Change of heart...the poll that never was, continued in another format. PLEASE READ!!

I was going to set-up a poll with links I've found to various classifieds, asking you to vote for the "questionable" animals offered for sale. Whether it be their inflamated prices, or questionable husbandry techniques visible in photographs used to sell their animal (i'm not talking about poor camera quality...I'm focusing more on overall apperance, questionable substrate, visible feces, etc...) I had a change of heart and didn't want to upset anyone, or use their ad as an example (good or bad) without their permision, so I thought this would be a better idea...can you post a link to an ad or ads containing animals you would hesitate to purchase due to some of the above formentioned or reasons of your own, and for good measure go ahead and post one (or two) that you wouldn't hesitate to purchase. Maybe this is a bad idea, but I'm curious as to see if most of us agree on quality here at the BOI as well as competitive prices. My reasoning for this thread is "my continued amazement" of how some people can stay in business(BAD)....and the obvious reasons some people DO (GOOD)!!

I'm going to start...check these out:

I'd wouldn't buy:
http://market.kingsnake.com/detail.php?cat=6&de=19408
just because I feel the asking price is way too high

I would buy:
http://market.kingsnake.com/detail.php?cat=7&de=55807
if I was into Retics (which I am) ammusing I could afford it (which I can't) because the ad read honestly (making the purchaser aware of temperments) and the overall condition and appearance of the animals for sale. NICE!!!

Well, I hope to hear back from some of you soon!!

Well, I can tell you right off the bat I'm not real crazy about the idea.

You want to scour classified ads over there and then post your findings here about them? In effect creating a series of links here directly to those ads? Seems to me all you are doing is to help funnel traffic from here over to kingsnake.com. Or am I missing something?

I am not condoning helping nor hindering that site, but I don't believe I owe them any favors.

I'm sorry Webslave. My intentions were good. I completely understand your philosophy on this matter. I browse many classifieds, Faunas, Kingsnakes, and a few others but the two mentioned obviously dominate the hobby as far as website's are concerned. I'm not really aware of the subject matter that has came up between some parties here at the BOI or the other, so I plead the 5th. My thoughts when starting this thread were to get classifieds from anywhere and everywhere. The BOI included (of course) I guess I should have shown more respect for this site, and at least started with examples from faunaclassifieds, being that I am posting it here. I see your point, and I hope you see where I was going with this. I'm sure some (not all) will utilize both classified sections as an advertising tool, and assumed most (again, not all) frequent both site's just to keep up with current happenings. I understand completely but thought we'd get more "examples" from any/all classifieds. I'll stand behind the choice you make whether to drop or reform this thread, maybe we can recommend only ads from faunaclassifieds sections can be used. Thanks for bringing this to my attention, I honestly didn't think of it that way when I posted, again my apologies, and I do see your point.

You know what?? I've been thinking and I guess this whole thing isn't a good idea after all. I went to faunas "for sale" sections and most don't have pics available, and my whole intention was to ask the public how some of these "sellers" sell animals. I mean, I've seen NUMEROUS ads with photographs of animals for sale in less than desirable conditions, and I just can't understand how these people stay in business. Rescues maybe but to purchase (at higher than market value, none the less) I don't think so, but obviously some disagree, because they are selling. I guess in short this would start a war of words and I don't want to be responsible. Thanks webslave for a great site, and the last thing I want to do is "get something started" so we can delete this if you want (already 30 hits but no participation) Keep up the great work!!

No harm done.

You had me puzzled about your comment about most ads in the classifieds section here not having photos attached, and it really puzzled me. Putting a photo into an ad is EXTREMELY easy with this message board system. All you have to do is use the Attach file: section at the bottom of the message you are entering, use the BROWSE button to find the photo file on your computer, and voila! It is done. Can't get much simpler than that!

There are actually three different ways you can put a photo into an ad with this system:

(1) Attach it by uploading directly from your local computer, as mentioned above.
(2) Use the IMG button above the text entry area to link to a photo on the server of your choice.
(3) Use embedded HTML to link to your site or anywhere else you have photos stored on a server.

I don't know how it could be any simpler to do.

Anyway, I went to the Pythons - For Sale forum, and I guess I am just luckier clicking on the ads then you were, but easily 8 out of 10 of the ads I clicked on had photos attached to them. You had me worried that most people couldn't figure out how to put photos in their ads!

Later..........

I went back and did a quick check on phots again, and I was just scrolling and looking at the ones with a "paperclip" attachment next to the subject, but found some posts by (like if someone put 3 ads on w/ a photo on each one) the attachment icon is only on the first, so there was more pics than I thought. I agree, you've got this site very user friendly and easy to navigate through, post, attach pics, etc...I was just in a "fast mode" going back to work and basically just looked briefly for the "icons". Well, now that I've managed to make your day a little more stressful, again not my intentions (man, I'm 0 for 2 here) you've handled it well, LOL!!