Does this person really want to sell something?

This is a perfect example of how not to write an ad, unless of course you want to scare people to death. Bear with me that I’m not saying he is a bad guy, but that he needs a little polishing in his business approach to selling. Here’s his first ad:

I have baby ball pythons feeding on mice. They are fresh from Africa. As you can see in the pics, they are all top quality snakes. Many have clear bellies and are high yellow & orange with great patterns. I am selling them for:

$16 each Males in lots of 10 or more
$20 each Females only in lots of 10 or more

Please do not ask for additional pics or of individuals. There are too many.

shipping via Airborne/DHL Express is an additional $45.00+.

I will accept money orders or Paypal +3.5%

GUARANTEES: Live arrival is conditionally guaranteed.
All animals labeled " Wild Caught " are not guaranteed to adapt to captivity, feed or drink on their own, or tame down unless otherwise specified. It is the sole responsibility of the buyer to make the necessary accommodations to ensure the adaptability and welfare of the animal that has been sold. All wild caught animals for sale will appear to be in overall good condition but have not been medically treated for diseases, parasites or illnesses which may be a normal part of the animal's life in the wild. It is recommended that all animals be checked by a veterinarian or other expert dealing with reptiles. Additional terms will apply

1. Openly charging 3.5% for PayPal payments.
2. Live arrival is “conditionally” guaranteed (meaning???)
3. Animals are not guaranteed to adapt to captivity, feed or drink on their own!!! Never have I seen a ball python WC, CH or CB that will not “drink” on its own (unless dead of course). My conclusion is he has never seen a ball python either.
4. Additional terms will apply. I’m almost tempted to buy just to check on what might those additional terms be.

He also sells male, female and unsexed baby ball python lots. In his ad he guarantees that in a lot of 25 unsexed babies at least seven will be females.

Nothing against him as I said but he definitively needs some help in the ad phrasing department.

Regards

It sounds like he is trying to target your typical 10 Balls to a ten gallon petstore.More and more petstores are trying to buy animals online for resale.Not so good for the industry if you ask me.

Andy Sury

for years ! Most " breeders " don't want or like the idea of selling there stock to pet stores so it has always been a " catch 22 " situation. I'm sure it doesn't take a rocket scientist ( old term > ? ) to figure out why.

In reality my problem is not with whom he wants to target but with the fact that he ads a surcharge for PayPal, states that WC ball pythons are not guaranteed to drink on their own, and that he guarantees 7 females per 25 lot of unsexed animals. I’m not going to say that there should be 12.5 females (50%) but you can’t guarantee there are going to be 7 either (unless you know in advance of course).

Regards.

Hello,

If you wont I will. The person sounds like a rip-off to me. Simply put, avoid at all cost. Andrew Potts

While I doubt the above ad reads well enough to generate a large number of sales there is little there to make him a "rip off". The paypal issue is semantics. A person pays for the percentage either on the backend (where all the lawyers like you to hide it) or on the front end (as here). Granted it's not to the letter of the law, but more of a party foul as opposed to a scam (selling wc babies has hets etc). The law was passed by the credit card companies lobbies so that the consumer would be just was willing to pay with credit card as cash (which more people would for cash if it got the item cheaper). His warranty basically says your on your own. When I buy from wholesalers that is pretty much the standard. If I open the box and it's alive then they've done their part. Do I think such a warranty makes for lower sales? Yes. Do I think it makes him a bad guy? No.

Hello,

To me it's still a rip off. Plain and simple. If ya can't guarantee the animals then don't sell the animals. Easy. No if ands or butts. I don't care if they be imports. Andrew Potts

If ya can't guarantee the animals then don't sell the animals.

I'm curious what type of guarantee you get from your suppliers (I'm assuming in your in the business end of this industry) for imported animals? Most of the wholesalers I've worked with give you a live arrival guarantee only and then there are conditions to that (against carrier mishap, delay, sign for first attempt etc).

Hello,

I don't buy imported animals at all. Did back in the day, but a really high mortality rate and the fact i don't sell anything unless it's eating ended that. I know all you people who import thousands of baby balls every year only have one maybe or two die, but when I imported baby balls from Ghana almost half ended up dying(each animal was kept in it's own small sweater box, no housing 10 or 20 or 50 in one container). Simply put anyone who cant guarantee the animals they sale are ripoffs. So i guess what i'm saying is if you cant guarantee it then you shouldn't be selling it. Andrew Potts

Hello,

Forgot to mention. Any seller who holds the buyer at fault because the shipper maid a mistake is a ripoff big time. Andrew Potts