Just Starting

My snakes are coming out of brumation.
Females are eating like there's no tomorrow.
Last year I produced a clutch of 5 - two holdbacks, two gifts, and I just sold one to a local pet store (a good pet store) - so I guess with that sale, I'm officially started. That one was suppose to be a gift as well, but the receiver never came to get it, so I got sick of waiting and just sold it - if she couldn't get her act together to pick up a free snake when we live in the same city, she clearly can't care for one.

My FedEx certification is in process.
Web Site will be up soon.

Soon I will contribute to this forum and start the good trader seal thing. Probably closer to hatch time (hell, they haven't even mated this year yet)

I'm in it for the hobby, not the money.
Right now I'm only breeding Cal Kings. There is no money
I probably spent about as much feeding the neonate I just sold as I sold it for ...

My question is on what type of policies a breeder should have with respect to customer satisfaction.

How long is a reasonable health guarantee?
What about DOA - do I need to add a few bucks to S+H costs to put away in a jug so I can refund shipping on a DOA? I hope I never have a DOA but stuff happens. Or is it OK for me to expect customers to assume the shipping cost as a loss on a DOA? What kind of proof should I require for a DOA refund?

And another policy thing -
I'm not experienced with popping. I can watch videos of it all day long but I will not do it myself until I've had time to sit down with an experienced breeder and watch it done several times because of the possibility of spinal damage.

I do not like to probe snakes below 18". Maybe I shouldn't be so uncomfortable about it, but they are so small as neonates ...

In my experience, the males in a clutch will have a tail that is a full centimeter longer than the females in a clutch, and usually visually different geometry. I've rarely been wrong when sexing a kingsnake or gopher snake visually, but I can't claim to bat 1000 at it either.

My plan with respect to sex is to state the method used (tail measurement and geometry) and that sex is only probable, not guaranteed.

Is that acceptable? This year I will not be producing any high value kings - I have some projects and by the time they are ready (several years from now), I will have learned proper popping technique, but for this years clutch, I'd really rather not guarantee sex.

Are there any good sample policies out there I can look at that are fair to both me and my customers?

I'm not in it for the money, but I don't want policies that will allow customers to walk all over me either.

As far as payment, I plan to only accept paypal from verified paypal accounts and only ship to the verified paypal address OR a USPS money order (that I'll cash at the post office before I ship). Those are my eBay rules and I've never been stung be a con artist since implementing them.

Thanks for suggestions.