Okay I can understand when something is rare and the price is high BUT I can't understand why people are bidding $40. on a dozen Silver Lace Wyandottes on eggbid.com when Myers was selling the same breed for $2.40/poulets and $1.80 roos day old chicks. Why would the eggs be so much more expensive? I can buy a lot of chicks with that same money!!
Edit to add I just saw that the price was not for Silver Lace it was Blue Lace red wyandotte. Not sure what makes those eggs so expensive still.
MollyD
This message was edited May 28, 2008 9:48 PM
Egg price question
Well, sometimes I think it is the quality of a known breeder...sometimes it is the rareness of the breed....but most times it is a BIDDING FRENZY!:0)
Looks like a feeding frenzy alright! I finally did see some Silver Laced Wyandotte eggs, dz for $16.00 starting bid but it hurts to think of paying money knowing that they can arrive totally useless. I think I'm going to aim for the chicks themselves. A bit surer.
I was at both Ovabid and Eggbid. Is one better than the other or just a matter of personal preference?
MollyD
I've never been able to register on egg.bid because I don't have email you pay for (I'm a hotmail parasite). But I did contact the breeders of the breeds I was interested in (Nankins/Barnevelders) through them and they both agreed to sell me eggs for the minimum bid price. Another breeder said she only sold through egg.bid, but then she added that she might sell to me if she couldn't sell all her eggs. Haven't heard from her though. Don't know about ovabid.
Catscan on the Lily Auction they have the same rule about email addresses. The owner of that site will work around that if people email him directly. Have you tried contacting the owners of eggbid and asking if there is a way they can register you with the hotmail addy? Most use the valid email as a way to verify a person is who they say they are.
MollyD
Ovabid doesn't seem to be as connected as eggbid,
IMHO. Not as much product, and it appears no one
uses the add space much. Don't know if there's an
issue there, or if it's too pricey.
I think it's a matter of supply and demand. One week,
I can see a dozen coturnix quail eggs go for a dollar.
Another week, the same may go for $5. If you are on
a 'chick' schedule, and need your eggs this week so
everyone fits into the program at the right time, you might
be willing to pay a bit more for eggs now, rather than
have to wait for someone else's schedule, as in, "We
will be shipping your chicks on such and such date".
Another advantage to getting eggs, is you don't have to
buy a large quantity of chicks. You also reduce the chance
of being shipped a disease along with those new chicks.
(although there are some diseases that are transferred
from hen to egg)
Granted, there are some hatcheries that will ship small
numbers, but again, the choices of who you get them
from is very limited. And, the big factor as Cat pointed
out, is you can ask a lot of questions about a breeder,
and read a lot of reviews for how well they care for the
eggs they ship. And, my favorite? I just love to watch
chicks hatching, the whole process is so much fun if
all goes well. It's also something that I am able to share
with my DGD, and we learn a lot.
Very good reasons truest! I'm still not shelling out $40. for a dozen eggs LOL
MollyD
Okay Molly you had me there for a second. I have tons of silver laced wyandotte eggs. $40.00 per dozen, I am there. Oh did you say it was Blue laced Red Wyandottes. Well, shoot. I was really rich for about 1 minute there.
LOL
Sheila
LOL I'd be running out to buy all the SLW I could get my hands on! Now why are those BLRW eggs so valuable? Are they rare?
MollyD
I think it is a relatively new color, very attractive, and hard to breed for well. That's about it.
Okay that explains the very high price. What a chance to take!! I got two packages today from the PO and they looked like someone had walked on them! Can you imagine if eggs were in them? Both were marked Fragile btw!!!
MollyD
I think you shouldn't label anything "Fragile". It just provokes them!
Yeah they think it means "kick here"
MollyD
I sell on eBay, and when I mark packages "fragile" I make sure there is insurance on them. The post office is VERY careful when it comes to an insured package because if it arrives broken, THEY have to pay for it. They don't want to give up any money, so they treat packages like that with kid gloves.
I also ship any breakable items Priority Mail instead of Parcel Post as you can bet they arrive broken with Parcel Post. Have had the experience.
GG
GG the ones that came all dented this week were Priority Mail!
MollyD
Molly, were they insured?
I do know that UPS doesn't know the word fragile. We have a friend who works for UPS, and he says that they just load the trucks willy-nilly with the packages. If they have a small, light package that comes through at the front of the conveyer, it gets loaded on the truck that way and if others come after that package, they are loaded right on top of it. Don't matter if it's marked or not.
But as I said, they don't want to pay out any money so when it is insured, they seem to get there in better shape.
Just got a package yesterday through UPS, and it was left outside the gate in the back yard. Couldn't have been our regular driver working because he knows to leave it on the back porch so the weather doesn't get to it. Got one today also. We have to get our meds through the mail, but since the Post Office lost one of mine, they ship it UPS to us. They are mostly shipped in a plastic or tyvec bag and I don't know how they get here undamaged. That bag is absolutely no protection against anything!
GG
No insurance, just confirmation on it.
I've tried to tell people that marking this side up or handle with care is a waste of time but they won't believe me. I'll remember about the insurance if I have to send anything really breakable.
I'm amazed at half the things I get in envelopes and not broken!
MollyD
I am too.
GG
I think insurance is pretty cheap--I will definitely do it if I ship eggs. My poor Barnevelder breeder ended up shipping eggs to me 3 times before they arrived in decent shape--65 cents would have saved him at least $18.00.
i shipped a huge box of peat pots yesterday by priority mail. it was lightweight of course, and i insured it and didn't use the flat rate box... the ditz asked if i wanted delivery confirmation with that!!! how dumb does she think I AM? you get a tracking number with the insurance receipt!!!
and if you send anything Express, which sometimes isn't much more, than $100 in insurance is included automatically, plus you have proof of delivery...
tf
I don't know about the people you have working at your P.O., TF, but our clerk knows more than the postmistress here. The P.M. is only part-time and the clerk is full-time. There are certain questions they have to ask no matter what you are shipping. I think that is one of them. I know she has to ask if there is anything liquid, (darn, I forgot what other things she has to ask me).
And don't forget, shipping internationally has a whole other list of questions they have to ask.
GG
oh, she KNOWS but just maybe you are right and she aske dout of habit. what if someone didn't know, and paid for express, paid for insurance, and paid for DC on topof that?
and they are not in the habit of asking what is in it like they should...
That could be, just habit., but when they weigh something, it comes up with the info, but let's face it, people just don't read stuff like they should.
GG