Jerry Conway: Seller's Perspective?

I may be completing a transaction with Jerry Conway of www.kingsnake.com/candoia. He has asked me to send the snakes to him before he decides if he wants to purchase them or not. Jerry seems to have a good reputation in the herp industry thus far, however, searches about him turned up only older threads from a buyer's perspective (although all hailed Jerry as a good guy). I was wondering if his request for me to send the snakes before I am payed is reasonable. I usually do not even ship first in trades unless the trade is with someone I have done business with in the past. I believe he is legitimate, but I'm still rather uneasy about conducting business in this manner. Any personal reviews of Jerry Conway would be appreciated, especially those from the seller's end. I'm sure he's a good guy, I'd just like some confirmation.

Thanks!

Jennifer Webb
(Jungle Gems Exotics)
www.JungleGemsExotics.com

If you cannot, I would not send anything without money in hand. If you can, then good luck.

I would trust him enough to send snakes to him first, say in a trade or something, but I wouldn't send anyone my snakes JUST to determine whether they even wanted to buy them.

In response to David Reid, no, I cannot afford to lose these snakes and am not particularly anxious to let them go either. They are Eastern Hognose Snakes and as I live in Colorado it is difficult to obtain food for them (not impossible, just difficult and expensive).

Jerry says that he has not purchased a snake sight-unseen for twelve years. I did send him one digital camera image via e-mail for each of the snakes (and would be glad to take more from many different angles if requested). Here is an except from an e-mail I sent Jerry a few minutes ago in response to his request...

"Pending good feedback on the FaunaClassifieds Board of
Inquiry, I may consider your offer. I have never shipped any
animal before receiving payment, and rarely ship first in
trades with individuals whom I have done prior business. I am
somewhat concerned that, as you have admittedly never owned
hognose before, you may not know what to look for in regards
to the quality of the animal (excluding general signs of
health as can be seen in all species). I would have referred
you to the site Hognose.com, but it was taken down recently
as it got very expensive for the owner to maintain. Barring
there are no bad reports on Fauna and you have a good buyer's
reputation as well, my fiance or I will contact you via phone
to set up shipping arrangements (or I will send you our
number so that you may contact us)."

I believe I am being reasonable to give it some contemplation, but I have never had this asked of me before. I want to be fair to Jerry, but at the same time I have learned the hard way in the past that you can never be too careful.

Jennifer Webb
(Jungle Gems Exotics)
www.JungleGemsExotics.com

Originally Posted by JungleGems

Jerry says that he has not purchased a snake sight-unseen for twelve years. I did send him one digital camera image via e-mail for each of the snakes (and would be glad to take more from many different angles if requested)....

Pretty stingy? (don't know what word I'm really looking for here) standards considering he runs a snake business over the internet. I wonder if he'll ship me a pair or two of his candoia for me to "test drive" before I purchase? Anyway, I wouldn't do it if it were me. We're not talking about a five or six figure animal, for a "normal" sale like this, good photos, and a standard guarantee should be more than sufficient enough. But that's just me.

From a business standpoint alone, I would not send the snakes without money up front. If for some reason he decides he does not want the animals, you can always have him ship them back and you can give him a refund, minus the shipping of course. It does not matter who it is, make yourself a policy and stick to it. Mine is that I don't send anything without money up front, I don't send first or the same day on trades, and, unless I know the fellow really well, like for decades, I don't pay for animals up front. If the seller on the other end does not like my policy on this, I offer to accept the animals COD if needed. This is just to insure that I get what I'm paying for. There are just too many con men out there now days. Prime example: been trading and buying from a guy for the past couple years. I always insisted he ship first, then I would either send out the trade animals or the money. This worked well for a long time. Then one day, it was "I need the money up front so I can buy the animals to send to you." I sent the money, I have not heard from this person since, no money back, no animals, no answers to my phone calls or emails. Lesson learned: I have the policies I established for a reason, and I won't make the same mistake again. Nor should you make such a mistake. Good luck to you whatever you decide.

Jennifer

If good digital photos are not sufficient for him to make a decision then let this one go. In 12 years of sales I have never had anyone even ask for anything so prepostorous. It would be one thing if he wanted the animals shipped to a third party who was holding the money because he thought you might not ship after payment but just to decide whether or not he likes them? Not a chance

I agree with John. No way, no how, no where!! He can see all of the snakes in pictures. If they are misrepresented, he returns them and gets his money back. If they are as described, he keeps them and you keep the money. To me "sight-unseen" is without pictures.

I understand his reasons and he is entitled to them. I would pass this one up. Just like he will probably do the same if you do not accept his terms.

Jennifer,

In my opinion you should not have to worry with Jerry. He has run his business for years and has an established reputation with candoias. There is general agreement that the person offering the trade should ship first. In addition, this deal is now in the open for everyone to see, that in itself would reassure me of a uneventful outcome. By the way, the hognose is doing wonderfully, he eats like a pig.

Thanks,

Dan

Originally Posted by The BoidSmith

Jennifer,

In my opinion you should not have to worry with Jerry. He has run his business for years and has an established reputation with candoias. There is general agreement that the person offering the trade should ship first. In addition, this deal is now in the open for everyone to see, that in itself would reassure me of a uneventful outcome. By the way, the hognose is doing wonderfully, he eats like a pig.

Thanks,

Dan

Dan,

This is not a proposed "trade", it's s sale.

Originally Posted by JungleGems

I may be completing a transaction with Jerry Conway of www.kingsnake.com/candoia. He has asked me to send the snakes to him before he decides if he wants to purchase them or not.

Jerry says that he has not purchased a snake sight-unseen for twelve years. I did send him one digital camera image via e-mail for each of the snakes (and would be glad to take more from many different angles if requested).

The buyer wants them shipped subject to his liking them. He feels that a seeing a picture is buying snakes "sight-unseen". Frankly I don't care what his reputation is or how in the open this proposed transaction now is. This is beyond the bounds of "standard operating procedure" to me. Why should he get "special treatment". Its cash on the barrel, then I sell. If he wants to "window shop", he can go to Jenn's house and look the snakes over.

I would pass unless he wants to use an escrow service at his expense, and even then I would still prefer to find someone else who wants to buy from me.