How long should the sex of a sold animal be guaranteed?

Should there be a time limit, a line drawn when it is too late to sex a purchased animal to hold the seller accountable if there was a mistake?

Or should the sell guarantee the sex forever?

I think it should be up to the seller to have a written TOS in which such things are spelled out very clearly. The buyer bears some responsibility in making sure they are getting what they think they are, and a properly written TOS will make sure the buyer lives up to their end.

Of course, some sellers will want to offer a life-time guarantee on the presumed sex of their animals and that would be a bonus in their favor when it comes to customer service. But sellers should be able to make their own choices in such matters....so long as their policy is clearly known to the buyer.

A seller might want to put a "statute of limitations" on such an issue to protect themselves, and I think they would be right in doing so, so long as it is reasonable. But even if it's unreasonable, it's still their choice and the buyer can weigh that in their decision to buy from them or not.

In a case where no set policy is declared, I still feel SOME of the responsibility lies on the buyer's shoulders. If a snake is re-sexed within a short period of time and found to be mis-sexed, the seller should make good 100%. But if the buyer waits months and months...then he should be prepared to eat some of the "damages" that result.

What is considered a "reasonable" amount of time to pass...and how to divide the "damages" between buyer and seller will never be agreed upon industry-wide as everyone will have their own different ideas and expectations. A good businessman will WORK with his buyer to do his best to meet their expectations, but there are some buyers out there that are simply beyond reason and disagreements will always happen.

SO...WRITE YOUR TOS and MAKE IT CLEAR!!!

I give it two -three weeks because in the event of a refund, the animal has to be returned. Therefore, I don't want the buyer to have hold of it too long, this also "forces" a level of responsiblity.

It is my responsiblity to correctly sex, but it is also the buyer's responsiblity to check his merchandise?

While the sex of an animal isn't going to change, regardless of whether the period is 2 weeks, 2 months, or 2 years, there are some other factors to consider (especially given the current climate):
1) Many of the people offering great deals on "correctly sexed" animals probably won't even be around in a year or two...good luck on somebody making good after they've given up on the hobby/business (though a select few would undoubtedly still make a reasonable effort).
2) Money concerns are already an issue for many people. Look how many people are selling off critters just to pay bills...those funds are gone in short order. How many times do we see that, and statements to the effect of I can't give you what I don't have, on the BOI?
3) The volatility of the market also bears consideration. What sold for $1000 just a couple years ago, in many cases, is down to 25% of that. Heck, I've seen prices drop 50% just over the span of 6 months. That has nothing to do with the seller not getting what was paid for...but it is certainly a factor in resolution. What is deemed an acceptable effort will depend on the people and animals involved.


As I've mentioned - I have received several missexed snakes over the years, and the responses have varied. One person, contacted within two weeks of purchase, insisted that I was mistaken, and "guaranteed" I received a 1.1 pair (it was 2.0, and I got nothing). One person I notified, just for informational purposes, several months later; and he offered to get me a replacement (I declined, because my male was actually a female). Other times, I didn't even bother notifying the person because of the elapsed time - if I had spent $3000, and received a male instead of a female, I don't know that I would have been able to shrug it off as easily....so I guess, for me, AS A BUYER, price is also a factor. A $250 animal isn't likely to be worth the aggravation for me, if I didn't confirm the gender in a "reasonable" time. If I check within said reasonable time, though, I'd be clamoring for either the right snake or my money.

When the situation was reversed, and I sent an incorrectly sexed snake, I made every effort to make it right....or course, the customer wasn't carrying on cursing at, and threatening, me at a show, either :

All said, while the seller is responsible for correctly identifying the gender of the animals sold, I do feel that the buyer should shoulder some responsibility by confirming that the received animal IS what it is supposed to be.



Just to put a slightly different twist on things, what sort of PROOF should be required that an animal has been misrepresented? I can point to several people who have received incorrect complaints of females being males - in some cases, the customers also mentioned that they paid too much for the snake, and they have found others for significantly less. While it may not nullify the complaint, it certainly raises some red flags for me. Short of video proof which clearly shows that it is the same animal, followed by eversion of hemipenes, we are pretty much forced to accept the word of our customers...and doing so costs us money in the form of return shipping, and/or another shipped animal.

What about when a buyer rams a probe into a female and it probes male (as well as being injured)? I have had that happen to me before.
I refuse to take it back after that.

Originally Posted by SPJ

What about when a buyer rams a probe into a female and it probes male (as well as being injured)? I have had that happen to me before.
I refuse to take it back after that.

Interesting...how can one tell if a probe has been "rammed" into a female? If she is popped will she show holes and scars? Why would not the holes heal back over since there is nothing holding them open?

Dave is there a story behind this question?

My guess is he pulled it from one of the BOI threads. I think I remember it being side chatter in the thread. Something about someone sent the wrong sex snake.

I think a reasonable time limit being established is probably the best route, particularly when dealing in animals over a given dollar value. With some breeders only having a couple clutches / litters a year, (producing less than 20 animals a year), you can't expect them to sit on cash in their account to cover a snake sale for too long particularly with economic times the way they are currently. A lot of breeders currently are lucky if their sales equal their feed bill, let alone all the other costs involved.

Then you get to some other kinds of reptiles and I've heard some of them are impossible to sex until they get to a given age. If they are younger than the acceptable sexing age I don't think any guarantee can be made.

Another thing to consider... and Im not sure if its been covered.

Lets say you guarantee sex for 6 months with a refund on return. How do you know that snake was properly taken care of for 6 months? How do you know what it may have come in contact with during that time? How do you know it's not just a buyers remorse return?

Im all for standing behind what you say it is.... but after an animal leaves my facilities... I dont have any control over how it was taken care of... therefore very long guarantee periods could lead to problems with the return.