• 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.

  • IMPORTANT! PLEASE READ!! About the Google Adsense ads being displayed

    =====================
    Posted 08/15/2025
    =====================


    Yeah, I know. They are a pain in the butt. But they pay the bills to keep my server running. Just a fact of life, I am afraid.

    Want to get rid of them? Simple. Just become a Contributor level member or above and they will be gone. -> Please click HERE."

    Is that too much for me to ask of you to keep this site running? Well, sorry about that. I too wish I could get everything for free. But alas.....

    =====================
    Addendum: 01/10/2026
    =====================


    Google Adsense ad revenue for December, 2025 was just $30 over the cost of the lease for the server running this site. So, in effect, the money providing the incentive for me to continue running this site is coming SOLELY from the paid memberships and sponsorships here. Which honestly ain't much....

Maintenance Fee

Southern Wolf

Southern Wolf

I don't bite..... HARD!!!
Joined
Sep 17, 2008
Messages
5,128
Reaction score
372
Points
0
Location
NE Arkansas
So I got to thinking about why I got myself into the position to where I am typing up a bad guy post for the BOI.

And part of it boils down to the care and upkeep on paid / or partially paid animals.

Just a very brief rundown.

I shipped out animals right before winter to someone I called a friend. He was going to be making payments and honestly.... I didn't want to sit on the babies for 5 or 6 months while his massive amounts of snow melted enough to ship.

What are your thoughts on maybe implimenting a Maintenance Fee for animals held after the first month on a payment plan?

Basically the first month is free.... but anything after a month if I have to maintain them it will be $1 per snake per week?

Maybe this would help motivate folks to pay off their animals.

What are your thoughts or questions?
 
I think motivation for people to pay off their animals would be setting a date and having it be fully understood that if they animal is not paid off that set date then they forfeit the payments they have made (of course situations would arise that warrant leniency) or even a percentage of it (like 50%)

If you did go the weekly "rate" I feel a dollar per week is too low. That doesnt motivate anyone. Feeding alone would be more than that, they should be charges retail prices on what you're feeding them. Especially because you're then one that has to maintain the animals health and well being in the mean time to ensure they get a well cared for animal when they finally do pay it off.
All the while you could have sold the animal to someone else and not be housing and maintaining it.

Just my 2 cents, though I would never agree to a payment plan type situation.
It always seems like "issues" waiting to happen.
 
I have my maintainence fee set inside the payment plan and a time limit to pay. Payment plans are on orders over 500.00. IMO, kids that can't afford 500.00 have no business owning a snake as Vet fees can easily get to be that much under improper husbandary.

TOS:
PAYMENT PLANS:


Payment plans will be made available on a case-by-case basis usually on orders over $500.00. Payment plans will generally cover a period of 1 to 2 months. To hold an animal, DEB’S requires a 25% non-refundable deposit. After the minimum 25% deposit is received, the animal(s) will be taken off the market and held for the customer. Animals will continue to be fed and maintained in the manner that the customer requests with no additional charge. If the customer can not complete the payment plan as agreed, all monies in excess of the 25% down payment will be refunded AFTER the animal is re-posted and sold at the current market price. The 25% non-refundable deposit is non-transferable and it is meant to absorb the costs associated with maintaining the animal after it was removed from the market.


By sending your non-refundable deposit you agree to the above terms.
Click to expand...
 
I like deb's idea :)

I think it is not a bad idea. However for something like the weather, that is not in the buyers hands it shouldn't be a lot (but I think a $1 is too low), say what ever the cost of the food (retail price) plus something for your time. I know rats go for 2.5-4 each, for small rats they run (1.75 and up).

If it is for the buyers convenience it should be 1.5x's the above.

Hope I didn't confuse anyone.
 
Maybe I don't quite understand, you already shipped out the animals and are just waiting for payment right?
 
AbsoluteApril said:
Maybe I don't quite understand, you already shipped out the animals and are just waiting for payment right?
Click to expand...

Payment prolly wont arrive... check the BOI for the thread I started.



I started this thread because I was wondering about adding on that fee since I will no longer be shipping until full payment no matter who you are. In a case like his... I prolly wouldnt have went over a month on a payment plan due to the amount.

Lets say he paid it off in Nov. (wishfull thinking I know) and due to the snow fall in his area I had to sit on it till late spring. Should I charge a maintenance fee for feeding someone elses animal..... or if even the payment plan took longer than expected. Should I charge a maintenance fee for feeding that animal?
 
Ahhh... I'll head on over to the BOI then.

In general, I'll just say that if the fee was not decided before the deal was made, then I don't think it would be reasonable, that is assuming the party making payments is making all payments on time. I would assume the person offering the payment plan has already taken into consideration those expenses.

However, when I enter a long term payment plan I'll offer an extra $20 or so for feeding, just as a thank you for that person doing the plan for me (recently finished a 6-month payment with someone, to me, that is long term). I wouldn't consider the request for maintence fees to be unreasonable, it's work and time to clean and feed but I would expect that part of the deal to be worked out at the start. (hope that made sence)

My TOS doesn't have anything about maintence fees but I do state "Short-term payment plans can be arranged with a 20% non-refundable down payment. Payments must be made on agreed upon date/s and in the amount agreed upon. Buyers will be allowed a 15-day grace period for late payments. If the scheduled payment is not received after the grace period, the animal will once again be listed for sale and the buyer will forfeit the deposit."
 
Im not looking to change on the current situation.. that wouldnt be right. Im talking about this for maybe future deals.

I have a 25% non refundable deposit built into my TOS as well.... and that has helped to weed out those that are not really interested.... and has cut down on the ... will you hold this snake for me while I think about it.

My question is.... should it be implimented? The current situation only got me thinking about this..... Im not gonna apply to the current situation.

To put it another way

Would I be wrong for charging a maintenance fee for feeding and care on animals that Im holding after a period of time due to a payment plan or in his case.... more snow on the ground than you can shake a stick at.

Should I have to loose money to maintain animals that have either been paid for... or are in the process of being paid for.... vs just selling outright and shipping.
 
RidgeTop Reptiles said:
And part of it boils down to the care and upkeep on paid / or partially paid animals.

Maybe this would help motivate folks to pay off their animals.

What are your thoughts or questions?
Click to expand...

One of the better motivations is to make sure you institute a non-refundable deposit (15-20% of the cost of the animal is about average).. that way they have already committed money upfront and know what they stand to lose if they don't follow through. If they back out of the deal, they only get refunded any amount paid that exceeded the deposit amount. This way you at least get paid for your initial time and effort.

I think a maint. fee would be acceptable if you expect to be caring for an animal for more than 4 weeks... your time and care, the cost of electricity, etc. and the space being taken up by the animal that could be used towards another does take a toll. $2 per week is not unreasonable there.

Whether you want to additionally charge for food could go either way. If you are having to purchase frozen rodents from a supplier - I would definitely want to charge them for the cost of the meals you are feeding to their future snake (shipping rodents ain't cheap these days). If you are raising your own food supply, then you really don't have to charge if you don't want to, but if you did then a reasonable line could be found on a price per meal that is appropriate to that particular animal.
 
I don't think I'd be inclined to charge a fee if the situation was weather or shipper related (i.e he paid in full but a mondo blizzard hit and the weather went to hell for a month), but if it's for a payment plan, I can see it. Or just charge a flat rate or % as a fee for the payment plan?
I also think it kinda depends on the animal...I mean if it's a thousand+ dollar animal and it's a small, easy critter maybe not, but if someone's got you holding a full grown retic for 2 months maybe so.
 
Back
Top