I've seen it time and time again. It has happened in all common species of animals. It's the pyramid scheme. Well, sort of.
Here's how it works:
Person A has some kind of "exotic" animal. For this example, let's use buffalo. So Person A has some buffalo that he uses for breeding and/or meat. He either a.) manages to create a market for his breeding stock through pure salesmanship/scam artistry, or b.) there is some kind of movement or trend that creates a demand for the buffalo. Martha Stewart said it was awesome, or some crap like that.
Person A decides to cash in. He starts selling his buffalo for BIG MONEY, convincing his buyers, Person B and Person C, that there is BIG MONEY to be made in breeding buffalo. After all, he is selling them breeding stock for BIG MONEY, and they're willing to pay it, so therefore, other people will pay it, too.
For a while, this works. Persons B and C start producing buffalo, selling to persons D, E, F, G and H, all the while, referring people back to Person A to buy more breeding stock. After all, Persons A, B and C are now making a KILLING on selling breeding stock to Persons D, E, F, G and H - so Persons D E F G H think they're going to make BIG MONEY, too. Chances are, along the way, Person A would have sold all of his breeding stock, because hey, BIG MONEY, and also because he is probably smart enough to see what's coming.
Then, all of a sudden, the bottom drops out of the market (maybe Martha Stewart mentioned Boer goat meat this week instead). It turns out, no one beyond Person H wants to buy breeding stock buffalo. The market is now saturated with breeders, but there is no one left who wants to buy buffalo for breeding stock. Along the way, someone forgot to set up the side of the market that would be demanding buffalo meat, and now there is excess meat on the hoof that no one wants to buy.
Now, Persons D E F G H are super mad at Persons B and C for selling them this BIG MONEY breeding stock. Persons B and C have put a fair amount of money in the bank, though, so they don't care all that much, although they are annoyed at Person A for talking them into this pyramid scheme in the first place. Person A doesn't care, as he has now moved to Arizona and is enjoying his swimming pool and live-in chef, who has never heard of, let alone prepared, buffalo meat.
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So, let this be a word of caution to those who are new to animals, be they dogs or horses: if someone is selling you something with the promise that you'll be making big money on the offspring, DO NOT BELIEVE IT. If it sounds too good to be true, chances are that it is not 100% legitimate.
This applies to any living creature. Specifically, in my lifetime, I have seen this happen to llamas, alpacas, emus, ostriches, buffalo, elk, various breeds of horses (my beloved Canadians, even), MANY breeds of dogs (remember the Chihuahua explosion about 10 years ago?!) ... and probably many others that I can't think of at the moment. Remember when llamas were commanding HUGE prices? Well, now you can't even give them away.
Any animal whose primary purpose is to be eaten is essentially, eventually, only worth its weight in meat.
So unless you're getting into it for the love of the breed and you don't care if you break even/make some money, be VERY, VERY aware of what the true (meat) value of the animal is, and don't overpay for it. Don't be a part of the pyramid scheme.
Here's how it works:
Person A has some kind of "exotic" animal. For this example, let's use buffalo. So Person A has some buffalo that he uses for breeding and/or meat. He either a.) manages to create a market for his breeding stock through pure salesmanship/scam artistry, or b.) there is some kind of movement or trend that creates a demand for the buffalo. Martha Stewart said it was awesome, or some crap like that.
Person A decides to cash in. He starts selling his buffalo for BIG MONEY, convincing his buyers, Person B and Person C, that there is BIG MONEY to be made in breeding buffalo. After all, he is selling them breeding stock for BIG MONEY, and they're willing to pay it, so therefore, other people will pay it, too.
For a while, this works. Persons B and C start producing buffalo, selling to persons D, E, F, G and H, all the while, referring people back to Person A to buy more breeding stock. After all, Persons A, B and C are now making a KILLING on selling breeding stock to Persons D, E, F, G and H - so Persons D E F G H think they're going to make BIG MONEY, too. Chances are, along the way, Person A would have sold all of his breeding stock, because hey, BIG MONEY, and also because he is probably smart enough to see what's coming.
Then, all of a sudden, the bottom drops out of the market (maybe Martha Stewart mentioned Boer goat meat this week instead). It turns out, no one beyond Person H wants to buy breeding stock buffalo. The market is now saturated with breeders, but there is no one left who wants to buy buffalo for breeding stock. Along the way, someone forgot to set up the side of the market that would be demanding buffalo meat, and now there is excess meat on the hoof that no one wants to buy.
Now, Persons D E F G H are super mad at Persons B and C for selling them this BIG MONEY breeding stock. Persons B and C have put a fair amount of money in the bank, though, so they don't care all that much, although they are annoyed at Person A for talking them into this pyramid scheme in the first place. Person A doesn't care, as he has now moved to Arizona and is enjoying his swimming pool and live-in chef, who has never heard of, let alone prepared, buffalo meat.
----------------------
So, let this be a word of caution to those who are new to animals, be they dogs or horses: if someone is selling you something with the promise that you'll be making big money on the offspring, DO NOT BELIEVE IT. If it sounds too good to be true, chances are that it is not 100% legitimate.
This applies to any living creature. Specifically, in my lifetime, I have seen this happen to llamas, alpacas, emus, ostriches, buffalo, elk, various breeds of horses (my beloved Canadians, even), MANY breeds of dogs (remember the Chihuahua explosion about 10 years ago?!) ... and probably many others that I can't think of at the moment. Remember when llamas were commanding HUGE prices? Well, now you can't even give them away.
Any animal whose primary purpose is to be eaten is essentially, eventually, only worth its weight in meat.
So unless you're getting into it for the love of the breed and you don't care if you break even/make some money, be VERY, VERY aware of what the true (meat) value of the animal is, and don't overpay for it. Don't be a part of the pyramid scheme.
If you'll go $385.97 I'll take a pair asap --
