Reptile & Amphibian Forums

The owner of the local pet store where I go to college wants to let me work there only on these conditions. I work in just the reptile department which I like that idea, I buy all the reptiles myself and pay for there up keep and she will give me a place to put them and sell them and she will take 30% off the top of each sell. I am seriously thinking of doing this because I would love the money and the chance to kinda run my own business with reptiles. I really want to know if anyone knows a good place to order reptiles. Now I need a place that is not to expensive but is a decent place. I live in Troy, Alabama so somewhere close I figure would be best, meaning somewhere in the southeast. The types of animals I am looking at getting, if I do this, are corn snakes (albino, snow, and normal), ball pythons, water dragons, bearded dragons, vieled chameleons, leopard geckos, maybe some colombian red tails. But basically stuff like that, that is small for the most part and easy to take care of for the most part also. Any help would be greatly appreciated. I hope no one gets offended that I ask for help on this, I am always on these boards and I figured that this is the best place to find people like me but that would know this kinda stuff.

I seriously think that if you are dealing with quality animals that people actually want to buy, after all is said and done, you will be giving her ALL of your profits, and probably MORE from your own pocket. You won't survive.

The only way you can profit from this, in this case, is by dealing with dirt-cheap imports, and in that case, you will not last long (poor quality) and will have very few people actually wanting to buy from you.

My sincere opinions.

Do it in your own place and keep the profit. Advertise over the internet correctly and reach thousands, and potentially hundreds of thousands, of more people than that pet store would ever see.

Best Wishes to your future endeavors.

Joe Rollo - Bci Joe
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Thanks and take care - Joe Rollo
'Tis not the stongest of the species that will eventually survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change' Charles Darwin

Think about it this way. If you were able to find animals for 1/2 retail, that would be a good (not great) wholesale price for relatively low volume purchases.

If you bought a $50 animal that would retail for $100, then $30 goes to the store, $50 goes to the wholesale supplier which leaves only $20 to cover care and some $ for you.

Also, if by chance you lost an animal (illness, THEFT) then you'd be out the entire amount, $50 plus care expenses.

I raise Brazilian Rainbow Boa's, had 110 babies this year. The hobby really doesn't even pay for itself by the time you factor in all your expenses.....

Feeders - I raise my own but still have to buy rat food and shavings

Electricity - dunno how much they add to my bill

Caging - as I grow, I always seem to need more cages, hatchling racks etc.

Bedding - need something to line the cage with, many use newspaper (free) I use indented craft paper, looks nicer and doesn't stain my boa's or my hands. I also use green moss for damp boxes $50/ 25lb bail I use about 2/year

Animals - I've spent $10K in the last year for new animals for new projects

Time - again it's a hobby but I'd starve if this was my job.
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Thanks,

Dave "Rainbows-R-Us"

0.1 Wife
0.2 kids
4.12.100 Brazilian Rainbow Boa
1.1 Ball python
0.1 BCI "Elvira" normal from 1989
1.0 BCI albino / het-anery
0.1 BCI Hypo / het-albino
0.1 BCI Anery / het-albino
0.1 BCI Hypo (possible super)
1.0 BCI albino het stripe
1.0 BCI salmon hypo
0.1 BCI ghost

lots.lots.lots feeder mice and rats

In a few years I plan to breed the snakes I do have at home. I see this as a good learning experience. I understand it wont pay what a real part time job is and I do like the idea of keeping a few on the side and selling them myself over the net. That way I can order a larger group and get a better deal and the ones I sale I dont have to give away 30%. What I would like to do is see if she will allow me to start my own business and just use her place as a front or storage type deal and sell what I do sell there. Then sell a lot online and any expos around the area that way I get use to the whole expo and internet sales so in a few years, when I do it with my own animals I have experience. What do you guys think about that kinda thing?
Thanks for all the information so far.

I answer without knowing the specifics of the arrangements and status of the retail pet sales in Alabama. First of all if what you posted was the truth "I would love the money", than before going any further I would say not a good idea. It sounds to me like you will be paying rent to house your animals. Most of the retail pet stores that do well in my area pay very little to obtain a "representative" specimen of what they are trying to sell. The mark up is 250 to 300 %. The only way to make profit on this is to sell it basically before you have to do anything for it (feed it, clean it, show it to someone, etc). If it gets sick or is somehow unsaleable in 48 hrs you have already lost your so called profit. If you actually pay for your own time, pay to feed, pay electricity, and supplies you will be doing well to come out even. I would be very careful in signing up for a deal like you mentioned unless the only reason is or to pay your own way to use the pet store set-up as a "storefront" to purchase and receive supplies you need to maintain your own personal stuff at wholesale costs. Unless you have a substantial collection and ability to make back the money you at least put in, you will be IMO doomed to fail. The best case scenario is that you pay to receive experience and make enough contacts (not pissing anyone off too badly) to create a market for your own personal stuff and can back up your offerings with high quaility products/animals to in turn create a bigger demand for what YOUR name entails. The profits for some of the critters you mentioned (if not all)are in the enclosure set-ups, maintanence, and feeders, NOT the animal. Basically you are giving away an animal for a "promise" to return weekly for a feeder and bedding for the next 10-20 years.
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When the student is ready, the teacher appears. When the student is ready, the teacher appears. When the student is ready, the teacher appears. When the student is ready, the teachers appears.

What if I were to buy some decent looking stuff for cheap and I know thats bad to look for cheap when trying to build a rep but some cheap stuff is not always bad. Then I keep it in my collection and sell the stuff I buy for a little more than I pay. Then I am getting all the money from it and I am also starting some business and getting my name out as a trustworthy kinda person. How does something like that sound?

....I am working first for my reputaion. It's only a hobby for me though. If I can recover 80% of my expenses it will be the cheapest thing I've ever been into.

This is a hobby for me I want to do it because I love snakes. I am in college with no part time job. This is something that would be able to work into my school schedule. It also seems like a fun little thing to do.

A good comment was made. The money in retail is not usually made on the animals. The money is made by selling a tank, U.T.H., bedding, food, etc., along with your reptiles. I'm a sales rep. in the pet industry and I see this every day. Retail is not easy. Even when gas is $3 a gallon, people will drive across town to save $1 on an aquarium. If there is a big chain (PetsMart, PetCo, etc.) in your town, people will buy the animal from you, and then head to PetsMart to buy supplies. Even though most indpendent stores are the same or cheaper on goods, television tells us that PetsMart is the place to buy pet items. If it's on television, it must be true. The same reason we buy Iams, Science Diet, and Fancy Feast. These foods have no nutritional value and costs pennies per bag to make. Yet they are top sellers. Why? TELEVISION. I'll leave that subject at that. Since you obviously are going to do this, best of luck. Just realize what you are getting into. Usually retail is all about your reputation. Without that, you are nothing.

Phil Goss

quaility pet food costs more than pennies to make per bag. I absolutely agree that marketing is a major factor in the cost....if not the majority of it, but the better the ingredients the more it will cost to manufacture. If I say much more I will be banned to "Open Discussion" for violations of TOS. You have brought up my very favorite of "discussions" with the pet food comments.

Linda
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When the student is ready, the teacher appears. When the student is ready, the teacher appears. When the student is ready, the teacher appears. When the student is ready, the teachers appears.

Phil is actually a pretty cool guy, and as long as you keep the discusion in a positive, informative matter I doubt you will get banned or posts pulled from kingsnake, atleast by him LOL.

As for the dog food, his point was the non quality stuff is the cheapest to make and yet sells the best due to its marketing (instead of its content). I am no expert on that, but sounds good to me

-Kemper

Quality pet foods do cost more than pennies per bag to make, but Science Diet, Iams, and Fancy Feast are the farthest thing from quality pet foods. Read the labels. First ingredient: corn. Corn is cheap. Especially when it is only the hulls, which is what these companies use. Second ingredient: chicken by-products or meat/bone meal. We'll start with chicken by-products. These are the beaks, feathers, and intestines. All the bad stuff. Meat/bone meal can be collected from dead animals. It can be cancerous tissue. You name it, they can throw it in there as long as they state "meat/bone meal". There are many quality foods. These are not them. As you stated, this is turning into open discussion. But the same applies to this industry. We need to be aware of where our animals and feeders come from. Educating oursleves is the only way to be safe.

Phil Goss

Phil Goss

That is widely available? Just curious . . .

that are widely available (at least here in the Midwest):

Eagle Pack
Wellness
Solid Gold
Nature's Variety
Innova
California Natural
Merrick
Royal Canin
Nutro

I think that covers the top few.
The secret is in the label. The first ingredient should not be a filler (i.e. corn, wheat, rice). Food that is mainly fillers swells in the animal's stomach, because they always drink right after eating, and they have to pass it before they can absorb the nutrients. By-products are the worst. They are the leftovers after everything nutritious has been removed from the animal (i.e. hooves, beakes, feathers). Food companies can label these as protein because in theory, they are beef and chicken. Enough of my blabbing. Boas don't eat dog food, but my blue tongues love Eagle Pack canned food. I'm sure they've got some good stuff in Cali as well. And Kemper, when you find it, buy a few 40# bags and drop it on that little guy's head who scammed me. Thanks.

Phil Goss

P.S. Send me the bill!

I would try to renegotiate the terms to you get all the money for the animals and the store gets all the money for the accessories as any animal sale will generally generate a sale for something like a tank, food, heater, light, bedding and so on. All these extra sale would probable not have come except for the sale of your animals. If the owner doesn't go for it I would recommend you not do it as you will be paying to generate and increase there profits. Good luck in what ever you decide Scott

I have to agree that it does seem that you have already made up your mind. I suggest taking a business class to get a better understanding of the proposal between you and the store. Not sure how correct my opinion will be but here it goes. First, I am not sure if you will be the one providing enclosures AND accesories for your reptiles or if the store is going to provide them. Setting up enclosures with appropriate climates and conditions for each specific reptile kept will be very difficult and expensive. Any inappropriate enclosures will most likely result in unhealthy or dead animals. Now, animals do not just fly off shelves; the Kingsnake classifieds are a great example of that. How many excellent boas do you see posted consistently and for long periods of time? You need to keep in mind that you may have to pay for numerous months of feeding and heating for some animals. What are you going to do with animals that don’t sell? Eventually you may spend more on feeding and heating then the animal is actually worth, eventually you would have to sell it for less and where does that leave you? Next, not sure what you do after you purchase animals but any incoming animals should be checked and also quarantined for a good period of time. Veterinarians are not cheap. What are you going to do if someone purchases an animal from you and it dies shortly after? If the store owner has to start dealing with issues of sick or dead animals she/he will tear up that contract and show you the door. No successful store wants a bad rep. (unless it so big it does not matter). People are correct when they tell you that most of the money is made on feed and supplies in pet stores, not the actual reptiles. You also need to calculate your time invested into your expenses.
Maybe you are low balling your expenses and making yourself think there is a gold pot on the end of the rainbow. I think that you may have to recalculate what you think your profit, expenses and bottom line will be. You may find yourself on the negative side.

Big Note: Also, unless you have a good amount of money saved to help you out if things don’t go well, don’t do it. You need that financial support if you should fall into a deep hole. Do business smart and with patience.

Thanks,
www.VazquezFamilyReptiles.com