to open or not to open a reptile shop?!?!?!

[azz123]

hi there,
over the last few months i have been researching opening a reptile shop, the more and more i do this the more i want to do it! i havent found a shop that will let me do work experience yet. my question is:

where do they make there money?
what doesnt sell well?
what does sell well?
what advice can any1 give me?

all advice welcome thankyou

oh im from the united kingdom, england, London area ish.

 

[james.w]

I want to do the same thing. It really depends on the market where you are. Here in Vegas feeders are where the money is. Another thing to make money is supply as much of your own animals as you can.

 

[La-Price]

ace and i have been thinking about opening up a shop sometime as well. when we have the money and time of course
but id say know your area, is their a market for exotics there?
i know where i live in the us, charlotte nc, there isnt a big market for pet shops. so we were thinking of charleston or ashville, more artsy towns not too far away.

 

[herpgirl2510]

I agree with James I would look into breeding alot what of what you carry.

 

[AdrianPaul]

I have also toyed with the idea...look at the stores in your area, what makes you want to go one over another, what do you think they are doing wrong, and how can you improve on it. I personally see most stores selling mostly " main stream" reptiles ( ball pythons, corn snakes, bearded dragons, boas etc). If I had a store these would be the minority, but the problem is that high end animals ( green tree pythons, ETB's, red/ blue/ giant tegus, carpets, frilled dragons, tree monitors) are not bought by the average consumer and here is where the problem of money comes in. You need to have steady income from something ( feeders? Supplies? ) to turn lights on, pay rent, pay your staff. So in order to get people to come in for all the little stuff, you really need to be better then your other area stores. Anyway good luck, I wish I could do this myself.

 

[montana]

Do it over the internet ...

If you have to set up a business in a building you won`t last a month ..

 

[james.w]

Do it over the internet ...

If you have to set up a business in a building you won`t last a month ..

Why would someone not last a month in a building??

You will more than likely have to sell the "mainstream" animals to stay afloat.

 

[chelvis]

With a physical buildng you have overhead (rent, insurance, utlities, licenes... etc.) verse online it much easier and the expenses less. Alot of companies start online as small breeders first to build up start up money. This is benifical so that a company does not have to barrow from a bank to start, there is a good chance they will need to barrow in the near future but the interest will be lower if you have a bussness account already set up with them and have been banking there for awhile.

As for what to stock, in the way of live animals the "main stream" is best. These animals are mainstream becuase most of them are easy to care for, which is great for the average person. Do not carry too many high end animals untill more established in the area. The store i worked at would over "Special Order" services on high end animals. This is a great way to get people who are really into reptiles into the store without having to carry the animals which can be a major investment that does not pay off.

Breeding your own stock would be wise if you are already doing it. It can be pricey to breed your own lifestock. Think about how many beardies your have to set-up feed, water and clean, mulitply that by how many different animals you'd like to stock and your production bill becomes just as much as your rent. Rather choice one or two animals to specialize in and then find a wholesaler or better yet local breeders to work with. Good news is, if there are local breeders then you have an outlet for supplies and feeders.

Breeding your own feeders is where i would put more thought, this is a big money maker and saver. Remember people will go else where to find cheeper and cleaner feeders.

Supplies. Good UVB/UVA bulbs, beding (wide range), reptile cages (front opening, screened, not just fish tanks), Heating elements. Mainly things you can not find in a grocery store. Try going to reptile shows and watching what people are buying. Dont look at what he companies are putting out new for the year, look at the things people are actully buying. Most of it is things that have been on the market for awhile. New vitamines and reptile calciums come out all the time, I still use sticky tounge vit-all becuase it has never let me down.

The last advice i will give it make sure you hire wisly. The staff is what makes a store. You can have the best shop with great looking animals and ever supply under the sun but lets face it no one wants to buy from a place were the guy taking care of the reptiles tells me that a beardie dragon does best in 90% humidity and a 70 degree basking spot. If that happened i would go else were.

 

[Shadowgamer21]

This new place I've been to since moving to AZ is prob the best reptile shop I have ever visited. Only problem is they are small. Only mainstream pet they carry is bearded dragons that I have seen, they get different species regularly. They do have ball pythons but are usually morphs. They have the biggest burmese python I have every seen(not for sale) and a large rhinoceros iguana(also not for sale). Reptiles I have never seen, like a crocodile skink and a false water cobra. They seem to get a lot of customer for their feeders, they have several types of roaches, worms, crickets and fruit flies. They even have a beautiful red tegu. Other than the tegu my favorites would have to be their carpet pythons. Very nice place for practically a hole in the wall. Their store is really clean, actually appear to have correct lighting and I see them using foggers/misters all the time, especially their poison dart frog enclosure. It's sad but a lot of stores, the employees don't really seem to know a whole lot about what is required for some of the animals they carry. Some are even terrible, smell awful, every other tank has a dead animal, have no lighting at all except the lights from the store's ceiling, animals that need a really high humidity kept in an all screen cage with dead plants.

 

[azz123]

thanks for all the advice guys, i think i might breed to begin see how that goes, is there much money in breeding tegu? and what would be the best reptile, snake and lizard to breed and why???? thanks

 

[slideaboot]

I think you guys, while you do have good intentions, are looking at this far too simply and generically. Opening a reptile shop isn't just about having a love of reptiles and wanting to make money off of it. The questions that are being asked here are just the TIP of the iceberg of concerns and issues that need to be addressed. And, not to be rude, if those are the questions you think need to be answered, you're probably not close to ready to be opening any sort of business--especially a reptile business.

Montana's right...with the economy the way it is and with internet commerce, the odds of a locally owned, startup reptile shop succeeding are next to nil--ESPECIALLY without a good businessman or business model.

If you REALLY want to do this, you should probably learn about small businesses and what it takes to start and run one, learn about your area's demographics and needs, and REALLY research the reptile industry--not just from a standpoint of "oh, I've bought reptiles before...", but from the standpoint of ok..."I want to make money off of the reptile industry"-----they are two completely different beasts. If you're going to do this, there is SOOO much to learn and tegutalk is just one of SEVERAL stops to make to prepare yourself.

I apologize if this sounds negative, but I'm only trying to be realistic here.

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With a physical buildng you have overhead (rent, insurance, utlities, licenes... etc.) verse online it much easier and the expenses less. Alot of companies start online as small breeders first to build up start up money. This is benifical so that a company does not have to barrow from a bank to start, there is a good chance they will need to barrow in the near future but the interest will be lower if you have a bussness account already set up with them and have been banking there for awhile.

As for what to stock, in the way of live animals the "main stream" is best. These animals are mainstream becuase most of them are easy to care for, which is great for the average person. Do not carry too many high end animals untill more established in the area. The store i worked at would over "Special Order" services on high end animals. This is a great way to get people who are really into reptiles into the store without having to carry the animals which can be a major investment that does not pay off.

Breeding your own stock would be wise if you are already doing it. It can be pricey to breed your own lifestock. Think about how many beardies your have to set-up feed, water and clean, mulitply that by how many different animals you'd like to stock and your production bill becomes just as much as your rent. Rather choice one or two animals to specialize in and then find a wholesaler or better yet local breeders to work with. Good news is, if there are local breeders then you have an outlet for supplies and feeders.

Breeding your own feeders is where i would put more thought, this is a big money maker and saver. Remember people will go else where to find cheeper and cleaner feeders.

Supplies. Good UVB/UVA bulbs, beding (wide range), reptile cages (front opening, screened, not just fish tanks), Heating elements. Mainly things you can not find in a grocery store. Try going to reptile shows and watching what people are buying. Dont look at what he companies are putting out new for the year, look at the things people are actully buying. Most of it is things that have been on the market for awhile. New vitamines and reptile calciums come out all the time, I still use sticky tounge vit-all becuase it has never let me down.

The last advice i will give it make sure you hire wisly. The staff is what makes a store. You can have the best shop with great looking animals and ever supply under the sun but lets face it no one wants to buy from a place were the guy taking care of the reptiles tells me that a beardie dragon does best in 90% humidity and a 70 degree basking spot. If that happened i would go else were.

Lotta good advice here.

 

[chelvis]

Yes opening a business is not easy and right now is really hard. Which is why i suggested a start up breeding operation at home. This gets you business savy without a big consern of bankrupting yourself.

If your in europe i would imagin tegus would do well. I breed leos for a long time and sold them to local reptile and pet stores before hitting the net with my high end morphs. It was alot of fun and something i could do once i was off school and work, so it was not a full time thing.

 

[RobK.]

there is a reptile/bird shop in the Salt lake utah area that is awesome . they just opened a second store across the salt lake valley . Very clean , cages are very well designed and TONS of reptile accessories . Its a 1 1/2 hour drive for me and worth the drive . Its the Best and cleanest reptile store i have ever seen !!

http://www.yellowpages.com/business/site?link=http%3A%2F%2Flivingsafari.com

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there is a reptile/bird/fish shop in the Salt lake utah area that is awesome . they just opened a second store across the salt lake valley . Very clean , cages are very well designed and TONS of reptile accessories . Its a 1 1/2 hour drive for me and worth the drive . Its the Best and cleanest reptile store i have ever seen !!

http://www.yellowpages.com/business/site?link=http%3A%2F%2Flivingsafari.com