Interesting prices in petshops

[peterjohnson64]

Pet shops will always be more expensive than private breeders because, as Kathy said, they have to make a profit or they wouldn't exist. Take most products that you can buy either privately or from a business. One example is cars. Compare the price of a second hand private car to a car yard. Similar story. 2nd hand furniture and the list just goes on. If people could make petrol at home you could buy it a lot cheaper privately as well. If my staff did tax returns at home after hours I am certain that they would charge less than we do.

I can also guarantee you that there aren't a large percentage of pet shop owners making huge incomes either and the owners will usually work 7 days a week.

We are lucky, we have access to private breeders and therefore we dont need to go near pet shops to buy animals. But remember, there are 16,000 licensed reptile keepers in NSW alone yet probably only 2,000 or so web herpers Australia Wide. So there is still a need for the animals in Pet Shops if you want those people to get access to the animals.

I also heard Rob Johnson speaking recently when a prominent Sydney herper claimed that pet shops were too expensive in selling reptiles. From Rob's point of view, he felt it was better for the animals welfare because when a person pays more for an animal they will place a higher value on the animal and will be more likely to take the animal to a vet if it was sick. For example, would you take a $15 guinea pig to the vet if it was sick and pay $60 for the consult? Then would it be the same story if the animal cost you (and you valued it at) $5,000?

People who buy herps from pet shops are usually people who only keep one or two animals so it is probably good that they place a high value on those animals.

[Jungletrans]

Pet shops vary a LOT . Picked up a female Olive today from Pails - Unique Pets in Ballarat for $450 . Springvale Bird and Reptiles have one that was $900 but has been reduced to $699 . I will wait till they get sick of feeding it and make an offer [ its a male ]

[Jungleland]

Higher overheads higher mark ups, Running a petshop is not a walk on the park.
Rent , wage, super, insurance just to mention a few.

Cheers,
Joel

[whiterabbit]

some pet shops out there should really learn a bit more about the animals they are selling, some of the advise I've heard makes me shudder, however there are a few good ones out there. What frustrates me the most is that where some pet shop owners/workers will recieve advise and take it on, others that are clearly doing something wrong (eg have a pane of glass over the uv light to a turtle) don't want to know what they are doing wrong, when it can be fixed simply.

On a personal note i feel that no matter what price you pay for an animal you have taken on responsibility for that animal, no matter what the cost (hehe i even did take a $12 guinea pig to the vet, she is now a $70 pig ) I just don't get people who have an idle fancy to get a pet and not want to fork out the ongoing cost of caring for it, they just see it in a shop and buy it because its cute.

[ScalyMung]

reptile city in sa is really good with there prices & there advice is second to none as they [ jason & micheal ] breed there own reptiles, which they have done for more than 10 yrs [ wicked breeding stock & set ups ]
i purchased a eastern bluey nearly adult size for $29.95 bargain! they have baby short necks turtles for $55or $65 ea crickets & woodies are only $4.50 a tub & i also purchased a 7 foot adult male darwin last year for $695 excellent temperment just like my 11yr old female darwin which has done a few primary schools rounds over the years with her being on her best behaver never bitten or looked like she would. 2 placid darwins bonus !!!!!!!!! deano

[Miss B]

Originally Posted by peterjohnson64

For example, would you take a $15 guinea pig to the vet if it was sick and pay $60 for the consult? Then would it be the same story if the animal cost you (and you valued it at) $5,000?

My $350 puppy cost me $1,000+ in vet bills in his first 12 months

I've also spent about $200 in vet bills on a beardie hatchy that I can't sell and will never be any good for breeding.

Refusing to seek vet treatment for a sick pet based on it's purchase price or perceived value is pretty lousy.

[ScalyMung]

too true MISS B i phoned up an after hour vets at midnight when my pet $20 ferret got bitten by a spider, the vet told me it was going to cost more due to the call out fee but i insisted i needed medical attention for my ferret right away in all it cost me $125 [ many years ago ] but best of all he pulled thru 4 days later. my ferrets m/f were called FRANKandSTEIN......!!!! original deano

[peterjohnson64]

But trust me, you people are not the norm. I also spent $1,500 on my stray mut dog. We are people who spend our free time on an animal web site so clearly we are very interestted in animals. Where are the other 25,000 licensed herpers?

[Slateman]

I am glad that people don't name businesses. please let this stay that way, don't use the names.

[llasher]

Hi Kimbully. I think I know exactly the shop you are talking about and I actually paid around that price for a very nice MD. Despite all the talk of high overheads, the shop in question "Pricey's Pets" (note to Mod, not their real name) is in an area where one would expect overheads to be reasonable: there is a shop just on the edge of CBD which sells reptiles substantially cheaper.

In saying that, "Pricey's Pets" had the age/gender of MD I wanted, they were helpful, open and near my place of work. You pays yer money and you make yer choices...

[Crush]

A pet shop near me sells hatchling beardies for $200 ! And Adults for $300!

[Lesa]

I bought our Childreni from a pet shop for $230. It was more than I would have paid from a breeder HOWEVER, I couldn't find a local breeder and the python we received was the calmest snake I could imagine - perfect for a first snake for a 5yr old boy - so I have absolutely no complaints. Our second snake came from a breeder, it was younger and cheaper BUT he has been aptly named "Snap!" as he does - A LOT! But now we've had more experience we don't mind the bites and (sort of) know what we are doing - so again - no complaints.

On another note - our local petshop has employed a lovely new assistant, I think she must have been employed because she knows about reptiles (they are building quite a range down there). I have had a couple of really good chats to her about rat/mice sizes, prices etc. It's great to be able to talk to someone who actually knows what you are talking about.

On yet another note YES I too am one of the fools who spends a fortune on animals: literally thousands on a give away pup, $120 vet bill for a bird we found, the taj mahal of hermit crab cages because I read they need lots of room.... the list goes on.

Wow I think this has been my longest ever post!

[mysnakesau]

$230 sounds reasonable for a childrens python. A friend of mine sells his for $200. And I don't think snakes should go less even the common old coastal - ppl that just want to big note themselves because they have a snake will get hold of the cheap ones and no doubt they won't look after the animal's best interests.

WhiteRabbit - I agree that there are pet shops around that are only interested in the profits and know little about what they are selling, and these are the ones who give the good shops a bad name. I've been to many shops and asked questions and just can't get answers but I also get many customers who believe I should be vet qualified to be able to tell them what is wrong with their animals & supply them with something because they refuse to spend the money at a vet.

[eipper]

I have supplied a number of pet shops in the past with clutches of livestock..carpets, childrens, spotteds, various skinks, gts's etc etc. I sell them discounted to what I sell them for privately as the buy the whole clutch, usually not feeding.....i don't have tire kickers, people coming over or thethings that go along with it.

Standard mark up is around 110%....They sell them at that so why should they sell them for cheaper....I mean they are a business out to make money first.

Cheers,
Scott

[Jason]

its not just shops though, there are always privot adds up for snakes were the advertisor is asking way to much for the animal. then come the breeders who give a false name to the animal to get more cash, eg a see a fair few normal macs these days being sold a blonds, i also see what i onsider t be garbage quaility blonds being sold at the same price and higher then the good ones. the biggest one imo is the price of mcdowelli! they vary alot and i see people trying to get 250-300 for the most average carptes cause some one with nice, good quality ones is getting that price.