People who "flake out" on deals.

You run an ad for an animal. People reply. Somebody COMMITS to purchase/trade your advertised animal. Days pass, you do not hear back from the individual. You email them, no replies. Maybe you do hear back and they claim money problems, life crisis or what have you. You realize you have been flaked out on.

The above situation has been happening WAY to often lately in this hobby/business. It is not just some "Joe Blow" that nobody has heard of, but well known, respected people. Yes, things happen, problems occur, but lets be real. What, if anything should be done??? Oh yeah, I am guilty of "flaking out" once, many years ago, but thats it.

This poll is not complete. The option should be there for re advertise the animal and forget about it. This happens in a business with many small timer organizations...I am guilty of it. I usually try to send an email that says hey forget about it...I cannot get it at this time. My reasons are my reasons and no explanation is needed.

If a guy tells me, "I want that snake! Don't sell it to anyone else ... the money is ON THE WAY!" I take that animal off of my "For Sale" list and place it on the "Sale Pending side of the ledger.

Now, if that same guy comes back to me in a few days and says, "Hey forget about it...I cannot get it at this time," I take the animal back off the "Sale Pending" list and put it back on the "For Sale" list. Does that guy owe me an explanation? Nope.

Will I sell to him again? Yep ... But I'll never hold an animal for him again. It's cash up front to me, or the animal you wanted can very easily be sold right out from under you, pal!

It may not seem like a big deal for buyers, but there is real damage in pulling a snake off of the "For Sale" side of an ad, even for a short period of time. The reason is because there are only so many potential buyers out there for every snake offered for sale. If I pull my snake so you can take your sweet time to think about things, another guy (one who is ACTUALLY serious about BUYING a snake from me) will not look at my stock, and he'll likely buy something from someone else while I'm messing around with someone wasting my time.

Anybody can do me that way ONE TIME! Nobody gets to do it to me twice ... I promise.

The next poll should be about the sellers that can't bother to reply to buyers.

I've never done it on purpose, but I have, inadvertantly, neglected to respond to a buyer before. There's no doubt that it makes a negative impression on people when sellers don't respond to those inquiring about their animals.

However, when I'm in the "buyer's chair," I try to remember that while I, as a buyer, may be extremely interested in that snake being offered, and I have every motivation to make cetain that I contact THAT seller as soon as possible, the seller may have dozens of people interested in the same snake RIGHT NOW!!!
He or she has to wade through all of the emails, try to determine which ones are serious, which one came in first, and which deal is best for him (regarding multiple sale items, shipping requirements, etc.).

None of that excuses rudeness from a seller, but having been on boths sides of the deal, I am certainly willing to understand a less than initially responsive seller than I am a flaky buyer. Someone who strings yu along in a sale only to then say "Nah, forget it!" is either unaware or uncaring of the trouble they cause. Either way, it shows a lack of comittment to me, that I will never again trust. To me, it is the same as a seller that backs out of a deal, because he got a higher bid. I have no tolerance for that either!

When I list an animal for sale, I try to put every detail in the ad. If somebody emails me saying "How big is it?", and my ad says (5'), they will NOT get a reply from me. If a person is to lazy, stupid etc, to read thru a whole ad, I don't want them having my animals. Just a peeve of mine.

When I list an animal for sale, I try to put every detail in the ad. If somebody emails me saying "How big is it?", and my ad says (5'), they will NOT get a reply from me. If a person is to lazy, stupid etc, to read thru a whole ad, I don't want them having my animals. Just a peeve of mine.

..thats the best thing ive read all day.

Everyone flakes for a reason. Some are good reasons and others are bad. The buyer shouldn’t be required to give an explanation although one would be nice. We shouldn’t be thinking “That buyer wronged me. I am going to bash their reputation.” We should be thinking that fate (or whatever you believe in) intervened and maybe that animal is better off not going to that home.

Our first concern should always be for the welfare of animals!

I had recently purchased a pair of VERY expensive animals from a well known breeder. I sent payment via bank transfer and two days later my transmission went out on my vehicle. The seller had no problems refunding my money and was very prompt in returning my funds with a note hoping everything turned out.
Fortunately for me the seller was not as hard nosed as you!
In a perfect world things would ALWAYS go as planned. However cars break down, air conditioners go out, people get injured etc..
The point is, when I am able to afford the animals again the first person I will call will be the dealer who was very understanding to my plight. He earned my business by showing he actually cares about his customers and not just selling the animal/s. If he had made a huge stink over the situation I can guarantee he would never see my business again.
Try putting the shoe on the other foot. You may just find it fits quite comfortably.
Cynthia

This is sort of off topic because it doesn't involve animals, but it is about flaking. I had (still have now) some water cooling gear up for sale on a couple of computer and modding hobbyist forums. Two weeks ago a person PM'd to ask if the stuf was available and I said "sure, make me an offer". The guy then told me he was going to buy everything I had and at my asking price ($100 shipped), but he needed to get his Paypal set up. He sent another email letting me know he was still waiting and was dreaming about setting up his soon-to-be water cooling. Then, a week passes and there is no money or response, so I email him asking what's up. He then said that he bought a Playstation 2 instead!

AARGH!!! I had to turn another buyer away because I was waiting for this guy to buy my stuff. I lost what could have been a real interested buyer for that hooligan to lead me on and then buy something else instead of what he exclaimed he wanted oh so very bad. At the very least, I'd like to string him upsidedown.