Same thing happened to me. Was looking for a poodle puppy and thought I would rescue one. The cost from the pound was $300.00 and the cost from the poodle rescue was $400. I looked online and found a rare tri-color for $250 with papers or $200 without. The price made the decision for me.
One reason there are so many unwanted animals and so many puppy mill breeders is that people let the purchase price of an animal make the decision for them. The purchase price of an animal is a drop in the bucket compared to care expenses, including food & regular vet visits, over the life of the animal.
A little over a year ago I bred my first litter of GSP pups. One potential buyer asked repeated if I would come down on my price and couldn’t understand why I wouldn’t because she only wanted her dog as a pet, she wasn’t going to show it or anything. All the puppies (whether they went to pet, show or performance homes) sold for the same price and I can tell you that between the cost of all the genetic testing I did before hand, stud fee, vet care, food bills, electric bills for the endless loads of laundry, etc. while I had those puppies for 10 weeks prior to them going to their new homes I didn’t even come close to breaking even.