Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I am looking into purchasing a couple of snakes via the internet. I have heard good experiences and bad ones from various people. I wanted ask some of the breeders on here 1- Do you seem to sell more through classifieds, via your own website, or from referals 2- How have sales via the internet or through the mail gone for you? 3- Even with return policies, how have you breeders handled problems in the past?

It is stories like the one below that (athough they are rare) concern me:

From Gwinnett Daily News, GA:

Police reports
05/20/2005

Gwinnett, GA
Man wants money back for sick snake
LAWRENCEVILLE — A Maryland man who received a sick snake after purchasing the $900 reptile on the Internet wants the Lawrenceville seller to be charged with deceptive business practices.
The victim told police he paid $1,800 for five snakes of rare breed in November. One snake was never sent, and another arrived “very thin, stressed and lethargic,” according to a police report. The sickly snake was the most expensive of the five he had ordered at a whopping $900 price tag, the man told police.
When the victim tried to exchange the snake for a healthy one, the victim said the seller did not respond. The victim said he then requested his money back for the snake he never received and for the sick snake but again received no contact from the internet seller in Lawrenceville.
Police are investigating the seller’s e-mail addresses.

http://www.gwinnettdailypost.com/index.php?s=&url_channel_id=32&url_article_id=2312&url_subchannel_id=&change_well_id=2
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Bryan, Atlanta GA

1-0-0 Ball Python - Apep
1-1-0 Rats... no wait... ROTTEN Little Cats - Ra, Bastet
0-1-0 Little Angelic Kitten - Isis
1-0-0 Horse... whoops... BIG Golden Retriever - Jake
0-1-0 Wife
2-0-0 Kids

Kingsnake.com is the biggest reptile related website on the web! Advertising with kingsnake is money well spent! I personally use the classifieds when I have animals available and it surely moves them! There are many other web sites but I don't think any compare to kingsnake. I also have my own website which seems to work pretty well, again...advertising with kingsnake is money well spent. My guess is you'll double or tripple your traffic. Referals are also nice! Service your clients, keep people happy, tell the truth, represent your animals honestly, take undoctored pics, and ship like you were sending out a glass vass. Everyone has their own Return policies. Most require the customer to pay to ship the animal back at their expensive for a refund. If a problem arises within the first week or 2 I do my best to make the customer happy, that includes taking the animal back (I've only had to do 1 time). Basicly if you want to be successful you just need to do what I stated above. 80% of a sale IMPO is customer service after the animal(s) have been purchased.
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John Light
JL Exotics
Contact Me
Web Site

kingsnake.com is a wonderful tool to help both buyers and sellers. I have had an account for several months and have used it periodically with good results. With that being said, I am sure if the person in the article is who I think it is (and I am pretty sure it is because I am also in the Atlanta area and am aware of a particular "bad guy" who has bilked MANY people out of a lot of money) than he also had an account on KS and made most, if not all of his sales through the internet. Much to the credit of Jeff and the other folks here at KS...this guy is no longer posting ads. As always it is buyer beware and increasingly, it is becoming seller beware as well! Some buyers look to rip off decent sellers with claims of poor shipping, sickly or misrepresented animals etc... I actually prefer to do business face to face locally when I get the chance, it alleviates a lot of the stuff the could lead to problems down the road. A website is great for information and advertising. If it is set up properly it is also a great sales tool. I would agree with the other respondant that is important to always do business with honesty on BOTH sides!
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www.hullabalooherps.com

on who you are buying from and selling to. Kingsnake is awesome for both buying and selling animals for sure. There are many well known and reliable breeders/brokers here but there is also the occasional scammer/thief.

A couple of years ago I was scammed out of about $3,000.00 by two individuals and the story is very well known so I won't go over the details. Neither were breeders but the one that sent a 'dead' snake would do nothing about it and blamed it on shipping. A necropsy and several professionals proved otherwise and the guy is now out of business...no website, no nothing. It was a poorly planned scam but it did get him $2,500.00. The other guy is still around. He Scammed me by having me ship first and then never paying and blatently stating that he screwed me, but too many know about him now so he is also pretty much a non-issue.

I think that most breeders stand behind their animals with great customer service and willingness to take care of the uncommon mishap but again....know who you are buying from and selling to, it could mean the difference between a good deal and losing a great deal of money.

I don't mean to scare you but you have to face reality.

I have been told to ensure that there is a recourse. Leave a paper trail and keep every communication. This way you can get your money back if things fall through. I have had problems with paying and recieving sick animals as well as paying for something and not getting it. If you pay by credit card and do not recieve you can get your credit card to reimburse you and they will go after the person. Myself being Canadian we were told that this is a good way to pay for animals coming from the states but unfortunately we pay for the animals wait the 6 months for the CITES and then the animals are still not shipped the credit card company won't go after them and you have to look at small claims court. More than anything do your homework on who you are buying from. Get references, even better if it is someone you trust who is a reference.

LOL on $900.00 being a high price tag!! If only they knew the price tags on some snakes huh.
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Nita Hamilton
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Ball Pythons

always know who the seller is.......

always use a credit card......

.........people get ripped off every day...especially with snakes.and especially with balls........
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My suggestion is to buy from someone you know that has done business with someone VIA the internet OR Stick with some that has a good reputation, Word of the mouth is the best source of sales PERIOD!

Bryan Kollwitz

use "Paypal" or a credit card,they guarantee your purchase as well,if you loose out,file with the FBI,kingsnake has the link.
sellers dont take bank or "personal" cashiers checks or bank checks,there are tons of forgeries out there.Have your bank verify m.o.,have the post ofice cash the postal money order,the same with westrern union,ALL OF THESE ARE BEING COUNTERFITTED,GET A MONEY PEN AND CHECK THE BILLS !, you are simply going to have to be ready.DONT SHIP TILL YOU HAVE CASH ! and never just have a box dropped,get a delivery "signed" confermation.protect yourself....