Bigpimpen22 led me on a wild goose chase.

I always require a nonrefundable deposit to hold animals. I've never had a situation where a buyer backed out, but I would keep the deposit if I felt it was justified. In a situation like this one, I think things might have gone differently had the buyer just said something like "hey I have had some unexpected family medical issues and I can no longer complete the purchase." Instead, he said would pick up the snake and did not (leading the seller to rearrange his schedule for no reason on more than one occasion), and said he would send payment but did not. For me at least, if the buyer was up front from the get go, that might change howi would handle the issue if I were in the seller's shoes.

well I guess not matter who made the BOI we would be at this point and its probably always going to be split 40%/20%/40% 40% in your favor 20% who cant make up their minds and 40% that think you wrong
my thoughts are return the money the snake is sold
there was no TOS and you cant assume things
im not saying you keeping the money makes you a bad guy at all
but it doesnt make you a good guy

See what happens when people start pandering to "hard luck" stories? It starts a trend and people start expecting the seller to always give the money/deposits back if someone has a "run of hard luck."

That's LIFE, deal with it.

well the simple fact is when the deposit was made no agreement of it being non refundable was made it wasn't until the snake was sold it came into play
and the fact that the snake was sold so he got full value of the snake he didn't lose any value on the snake
the seller needs a TOS or something that says he wont refund a deposit if he doesn't want to run into this problem in the future

Originally Posted by mikepanzarella

well the simple fact is when the deposit was made no agreement of it being non refundable was made it wasn't until the snake was sold it came into play
and the fact that the snake was sold so he got full value of the snake he didn't lose any value on the snake
the seller needs a TOS or something that says he wont refund a deposit if he doesn't want to run into this problem in the future

The seller did state that he had to leave work to meet up with the buyer. I would also be willing to bet that the seller did not stop feeding the animal while waiting for the buyer to follow through.

I understand that the cost of food over a few weeks is not $100 but it still has to count for something as does the leaving work to meet up and having it not happen.

I would personally offer the buyer a $100 credit towards another animal. I would allow the buyer to choose then set a date that the deal can be completed by both parties.

Originally Posted by mikepanzarella

well the simple fact is when the deposit was made no agreement of it being non refundable was made it wasn't until the snake was sold it came into play
and the fact that the snake was sold so he got full value of the snake he didn't lose any value on the snake
the seller needs a TOS or something that says he wont refund a deposit if he doesn't want to run into this problem in the future

You are being ILLOGICAL and not addressing all aspects of the situation. Regardless of whether or not the seller managed to find another buyer (good animals will always find a buyer) he is out of the missed arrangement times, he is out of the extra money it took to feel the animal and keep the animal healthy during that time (cleanings etc). It does NOT matter, at least to me, that he can make more... as another member stated... "Time is money." The seller wasted time, resources and money on this transaction. But some are only focusing on the fact that in the end the animal did sell.

If we are to provide oversight of the reptile community's business transactions, then it should be fair to ALL and not just to those pushing hard luck stories in the Joy Luck Club.

Originally Posted by deborahbroadus

See what happens when people start pandering to "hard luck" stories? It starts a trend and people start expecting the seller to always give the money/deposits back if someone has a "run of hard luck."

That's LIFE, deal with it.

While I partially agree with your hardened perspective (with a mindset like that, it's easier for character development), the reality is that the action of the seller depends on his morale subjectivity without any legal prints made available to the buyer, or in this case - the potential buyer.

The quality of our reptile industry has been vastly questionable, in a very insidious way socially, hence the need for BOI and its popular usage. What I will say is this - the kind of political fragmentation that is taking place in our hobby, and the dislike and suspicion people of each other is making it virtually impossible to govern intelligently without BOI. I see no culture ladies and gentlemen, just dead ends.

Originally Posted by joshjtd

I would personally offer the buyer a $100 credit towards another animal. I would allow the buyer to choose then set a date that the deal can be completed by both parties.

WHY should he waste any more time and money?

Originally Posted by hempmilk

While I partially agree with your hardened perspective (with a mindset like that, it's easier for character development), the reality is that the action of the seller depends on his morale subjectivity without any legal prints made available to the buyer, or in this case - the potential buyer.

The quality of our reptile industry has been vastly questionable, in a very insidious way socially, hence the need for BOI and its popular usage. What I will say is this - the kind of political fragmentation that is taking place in our hobby, and the dislike and suspicion people of each other is making it virtually impossible to govern intelligently without BOI. I see no culture ladies and gentlemen, just dead ends.

Hardened? Try COMMON SENSE.

Those big words used do not in any way "uplift" the transaction to anything more than it is. A BUSINESS TRANSACTION in which the BUYER displayed questionable actions in the transaction and the seller tried his best to work with him.

It's not a moral issue because the seller has committed no wrongs, broken no
"Good Faith" contracts, and has not mislead the buyer in anyway, based on a THOROUGH read of the facts.