Pricing Tips & Info for new breeders

[Saga Felix]

I am afraid that relying on auction-prices would confuse people even more... as prices on auctions are chaotic at best! It depends 100% what the current crowd is interested in and what the starting bid is. If only ONE person in the crowd wants a particular cat, it sells for opening bid - which is sometimes extremely low, and sometimes more realistic. If more people are interested, it can go many ways... and sometimes even sky-rocket a cat's price to a point where I have a hard time keeping a straight face (and voice)

My best example of this was at the auction I once had for my own cats. I had quite a few rather similar cats, whose main thing was that they showed odyssey 1 ears, which were fairly new at the time.
-The first of those cats sold for the very low starting bid - no one who went for ody.1 ears were present. -But then more people arrived while others left, and for each ody.1-eared cat, the prices just rose and rose - and the last one sold for TEN TIMES the amount that the first one did! -And it has one less trait and a less desirable fur, even :O

So... No, an auction is NOT a reflection of the current market, rather a reflection of the current crowd's desires - and that changes a LOT from auction to auction. Also, sometimes we have people bashing each other with 100-linden-dollar-bids for a looooong time on a given cat, while other times someone slams out a +1k bid or even several - and sometimes people give up fast in bid wars, and sometimes they grit their teeth and goes "for a kill" no matter the cost - and/or get caught up in the thrill, ending up paying more than they normally would have.
All these factors, and many more, make auctions interesting - but also very very hard to predict and hard to draw any real conclusions from unless you attend a lot of them.

[Sanura Snowpaw]

(04-27-2012 10:16 AM)Saga Felix Wrote:  I am afraid that relying on auction-prices would confuse people even more... as prices on auctions are chaotic at best! It depends 100% what the current crowd is interested in and what the starting bid is. If only ONE person in the crowd wants a particular cat, it sells for opening bid - which is sometimes extremely low, and sometimes more realistic. If more people are interested, it can go many ways... and sometimes even sky-rocket a cat's price to a point where I have a hard time keeping a straight face (and voice)

My best example of this was at the auction I once had for my own cats. I had quite a few rather similar cats, whose main thing was that they showed odyssey 1 ears, which were fairly new at the time.
-The first of those cats sold for the very low starting bid - no one who went for ody.1 ears were present. -But then more people arrived while others left, and for each ody.1-eared cat, the prices just rose and rose - and the last one sold for TEN TIMES the amount that the first one did! -And it has one less trait and a less desirable fur, even :O

So... No, an auction is NOT a reflection of the current market, rather a reflection of the current crowd's desires - and that changes a LOT from auction to auction. Also, sometimes we have people bashing each other with 100-linden-dollar-bids for a looooong time on a given cat, while other times someone slams out a +1k bid or even several - and sometimes people give up fast in bid wars, and sometimes they grit their teeth and goes "for a kill" no matter the cost - and/or get caught up in the thrill, ending up paying more than they normally would have.
All these factors, and many more, make auctions interesting - but also very very hard to predict and hard to draw any real conclusions from unless you attend a lot of them.

You said this much better then I could have I had been thinking all of this but wasn't sure how to say it exactly.

[Melanie774 Kidd]

Lol I enjoy auctions for precisely this reason. Sometimes they're a total rollercoaster and you never know what to expect.

[Ethereal Hurricane]

(04-14-2012 11:26 AM)Ethereal Hurricane Wrote:  I firmly believe that auctions are the worst place to judge the actual values of a cat, but I always tell newer breeders that I have met to just sit at as many auctions as you can.

(04-27-2012 10:16 AM)Saga Felix Wrote:  I am afraid that relying on auction-prices would confuse people even more... as prices on auctions are chaotic at best!

I couldn't agree more with what I said.

[Malicia Python]

Auctions are a snapshot of the moods and needs of a few ppl at a given time, but there are so many potential buyers all the time. The funniest story I ever had was this:
I had a cat at an auction, a comparable box in a shop on another sim. The opening bid was a lot lower than the price of the box. The cat was a no sale and about 20 minutes later the box was sold.

[Khea Karas]

bumping as ppl have been asking for it

[Khea Karas]

Bump again

[Mirsoul Resident]

Had to reply to this post. An auction is really not good to judge or guage your prices by. As many have already said, a sale at auction depends on many things. The crowd, traits on the kitty, and even the time of the month. Yes, SL has a period too! LOL I find the end of each month to be slower, I attribute this to month end bills, rent/mortgage payments..etc. Anyway, walk around the sims, not just one, but a couple...check out prices, talk to other breeders. My rule of thumb is; never take less than what you are comfortable with, and never ask for more than what you would be willing to pay. However with that being said, I have seen kitties sell for 75,0000L...which to me is a little much for a pixelated kitty. But hey, to each their happiness

[Malicia Python]

I have been thinking a lot about a "fair" pricing system. By "fair" I mean taking into account the breeding efforts one had to achieve a kitten. I made this table some ago, some numbers might need correction, but you see the general idea. Traits that are not in every starter are valued higher than i.e. tails and ears, Perfect eyes get an extra bonus and so on.

Mendel Fur Eyes MES Small Perf* Shade Tail Ears W-Col. W-S Perf W*
Dom. 50 - 100 50 50 50 +50 50 50 50 50 50 +50
Med. 100-300 100 50 50 +100 100 100 100 100 100 +100
Rec. 300-500 150 50 50 +150 150 200 200 200 200 +150
Very Rec. 500-? 200 50 50 +200 200+ 200+ 200+ 200+ 200+ +200

Bonus added
Retired traits acc. to their recessiveness 25 - 100
7T 10% of the final Price
8T 20% of the final Price
9T 30% of the final Price

[Serena Stroikavskoi]

(01-04-2013 01:54 AM)Malicia Python Wrote:  I have been thinking a lot about a "fair" pricing system. By "fair" I mean taking into account the breeding efforts one had to achieve a kitten. I made this table some ago, some numbers might need correction, but you see the general idea. Traits that are not in every starter are valued higher than i.e. tails and ears, Perfect eyes get an extra bonus and so on.

Mendel Fur Eyes MES Small Perf* Shade Tail Ears W-Col. W-S Perf W*
Dom. 50 - 100 50 50 50 +50 50 50 50 50 50 +50
Med. 100-300 100 50 50 +100 100 100 100 100 100 +100
Rec. 300-500 150 50 50 +150 150 200 200 200 200 +150
Very Rec. 500-? 200 50 50 +200 200+ 200+ 200+ 200+ 200+ +200

Bonus added
Retired traits acc. to their recessiveness 25 - 100
7T 10% of the final Price
8T 20% of the final Price
9T 30% of the final Price

Very similar to the pricing system I use. I use a percentage for traits I know are hidden instead of for retired.