where this appears to be a civil case
I'd contact the police
Have you read your own post?
where this appears to be a civil case
I'd contact the police
All sales pertaining to the sales of goods, and this sale qualifies.
Have you read your own post?
If it is a "legal sale" per state requirements which would include the collecting and claiming of income and sales tax...
if not, it can be considered a civil matter.
Payment given has not been defined as a deposit by the buyer to his acknowledgement
I'd contact the police with a copy of this post in hand to ensure the seller can not deny receipt of payment. I would ask for them to retrieve my payment or press charges. It would then be up to them to take action or encourage the buyer to address this civilly through the small claims court.
Yep, uniformed people tend to sway people to chose easy solutions. Some cops get in the middle of fun stuff like this (and domestic, custody etc cases), others push for it to go in front of a judge. Never hurts to try for easy solutions.


well the simple fact is when the deposit was made no agreement of it being non refundable was made it wasn't until the snake was sold it came into play
and the fact that the snake was sold so he got full value of the snake he didn't lose any value on the snake
the seller needs a TOS or something that says he wont refund a deposit if he doesn't want to run into this problem in the future
well the simple fact is when the deposit was made no agreement of it being non refundable was made it wasn't until the snake was sold it came into play
and the fact that the snake was sold so he got full value of the snake he didn't lose any value on the snake
the seller needs a TOS or something that says he wont refund a deposit if he doesn't want to run into this problem in the future

See what happens when people start pandering to "hard luck" stories? It starts a trend and people start expecting the seller to always give the money/deposits back if someone has a "run of hard luck."
That's LIFE, deal with it.
I would personally offer the buyer a $100 credit towards another animal. I would allow the buyer to choose then set a date that the deal can be completed by both parties.

While I partially agree with your hardened perspective (with a mindset like that, it's easier for character development), the reality is that the action of the seller depends on his morale subjectivity without any legal prints made available to the buyer, or in this case - the potential buyer.
The quality of our reptile industry has been vastly questionable, in a very insidious way socially, hence the need for BOI and its popular usage. What I will say is this - the kind of political fragmentation that is taking place in our hobby, and the dislike and suspicion people of each other is making it virtually impossible to govern intelligently without BOI. I see no culture ladies and gentlemen, just dead ends.