thinking of starting a tarantula business.

[TheWidowsPeak]

ok I have been thinking on this for quite a hile now and I need advice or info. I was thinking of starting up a large scale breeding project. now I don't want to sell to the public, more like a wholesale thing. I figure there are enough dealers out there that another one probably wouldn't do much good.
now starting off with more common species getting around 15 adults of each I assume this would be enough to give me a steady stream of eggsacs. selling the offspring to the dealers in large wholesale groups. I should be able to make enough money to keep the project going I won't be able to quit my day job but it should bring in enough income that I can live comfortably on the extra. what would your recomendations be on species to start with and which ones give the most possibility of success . now if this makes no sense then I am sorry I am sick and druged up on codine right now. thanks for any input JOHN

 

[shogun804]

maybe you should email or call the all the dealers you would want to sell to. and then see if they are even interested?

 

[TheWidowsPeak]

yeah I figure that they would be because eitherway its a new source for slings. and any new place for slings is a good thing because if there normal source doesn't have what they need maybe I will? I'm getting ready to buy a new house and I'm going to have an entire bedroom specificl for the spiders.

 

[CedrikG]

I totally agree with you, go ahead and good luck , im doing the same thing

 

[Fenris]

It seems that a lot of us have the same aspirations with this hobby.

 

[shogun804]

yeah I figure that they would be because eitherway its a new source for slings. and any new place for slings is a good thing because if there normal source doesn't have what they need maybe I will? I'm getting ready to buy a new house and I'm going to have an entire bedroom specificl for the spiders.

very true. well best of luck with your venture and your new house hope you get lots and lots of little babies. as for the origianl Question on which specie id say pokie's, avic's especially versi's, Brachy's, Acanthoscurria,Grammostola, just to name a few that i can think of, as for succes rate im sorry but i cannot really help out in that department.

 

[Palespider]

I should be able to make enough money to keep the project going I won't be able to quit my day job but it should bring in enough income that I can live comfortably on the extra.

Some dealers are a little hesitant to pay cash for slings unless you are willing to sell them real cheap. You figure there are enough dealers, but there are even more wholesalers which makes for a lot of price competition. Not trying to discourage you, just what I have found so far.

Jim

 

[Mattyb]

I wish you the best of luck, and i hope your successful. I've read about breeding, cause i too wanted to breed them and sell them but i read that it takes alot of work to make a profit from it.




-Mattyb

 

[AphonopelmaTX]

Before you jump into anything. Be sure you take into consideration the following:

Costs of caring for hundreds of spiders. Crickets, vials, substrate, larger housing for all the adults, and possibly shelving to put them on, cork bark to make them feel secure when producing eggsacs, and even little things like cheap water dishes, etc. All of these things may look cheap wholesale, but the quantity your going to have to buy them in is could be quite expensive. Have you considered the monetary losses if any of them die (babies and/or adults) or when spells of no sales happen? Are you sure you can sell them cheap enough to appeal to retailers and still make a profit?

Time. You may be able to do it in your spare time, but kiss your social life goodbye. Hundreds of spiders takes a lot of time to feed and water. Once your done with a round, it'll be time to start all over again. Do you know and trust some one to take over if you fall ill or have an unexpected personal emergency?

As Jim said, there are much more wholesalers than dealers around here. I bet even dealers wholesale to other dealers when they produce offspring. Ever notice when one dealer produces an eggsac, some how all the others eventually have the same spiderlings at the same size? That or they're coming from the same importer. Also, i'm sure small scale hobbiests act as wholesalers when selling their babies for a couple of bucks on the message boards. This also brings up another question. Do you think you have the skills to produce offspring of something the "big boys" can't or don't have access to? Any successful business either provides something very desirable or can market a use for something no one has thought of or can offer at an unbeatable price.

My suggestion is to research and read up on success/ failure rates of various species (they're out there you just have to find them) and to read lots of books on running a small business. And when you're ready, study your market (the tarantula dealers) and your competition (wholesalers/ importers) then launch your venture and don't stop until you fall over.

Of course most of the above are questions. There's many more you need to ask yourself before considering such an endeavor. There's plenty of people out there to answer your questions about captive breeding tarantulas, but those who have the answers on how to be successful at running a small business won't tell you how it's done. Or they shouldn't anyway.

- Lonnie

 

[Bearskin10]

Very nicely put Lonnie, those were a lot of my thoughts... I breed but is all for fun and if I can make a few bucks to help the next batch along that's great the success/fail ratio is pretty high in fact I was just pointed to a chart on e-spiderworld the other day that showed his success rate to be 15% and he is one of the big guys that knows more than most of us hobbyist. Good luck to you if you do decide to give it a go though.... Greg