"Quality" and Pricing

This is one of those buzzwords that drives me insane.  Not necessarily the word, I suppose, but the way people are with it.

For example.  I get a lot of people emailing who want "good quality chinchillas," and some even specify, they'd specifically like "show quality."  That's fine and dandy and all, but in reality... every chinchilla can be shown.  I've shown rescues before, because they looked nice, and heck, why not.  Doesn't hurt anything.

However... that's the thing.  "Show quality."  What does that really mean?  I can assume, that means they want a nice chin, sure.  How nice, though?  Because a chin that's show quality, in my opinion, might get a 1st place, or a 2nd place... or heck, might get 1A, 1B, Class Champion, Phase Champion, Color Section Champion, Grand Show Champion... all these are "show quality" -- so which one do they want?  And further, that Grand Show Champ at a Claiming Day may only be a 2nd Place at Nationals, when the competition is much stiffer.

So, I try to narrow it down.  I've found out, this is an apparently stupid way of doing it, judging by responses, but I've asked people, ok, what is their price range.  Lord almighty, that is apparently a stupid question.  Either that, or a ridiculously difficult one, as NO ONE can seem to answer it.

Let's step back a second.  I'm not asking because I want to charge at the top of their price range.  I'm asking because I want to stay IN their price range.  If someone wants a show quality chinchilla, and wants to spend $150, chances are  (depending on the show of course, see above) that chinchilla will be a 1st or 2nd place animal (read: probably not a champion) and is going to have some more obvious faults.  Maybe the fur is laying down in one area.  Maybe it has a pinched neck.  Maybe it's got a halo / incomplete veiling.  Certain faults will bring down the price of a still "show quality" animal... while of course, the animal is still definitely show quality, but would need to be paired to a super nice, complimentary chin, in order to better the breed in the next generation.

In comparison, if someone wants to spend $200, the animal will be better.  $250, even better.  $300... you get the idea.  Champions are worth more, grand show champs are worth even more.  I've paid $500-600 for some grand show champs before.  At some point, we run out of "better," but the idea is that the better animals cost more.  This isn't a new concept, I mean, this is how life is.  Want the better computer?  Probably going to cost more money.

Again, I ask, because I want to know at what level of quality we are talking about.  If someone tells me they want to spend a certain amount and want it nice quality, I will look for the best quality animal at that price range.  That's where the difficulty comes in.  If someone tells me that they want super nice quality, without a price range... "super nice quality" is $$$ in my mind (and that's fine, if the person thinks so too).  So then, let's say I come back with an animal that is $$$ but also super nice... and the person is like, "oh well I wanted to spend only $"... chances are, there's a nice animal with that quality... but likely not the super nice, $$$ animal that I picked.  That's why I ask.  I want to match the best animal, quality wise, whatever wise, with what the person is able to spend.  I'm sure there's the right animal out there for everyone, but finding it requires some idea of pricing, at least to me (at least, without the person saying, I want one that could be Grand Show... which no one says either).

I have someone right now that gave me a list of criteria.  There were 3-4 colors that would work for her, she wanted a smaller chin (not the super beefy like we tend to see), but gorgeous fur, smaller ears, smaller face, so on and so forth.  And she even gave me a price range.  I found a chin that matched the look she wanted and the price range and showed her, and she was happy with it.  See, that is considerably easier than just saying "good quality" at least to me.  That's why I ask questions, not to make it difficult or be an ass, but so I can get the person the best chin possible that matches what they're looking for, and matches their budget.  That is all.