Buying snakes from unnamed people.

I am starting this poll to find out how many people would buy from or contact people to buy when they are no full names associated to the account.


I for one, just skip over accounts when the names are not in full, I want to be able to look at past references and conduct before I even contact them.

What do you do?

Bill,
I do the same thing. If they are not savvy enough to include their name and contact info in the ad, why should we think that they are savvy enough to complete the transaction without problems.

Another pet peeve of mine, although one we all have to live with, is receiving email inquiries about animals that are unsigned.

How many times do we receive emails like this?

Animal X - available?

That's it - nothing more!

Although I am very patient and work easily with people either new to the internet or new to reptiles, I still feel that there should be some level of professionalism, or at least courtesy, when making an inquiry.

My initial thought is that I question their ability to:

1. Complete the transaction
2. Properly care for the animal

Of course, in many cases with an initial contact like that, you never hear back again after your response anyway - so I guess it's moot.

When selling herps, getting your name out there is how you sell snakes and get recommendations from other people. Why keep your name secret? People can't assume your identity with just your name, otherwise there wouldn't be phone books. Who wants to hand someone hundreds and even thousands of dollars and not even know their name? Display it proud!!! Tell the world who you are!!!

I agree with you guys 100%. Although, sometimes people are just hobbyists and prefer to keep a low profile. Maybe they don't want to be flooded with emails and calls, or maybe they are concerned about being robbed.

Or, maybe they are just shady and they have something to hide. Either way, Im much less comfortable doing online business with people who don't have an established reputation and who are reluctant to disclose their names and contact info...

Its like the less info they give about the animals and themselves, the more suspicious I am.

i havent yet bought any reptiles online but i am planning to in the near future . i want to know as much about a seller as i can before i decide to make a purchase though .

I picked skip over if No full name appears. But I am a real pain about buying
from anyone I cannot meet in person.
I usually work out the transaction, and then reserve the right to change my
mind if I get a bad feeling when I meet the person.
Or if I see bad husbandry.
I would greatly prefer to buy from only folks I already know. But that is not always
practical.

I voted that I would ask for the real name and not just skip the ad but you know what, all of this is really going to screw me this Summer.
Fake hets, people not wanting to buy from anyone but NERD, RDR, etc is going to make it very hard for me to sell my 100% het hypos this year when they hatch.
I'm afraid I am going to end up feeling the backlash from TSE, David Van Houten, Bearded Pets, and the countless other idiots that are ruining it for smaller guys like me.
Evidently offering lifetime guarentees and photo ID's are still not going to convince some people to take a chance considering what is going on with TSE and what happened to Casey with his "het" from Van Houten.

Originally Posted by SPJ

Fake hets, people not wanting to buy from anyone but NERD, RDR, etc is going to make it very hard for me to sell my 100% het hypos this year when they hatch.

Steve, I for one wouldn't hesitate to purchase from you. You have several good trader ratings and have a good presence on this forum. Plus you have your name proudly displayed on your account.

I always look at the name of the seller and there location first.I then look at how long they have been a member on whatever site i am looking at.If there full name is not included in the ad i will contact them and ask for there full name so i can check them out.If the name is their i do a search in the BOI on fauna(lol).If they refuse to give me there name i move on in a flash.

Originally Posted by SPJ

I voted that I would ask for the real name and not just skip the ad but you know what, all of this is really going to screw me this Summer.
Fake hets, people not wanting to buy from anyone but NERD, RDR, etc is going to make it very hard for me to sell my 100% het hypos this year when they hatch.
I'm afraid I am going to end up feeling the backlash from TSE, David Van Houten, Bearded Pets, and the countless other idiots that are ruining it for smaller guys like me.
Evidently offering lifetime guarentees and photo ID's are still not going to convince some people to take a chance considering what is going on with TSE and what happened to Casey with his "het" from Van Houten.

Ditto, Steve.

But then after thinking about it some.....I guess there's still enough people out there crazy enough to buy "hets" from places like CRE.....but I have to wonder also if those are the kind of people I want to sell to either....