No obligation interest lists

So, I have been put on a few of these before and 9/10 times ended up buying, I always wondered though if they are all that effective with the majority of buyers. What I am talking about is say someone wishes to express their interest on a pairing sometimes even before there are actual eggs/pregnancy, they can be put on an email list, kept updated on the pairing and, depending on order of the list, will be given first chances at offspring. Those of you that have used this as a medium to sell offspring, how good of a turnout did you have? Out of X number of people, how many actually bought?

I've never used it to sell but I have asked to be put on about a dozen of them (the seller offered so I wasn't just saying let me know if you get any babies) and only twice did the seller ever contact me once the animals were born. I know in at least 6 of the other instances there were offspring available because I saw ads for them. A couple of them were from some the biggest names in the hobby, or at least the biggest names in their particular area of the hobby. Its not a big deal but why offer it if you are not going to follow through.

I try to keep people in mind for certain things, but I do not have or offer a list. If I did have an actual list, I would feel obligated to reach out to it in order. However, I would not feel obligated to wait much before going to the next person on the list with what I have to offer. When I have tried to do that in the past, people sometimes took their time like my time was worth nothing, so I started moving on quicker. Also, if people ask me to find something for them and I do, but they decide not to move on it, I am surprised that they are surprised when I do not notify them of future opportunities in the same vein after they showed me it was not worth my having put forth the effort.

In my experience in asking to be added to around a couple dozen lists over the years, only one person out of those dozens ever contacted me with an availability update, so I consider them generally useless unless there is some kind of large-scale transaction series/history involved.

Originally Posted by nickolasanastasiou

only one person out of those dozens ever contacted me with an availability update,

That's a bummer Nickolas that the rest where no shows.

Sounds like an opportunity for someone to get an edge in with customers if they would just put forth some more effort. How simple would it be to store up 20-30 email addresses of people who showed interest and send out a group email 3 times during hatch season with some updates.

Maybe only one person of the 30 buys, but 15 minutes (5 min. x 3 emails) could help you sell a $1,000 animal.

Business doesn't just drop in your lap, at least not for me.

Originally Posted by Robert Walker

That's a bummer Nickolas that the rest where no shows.

Sounds like an opportunity for someone to get an edge in with customers if they would just put forth some more effort. How simple would it be to store up 20-30 email addresses of people who showed interest and send out a group email 3 times during hatch season with some updates.

Maybe only one person of the 30 buys, but 15 minutes (5 min. x 3 emails) could help you sell a $1,000 animal.

Business doesn't just drop in your lap, at least not for me.

For me, while I would like to eventually be able to move to a functional list system or roster of buyers (especially for multiple-animal orders), my situation does not currently warrant it. My production volume is modest at present and I can get rapid enough sales at market prices by simply placing ads. I have gotten a much better response from placing ads than the alternative and it of course is done in accordance with my schedule.

It would be nice to get feedback from folks who produce things like Eastern Indigo snakes, some of the dwarf spiny tail iguana species, and other "specialty" species to see how the people on their lists generally respond.

Originally Posted by nickolasanastasiou

My production volume is modest at present and I can get rapid enough sales at market prices by simply placing ads.

I understand, my volume is about the same category, and Fauna ads are usually enough to sell out each year.

It would be nice to get feedback from folks who produce things like Eastern Indigo snakes, some of the dwarf spiny tail iguana species, and other "specialty" species to see how the people on their lists generally respond.

Good question on the specialty species too.

I inquired on a snake several years ago with Dan Wolfe. Nothing became of it. Years later when he sold off his collection, my email was still on his list. I ended up getting some stuff from him. Funny how that worked out.

Most of the lists I signed up for where specialty species; however I noticed the majority of specialty breeders like those of Corallus batessi prefer to say, "just shoot me an email in X month and we can talk deposits". My theory is since I seem to attract a lot of newer hobbyists the length of time between copulation and having well started hatchlings/neonates gives them time to ask questions or do their own research. Which is a lot better than bombarding me or Google with 50 questions the day before shipping...which can of course make me reconsider the sale altogether. Plus I dislike having to bump/repost ball python adds all the time, so if I can move 3 from keeping 10 people updated, it's worth it.

I kind of had something of a no commitment notification list this year, mainly because so many people asked to be notified about one particular clutch I was anticipating. I didn't make up an actual list, which I'll be sure to do if it comes up again, but I think that I remembered everyone and let them all know when there were babies available at least a few days before officially listing them for sale anywhere and there was not one taker out of perhaps 8-10 people, not a problem but a bit disappointing, especially because waiting for replies before moving on to the next person was a little aggravating.

Originally Posted by nickolasanastasiou

I try to keep people in mind for certain things, but I do not have or offer a list. If I did have an actual list, I would feel obligated to reach out to it in order. However, I would not feel obligated to wait much before going to the next person on the list with what I have to offer. When I have tried to do that in the past, people sometimes took their time like my time was worth nothing, so I started moving on quicker. Also, if people ask me to find something for them and I do, but they decide not to move on it, I am surprised that they are surprised when I do not notify them of future opportunities in the same vein after they showed me it was not worth my having put forth the effort.

In my experience in asking to be added to around a couple dozen lists over the years, only one person out of those dozens ever contacted me with an availability update, so I consider them generally useless unless there is some kind of large-scale transaction series/history involved.

Definitely no waiting on the breeders part. If there are any animals available a quick email out to everyone on the list, it could even go out the same time as a classified ad, and its first come first served or however you would normally run your sales. I wouldn't send out notices on a waiting list and sit around very long at all before selling to someone else. I might wait a day or two or maybe send out the notice a week or so before they are actually ready to ship to see who gets back to you. Might be you won't even have to bother with an ad.