In marketing, there is something called "The Smirnoff effect" (after the vodka of the same name).
Its basically that people are often willing to pay more for something, just because the asking price is higher, and they assume that they're getting a better product, even if it isn't really true.
The same principle, obviously holds true for things other than vodka.
I've never tried anything from "Doggie's nuts" but I'm still reasonably confident that:
a. They're seeds aren't a million times better than any of the top lines from any number of well-established breeders with strong reputations dating back 10-15 years.
b. They're seeds probably aren't ANY better than a bunch of well known "name" strains, and
c. Something akin to the "Smirnoff" effect is probably at play here.
Anyway, to answer the question, like everything else, seeds are priced based on what the market can bear. Like in any competitive industry, different companies with different products are trying to capture different segments of the market, in part based on pricing. In the seed market, I think there is probably a ROUGH correlation between price and seed quality, though I'm certain its not absolute.
In some cases, breeders can charge top prices for their seeds, because their seeds really are the best possible seeds, meaning high viability seeds leading to high potency, stable strains of excellent quality. In this case, you pay more, you get more.
In some cases, breeders can charge more based on their reputation. For example, some of the breeders who have developed famous or award-winning strains can legitimately charge more for them than the average seedbank or breeder, because they're putting their "brand" on the seeds. Generally these are top-notch lines, though I think there are also a few seed houses out there that are trading on old reputations that may be out of date. IE, they charge a lot for lines that may not be entirely worth the extra cost.
In some cases, individual seeds just cost more to produce. Specifically, if the strain in question is one that takes extra time to flower (say 12 weeks instead of
and has lower than normal yield, then it takes that much more work and energy just to create each seed. Some of the potent Sativa-heavy strains are like this. For example, I believe this is one reason, why the "Jack Herer" strain-type seeds almost always cost more. Its not *just* that the product is so good, but also that it really does cost more to make the seeds themselves.
In some cases, the "Smirnoff effect" may be at play.
Lastly, on "cannabis cup" and other such awards, its been widely alleged that the High Times cups are rigged. I don't know for sure if that's true (though my guess is, yeah, probably), but even assuming there is "fair" judging going on, at least to a large extent the "winners" are subjective. Its also true that lots of breeders don't enter the cups for a variety of reasons, and lots of truly excellent strains never really compete. Ultimately, these "cups" are basically marketing gimmicks to sell seeds (and seedbanks).
