OK, so I've been following some threads both new and old basically about the state of the market. Yes, I'm an old fart. Yes, I've been breeding a long time. Yes, I was a new breeder with a very small cattery too, not just way back when in the good ol' days, but more recently when I had to take a hiatus from breeding for several months.
Here's the thing. The market hasn't really ever changed in a permanent way. It goes through cycles. It ALWAYS has. Even the very first year, the sales were slower and prices began to drop over the summer. Even back then, I wandered the markets looking for bargains and bought some 50-100L cats.
The one things that is a bit different now is that there are more of us and more groups to spam in. There are more markets to sell in. There's not just 10 of the same cat out for sale, there are hundreds.
This is not really such a bad thing as I have seen it spark a new trend of more and more people giving up the chase of "the newest" or "the most recessive" and simply breeding what they like.
When Halloween rolls around again, the market will pick up a bit overall. Then slowly decline until we hit the summer lows.
There have been countless posts and as many opinions as to what the causes are. Some say that we have too many new traits and that is why they lose their value so quickly. Some counter there should be more so it would spark even more sales.
We are the ones who decide where we place value. It reminds me of my older brother and the VCR. He got one from some specialty high end electronics shop before they were really mass produced. He paid a small fortune, but he HAD to be the first to have one, among his friends at least. I guess it was about 6 months later they started to show up in stores, still expensive but no where near what he paid. So over time they kept getting smaller and better until they were replaced by most with DVD players.
That's kind of how we tend to breed and buy cats. When a new fur comes out, someone will pay a fortune for it even with all the other traits gen. Then over time, people buy, breed, add traits etc, until the next new fur comes out.
I don't think there is anything wrong with that. Hey if I had a budget that would allow it, I'd buy every new fur that came out. But I'm rambling again, sorry.
I agree with Ivy that menagerie is good, and should be encouraged by new rewards. I think the market only seems to be getting worse because there are more of us now. It's always picked up in fall and winter and then tanked in summer. So reduce the cats you have breeding or take a break over summer if you need to and don't worry because things will pick up again.
Have fun breeding, be good to each other, and most of all... worship the cats
Lather, Rinse, Repeat
