Making money in the Dart Frog Hobby ?

[Michael Lawrence]

No one is just "going to find you" out of the blue or look you up like the big boys. You have to pound the pavement. But if you put in the work, not only will the hobby reward you with friends and enriching experiences, but you'll be able to afford it with trades and froglets. It is very attainable to have this hobby "pay for itself".

Don't forget about word of mouth, this can hurt you or help you so honor your dealings, advertise and be as upfront and factual on what your have and bred YOURSELF. People listen out for who to trust and more on who to avoid. Keep what you like not what you think will sell. And don't be an asshole and tell someone you never actually guaranteed live arrival. Tads, frogs, bugs or whatever your quality, husbandry practices and dealings are your rep, You only get one and this hobby is small enough everything gets around.

And don't rush to build a collection. I know of many who dove into thumbs in the last year and realized they are not prepared only after causing issue, harm or death to the frogs. Research and take it slow.
Michael

[Philsuma]

And here's something else....

Buy and then split insect cultures and sell them
Buy large lots of Leaf Litter, Indian almond leaves, petri dishes, cocohuts (make your own), Excelsior...ect ect
Grow uncommon vivarium plants and sell cuttings and cultivars from them
Make a huge trashcan full of ABG mix and bag it up into 1 gallon bags and people will FLY around to buy it at shows and meets.

You can also have the hobby pay for itself buy selling other things, than frogs !

[cbreon]

Those are all good ways to help cover your costs and make good connections. I've found that often times the best pieces of advice come from asking questions while visiting/talking with other experienced hobbyists/breeders. Like I said to you before Phil, its the little things that you pick up from a visit that help you fine tune your skills and those little things can sometimes make a big difference.

[Philsuma]

I bought a single 16oz deli cup of Giant Spanish Orange Isopods for $10.00 at a Reptile Show many years ago.

Since then....

I've split and sold over 50 cultures from that same single starter culture.

Ya think that part of the hobby paid for itself...and even several frogs ?

Yep.

[RanaVenenosa]

Would make a huge difference if the spouse is working - ie.. other income source REALLY helps

If you think about having to pay health ins, car pymts, mortgage, food etc... throw some kids into the mix... Oh man - you would need to sell a ton of frogs to get by

[Philsuma]

and that's a HUGE reason, why I like and am attracted to the frog hobby. It's so different from the Reptile, bird or mammal hobbies and you KNOW what I mean.

It's great that people are not gouging and trying to buy BMW's with frog money.

[jrgobble]

I think there is a difference in making some money for hobby income and making money as income. Looking at it from a business perspective:
If you are happy with $10.00 per hour, you will produce $20,800.00 in a year, working a 40 hour week.
Most pet industries extimat 20% for power, inventory, food, replacements, and space. This may be conservative.
That totals to $25,000.00 gross income for the business.
That is almost $2100.00 per month which is 42 frogs at $50.00 each month. That can be a lot of frogs. I know that there are other items that can be sold and different prices in frogs, I am just using that as an example. Remember that business owners also pay higher taxes than people employed, so once taxes are taken out you will be making Roughly $15000.00 per year. That is not enough(in my opinion) to call it a business. You would need someone else to support you. The hobby can pay for itself, but not everything else unless you are a huge frog producer.

[dynekevin]

I dont think many people would get into the dart frog hobby for just the money (im sure there are always exceptions). But i believe if you are considering making a business related to this hobby it would be to further / help the community and also help fund your hobby needs / wants / drools overs lol. In my case, i want to sell vertical kits and lids. I enjoy making these things, spending time in the garage tinkering around with stuff is something i love to do. In addition, profits can be donated towards new hobbists who are short funded or simply do not have the means of making what they want. All together, i think there is nothing wrong with creating a business that is dart frog hobby related. Maybe you cannot make millions of dollars and fly around in a new jet but what you can do is help the community; In my experience, there is nothing more rewarding than helping others and giving back. -Kevin

[Philsuma]

ahh..here's one of the threads I was looking for. Making fat stacks with Dart Frogs.

Now we can ask the question....why would someone choose a 'bad' person to buy frogs, or anything else for that matter, from ?

there is also a poll here, and I'll find that shortly too. "Would you buy frogs from Jack the Ripper" ? You MAY be astonished at the results....or maybe you wouldn't.

[sidney ferrell]

ahh..here's one of the threads I was looking for. Making fat stacks with Dart Frogs.

Now we can ask the question....why would someone choose a 'bad' person to buy frogs, or anything else for that matter, from ?

there is also a poll here, and I'll find that shortly too. "Would you buy frogs from Jack the Ripper" ? You MAY be astonished at the results....or maybe you wouldn't.

Or...or.... Would you rather leave your kids under the care of a catholic priest?

Watch the movies people! Its always the clean cut, perfect record career church going folks that always end up being the meany weenies in the end huh???

[JayMillz]

That's not always true. Sometimes you can pick a dickhead out right away. Take the Scream movies for example. That scary dude trying to kill that little whiney girl Sidney the whole time was obviously a meany weenie...

ahh..here's one of the threads I was looking for. Making fat stacks with Dart Frogs.

Now we can ask the question....why would someone choose a 'bad' person to buy frogs, or anything else for that matter, from ?

there is also a poll here, and I'll find that shortly too. "Would you buy frogs from Jack the Ripper" ? You MAY be astonished at the results....or maybe you wouldn't.

Or...or.... Would you rather leave your kids under the care of a catholic priest?

Watch the movies people! Its always the clean cut, perfect record career church going folks that always end up being the meany weenies in the end huh???

[Philsuma]

Here's another one of my 'musings' on business, related to Dart Frogs...

Like anything else, longevity is KEY. Cream rises to the top. The top and most respected names and businesses in our little niche hobby didn't get that way by accident. They didn't get that way with bribes or free tickets to a Lady Gaga concert.

There are some people that treat this hobby like one big giant facebook event or private party and attempt to keep in a close circle of their own making. That's fine, but railing and crying about any other hobbyist is just counter-productive, time consuming and silly.

Let EVERYONE go. Don't worry about anyone but yourself. Feel like someone is 'taking sales' away from you? Then do something about other than cry and whine. TAKE pics of your animals and enclosures. POST....often. NETWORK. Put yourself out there. In other words, do something positive and take care of yourself. Build YOUR OWN reputation and everything else in this hobby will take care of itself in due time.

[sidney ferrell]

Here's another one of my 'musings' on business, related to Dart Frogs...

Like anything else, longevity is KEY. Cream rises to the top. The top and most respected names and businesses in our little niche hobby didn't get that way by accident. They didn't get that way with bribes or free tickets to a Lady Gaga concert.

There are some people that treat this hobby like one big giant facebook event or private party and attempt to keep in a close circle of their own making. That's fine, but railing and crying about any other hobbyist is just counter-productive, time consuming and silly.

Let EVERYONE go. Don't worry about anyone but yourself. Feel like someone is 'taking sales' away from you? Then do something about other than cry and whine. TAKE pics of your animals and enclosures. POST....often. NETWORK. Put yourself out there. In other words, do something positive and take care of yourself. Build YOUR OWN reputation and everything else in this hobby will take care of itself in due time.

Hell yes! Thank you.

Seriously phil...instead of worrying about someone else, wouldnt it say more instead for that frogger to start a thread on how he breeds his obligates and setup pics and egg progression so that those who are just getting started but are scared to ever join after reading some of the drama can be helped? I guess like a sticky where all of us that breed start posting and sharing

[Philsuma]

That post isn't just directed to Rich...it's for you too Sidney. In fact, I think it touches about 2/3rd s of the people reading this.

Rich has longevity. You do not.

As abrasive as he is, he has helped this hobby a lot. Helped a lot of people. That get's him credibility and leeway.

Businesses get 'passes' too. See all the black Jungle mail order / internet shipping problems ? All of those would have broke the back of ANY new business. Do they get some leeway due to how long and how much they have helped the hobby ? Yes they do.

[ChrisK]

The top and most respected names and businesses in our little niche hobby didn't get that way by accident. They didn't get that way with bribes

............................ well.......

[Philsuma]

The top and most respected names and businesses in our little niche hobby didn't get that way by accident. They didn't get that way with bribes

............................ well.......

do tell....

[RichFrye]

[Philsuma]

Making fat stacks off'a frogs...

You can see from a recent thread, where people get all bent out of shape on which frogs to pair with which frogs....

and WHY ?? Why o' why is the topic so inflammatory ???

SAME exact reason for EVERYTHING in life - Business, Politics and yes..even Religion.

$$$$$$$$$$$$$Money$$$$$$$$$$$$

Nobody wants to be cheated by a 'worthless' pumilio. Nobody wants to lose their frog-investment ! That's why lines are so important. That's why things are worth lying about.

There MAY be a sliver of altruistic hobbyists in our niche hobby...less than 20%, I'd warrant.

Just remember..."When somebody's cryin' or lyin' - it's all about $$"...not the frogs themselves. Lets be real here people.

^^ I think I'm gonna add that catch phrase to my DD T-shirt roll out this year.

[cbreon]

My quick reply to the idea that its all about money, for some it might be, but for the record I don't work with any black jeans, although I just spent quite a bit of time discussing mixing the lines...

[Philsuma]

Craig..when you've been around the hobby as long as we have,then it's pretty easy to see who is in the '20 percent'.