05/29/2026
So, there's a reason we ask this (see the image), and it's not because we want to get your last nickel. I promise.
The reality is, baby / young chinchillas range anywhere between $125 - $2000+. That is a wide range, I'm well aware. Pricing depends on color, s*x, fur type, age, quality, lineage, if you're talking me out of something in my show string...you get the idea.
If I have one or two furballs looking for their people, it's super easy to say, I have a [color] chinchilla available, it is a [s*x], it was born on [birthdate], and it is [price]. Here's some pics. When I have multiple? Like 3+, and people want pics of every single one (typically, before asking what they cost)? This can take a long time. If you've been here, you know we live in absolute BFE, and our internet is sloooow.... uploading those pics takes some time... especially when half the time, people do have an amount they'd like to pay... and many of the chins I'm sending pics of... are not around that amount.
So, I find it easier to start with asking the budget. Why? Because if someone tells me, hey, their budget is, hypothetically, $200... I can say, ok, well, I'll have a grey weaning next week, or I have some rescue babies weaning in a couple weeks. Furballs within the budget. Or if someone says a $500 budget, well, I have some available now... and I can send them all the furballs from the low end up to $500. But the thing is, there's no point for me to send pics of ALL the chins to the $200 budget person... when they will only be interested in a select few. Knowing the budget means I can tailor what I send to what they would actually be interested in, and actually might take home. Might they want to see pics of the $2000 angora? Sure! The angoras are awfully cute. But if that person isn't taking them home, we can probably skip sending those pics over.
The same goes for used cages. One of the times I posted used cages, someone reached out and asked if we had any that we'd sell empty (no shelves) for $100 or less. If you've seen our used cages, we typically deck them out with all sorts of wooden shelves, accessories, fun things... they're usually nowhere near that price unless they're super small, as all that stuff adds a bit to the price. But you know what, if you don't ask, you can't get! And for a not-scrubbed down, not-decked out used cage... they left with one (the bones were good!). I was happy that I had one less cage to "make pretty" and they left with a good deal that *they* were going to clean up and make wood shelves for. Again... if I know what the budget is, I can work with it... but just like the chins, there's really no point for me to send over pics of 50 decked out cages... if someone wants an inexpensive empty one.
I think sometimes people take this the wrong way and assume that if they tell me a high price, the chins will all rise to that price... though in reality, it's simply that I'd rather not send over a million pics / chin-info, if I can narrow down the options ahead of time.
