BallBids.com?

I agree they should not send out unsolicited emails and they will get lots of unhappy bidders for every happy bidder.
I completely disagree with them advertising animals sold that have in fact not been sold! Very bad business ethics! Lying is not a good way to start a business in this industry.
I have been relatively successful with quibids. But they are selling items that are not alive and don't need to be quarantined, etc. I agree that most reputable breeders are not going to put their name and reputation on the line.
It is an Interesting business model as penny auctions are rising in popularity.

This is the ad that surfaced and is going around.

Theres a reason eBay is so successful over these penny auctions, cause eBay is FREE to use when bidding

Originally Posted by RichsBallPythons

This is the ad that surfaced and is going around.

Theres a reason eBay is so successful over these penny auctions, cause eBay is FREE to use when bidding

And NOT ONE of those snakes exist.
They were never sold. Never bid on. Probably never even in BallBids posession.
The fact that they blatantly lied with the marketing is enough for me to steer clear of them. If they can't even be honest when they first try to market the site, why should anyone trust them with their money?

High Tech Flipper,out for a buck sorry hobby dont work this way.

Originally Posted by SPJ

And NOT ONE of those snakes exist.
They were never sold. Never bid on. Probably never even in BallBids posession.
The fact that they blatantly lied with the marketing is enough for me to steer clear of them. If they can't even be honest when they first try to market the site, why should anyone trust them with their money?

I totally agree. But, if they DO happen to have snakes, the lying should send red flags. Remember, these are ball pythons we are speaking of. Ball pythons are subject to some serious infectious diseases.

This biz could get their stock from the finest breeders anywhere, but if they had even one additional bp of questionable health, then only scrupulous quarantine by this business and by the winner both would help assure that those who happened to win a snake, that the safety of their own snakes in their collections would not be compromised.

And after starting their biz by lying, who would believe any health assurances by this business?

Please read their terms and conditions carefully. Live animals are not to be returned. No live delivery guarantee, no health guarantee, no warranty.

Originally Posted by vadiver

Please read their terms and conditions carefully. Live animals are not to be returned. No live delivery guarantee, no health guarantee, no warranty.

That does not inspire confidence. Depending on what came along with it, the $7 ball python you might win might just be the costliest snake you ever bought, if it wipes out your collection.

Originally Posted by Lucille

That does not inspire confidence. Depending on what came along with it, the $7 ball python you might win might just be the costliest snake you ever bought, if it wipes out your collection.

Exactly.
It doesn't matter how "cheap" it may have been when you won the bid, it could be devastating if that animal infects your entire collection and racks up enormous vet bills.
This type of auction maybe fine for some things but definitely not live animals.


I was wondering, how do they ship and what happens if there is a shipping problem?

The whole thing is designed to make a lot of money off of people who think they are getting a "good deal" with no regards to the so-called "product" they are auctioning off and no recourse when the deal goes south.

Originally Posted by SPJ

Exactly.
I was wondering, how do they ship and what happens if there is a shipping problem?

The whole thing is designed to make a lot of money off of people who think they are getting a "good deal" with no regards to the so-called "product" they are auctioning off and no recourse when the deal goes south.

It says they are shipping using ShipYourReptiles.com.

I am not advocating for them, but in checking this, they did in fact buy the animal that is on auction from Mike Wilbanks as he confirmed to me. If they ship through SYR with the SYR packaging, then there will be some insurance for live delivery through syr.com

In the end, we all know that it is the individual buyer's responsibility to handle the animals they receive in a manner that is safe for the rest of their colony. You could buy a snake at a show and have an equal or greater risk that the animal is sick and will contaminate your others.

We also know that there are people who will use this site to get animals because if you get a $1,500 male orange dream for $375 you may make a huge return within a couple of years.

Like it was stated above, this is gambling. Gambling that you win your bid and gambling that you will get a snake that is a healthy addition to your collection.

What little I know about the two owners of BallBids...

Avi created the ad banners that are deliberately misleading. It's been pointed out multiple times that starting off your business with a blatant lie is a bad idea. Instead of accepting that and admitting any error on his part or changing the ads, he continues to say it was "just marketing". That's what I KNOW about Avi. What I THINK is that this makes him sound like someone who has no scruples about doing whatever it takes to promote his business and make his money. Regardless of the ethics of the situation, he'll find a way to justify it.

I know a little bit more about Zack. Zack showed up at BP.net last year and got himself into a bit of trouble due to a very short fuse and lack of social skills. Nothing inherently wrong with that. It happens. Not everyone is cut out for online communities. A bad temper doesn't make one a bad guy, even if it is a common symptom of bad-guy-ism.

BUT...after things didn't go his way, Zack broke the rules of the site to start a new account with a new name. We gave him the benefit of the doubt and dealt with it and he continued to be allowed to participate if he wished.

NOW...he comes back to BP.net with yet another account. An account he darned well knows was against our rules for him to create. That account was banned, and he was warned to use his original account and to not create another. But he ignored that warning and posted again from yet another account. Now he is permanently banned from BP.net.

If he can't follow the VERY simple rules of my site, what makes me think he will bother following whatever rules he sets up for his own site.

I wouldn't trust either of these guys as far as I could throw them. Even if they ARE trying to run a legitimate business, the character traits they demonstrate here give NO confidence that they'll actually be able to follow through with reliable customer service. And if customers start getting crappy service, you can BET (a gamble you're sure to win this time) that you'll get nothing but hot-tempered arguments from Zack, and calm collected justifications from Avi.