Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I understand the fact about pay what you can when you can, but with that said there has to be limits. When making deals in the thousands of dollars, paying over 6 months or longer is no problem, but there are some people out there that want to set up payment plans that last several months on animals that cost anywhere from $125-$200. I actually had someone offer to pay $10 a month for a year for an animal that cost $100 and that the extra $20 would cover the feeding it for a year but I would have to ship for free. I think that if there is any payment plan initiated, there should be terms set-up at the beginning such as I will pay XX amount on XX day of each month with 20% down at the beginning. I for one, have never held anyone's deposit hostage. Simply because things happen in life and I don't rely on any snake sales to pay bills, but I do understand and agree with those that breed full time keeping deposits and to some extent that all money paid is kept by the seller if the buyer backs out. We must look at this like any other business. One cannot go to mcdonalds and buy a cheeseburger and then get to the last window and say "well I found one cheaper at burger king so I want my money back". That is the unfortunate fact of what goes on with alot of payment plans. People want to put an animal on hold while they look for other animals at cheaper price and expect to get all their money back. At some point the buyer has the obligation and responsibility to finish the transaction professionally. I personally think the problem is that we (all breeders on any level) have aimed our hobby in the direction of selling to others as breeders/investors which causes people to buy animals that they can't actually afford and thus need to make payment plans or put them on already maxed out credit cards. The bottom line is this economy sux, it's not changing any time soon but a least we all have some beautiful snakes to look at in the meantime.
-----
Josh & Krysty Hutto
J&K Reptiles

Various Ball Pythons, boas, dogs, cats, fish, an amel tiger retic female, a couple sulcatas and a few other odds and ends.

a BAD dog is MADE not bred, support the American Pit Bull Terrier as the greatest breed of dogs on Earth!!!!!

not to threadjack this post too far away from the op's intent, but it seems to me that this is one of the most wrongly used terms in this trade. most people use the term "payment plan" when they really mean "lay a way plan", right?

i mean if you are not going to ship the animal until final payment is received, then it's a lay a way plan. a payment plan would mean that you put a down payment on the animal, then animal gets shiped...then you make payments to finish paying it off.

i am not suggesting that breeders use this method...just that the terminology often used is misleading...or am i missing something?
-----
www.myinfoservice.com

____

signature file edited; contact an admin. phw 7/19/05

I would just have a returned deposit fee at a certain percent of the animals value. If a deposit is put on a snake that is a thousand dollars and has a market value of 500 by the time payment is due to be completed then it is only fair that if the buyer backs out that he/she splits the difference of decreased market value. When someone says they will buy something they are atleast a little responsible for tying up that animals availability while it has a higher value. Its not wine, its living inventory in a busy market. I have read terms similar to this on breeders websites and i think its fair as long as the buyer understands the agreement