• Posted 12/19/2024.
    =====================

    I am still waiting on my developer to finish up on the Classifieds Control Panel so I can use it to encourage members into becoming paying members. Google Adsense has become a real burden on the viewing of this site, but honestly it is the ONLY source of income now that keeps it afloat. I tried offering disabling the ads being viewed by paying members, but apparently that is not enough incentive. Quite frankly, Google Adsense has dropped down to where it barely brings in enough daily to match even a single paid member per day. But it still gets the bills paid. But at what cost?

    So even without the classifieds control panel being complete, I believe I am going to have to disable those Google ads completely and likely disable some options here that have been free since going to the new platform. Like classified ad bumping, member name changes, and anything else I can use to encourage this site to be supported by the members instead of the Google Adsense ads.

    But there is risk involved. I will not pay out of pocket for very long during this last ditch experimental effort. If I find that the membership does not want to support this site with memberships, then I cannot support your being able to post your classified ads here for free. No, I am not intending to start charging for your posting ads here. I will just shut the site down and that will be it. I will be done with FaunaClassifieds. I certainly don't need this, and can live the rest of my life just fine without it. If I see that no one else really wants it to survive neither, then so be it. It goes away and you all can just go elsewhere to advertise your animals and merchandise.

    Not sure when this will take place, and I don't intend to give any further warning concerning the disabling of the Google Adsense. Just as there probably won't be any warning if I decide to close down this site. You will just come here and there will be some sort of message that the site is gone, and you have a nice day.

    I have been trying to make a go of this site for a very long time. And quite frankly, I am just tired of trying. I had hoped that enough people would be willing to help me help you all have a free outlet to offer your stuff for sale. But every year I see less and less people coming to this site, much less supporting it financially. That is fine. I tried. I retired the SerpenCo business about 14 years ago, so retiring out of this business completely is not that big if a step for me, nor will it be especially painful to do. When I was in Thailand, I did not check in here for three weeks. I didn't miss it even a little bit. So if you all want it to remain, it will be in your hands. I really don't care either way.

    =====================
    Some people have indicated that finding the method to contribute is rather difficult. And I have to admit, that it is not all that obvious. So to help, here is a thread to help as a quide. How to become a contributing member of FaunaClassifieds.

    And for the record, I will be shutting down the Google Adsense ads on January 1, 2025.
  • Responding to email notices you receive.
    **************************************************
    In short, DON'T! Email notices are to ONLY alert you of a reply to your private message or your ad on this site. Replying to the email just wastes your time as it goes NOWHERE, and probably pisses off the person you thought you replied to when they think you just ignored them. So instead of complaining to me about your messages not being replied to from this site via email, please READ that email notice that plainly states what you need to do in order to reply to who you are trying to converse with.

Bad Guy Beware of Matt Goren

CalicoDragons

CalicoDragons

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This person bought an adult female from me at the Daytona show this year. Messaged many times after asking about basic husbandry questions which I was happy to answer. Fast forward a month later and he takes it to a local pet store which tells him it’s a male. Out of the blue I get a text stating it’s a male and he demands a full refund plus shipping label to send the dragon back. After a lot of back and forth where he was very difficult to chat with I got him to send a video of the animal so I could see for myself. It was confirmed a female from that video and I also asked two other dragon breeders that have more experience then myself(I will be breeding 20 years in the spring of 2025) they both also agreed it appeared to be a female. I let him know that I still believe it’s a female based on the pictures and video sent and that I’m sorry I can’t help him further, but I was happy to answer any husbandry questions moving forward. I politely said good night and then received a long text message from him detailing how he planned to take legal action against me because I wouldn’t refund him and take the animal back. Saying he would slander my company name on all the social media platforms for unethical breeding practices, sue me for time spent dealing with this case etc. I simply replied back letting him know I still do not believe it’s a male, but I would give him back the $200 for the animal so I didn’t have to continue dealing with him. Long story short he was very difficult and threatening to my livelihood so if I were you I wouldn’t have anything to do with him. Sell at your own risk! Let my loss be your informational gain.
 
I sincerely hope you did not pay anything back if he is incorrect and badgering you. That only provides those with aggressive personality flaws to feel validated and emboldened if they themselves are headstrong while operating in ignorance.
 
I did give him a full refund. I did not take the animal back because I don’t accept animals back in my facility for health reasons(which is stated in my terms of service). I felt that the aggravation of him trying to slander my company on social media platforms and trying to sue me for “his time dealing with this matter” wasn’t worth the $200. I totally get where you’re coming from and was told by many other friends that are long standing breeders I should have just told him to pound sand, but I just wanted it to be over with and move on without him harassing me. I maybe too nice😅 that’s why I put it on the BOI. Hopefully that situation will be avoided by another breeder selling to him and him trying to pull the same stunt.
 
He was never going to sue you no matter what he said and people behaving in this way will still talk trash if the topic ever comes up. They will reframe it as you being the bad guy and that they had to twist your arm to make it "right" in that revision of claimed events.

The caliber of keeper that goes to a pet shop for sexing expertise, short of those requiring specialized technique, is generally lacking in knowledge - and the sexing opinions of random pet shop employees are generally about as good as the pet shop employees that say Russian tortoises grow to be multiple feet in length.

In the future, stick to business and do not fold. Unscrupulous people can sniff out these situations and then seek to game you in a targeted fashion.
 
I 100% agree with you and after speaking to friends in this industry and taking the time to read through what he wrote and break it down I realize now I should have stood my ground and not let him bully me in this situation. I have attached the screenshots of the conversation. I just covered his PayPal email address…
 

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