This is a very bad idea for the following reasons:



1. She is taking 30% off the top (this sounds like the net sale and not the profit)...this is a HUGE chunk when it all boils down.



2. She is NOT paying for their upkeep...food and bedding gets VERY expensive if the animal doesn't sell quickly.



3. Is she paying for the cages or are you?



4. How old are you? It looks like you are 17-22 (you said you were in college). This may sound like a silly question, but unless you want to put 5-15 years of your life into this, you aren't going to make much at ALL and your grades will drop SIGNIFICANTLY because this venture will eat up A LOT of time.



5. How are you going to pay for these reptiles? Most wholesalers require you to show a EIN (employee ID number) and many require you to use a bank or credit card that is from that store. So will she pay for the animals, then you pay her? Will she pay the animals, then look at how much the reptile sales are and take the cost of the reptile plus her cut out of that?



6. Do you have the money for the startup costs? It is going to cost you at LEAST $500 just to get started...and that's assuming she has the cages for you. If you have to provide the cages, you are looking at least $1500-$2500.



7. Is she including the dry goods into this deal or is it only the reptile animal sales?



Yes it is true that most of the time pet stores will charge 2-4 times their wholesale price...but the secret that they won't tell you is they don't make SQUAT in the sale of the reptile because they have to feed it, house it, and keep it alive. This sounds quite easy, but most wholesalers will NOT refund you for dead animals after 24 hours and many will not refund you AT ALL. Most of pet store's profits in the Reptile/Fish/Bird departments comes from the sale of the setups and dry goods.



Pet stores are a VERY difficult business. The main money maker in our store was dog food and the least profitable area was either the bird or reptile section. Also, since I am living in Alabama, but am not a native, I've noticed that very few people own pets down her in comparison to up north and even LESS people are into reptiles.





Like other people said, this is a MAJOR business venture and unless you get this in writing, being VERY SPECIFIC, BY A LAWYER, you are going to get screwed over royally!



DO NOT DO IT!!! Just say no!

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