Bad Guy Anthony Caponetto - acreptiles.com

[SERPENTS DEN]

4. Ed lets Anthony know he's upset . . . and Anthony offers him a full refund (including paying for shipping). Instead of a refund, Ed asks to purchase more geckos from Anthony at an further discounted rate. Anthony refuses.

5. So, after declining a 50% increase in geckos at no charge and after declining a full refund (including shipping)[/B], Ed comes on the BOI to complain about this deal? I feel like Anthony should be the one starting a thread on here called "Don't Sell to Ed Clark."

You would think if a person is dissatisfied they would not be interested in purchasing more animals and accept the offered refund.

This scam Ed Clark is pulling is old...

 

[SirenSanJose]

Those first two--the solid one and the less spotty dalmatian--look, to my eye, EXACTLY like high quality RED cresties tend to as babies. I've had babies that look like those guys time and again grow up to be chili red adults.

This little dude I bred and raised didn't come into his color until about 6 months old, but he looked JUST like that first baby you posted until then:'



If those two reds were grown out? Easily $150 geckos, or more. Probably go easily for $250 for the solid, $300 for the dal, if they get a fraction as bright as Anthony's red lines tend to.

Oh, just for comparison? The photo below is what an average red crestie looks like at 13 weeks: that is, plain brown with just a hint of blush starting to show. This little dude is a full sibling to the bright red 6-month-old I posted above, and grew out equally as bright. But if Ed got any reds, or red pinstripes at in that lot, be they 2 weeks old, or 7? They'd all look like browns! So for flipping, yeah, they're useless -- but if they' been grown out, they'd be stunners.

 

[SirenSanJose]

Wait, scratch that -- I had my photos mis-labled. This is the SAME gecko in both photos, not siblings. Most of his spots were 'oil spots' and faded out when he fired up. So that's an even TRUER comparison in how red cresties age, at 13 weeks, and 24 weeks (6 months).

 

[lauraleellbp]

$12.00-$15.00 wholesale crested geckos are all over the place in the summer, like it or not that's the reality in this market. Why do you think Anthony is selling his $500.00- $1000.00 cresties for $35.00 each this year...very simple that's all he can get.

How many people do you think will actually pay $1000.00 for a crested gecko?

Buckskin patternless, flames, tigers, and other low end pet-grade cresties are wholesaling for $12-20 each.

Pinstripes, reds, harlies, and other high end morphs generally aren't common in wholesale packages, and based on the prices you charge in your flipping ads, you know it.

 

[Neon]

Here are a few pics of the cresties that Anthony sent.can you pick out the $1000.00 crestie? how about a $500.00 crestie?or maybe a $150.00 crestie?

I will put up more pics, I'm working with a sick computer.

All of those pictures display crestie morphs that evolve the more they shed and are absolutely worth 150-500$. The phantom pinstripe with the solid back and lateral striping is easily worth 300$ NOW. I would assume you knew this which is why you took pictures of them since, even a nice red dal, they look "lower end" until their coloring develops (to help back up your e-mails I suppose). Either that or you don't know much about crested morphs in which case I'd suggest you brush up on them because you really did get your money's worth, regardless of what you'd like to believe.

 

[garchukks]

Well said Neon. I was quite happy with all the ac geckos I had gotten, however if any had been switched for that phantom I would NOT have been disappointed

 

[AltitudeExotics]

I have bought a number of motherload packages from Anthony. I have been offered over $1000 for 3 of the animals I received in just one of those packs. Either Ed is someone the most unlucky person in the world for getting all low end $15 dollar animals, or more likely he is just a pathatic liar....

 

[Wilomn]

Ed is just a pathatic liar....

I paraphrased, but that's the gist of it right there.

 

[ajc]

Thanks for the back-up in my absence everyone.

For the record - Ed is pissed because I blew him off when he tried to buy MORE geckos after he pitched a fit about these. He also forgot to mention that after he declined my offer to buy the geckos back, he also sent me pictures of some citrus line babies to be identified...which I gladly helped him out with, even though I had already made up my mind that I would never sell him another animal.

Here are a few pics of the cresties that Anthony sent.can you pick out the $1000.00 crestie? how about a $500.00 crestie?or maybe a $150.00 crestie?

I will put up more pics, I'm working with a sick computer.

OK Ed,

Let me tell you what you have here so you won't have to spend any time actually raising them up...

First one is a solid red (actually carrying the phantom pinstripe trait as well). I get $200-400 for solid reds as adults....the phantom trait may make it worth even more, depending on its adult coloration.

2nd and 3rd pics are nice red dalmatians, possibly super dalmatians...the spots will increase as they grow. These two geckos will be worth $300-400 as adults.

Last pic was a phantom pinstripe....as adults, one with that pattern would go for $150-300.

And you know as well as I do those were probably the least flashy of the entire 20 lot (actually 22 geckos) that I sent you.

For someone who's been around as long as you have, I'm completely befuddled at your ignorance of the species in general. Anyone who knows anything about crested geckos knows they don't show adult color at 4-6 weeks old....that's why it states right in the advertising that they'll be worth crazy prices as adults. If they showed adult color as babies, I'd retail them all myself and we wouldn't be talking about your inability to spot a nice one at 4-6 weeks of age.

As long as you've been selling crested geckos, I would have thought you would know what an orange or red gecko looks like as a baby...but obviously you don't. I'm guessing this is because you've probably not raised very many...you just flip them.

Anyways, I'm done beating a dead horse...it's obvious what your motives were here, and fortunately everyone knows you well enough to see it. You're obviously not a crested gecko guy, Ed. My advice...if you're going to flip animals for the quick buck, at least pick a species you have some personal interest in.

 

[ajc]

ask if that gecko has a tail and all it's toes.

You really are a piece of work.

I never, not once, mentioned anything about geckos missing toes and I'll send you a $1,000 check if you can provide a legitimate email from me where I ever mentioned anything about missing toes.

How would I know this? Because I can't even remember ever selling a single gecko missing a toe in all the time I've been doing this, let alone having a group of them to wholesale.

Again, I offered you 30 geckos without tails for the price of 20 with tails because I had a bunch of them and thought you might find that to be a pretty good deal....like I said, a lot of customers were requesting to change their orders and I thought you would appreciate the option.

I think whoever used the word "pathetic" summed it up pretty well.

 

[ajc]

$12.00-$15.00 wholesale crested geckos are all over the place in the summer, like it or not that's the reality in this market.

More Ed Clark B.S.

I get more than that for the ugliest stuff I produce...even in 100 lots, I get more than that.

Although I will say this as a warning to up-and-coming crested gecko breeders....there is one very well known online retailer on the west coast who has a nasty habit of lying about the going rate to unsuspecting smaller breeders. More seasoned breeders know better, but this online retailer is huge, so they still get enough geckos this way to keep their scam going. And then guess what they do...they turn around and wholesale those geckos to other pet stores at the real wholesale rate, for a hefty profit of course. Needless to say, I will no longer sell to that online retailer at any price....and to this day they have no idea why I never have anything for them.

 

[MAKEitSNOW]

You have wholesale cresteds available on your site for $13-18each right??

Jack Nelson

 

[JakeMilbradt]

You have wholesale cresteds available on your site for $13-18each right??

Jack Nelson

John/Jack, I think Anthony was talking about the wholesale rate on geckos with tails. From what I've heard, cresteds without tails are pretty hard to wholesale because the average pet store customer thinks that it's a huge flaw to be missing a tail.