I go to a small animal auction once a month in MO and for the last several years the price has bottomed out on cockatiels and lovebirds, heck all caged birds for that matter. This year so far has had: Cockatiels (tame or not) (grays, pied, white-faced) (handfed babies and breeders) started at $10 and none sold for more than $22. Peachfaced lovies (not tame, but just weaned) also started at $10 and sold for around $17.50-$22. Parakeets sold for $7. Zebra finches sold for $5. Society finches sold for $6. A diamond dove sold for $10. A green parrolet male sold for $20. A tame, everyone was holding him for a few hrs before the sale, greenwing macaw sold for $500 last month! Not many people bring their caged birds to this auction any more because of this.