Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I live in Wisconsin (53704) and I got a shipping quote from a seller in Texas today for $77. That seems pretty darn high to me. I received a couple of snakes from Alaska last fall and that was like $52. Someone is making it awful hard to buy/sell non-locally.

>>I live in Wisconsin (53704) and I got a shipping quote from a seller in Texas today for $77. That seems pretty darn high to me. I received a couple of snakes from Alaska last fall and that was like $52. Someone is making it awful hard to buy/sell non-locally.

The cost of fuel has almost doubled since last fall. Especially Jet Fuel.

Were they both with FedEx or UPS? Delta Dash is the highest and not many folks use them any more.

Was this box from Texas larger than the one from Alaska?
Shippers need to use the smallest box possible to get the lowest rate.

Some shippers refuse to change their 'proven' way of shipping regardless of the cost.
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John Lassiter
Poor planning and procrastination on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part...

I'll check if I still have the Alaska box around. Those are good points John. A $77 shipping fee on a $100 snake does make me think twice.

Yes, the only consolation to all this is that unless you have a VERY close reptile show where there is a wide assortment of vendors and snakes to choose from to get the exact type you want, you would probably have to drive for a couple hours to get to it. In which case you would have to consider the cost of gas up AND back, and anything you ate, etc... while you were there. In which case you wouldn't save a whole lot(if any), and maybe not even be able to get exactly what you were looking for either..LOL!

In other words, sometimes people will rationalize spending a dollar to save a dime..

~Doug
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"a snake in the grass is a GOOD thing"

This is very true Doug. Another thing to consider is the expense of going to the shows. If I want to go to Daytona for instance for a specific snake. I will have to drive a couple hours there and then back, The cost of the ticket to get in, usually parking charge also. Then I have to take my wife and son, and feed them for the day! I don't mind making a family event out of the deal, but it will cost a lot more than 50 bucks, foe sure! Then I probably will spend more than I intended to on snakes, lol.
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King Snakes! Who can make a better mouse trap?
Jorge Sierra

My Site > www.Sierrasnakes.com

LOL!!,......no doubt man!

Some things "sound" good on paper, but the reality is a bit different..LMAO!!

Also, if someone figures they are getting a much better deal on a pair of cheaper snakes somewhere, but they are pretty average at best compared to another pair of the same type that is much better looking for a bit more money, come time to sell the babies you will FAAAR more than make up the difference in initial price selling the babies that came from the much better looking parents compared to more average ones.

In my opinion, breeder stock is no time to nickle and dime. If you are going to invest years into your breeding projects in hopes of having top-notch offspring to sell, it doesn't make good sense to cut corners and worry about a few silly dollars if it is going to make the difference between mediocre stuff and MIND-BLOWING stuff.

~Doug
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"a snake in the grass is a GOOD thing"

All so VERY TRUE Doug and Jorge........

The old adage "You get what you pay for" certainly fits this scenario........

I do spend over a thousand dollars to go to Daytona each year.....I do it for fun though.......Plus our wedding anniversary is a week or so prior so it is our yearly anniversary trip......two birds one stone.....lol
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John Lassiter
Poor planning and procrastination on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part...

YEP- Shipping costs have sky rocketed and is making it hard to sell stuff. I'm a verified FedEx Live animal shipper. Even with a FedEx account my 7" x 7" square styro lined boxes (usually hold three short deli cups) is running $58-$60... the regular sized snake boxes are easily $70 .

I try my best to charge people between $50-$60 shipping (and I eat the rest of the costs myself)...

Buyers might not realize that even ontop of the $70 shipping costs, we spent $3.50-$5.00 on a styro lined box (if we're using a new one) and ~$1 on a cold pack gas to drive the box to teh shipping office.

It's killing the online market (well that and the fact that the economy has ruined alot of values. Heck, I recently bought ADULT breeder kings for $30-$60ea...).
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I have heard, and I hope it goes down soon!!!!!!!!

Regardless, it it gets the animal to you overnight, safe and sound, that should be the focus. Just sucks that prices have been climbing, so I hear ya on that.
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Genesis 1:1

"do I want this snake bad enough to pay $80 for shipping?"

I've never personally had to pay more than $60 for shipping when purchasing a snake, I once shipped some turtles and it ended up costing $81. Hardly ever has shipping cost less than $50. When I'm buying a new snake I always expect shipping to be $50-$60.

It's crazy, but that's part of the business.

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Mike
KingPin Reptiles
www.kingpinreptiles.com

>>I live in Wisconsin (53704) and I got a shipping quote from a seller in Texas today for $77. That seems pretty darn high to me. I received a couple of snakes from Alaska last fall and that was like $52. Someone is making it awful hard to buy/sell non-locally.

I just did a quick quote with SYR from Central Florida to your zip, in a 7x7x6 box at 2.0 lbs. and I got 54.00 He may be charging a box and a handling fee, or the shipment might be larger? It usually costs me a lttle less then the SYR quote to ship so 50 bucks would be right.
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King Snakes! Who can make a better mouse trap?
Jorge Sierra

My Site > www.Sierrasnakes.com

Nothing wrong with charging a box/materials fee on top of the freight. After box, insulation, cold pack, snake bags, gas driving to the shipping facility, and the time spent packing and driving, you're not really coming out ahead even if you upcharge $10.

$77 for a shipment does seem like a lot though. Over the last couple years I've charged a flat rate of $50 for shipping, and the actual freight charge has usually come out to $40-$45.

>>Nothing wrong with charging a box/materials fee on top of the freight. After box, insulation, cold pack, snake bags, gas driving to the shipping facility, and the time spent packing and driving, you're not really coming out ahead even if you upcharge $10.
>>
>>$77 for a shipment does seem like a lot though. Over the last couple years I've charged a flat rate of $50 for shipping, and the actual freight charge has usually come out to $40-$45.

True there's nothing wrong with charging a box fee, and handling fees, but with the freight charges so high, I try to give the buyers a break. The ultimate goal is to sell, and like the OP said, it makes you think twice before paying 77 dollars to ship a 100 dollar snake. I just eat the small fee and hopefully sell more snakes quicker.
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King Snakes! Who can make a better mouse trap?
Jorge Sierra

My Site > www.Sierrasnakes.com

I've been fortunate that most of my snakes have come from people I can drive to their homes to pick up the snake. But now I am probably going to be on the other side of the issue; having to ship and find the best rates to do so. With gas prices so high and no end in sight, this is going to be a hairball!
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Bob
Pyromaniac AKA Greatballzofire
Keeping cats allows man to cohabitate with tigers. Keeping reptiles allows man to cohabitate with dinosaurs.

Hi,

It sucks, but it is just a cost of doing business...and it ain't gonna get better anytime soon. I make my own shipping boxes with lots of insulation to protect the animal, so my shipping charges are higher than most. However, I refuse to gamble with the lives of these animals, so I choose to hedge my bets and do what I can to ensure that they get to their destination safely. That means relatively big, heavy boxes that are secure. But, I do pay for the shipping charge if a customer spends $500.00 or more. The point is, this hobby/business is an expensive one and if a keeper goes in expecting that, they will be better off in the long run. I don't believe that shipping should ever be done on the cheap and I will never sacrifice safety for cost, especially since that animal is my responsibility until the customer takes it out of the box. If it gets killed in transit, it is my fault, even if it is because some jacka$$ decided to punt the box over my cutomer's fence. Good discussion, thanks.

Will

My response should have been to the op, sorry Bob.

Will

That's okay. I thought your post was germane to my concerns.
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Bob
Pyromaniac AKA Greatballzofire
Keeping cats allows man to cohabitate with tigers. Keeping reptiles allows man to cohabitate with dinosaurs.

I'm *in* texas and have never paid more than about 55 for shipping.

Even at that, it makes it painful to buy snakes...I mean 55 isn't tons but if you're talking about a pair of lower end (monetarily) colubrids it can double the price. Owie.
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We wouldn't have 6 and a half billion people if you had to be beautiful to get laid.
1.3 African House Snakes
3.2 reticulated pythons
1 corn snake
4.3 Florida Kings
2 speckled kings
1.2 ball pythons
1 Argentine boa
1 Texas Rat Snake
1 checkered garter snake

>>I'm *in* texas and have never paid more than about 55 for shipping.
>>
>>Even at that, it makes it painful to buy snakes...I mean 55 isn't tons but if you're talking about a pair of lower end (monetarily) colubrids it can double the price. Owie.

It all depends on what ZONE you are shipping to.
Shipping from Texas to Washington state is much more than shipping from Texas to North Dakota or Michigan..........

BTW...I have a great shipping guy.......and get much lower prices than SYR......
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John Lassiter
Poor planning and procrastination on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part...

Another thing that has gotten really expensive is live crickets. My cricket breeding took a nose dive this last very cold winter, and now I am thinking of buying some crickets online to feed my lizards and toads until my breeder crickets produce babies in a couple weeks. Shipping is major sticker shock! So I will just keep on catching sowbugs and termites for my critters instead. With these horrible fuel rates I don't see how anybody can reasonably do business selling reptiles (or bugs!)People see the shipping and gasp!
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Bob
Pyromaniac AKA Greatballzofire
Keeping cats allows man to cohabitate with tigers. Keeping reptiles allows man to cohabitate with dinosaurs.

Most of the crickets in the nation were wiped out by a disease last year........Also.....Ghann's will give "breeder" discounts to those who buy bulk on a regular basis..........
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John Lassiter
Poor planning and procrastination on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part...

The species that was wiped out is acheta domestica. I have breeders of a different species, gryllus assimilis, which look sort of like the acheta but are much bigger. I got my starter stock from a friend who got his from Bassett's Cricket Ranch. They are also known as silent crickets as they don't sing very loud, a feature some may appreciate, but not me. I loved the song.
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Bob
Pyromaniac AKA Greatballzofire
Keeping cats allows man to cohabitate with tigers. Keeping reptiles allows man to cohabitate with dinosaurs.

>>The species that was wiped out is acheta domestica. I have breeders of a different species, gryllus assimilis, which look sort of like the acheta but are much bigger. I got my starter stock from a friend who got his from Bassett's Cricket Ranch. They are also known as silent crickets as they don't sing very loud, a feature some may appreciate, but not me. I loved the song.

Well...If you want "special" crickets then you'll have to pay more, especially since they are the only ones around right now.......LOL
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John Lassiter
Poor planning and procrastination on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part...

Well...If you want "special" crickets then you'll have to pay more, especially since they are the only ones around right now.......LOL

I have not had to buy any crickets since 2008. I expected the price to go up, even for new and improved special crickets, but the shipping is the hairball. Oh, well, that will teach me to not drop the ball on my cricket breeding project! LOL! Got an incubator full of egg tubs from my "special" crickets now.

Just to keep this thread about snakes, not crickets, I am going to only breed my own snakes to get more snakes and not buy any more snakes unless I can drive to the breeder's home. There are at least three breeders within easy driving distance, fortunately.
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Bob
Pyromaniac AKA Greatballzofire
Keeping cats allows man to cohabitate with tigers. Keeping reptiles allows man to cohabitate with dinosaurs.

Today's example.

Shipping from WV to WA.

UPS quote was $84. FedEx was $74. I have a FedEx account and that took it down to $63. When I actually shipped, I used a 7x7x6 box which was under a pound, so actual total was right at $60.

So you can see how easily a shipping price can get that high. I shipped twice last year to CA and UT, and both times it was over $70.

Now, consider that I'm 30 miles from my Fedex drop location. So that's now a 60 mile drive with gas here at $4.25. I use a styrofoam lined shipping box with a heat pack(when needed). So, I'm at probably another $16 - $18.

This year, I've not had anything sell unless I advertised at "flat $50 shipping." SO, even if I get the LOWEST rate I can at $60, then add the cost of the trip and box at it's lowest $16. And I've lost $26 at the LEAST, it's usually a bit more.

Thank god I don't do this for a living. Add the price of supplies, mice, equipment, etc......and you better hope you're in the rare morph business, or have a huge inventory or you're done for.

On a final note, I don't consider my drive to ship the buyer's responsibility at all. Just showing the cost, but I have no issue if someone wants to consider a box charge. I just don't do it. I usually do my best to not charge full shipping, it's just plain easier to move hatchlings that way, and in the end, I have never done this to make money, so I'm lucky in that sense.
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Brian Suter

www.serpenteer.com

Well put Brian. I'm glad that someone started this thread- hopefully buyers will be alittle more understanding about shipping costs. It really kinda chaps me when if I advertise a flat rate $50 shipping (and have the same costs like you do) and they complain. Heck, I'm LOOSING money selling animals- glad I do this beacuse I love working with animals because it'd really be hard to make much money off it in this economy. I have two buildings- even selling a couple of hundred babies (a majority wholesale in this economy), I don't even come close to breaking even after paying electricity & mouse bills...
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