcodes juvenile for $15.
 

Craig73

Arachnoangel
Joined
Jun 2, 2016
Messages
790
I think they used to be cheap but right now they're pretty pricy and hard to find.
Guy on the east coast has them for $70 for over an inch if I remember correctly; I‘ve seen his ad in the classifieds. I purchased se from him months ago and all doing well.

Also seen h Pulchripes as low as $55 for 3/4”.
 

Arachnophobphile

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Dec 24, 2018
Messages
806
I see it like this....
It's round 2 of the pandemic, toilet paper sold out everywhere. So when a few packages finally show up at the store just how bad do you want it to pay the higher prices?

So it is with me with tarantulas. I'm still after the E. campestratus after missing it 2 times when one was available. So yes I would pay more than what it usually goes for to get it. I very rarely see it for sale by any vendor.
 

Chris LXXIX

ArachnoGod
Joined
Dec 25, 2014
Messages
5,845
M Robustum
To think that I received my girl basically for free (juvenile 0.1 M. robustum, thanks to the pissed off wife of an Italian casual) :pompous:

But I wasn't aware that this species is particularly priced in the U.S. In Europe remains in the cheaper/mildly cheaper range.
 

SteveIDDQD

Arachnosquire
Joined
Dec 4, 2018
Messages
71
£60/£70 maybe £80 is the max I'll go for a T, and it has to be a pretty special T at that. I've only bought 2 slings at that level, one recently actually, and it was after a lot of consideration.

The few species that fetch hundreds of £ or $ are just way too much for me to even consider. It's not necessarily due to lack of spare funds, it's just too much money for one pet that you may hardly see or may not live very long. I can see why breeders may pay to get in early on the action, and risk hitting the jackpot with the first few successful sacs to sell on, but not for a hobbyist like me.

That said, I don't begrudge people spending their hard earned cash on whatever they like. There are worse things to spend hundreds on.
 

scurry

Arachnopeon
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Oct 19, 2020
Messages
7
I think the pricing of established T's (i.e. not new to the hobby) is generally cyclical. Prices start high when it was introduced. Due to the price, most people buying them are breeders. Breeders raise a round of T's, price stays high as higher-end collectors buy them as well as less commercial breeders. Breeders get a second round of T's, as well as breeds from the less commercial breeders. Prices start to come down as supply and demand equal out. At some point, supply will start to outstrip demand and prices start getting low. At that point, commercial breeders bow out because there's not enough money to be made on breeding them. Prices slowly rise due to the decreased supply, and at some point it becomes viable for commercial breeders again, at which point they start breeding again until supply outstrips demand, and we're in the "established T price loop" which repeats basically infinitely.

Some T's are always cheap. My theory on those is that enthusiasts are able to breed enough to satisfy demand (either because everyone in the world has one, or because the T's are really easy to breed), or that the egg sacs of those species are large enough that commercial breeders can still make money selling $10 slings.
Some are also always expensive, but the reasons for those are usually well known. Usually it's because the T's are difficult to breed and/or the egg sacs are small. Occasionally it's because commercial breeding is basically illegal (like the seledonia in the US, which can't be sold across state lines, it can only be gifted, making it basically unviable commercially).

I think it's a side effect of the fact that a large portion of tarantula owners also breed their tarantulas (either commercially, or just as an enthusiast). It lets the prices of T's swing below what commercial breeders need to stay open. This is in stark contrast to say, dogs. I know tons of people that own dogs. I don't know a single person that has intentionally bred their dog. I know a few people that own T's, and nearly every one of them has at least tried to breed their Ts. I don't think that's a bad thing at all, it just creates more volatility in the market, which makes the prices of Ts do... interesting things sometimes.
 

Arachnopets

Arachnoboards Team
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Jan 11, 2004
Messages
628
Affordability is subjective. What is considered expensive to one person, may not be the case for another.

A tarantula is only worth what someone is willing to pay. ;)
 

Tarantuland

Arachnoprince
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Mar 19, 2020
Messages
1,354
To think that I received my girl basically for free (juvenile 0.1 M. robustum, thanks to the pissed off wife of an Italian casual) :pompous:

But I wasn't aware that this species is particularly priced in the U.S. In Europe remains in the cheaper/mildly cheaper range.
I paid 50 for mine but that was a good deal for a 1.5" specimen here....it actually just molted tonight

Guy on the east coast has them for $70 for over an inch if I remember correctly; I‘ve seen his ad in the classifieds. I purchased se from him months ago and all doing well.

Also seen h Pulchripes as low as $55 for 3/4”.
Yeah if it's the same person I'm thinking of I did the 3 of them deal when they were a bit smaller and i got comparatively good prices. Before that I had one that I paid too much for but they are really cool.
 

Lazaru

Arachnopeon
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Feb 11, 2014
Messages
24
The most I've payed is £135 but that was for a sexed pair of P .metalica sub adults
 

AphonopelmaTX

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May 7, 2004
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1,816
As far as what species are worth a high price tag, I ask myself what the likely hood of it becoming prolific in the hobby would be, which is hard to do. I learned my lesson the hard way when Poecilotheria metallica was new to the USA hobby. I was a "first adopter" and paid over $300 USD for a single spiderling. If I would have stopped to think before I bought, I would have realized that Poecilotheria species are fast growing and since P. metallica is blue it would definitely be a species regularly bred in captivity causing a price drop. Anything big, colorful, fast growing, and new to the pet trade is not worth the high price to me. These days I focus more on species that have highly unusual characteristics and are obviously not known to science regardless of coloration or pattern. Those are the ones I am betting won't show up often in the hobby in the future so they become more like investment spiders to me.

When it comes to what I can afford though, I ask myself the same question I ask before I buy anything. That question is "if I burned that much money, would it affect my life any?" When you buy a living thing through the mail, you might as well be prepared to lose that money and not get it back. Also, if I have to take time to justify a purchase buy comparing to other things I buy, or worse, what other people spend their money on, then I know I can't afford it and I should pass.
 

14pokies

Arachnoprince
Joined
Oct 25, 2014
Messages
1,735
I have a rule.. I won't spend more than 150 on a sling or 500 for an adult female. Anything colurful and visible most the time makes my list. Right now there isn't any expensive species I want. I don't like pamphos or Xenethis sp and they are what's pulling top dollar atm. That and rosea haha I saw some slings recently for 100 :rolleyes:...
 

nicodimus22

Arachnomancer
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Sep 26, 2013
Messages
715
X. immanis. Got two slings for $110 apiece, turned out to be a male and female, and they're so pretty now. No regrets.

My most expensive was a juvenile B. klaasi, but you're going to pay through the nose for a female of any slow-growing species.
 

SonsofArachne

Arachnoangel
Joined
Dec 10, 2017
Messages
961
Depends - how much money do you have and how bad do you want it? But at least as far as multiple slings are concerned, you can raise them and sell the extras and make back the money you spent, you might even turn a profit. Now if I could just get around to the selling part.
 
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