Pricing: Food for thought!

[Pancake Littlepaws]

To weigh in on this thread again! The market has flat lined from what I can see. There are several causes for this! A perfect storm in my opinion happened and all the cards aligned. The market might slowly recover but I don't think it will ever be as strong as it once was. The main problem people face now is XYZ new trait is found. Its the only trait breeders want... trait is super expensive and exclusive for 2-3 months. Then Another breeder gets it at auction.... they start selling the offspring off for a little less then they paid for the cat... so forth and so on until the cats value is gone!. This makes since its a simple supply and demand Scenario. Its what happened with toygars.

The other thing I am starting to notice is people cutting back on there breeding amounts. I don't mean mega breeders going from 100-200 cats to 50-60. I mean more like people leaving completely or pairing down there breeding to 1-2 pair. The same reasons as above sighted food cost + milk which can become outrageous quickly. Then the other thing is once you do get the cat you love parting with 1500 or 1800 lindens to turn it into a perm pet is just to high!. I think KC needs to step back re evaluate what there pricing looks like. They still have the best customer service in the industry and most of SL but that will only take you so far. I totally understand wanting to make perm petting a cat special but on the same token this isn't a new breedable its been around a while.. and keeping customers interested and enjoying is important! My suggestion right now to stimulate the market is give cats value! rate them on a scale of how rare the traits on a given cat and how common the trait is in the market. Sure people will spend less on food and what not but they might not be as quick to go look for greener pastures! Happy customer is a spending customer. Then allowing people to perm more pets is always a good thing. People grow attached to there pixels and if they feel they can't have there pixels for a reasonable price... they will move on and find pixels else where to grow attached to.

[Ivy Norsk]

Jennifer Wrote:The other thing I am starting to notice is people cutting back on there breeding amounts. I don't mean mega breeders going from 100-200 cats to 50-60. I mean more like people leaving completely or pairing down there breeding to 1-2 pair.

There has always been turnover and churn. KittyCats understands that and it is one reason they do the free cats at Advent and Birthdays and sometimes Firestorm... it brings in a new set of breeders. People do naturally leave after they have gotten the cats or accomplished the goals they want within KittyCats. The business model depends on new people. The secondary market has in the past depended on them too, as after awhile people really do get all the traits/cats they want.

Jennifer Wrote:The market has flat lined from what I can see.

Yes. It's just math. If you have 2 million cats and growing and the number of buyers stays constant or declines then the percentage of cats of the supply actually purchased begins to approach zero. This is why I think it is almost a matter of indifference whether I menagerie cats or not (I'm not talking about LEs here, I'm talking about regular cats with not-super-new traits). They can be priced at 1200L or they can be priced at 50L, it almost doesn't matter because there are no buyers.

Now, having said that (and imagining TerrorMisu shriek), I am speaking mathematically. As I said in an earlier post, some cats REALLY are BETTER than others (although they are all cute). And those should still find a market at auction - not just super new traits but also cats that are well-bred and gorgeous matchy matchy. And possibly on the grid if they are hooked up to a profiler of some sort so that people can find them. But the vast sea of cats... well, they can indeed be turned into menagerie or will help support markets vis a vis the rent as people try to sell them.
This may read as a pessimistic post. And I suppose it is in the middle term. The long term = SL Ragnarok. In the mean time, the kitties are still cute. The breeding is still a challenge. There are still puzzles to solve (dominance testing). People will do what they want with the hobby.

[JC Aferdita]

And don't forget; summer is coming

[Ivy Norsk]

Chuckles. You make that sound like "Winter is Coming."
Summer is more relaxed for me in KittyCats. It just gives me more time to try to get traits out of boxes and open a few more LE boxes. I don't try to sell cats to make my kibble payments. That makes it less stressed.

[JC Aferdita]

So many people freak out and post about how KC is doomed during the summer, it feels a little like 'winter is coming'.
Summer is relax-time for me too

[Pancake Littlepaws]

JC!!! does this mean the 4 csr mega's of the Apocalypse are no longer desired or needed "pouts and giggles"

[bigbritchz Topaz]

let me start off by saying your all right terror has brought in the topic of devaluing but it is not the cats nor the breeders fault, in the beginning, it was more branding than anything certain people bread cats at a more expensive rate and people bought them was their cats better no. but in they seem to understand the basics of breeding a little better to give you the cat with the traits you desired in the quickest amount of time.. .... so people paid for their cats. then there was the great abby silver black i believe that during a time when most were getting a firm grasp on how breeding went seen this person sell a cat for more than 600 us dollars ( craziness) so everyone wanted to get in. so they started telling and showing which cause the great cat boom all the cats where being sold at great rates for about two weeks before the plug was pulled lol. why because people started sharing knowledge on how to breed and get so when people gained knowledge they started the great breeding boom well now all the hidden traits are shown and what was once only understood and bred by a few was now being bred by the mass's
so callie to make sure her money didn't turn funny lol made sure no holiday or event was left out lmaaaaaaaaaaaaaao which gave us all the beautiful traits we see today. which brought in more people because... let's face it the cats are cute, and it became a great race. who could get out the most traits on a cat and who can pull out the most recessive trait the quickest. so you added more breeders which the average breeder has well over 500 box in stock so you have more inventory to choose from which means more competitive pricing also add in the need for the cats to pay for themselves which means driving the cost down because you have to be cheaper than the person next door because we all can breed and there is no such thing as a unique cat cause everyone sees what your selling and will imitate or duplicate in order to stay in the race. so supply increased while demand dwindled. all because one, we want each other to prosper. we are a great community two. so, in the end, the only person who gains the most is the one person who created the race. which has been said since it started you can not come here and look for the cats to support you. there can only be one person who really makes the monies and that is its creator. could she come down on her prices yes but as she knows that will make her a brand not so appealing cause lets admit it we all want the Porsche and the harder we work to pay for it the more it's cherished. so if she cheapened her perma pet. there would be a ripple in the market and with that ripple,her pocket will dwindle. lol and she likes her Mercedes and her home just the way it is lol

[Oselkhandro Resident]

Yes, I agree that the real business model is designed to support the KittyCatS! creators (as well it should) and not the breeders/resellers. Indeed, churn and new customers are key concepts in the business. I, for one, cannot keep up with the new traits (which are the only things that sell). I finally get a new trait showing consistently in an 8-9T line, and its no longer new. Oh well. So, now I am looking for which of my thousands of boxes to menagerie. Sadly, I am never one of the lucky "winners" who get a new trait fast from starters and LEs. But my cats are cute, and I am considering which ones to keep as I work my way out of this expensive hobby.