Pet Store Prices... Make No Sense.

[BlujayOnTheWing]

That's nothing. 2-inch bearded dragons, 70 bucks plus tax. 3 inch guaranteed male Rose Hair, 50 bucks.

Whaaaat?? O__O Are all the prices like that? And if yes... how have they managed not to go under yet??

 

[GPulchra]

Whaaaat?? O__O Are all the prices like that? And if yes... how have they managed not to go under yet??

Yes, and it's a Petco smack dab in the middle of "rich-personland". In fact, the bearded dragons used to be 60 and went up to 70 and the T was sold in 3 days, if not less. A decent large cricket costs around a dime or three.

 

[LV-426]

The way i see it is you can get a T at a pet store and pay more, or get a T online for cheaper. the thing about online is your paying for the shipping so it comes out somewhat eve, and u can see what ur paying for. I got 2 Ts from Ken the Bug and i was pleased with them. And yesterday I got a Psalmopoeus cambridgei 1 inch sling for $4o from Pangea Pets in miami, looking at Kens prices with shipping I paid about $10 less. So its a trade off IMO.

 

[Treynok]

I got a 2-3" A avic today for $10.00 from Petco they had all their small pets marked down.

They had a G rosea for $7.00 I was gonna get it but I specifically want a MF RCF for my newly molted boy if I get another rosea

They also had a savannah monitor for $20 I was gonna get it but in no way have room for a fully grown one.

 

[DawgPoundSound]

Not all pet stores as bad at pricing. The one I sometimes buy from usually has reasonally priced stuff, pretty sure the person over it may actually be involved in the hobby.

I paid $25 for my 2-3" horned baboon, $15 for a 3" avic, there was an E. Murinus (5", most likely female) for $40, G roseas for $20. All in plastic containers with a water dish with water and several inches of peat.

Now not all their prices are fair. There was an "Brazilian red and white"( forget what this is the common name for) 1/4" sling for almost $70.

$15 for a 3" Avic? omg I paid $39 for my 3.5" Avic! aarrggghh Where are some of you? All the PetCo in Jax carry Rosea. Including Pet Supermarket. Good thing Blazing Reptiles is here with more exotics but they mark up as well. But I tend to talk them down a bit since I've bought 4 T's from them already. Family owned.

 

[NikiP]

Yup yup! And it's definitely a female There was another Avic in there last time that a bit bigger & only $20.

If my Ceratogyrus would stay out long enough for a decent picture I could confirm it being a marshelli or darlingi, but I thought $25 for either was awesome.

 

[Treynok]

I believe I got my Avic for $10 because the cabinet for their small reptiles seemed to be going out and it seemed like they were trying to liquidate their stock until they had it repaired or replaced.

It was great timing for me to check in, they are usually $27.00 at the petcos here in PA

I've been wanting an Avic for about a year now. (still fairly new to T's but loving every day of it)

 

[whitewolf]

I actually went up last week and helped cover a friend at the one I used to work at quite a few years ago. Everyone is right about having to mark them up. See they have to pay the dealer that supplies them. Now their dealers prices aren't cheap on T's I've seen his price list.

I'll use the Ball pythons as an example cause I know those figures off hand. They are about $45 to order them when usually a hobbyist pays what $20-$30 for hatchlings after first shed first meal for normals here. You have to keep in mind that some animals can still be imported but the dealers are the ones breeding, buying, and/or importing. That effects price to pet store. The dealer might have paid 5-10-15-20, not including shipping to him, and marks it up to overturn a profit for himself. Ok so pet shop owner then pays 45 gets them in (theirs are brought in on a dealer truck) and we clean the ticks/ mites off, if any, week two weeks sometimes to make sure they are clean and ready to sell. Some stores don't even bother checking them and cleaning them so that makes cost go up a few dollars. But to over turn a profit it pet store has to be marked up so he sells them for $65. Depending how long it sets in a case that may make the price go up or down. So your dealing with an animal that actually takes 2 times to make a profit. This works for mom and pop shops. The bigger chains have their own dealer/supplier so that cuts cost. I still have to evaluate the animals before I buy anything though. If you can't keep them healthy or properly I don't need supplies you are selling. Take care of your live stock and I give you money for supplies.

Makes sense? Just like when we breed and sell slings. We keep our cut of hold backs and might sell the rest to dealer at dealer price. We might sell them 5 dollars each instead of say 8-10 each to a dealer and then he has to sell them a little more, market value, to overturn a profit to buy more slings to supply more slings, rather than sit on 200 slings to molt a few times and make him a profit like we do when we buy and sell at market value.

Sad thing is pet people will pay that much on an impulse buy because they don't know/ care what the actual value is. A hand full are going to take proper care of them and the rest are going to keep them how they believe they should be kept no matter what you tell them. Then they go to Craigs List and sell it for twice what they paid to make a buck for whatever reason. I've seen boas in bird cages and Ball pythons people are trying to claim the paid 200 for and need to sell for 100. Yeah right I'm not giving you a 100 for a 20 dollar snake.

 

[malevolentrobot]

i have seen a 3 inch avic avic for 42 dollars and a 4 inch MM OBT for $59.99. pet stores think that they can get a cool tarantula for cheap and then sell expensive because they can trick noobs.

i don't really think this is the case, it is more of an issue of ignorance of the hobby and fair market value. often times employees will say a tarantula is "female" because the supplier told them so, rarely have i been able to find one who will actually touch the enclosure, much less pinch-grab the spider and come to their own conclusion.

people have already commented on price margins and whatnot, the problem is they get rodents, fish and herps usually dirt cheap and a 100% markup isn't out of line with other like chains. but when you do that with Ts and people who know correct pricing and how to buy direct... it looks very unfavourable, yes.

 

[LirvA]

Is 20 bucks a good deal for an adult A. Avicularia?

What about for an adult rose hair?

Not sure of sex but the local petco has a rose hair and a pink toe for 20 bucks, didn't get a real good look but pretty sure they're adult. Didn't ask anyone anything about them though, so not sure if they're sexed or not.

 

[Salamanderhead]

I'd be 20 bucks for a larger size any species tarantula. Unless it was a MM... ... .... unless I needed the MM.

 

[Tindalos]

20 bucks for MM on any species is still a good deal.