Reptile & Amphibian Forums

First let me say I'm not trying to ruin anybody's auctions if you are actually getting good money. Almost every price I'm seeing though I believe almost all of you could get that same number with a call or two to any number of flippers. Even more in most cases.

I'm going to help all you auction newbies out now. You may ask why since I want them to die, but if you follow me, you know I have my reasons.

First, NEVER EVER bid first. Never bid second. Never ever bid until the last five minutes. People get competitive in auctions and this drives the price up. Have any of you watched storage wars? The pro Dave Hester NEVER bids first. He's always last and that's not for the show. Any pro will tell you this. You can try and blow your comp away with a high bid out of the gate, but it's better to bid near the auctions end. That's even if there's a time limit between the last bids.

I realize some of you can't bid the last five minutes. If you can't bid the last five minutes you don't really want the snake do you?

Second, pay close attention to the bidders. I have seen one big breeder that is clearly running up the bids with friends and people that work for him. Watch that closely. Watch if bids from these friends all of a sudden disappear. When you catch the cheater/cheaters make sure you call him out. This type of thing is done in auctions worldwide. If you ever go to an auction make sure you stand in the back. There's a good chance the auctioneer will run up the price pretending someone behind you is bidding. He makes more money this way and some items have a price they need to reach before they'll sell. This has nothing to do with FB snake auctions, but just thought I'd help you.

Last, there have two other respected breeders that have just recently posted about their dislike of auctions. One was Colin Weaver and the other was Mr. [ban]. If you've ever read anything Colin says you can tell he's knows a little about business. Brian has been doing this as long as anyone and has built a snake empire. That's two smart people and one guy that's been called every derogatory name in the book. Oh yeah, these were the hillbillies and desert defenders. They clearly have zero credibility. So lets' just say that's two smart guys and one that knows a little something about this business.

I promise all of you that are doing these auctions I'm not trying to ruin your business. I think Brian, Colin and I are only trying to help the future of the business. Since you can't call me(yet), call Brian or Colin and at least hear them out.

For some reason you can't say the name of Brian's show. That's what was after Mr.

Either you are more toxic than I imagined or it's time to turn the lights out on this forum. I kept waiting for someone more informed than me to react. It's not like you have become less provocative. So where are the responses? It can't just be that you're right. That didn't stop anyone from going off on you last time. Where is everyone? Can't all be on FB, and even if they are, why would KS and FB be mutually exclusive?

You know, Over the many years I have been in this hobby/industry we have all seen things such as the on-line auctions come and go. Personally I have bought some nice specific animals that someone had off of auction sites. I prefer to do private treaty, but there have been instances where a specific animal I needed for some project came up on one of them and I bought it from there. So far I have not been disappointed doing so. This last week I bought two adult female balls from one auction site alone and they are exactly what I needed. I am very pleased with them and the price I paid also.

With the exception of some cause donations, I don't use them to sell my animals instead relying on private treaty and a few shows.

My rules are pretty simple though:

1. Make sure I know whom it is I am dealing with and know up front the quality that I have gotten from them in the past.

2. Set a price in my head what I am going to pay and don't deviate from that.

3. If the animal is not as represented then make sure I am prepared to attempt to get it made right.

4. Realize that you usually get what you pay for. You may save a few dollars at an auction but with the competition out there it is probably not going to be much different from dealing with individuals that advertise in these classifieds or have a web site to work from.

Bottom line this is a buyer be aware industry and anyone going into the purchase of anything from a 50.00 kingsnake to a 10,000.00 ball python needs to look at all methods of sale and sellers before they make a decision to use one of these sites.

If a site is a bad actor, I also believe that there will be kickback and eventual shutdown of that site in the long run. But that goes for bad breeders, sellers and business in general. This is really a small industry and word does get around pretty quickly. Reputation is something that can be lost in a few seconds and takes a long time to repair or establish.

Good Luck out there,

Cherryville Farms - Reptiles

Ok, I must be missing something. In your post you say:

"I have seen one big breeder that is clearly running up the bids with friends and people that work for him."

And you also say:

"When you catch the cheater/cheaters make sure you call him out."

Why have you not named the "big breeder that is clearly running up the bids with friends and people that work for him."?

Guess the user name "The Half Truth" was taken.