Blown off

I just did a show where someone was supposed to pick up some animals he requested me to hold for him. Now this has carried over from the previous months show too. The previous months show he only picked up 3 of the 8 he said he wanted, due to his claim his car was impounded and he didn't have the funds for them all. A few days prior to yesterdays show he called me and he said he would probably only be able to pick up 2 or 3 of the remaining 5 I was holding. He showed up at the show early but never came by my table. I later find out he had been in contact with another vendor and requested him to meet him in the parking lot because he didn't want to pay to come in. He picked up a few snakes from this other vendor and bailed. Well needless to say this person is now on my list, the "add 25% percent to what price is marked" list. I ended up selling most of what I was holding for him for more than what the break in price I was giving him since he had previously bought a number of animals from me.

That sounds frustrating. I probably would not deal with someone who has dishonored his word that way unless it was a one time extreme emergency.
As far as holding animals; one response would to simply require and immediate non refundable deposit and a definite time frame, after which the deposit becomes yours and you are free to sell the snake to anyone "option contract".

You should post his name on the BOI, so no one else will "hold" snakes for him.

That sucks.

Originally Posted by ms_terese

You should post his name on the BOI, so no one else will "hold" snakes for him.

That sucks.

I agree, put him up there so everyone can see him for the lying sack of snot he is.

This is not an uncommon thing to have happen. I've seen at shows myself and also when people are negotiating a sale across the net. What they will do is tell everyone who has something they are interested in to hold them for them saying they are definitely going to buy them. This is just a way for them to hold down everything they are thinking about buying until they can decide which one they are REALLY going to buy.

At shows, I have had people come to my table, pick out a few items, and then ask me to hold them while they look around the rest of the show. I tell them, "Sure, as long as you pay for them first." Invariably they will say "But I haven't seen everything else here yet!". Well duh! What are you telling me? You're saying to me that you may not come back to buy these, so why should I remove them from the possiblity of being bought by someone else if YOU are not committing to buying them? Some will pay then and some won't.

As for the earlier situation with internet or phone related "holds", if someone isn't willing to commit with a deposit or full payment, then keep the animals up for sale. It is not reasonable for someone to expect YOU to commit to holding the animals for them if they will not make a solid, binding commitment to take them.

LOL...at the 25% bit...I do the same thing...on the bottom of my receipts, there is a byline called "A-fee"...when someone is a pain, I tack on a percentage...works well!
Sorry to hear you had such a frustrating experience...what is the old line...? "talk's cheap, takes money to buy whiskey".

greg

Not a very nice think to do, as it is the epitome of the dead-beat buyer. It’s similar to the one that tells you on an e-mail “consider it sold, the money is on the way”, but the money never shows up. How many of those have you had in the past? Luckily you can counteract that by soliciting a non-refundable down payment. A couple of years ago we discussed about making up a list of dead-beat buyers in the BOI for everyone to see. After a long and heated debate, we decided that as much as it sucked, it would not be a good business practice to do so. Regrettably you will find that kind of individual frequently. It’s your decision how you want to handle the situation though.

Best regards.

When I find out his last name I'll most likely post this on the BOI.

I'd think you would at least want a last name before you'd hold anything anyway.

Definitely if you get additional info, post this guy so we can put him in our deadbeat buyer list.

I think there is also another issue here that is being glossed over. Maybe it is common practice and I'm the only one who sees anything wrong with it. That being the involvement of the other vendor.
Is it common practice to sell outside the expo, so a customer can save a few bucks? I would think it was even against some kind of policy, maybe one you have to agree to when you sign up for a table.
Firstly, I wouldn't hold a bunch of animals for somebody who was to cheap to pay the $6 or whatever it is, if someone is to cheap to support the venue, then you wonder how they feel about spending the money to properly feed the animals. Secondly, the ethics of the vendor bothers me. It's a slap in the face to all the other vendors who paid to have a table, and to those attendees who feel it is worth it to pay the small fee to be able to see all the vendors, as well as to the people who are putting on the show, who pay for advertising, etc.
Just wondering if I'm the only one who see's anything wrong with this, maybe it's no big deal.