I agree with Cerat and DocMorrie.

Duke you can't compare the hobby in SA to that in UK, US and the rest of Europe.

The major differences are that the number of hobbyists are a lot fewer and we don't have the availability of new spiders being imported on a regular basis. We have to rely on illegal importing to get new bloodlines and new species, most people don't support this seeing that its against the law , this puts a tremendous strain on the hobby.

I support giving away free spiders with the purchase of other spiders

But selling all the species for the same price,... I don't know

I think spiders that are expensive spiders brings that sort of exclusivity that drives the hobby. Having said that not all pretty spiders are super expensive. In my opinion the common curly is a beautiful spider and I have a couple It makes me sad seeing them handled like a little scrap spider just because the markets flooded.

As DocMorrie said R1400 for a spider is not expensive in some other hobbies forking out 10k-100K is nothing unheard of for the specific specimen in question.

I am happy with the current state of our hobby and I am happy paying the prices I'm paying for my spiders

I mountain bike and if anyone has seen lately you can get a R2000 bike or a R200000 bike. They all have the same parts essentially the quality differs however. But as most things in life you buy what you can afford at a given point in time and then save for something better. Most times if you make a plan and buy an expensive one you will not have the skillto utilize it and end up wrecking it. It also gives you something to strive towards.

I feel T's are the same, you should have something to aspire towards.
As a kid I was taught anything gained too easily is not always appreciated.
Im saving and will get my M balfouri or P metallica and by the time I can afford them I will have the experience to look after them. If you cant afford something theres probably a reason for it. Get over it I say.

sk27 wrote: If you cant afford something theres probably a reason for it.

The reason you paying high prices is because some greedy breeder is trying to nail you for every cent you got.

Yes, our hobby is too small as everybody mentions and that why prices need to be realistic from the begining.There are only so few customers

M.balfouri is a good example. 18 months ago they were going for R1500
Now R650. The price should have been more realistic from the begining.
Nobody benefits from high prices but the breeder themselfs.

Mammon: M.balfouri is a good example. 18 months ago they were going for R1500
Now R650. The price should have been more realistic from the begining.
Nobody benefits from high prices but the breeder themselfs.

Agree with you 100%.... Iv noticed that the breeders who want to rip people off defend the HIGH prices with a PASSION sayings its for the hobby etc. etc. etc..... Rather there Hobby is how Fat can my wallet grow... Not saying you shouldn't make a bit of cash on the side but be realistic...
And for people who want the hobby to grow R1500 for a cool rare spider will almost 100% of he time chase new people away thinking this is an expensive hobby when in fact its kinda cheap.. yes you can argue then why don't they get a curly.... That is my point the nicer spider people can attain the faster the hobby will grow.

Simple answer to this is ... if you put up the offer and ppl want to buy it there was a demand for it at that price.

If you don't like the price simply don't buy it.
The guy feels it's worth the price because he has also obviously put in the effort in raising the little guy.

You forget the you are buying more than a spider but the opportunity to be able to breed with it. The experience is golden but the fact that you have 10 balfouri sling on your hands .. well... I would really like to see you standing by your stance of selling them for R300 a pop. With the effort of raising the thing and then the complexity of breeding it and then raising the ramaining slings to instar that you can sell is a mission on it's own.

just my 2 cents

In every hobby, you have cheap, you have expensive, and then you have everything in between. I'm struggling to see what is wrong with this when it comes to Tarantula husbandry. Having said that, I'm not so keen on the online auction thing. I have my own theories on that, but it just means I won't take part in it. Simple really.