well, Now that I have 7 frogs, I'm starting to build a vivarium large enough to house them all. In conversation over the weekend a friend of a friend said they were looking to get frogs as a pet for their daughter (he was interested in keeping them too). He asked me what I was doing with my old setup and I told him I didn't know, maybe sell it if I could find a buyer. Well, he offered to buy it, as long as I could get it to him by October 30 which is his daugher's birthday. Plenty of time. His daughter loves frogs. We spent a good hour finding them in my friends pond.

So In saying this, what should I charge for a fully set up vivarium?

The basic cost went like this:

40 gallon Tank: $60
Gravel/dirt/bedding: $30
Plants: $20
Vine: $30
Bark/driftwood: $40
Adhesive/filler: $20
Hood/lights: $70
Thermostat: $20
Misc Supplies: $10
Time to put it together: Priceless.

Would $300 be too much to ask? I thought about offering to stock it with 2 new frogs as well get him all his supplies/carsheets if he gave me another $375, so that would be $75 delivered. He lives about an hour and a half away as well, so that's drive time too.

Here is the most recent photo I have of the tank. A few of the plants have changed, but its mostly the same.

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My name is Liz
Do what's best for the animal, not what's best for you.

I'm not sure I usually feel things out and say, "A lot of time and money has gone into putting this together, how much are you looking to spend?" If he lowballs you explain how much it cost to put together and see if he still thinks what he says is a fair price.

Regardless of what his financial situation is, whats fair to you, is what is fair! Consider that you have almost 200 in materials, plus your time to put it together and get it running well. AND the energy, time and GAS to deliver it!
I think 200 is too low.

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Merlin,
What's Life Without A Little Magic!

I was talking it over with a friend last night. She asked me how much its costing me to make the new one. I said probably $300 so she told me to charge that. Kind of a strange way to think about it.

I also forgot, he would be getting a light hood and bulbs, so thats an additional $70 in cost.

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My name is Liz
Do what's best for the animal, not what's best for you.

I don't think $300 is too much to ask at all.

It would cost at least 300 EUROS around here...

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Regards,
Joao

It's not too much to charge... but know the person you are going to sell it to. Sometimes they're expecting you to say $20 for what's worth $300, because "it's used."

I had that happen with a 55g tank. It was empty, and I was cleaning it out and put it on my deck. My neighbor saw it and asked me to sell it to her for her son's new bearded dragons. I had paid a little over $100 for it several years before, and I knew that the price of brand new tanks similar to mine were now around $120. I also tend to recycle my tanks often. I can always find a use for one. So I thought I'd sell it to her for $75. She freaked and told me that she could buy a new one for $50, so why should she pay $75 for a used one? (She was hoping I'd just give it to her.)

It sounds a little like he may be thinking that same way. Maybe letting him know exactly what went into it, would help head that off.

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"Let's eat, Grandpa!"
"Let's eat Grandpa!"

Punctuation. It saves lives.

no I don't think its about getting a good deal. I was going into detail all the stuff I put in it and all the effort it took me.

I'm going to take a photo tonight and email it to him with a price. Hopefully he doesn't freak.

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My name is Liz
Do what's best for the animal, not what's best for you.

I believe if you detail the material costs and labour to make it he won't think $300 is too much.

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Mike

Yay, he wants it! He also asked for websites/forums to have good care for the frogs, so I sent him a link here and a link to the caresheet.

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My name is Liz
Do what's best for the animal, not what's best for you.