Was Hamm cheaper??

[cervantes]

Lots of people went to Hamm this month. Just wondering if any of you have worked out how much you saved on your purchases.

I've never been myself, but I presume the main reason for going is the large choice right in front of you, and the experience of seeing so many different animals.

[GazEmm]

I didnt find it all that cheap and some things i thought were pretty overpriced.There were a few bargains about if you looked mind.

[Athravan]

It's not always cheaper now with the Euro being so low, a few years ago when it was 1.5 to 1 then it was good, but now people were saying they got rates as bad as 1.16 to 1 - which is practically the same.

It is certainly good for finding things that are often unavailable or very rare in the UK though, and animals that come over from the states, it is much easier to get them arranged for Hamm, than to ship direct into the UK. Some equipment comes out in the EU quite a bit before the UK too so it can be worth it if you want something that's not in the shops here yet.

If you were just going for a corn snake then it's probably not going to be a lot cheaper and by the time you factor in the £100+ cost of getting there small orders will work out very similar to UK prices. If buying an animals worth £5k though you could easily save £500 on UK prices which makes it worth the effort.

[Trice]

You usually save alot more by ordering before you go to hamm, and picking up from the major breeders there.

Tbh. in march, i didnt know exactly what i wanted, i knew i would have liked a dwarf boa, after looking around a few times, i found the one i wanted. and bought it. I believe i bought it at a cheaper price than what you'd find them in england

[cornmorphs]

most stuff there was equal to uk price now. some was even more. there were a few bargains, but they generally went quickly

[ukgeckos]

It basically the range that makes it worth it. All the bargains found usually end p being the same price as you have to pay to travel there and for food etc. If you add up all the money spent on animals/travel/food then compare it to the UK then you'll see that its not that much of a difference. It may work out cheaper when you buy a lot or very rare species.
Sept hamm is also the most expensive with Dec being the cheapest.

[Moshpitviper]

I found the thing with this show was that it was REALLY overpriced. Oreocryptophis porthyrecea coxi were about 100 euros pricier than they were in december which i was most annoyed about. also cb hognoses were about 100 euros.... 3x more than you'd pay at a show here.

Also i paid 6 euros each for cb Dendrobates auratus in march 07 the cheapest i found at the sept show was 25 euros for WC examples and about 35 for cb.

glad i only bought equipment and livefoods. mind you even the livefoods were relatively expensive.

[ukgeckos]

It will be more again next september. Its been going up every year Ive been.
First year vipers were 30euro a pair now there near 80euro, helmeted geckos were 40euro a pair now near 100.
I find it best to arrange pick up before and so you know what the prices are and can get pics/info to ensure there as healthy as possible. You can still find cheap animals if you look but then again you have to pay to get there!

[Sarracenia]

To be honest I thought tat the prices weren't too good either. However, I did grab an ABSOLUTE bargain at the start: a Sub-Adult, CB, VERY brightly coloured Tokay, only €15! And he's really healthy but the only downside is that he's as aggressive as they're supposed to be. He escaped in the poly box as well. Also, he literally smashed an adult locust's head into a crumbled, unrecognisable ball: and it was alive afterwards. Anyway, I'd better stop showing off Ridley.
There were quite a lot of bargain-bin beetles too. For example, I got 5 HUGE yellowing Xylotrupes grubs, only €15. 5 Dicronorhina derbyana layardi L3 for €20, and 2 Dynastes tityus big L2 for €20.

Also, I got a sexed CB pair of Sub-Adult Red Eye Croc Skinks for only €130. That's a decent price. I think so at least.