Well like I mentioned earlier in the thread, what kind of "reputable" private breeder or rancher would sell their chinchillas at a fraction of the price to a wholesaler or pet store, when they can sell the same chinchilla (if it is healthy and good for breeding) privately to other breeders or pet owners for double or triple the price they get from Petco or Petsmart?
I know at least in Canada here, most breeders who sell chinchillas to pet stores for dirt cheap, are the breeders who know they cannot sell the chin privately to a breeder or pet owner because of some issue with that animal's background or health or because the chin is just NOT breeding quality. That is why they say "pet" quality. Pet quality means it is not for breeding. If the chinchilla was healthy and perfect for breeding, then the breeder knows they could sell the same chinchilla to Petsmart or Petco for $30 - $40 each or they could sell a healthy breeding quality chinchilla to a breeder or pet owner for $100 - $350.00 each.
Do the math... most breeders do want to make money to support their raising chinchillas, not lose money, by selling their babies they raise. I'm fairly sure most breeders would rather get $100 - $350 for a baby chin of theirs, than get only $30 or $40.
The pet stores jack the price up to make a profit off the chinchillas for themselves. They have to pay their rent and their employees, so that is why the increase in price you see in the store. The other thing with pet stores is they never usually tell the sources of their chinchillas, so it is an anonymous thing for a breeder to dump their not so good quality chinchillas in a pet store and have no one know.
I know of a few breeders over the years who did just that and explained why they did(which I explained above.). They kept their good quality animals for selling privately and their not so good quality, their maloccluder carriers, etc.. went to the pet stores because they wanted them to be pets only - not for breeding.