The 9T for 100L "bargain"

[Brandon Dawson]

(06-01-2014 10:08 PM)PrettyPoizen Resident Wrote:  Hello Deer Thistle! Happy to hear from you. I am looking and maybe the term "degrade" is being misunderstood...another interesting thing about online communication is the lack of 'face to face', which often leads to misreading. The term "degrade" by definition includes: "to lower in character or quality, to reduce in amount, strength, intensity, etc. or in reference to topography the wearing down of a surface by nature". By profession, I am a College English teacher and have taught online courses a few times. So I do understand the problems of online discussions and connotations some words have...and trust me, when English was not a student's first language it made for some Very lively discussions LOL.

While the terms may or may not be clear, one this is - No one is going to get rich breeding kittycats on SL. It's wonderful that some might have deep enough pockets to not have to try to balance the output with the cost of our hobby. I like to breed what I like to see. I am happy to pay a price for my kitties that is fair to the person who took the time and trouble to keep their traits current and create gorgeous combinations. I appreciate when I get one that I see the patterns and intent of each pairing. Sometimes when I see it, I try to continue what the breeder started and add a few ideas of my own. And my kitties are not expensive. In fact, I gift and lend many very nice ones when i see a friend who might be able to do something with it that I just dont have time to do. Its exciting to look and see what new ingredients someone else has added to my 'stew' lol.

I guess my concern is that i see so many stores closing, and cats being sold by the box. I cant believe that by fast and cheap for a short term gain will help anyone in the long run and will just keep us in recovery longer than need be and hinder the overall progress and availability of new traits or worse yet, the loss of some older ones. Do i breed kitties to make money or get rich? LOL No...I dont even breed RL showdogs for that because when you do it right there is no profit hahaha. This is a misconception about my opinion here, so let me jump in with everyone else who is saying they dont breed for lindens. But the reality is that the hobby will be unaffordable to many if we cant even defray the cost of feeding our "project kitties". That would be a loss to people like me who rely on and appreciate several breeders' efforts to produce well traited kitties for which I feel its fair to pay a Fair Price. Me, I am taking this time to update my cattery and keep the best i have until things stabilize. And I know I am not the only one with these concerns because Numerous people, whether they dare say it outloud or not, have said the same things I have and have agreed strongly when I express my concerns. I sell relatively few kitties, and I sell at a more than fair price that i feel is comfy for the buyer and that i can live with. And there are times when a buyer really wants a kitty but doesnt have the price, in which case I am Always open to negotiation when i see someone is really interested - as i have seen many of us are. Hmmm maybe I am still not explaining this right...In any case, thank you for your input.

I'm just replying to your concerns, I've been around KittyCats for some time and the market has always been the same with stores closing and fire sale cats.

These issues aren't new, this was the same a year ago and this happened during the summer of 2012. The market fluctuates during the summer due to less "big holiday releases". I personally believe most people spend less time on SL during the summer months (myself included).

I would say that your concerns are valid, but this has happened before with fire sales, stores closing, etc, it's the nature of an old game. KittyCats is a large community, it'll still be around and people will still want to buy cats until Callie stops making them.

I know plenty of breeders who make enough lindens from cat sales/auctions to support their KittyCats hobby and make some pocket money. There's even a select few who make enough lindens on the secondary market to have a decent second income.

Between the years 2012-2013, I know some people didn't agree with the way I ran my shop or how I sold cats, but I made enough lindens off of KittyCats for fairly decent pocket money. It all depends on how you play the market, know what KittyCats and collectors are desired, and what strategy to employ on how you sell your kitties. It takes lindens to make lindens, but some of the best breeders in KittyCats know how to support their hobby through secondary sales.

Mind you, this is not everyone. You have to take a little time to analyze the secondary market in order to fund a cattery to be self-sufficient.