A lot of time goes into a keep. For some folks who are confident about their entry, the time invested needs to be "worth it" monetarily. Time is money. When I was younger, time or money didn't matter as much. I am out of dogs today, but hypothetically If I were going to take time away from my core business, my family, or my other interests and obligations for something like a keep, that something else needs to be worth the time invested. We've shown dogs for $100 and a bag of dog food, up to $5000, depending on circumstances and the interests of the other party. The dogs never knew the difference, and the size of the purse never changed the fact that they were conditioned dogs being exhibited, with an agreed upon purse, and a referee.