Prices going UP? Why?
Well this should be a fun topic…not!
It is never easy to ask for compensation yet it is needed. Our community, that is the reptile community, has been conditioned to a small extent by the ball python and morph markets that prices tend to fall over time. We’ve been so conditioned to it that it's almost impossible not to expect prices to drop.
Unfortunately the reality is that costs on everything have gone up.
Here are a few cost increase percentages from 2018 to now:
Gas prices up 42%,
Substrate prices up 45%,
Halogen Bulbs up 61%,
Shipping prices up 35%,
Dog/Cat Food prices up 57%,
everything has gone up…and not just a little….a ton!
EXAMPLE: A case of food I ordered for my baby skinks in 2018 was $45 and today that same case from the same place is $71!!!
In 2018 I asked on average $350 for a classic Northern Blue Tongue. If I were to just keep with the lowest of the above costs increases at 35%...
today that would be $470 for a baby!!!!
As a business, which is what Reptile Mountain is, we have to make a profit. Quite literally, the IRS only allows so many years of loss before things get dicey. Reptile Mountain is not a name for my hobby but a real registered, tax filing, business that has to make a profit. Sigh.
And yes, as some of you may know Reptile Mountain does give 50% of our profits to charitable causes (especially conservation causes). And yes, Reptile Mountain does love our customers and want to allow our customers to have more spending cash for care items for their new reptile...
however…we will not compromise the amount of money we donate and we cannot reduce our care levels to cut on costs. There are many less welfare oriented methods of care we could implement to save money and therefore pass on that savings to the customer. However, we refuse to do so. We refuse to reduce our care. We will go out of business before we reduce our care.
This is a difficult thing but the reality is that animal prices are going to go up just like other things. Not because of the pretty colors or special genetics but simply because the heat light, the substrate, the energy required to maintain our breeding stock that produce offspring cost more. I’m sorry it has to be like this but it is what it is.
I sincerely appreciate all of you who understand the value in buying from Reptile Mountain and the value of an ethically bred reptile from a conservation minded business. I appreciate you! Together we are making a real difference in conservation and human lives.