Kitty pricing!

[Nocshadue Balbozar]

Hey there!

I wanted to chime in on the issue of cats being worthless after the traits are no longer new or in high demand. It's true that when a new trait comes out it sells high for a time then naturally drops as the market becomes saturated with that trait. To me, that doesn't mean the cat is now worthless. It just means it's a cat I no longer try to sell.

When Aby Dark Chocolate first came out I lusted after it because I thought it was so beautiful. Then I wanted to put Dry Olive eyes on that fur and so started breeding for it. I'm far from a quick breeder however. I have a limit on how many breeding cats I can have at one time and I'm hesitant to sell, pick up, or menagerie the producing pair until they've aged out. So by the time I have what I was breeding for, the market is usually already overrun because everyone else seems to like the same things I do

As for really older traits I tend to hoard them as much as I can. I open boxes now and then depending on what I feel like breeding. I'm having fun just making different combos of furs and eyes etc. To be fair, I really don't care if I sell any kitties or not. If I do, good for me, I get new hair. If not, it's ok... I'll be out of style for a while.

But I'm rambling, what I really wanted to say is that when people are new to KittyCatS, they often look over all the furs, eyes, etc and want to find the ones they like. I've talked to a few in IMs and dug through my boxes to find and old fur or eye or a certain combo of traits for someone. It makes me really happy if I have just what they were looking for. No, it doesn't happen every day, but it does happen. Many new breeders are more interested in what they think is cute, then what is more recessive or new.

I also want to share some very good advice Draco and Theo gave me when I was new. That is to set a budget of what you can pay into breeding your cats and stick to it. Never count on selling cats to make ends meet. Following that advice has allowed me to breed mostly stress free, except for when I get a really stubborn starter lol. At the time I was talking to them about this, I was in over my head and I did have to thin the herd and it was hard. And I did sell some good cats really cheap to get them bought quickly, and also pass some to friends that could use them.

The market is what it is, I agree. There are different kinds of breeders and that's OK. Some people like me hoard boxes, some want to sell them. During the summer I go into buying mode and feed my hoarding addiction, where some want to spring clean the cattery.

I don't think "fire sales" will ever do permanent damage to the market. Depending on what kind of cat is in the fire sale, it may call into question the pricing of similar cats if that makes sense. Like if you see a 9T Aussie Mist Blue Marble at a 100L, would you pay 10K for one still? But I think that kind of thing would be pretty rare since most people are informed pretty quickly regarding new traits etc. But a more or less average kitty with a few traits at a fire sale won't have much effect on the market but could make some one very happy to have it.

It is good to know though at what point you are selling at a loss and realize you're not actually gaining a profit by selling, just recouping a percentage of your costs.

It's important to understand that a 9T cat is not a rare thing anymore. Trait count alone doesn't make a huge difference in market value, it's the combo of traits plus how new, how recessive, etc. for most buyers. I see a lot of new breeders asking "how much is a 9T cat worth?" without giving any other info. And it's all so subjective, I've paid a lot for a cat just because it was really cute and no other reason.

But I am probably not a good person to even offer advice about selling cats. I'm a little bit crazy, I talk to my pixel cats, I obsessively hoard boxes and have been known to put a box up for sale at my stall and then TP in an hour later and take it back.

Maybe one of the sellers in our community that operates a self sustaining cattery could make a how to thread one of these days.