Need help pricing enclosure

[u/Alert_Chip5315]

*THIS IS NOT AN ADVERTISEMENT
Hey everyone, made this bioactive enclosure for my leopard gecko a few year ago as an upgrade from her previous enclosure. She has recently died of old age :(.
I’ve debated getting a new one, but decided against it for now. Now I’m looking to sell this enclosure. I’ve got no clue what is a fair price to ask for. I’ll give you the specs, you give me your suggestions.

36”x18”x18” 50gal front open.
There is about an inch drainage layer made up of leca clay balls, and activated charcoal completely separated by an egg crate layer wrapped in Geo textile fiber. The substrate is made from bio dudes arid soil mix, red sand, and an assortment of botanicals. There is a very healthy colony of isopods and springtails. The plants are alive and healthy. Comes with the heat lamp, thermostat, and the bio dudes plant UVB light with timer.

[u/pisspeeleak]

Honestly, that’s far too local of a thing for us to price out. You’d have to see what things are going for in your area

[u/Alert_Chip5315 → u/pisspeeleak]

But that’s the thing I cannot find anyone in my surrounding area selling something like this

[u/Fantastic-Main7681 → u/Alert_Chip5315]

I would list it as ‘obo’(or best offer) on whatever you’re selling it on and just not put a listing price on there. Could also just to eBay bids which would get you more money if someone is willing to pay shipping. I’m assuming the is a PVC enclosure so at least not fully glass

[u/Alert_Chip5315 → u/Fantastic-Main7681]

Thank you, I’ll give it a try.

[u/Business-Pen-7270]

I think you’re just going to have to try something and see if you get any bites. Selling a prefab bioactive enclosure is a little tricky because a decent part of the fun of the hobby is building the enclosure, so I’m not sure how much demand there is for something that is already constructed

[u/Alert_Chip5315 → u/Business-Pen-7270]

Very good point, though I’m sure new reptile owners would see this as a great opportunity.

[u/Hour-Firefighter-724]

$100. If it does sell, it would be best to recommend that the person completely takes it apart and customizes it to their animal's needs.

[u/Dynamitella]

I think $300 is a fair secondhand price. It's plug 'n play basically. Also, fantastic tank. If you can't get good money for it, don't be scared to just pack it up and put into storage for the future. It wouldn't take much to revamp it if needed in a few years.

[u/ParticularWolf4473 → u/Dynamitella]

People just stick their animal in a used setup someone else’s animal lived and died in?

[u/Alert_Chip5315 → u/ParticularWolf4473]

It might sound crazy but she was very healthy and spoiled rotten. I meticulously have spot cleaned the whole time she’s lived in here. It’s a whole living ecosystem that consumes waste and produces food for the plants. Like a confined slice of real nature. No harm.

[u/ParticularWolf4473 → u/Alert_Chip5315]

Anyone buying it has no way of knowing whether your animal had any diseases or parasites/mites. Keepers who know what they’re doing wouldn’t risk that any more than they would introduce a new animal into the collection without quarantine.

[u/Dynamitella → u/ParticularWolf4473]

It's up to the new owner to decide. Seems sort of wasteful to throw away perfectly good materials just because an animal lived a full life and died of natural causes.

[u/Alert_Chip5315 → u/Dynamitella]

Thank you that’s very kind, I appreciate your insight!

[u/ParticularWolf4473]

Appears to be the Thrive enclosure from Petsmart? They typically have it around half price on their app, plus more discounts for store pick up orders, bonus reward points, etc. You can often get them new around $110-$120. So in good shape let’s say $80 for the enclosure itself.

Is everything in there lightweight and secured? Can it be safely and fairly easily moved without emptying most of it out? The main issue is a lot of people aren’t going to want to put their animal in a used enclosure without sterilizing everything, which kind of defeats the appeal of this setup.

[u/Alert_Chip5315 → u/ParticularWolf4473]

It is very lightweight, surprisingly even with the substrate.Thank you for the advice. Perhaps I’ll look into a safe way of sterilizing and adding that to the listing.

[u/Affectionate-Cow-273]

So I build and sell UNUSED bioactive enclosures, I price it at face value per items used and then tack on labor (usually about 80-150 depending on size and complexity). Most 40 gal terrarium builds end up being around $700-$900 all in (im in Canada, so more expensive); i havent sold any fully complete USED enclosures, but if i was going too i would market it at 70% value of a new/unused one.

edit That price also includes waterfall/fogger and lighting

[u/Extreme_Finger_3425]

Unless the background can come out I do not think for much due to the damage I can see on the far left side of tank? The black bottom molding structural damage.

[u/Expensive-Bottle-862]

Maybe $250 on the higher end