The day that you can buy P.metallica's and M.balfouri's for R100 will be a great day for our hobby

I know of people in this hobby who can afford to pay R2000 for a sling, but they are not the most honest, loyal and decent people. We've seen some 'big' guys in the hobby get caught with unethical practices.

So, should we discriminate against those who cannot afford to pay R2000 a sling or against those who can?

Brachypelma albopilosum slings are given away for free because:
1. they're very easy to breed
2. they have big eggsacks
3. because of 1 & 2 the market is flooded.

A newbie might consider taking a free B. albopilosum to start off with and then get hooked (like all of us) and then start investing in other species.

I say the cheap, common T's are a must. That's how the hobby grows.

peregrine wrote:

That also applies to anything you buy,if you pay 450 bucks for a sling you give it all the attention in the world,if you get it for 10 bucks plus three free well???
My point if you breed out a 1000 cull 900 sell the rest for R250 ea,the buyers will appreciate them more.

<Contradiction>

What it boils down to is ethics not greed!Tarantulas are a hobby not a business for 99% of us and we should control it and manage the hobby.

I'm sorry I do not want to stir on anything, I just think you are contradicting yourself there, in the first part of your post you say that people should cull/kill some of their slings so that they can sell the remaining ones for way more, I see that as a business strategy (a bad one at that), for making more money, and keeping T's in big demand!
Then in the last part of you massage you say its a hobby not a business, so is the goal of a hobby or being in a hobby like this, not to get more people introduce to this fascinating and ultimate predator??? Please answer me that.

Just a extra thought, if I am a stamp collector, and I have, say 100 special edition stamps, I am not going to destroy 95 of them and sell 4 for a insane price, NO!!! I will swap or sell the surplus stamps I have, do you not agree?

Just my thought and sights on the matter!!!

As with everything this issue comes down to supply and demand. Tarantulas are worth whatever someone is willing to pay for them. Unless breeders form a union and regulate the supply to the market there is always going to be surplus stock that will be sold cheap. There simply isn't a big enough market in the country. Raising prices in line with what we see as an ideal price is one option. If we raise the price of "entry level" slings by extrapolation the price of more exotic species will rise as well. Market value is relative after all. This will however discourage growth of the hobby and enrich a few at the expense of the die hard hobbyists.

For me selling slings cheap will encourage the growth of the hobby which will inject more life and money in the hobby which will incentivise breeders to start focusing on quantity lower cost slings to perhaps subsidize breeding of more exotic species.

If we put our drug dealer hats on for a moment, Rosies and Curly's are gateway tarantulas these hook the real potential addicts and lead them down a spiral of addiction until they need to take a lunch break in the middle of feeding their collection.

What people can or can not afford has no bearing on the type of person in question. I know people who can not afford a R10 Curly, yet I will trust them with my wife. Other folks buy R1200 slings in volumes of 20, yet I will not give them the time of day. Having money to burn does not make you better or worse than the next person. Values and morals do.

Some spiders will always be cheap, others will never be cheap. Examples used was M balfouri and P metallica. I do not see the price of those EVER dropping below R500 a sling, yet C rosea are given away. The South African market can not handle the volumes other countries can, so it is exactly as mentioned - supply and demand.

Give newcomers spiders for free if you can, they will probably continue expanding their collection over time, increasing the market and the knowledge base.

Unfortunately, the hobby suffers more damage through dishonest shady characters than it grows through free slings to the masses.

mikezilla wrote:

If we put our drug dealer hats on for a moment, Rosies and Curly's are gateway tarantulas these hook the real potential addicts and lead them down a spiral of addiction until they need to take a lunch break in the middle of feeding their collection.

Hahahaha, wow. Quote of the day! :laugh: