Making a large purchase over the internet, advice?

I've been in the reptile hobby a long time, and I've been lurking here a long time, but I rarely post. The biggest purchase I've ever made online for anything herp related was $250 for a bearded dragon from Kevin Dunne, and I was perfectly happy.

Now, in the next few weeks I am looking to buy two bearded dragon cages from Animal Plastics. I'll probably be spending something close to $700, but probably more as I'm going to ask for them to be custom made so I can stack them.

I know in my research here on the BOI that Animal Plastics is a "good guy", but still, I want to know everything I need to do in order to make sure the transaction goes smoothly and that I am protected should anything go wrong. Not that I expect anything to go wrong, but in my life this is a large amount of money, and for anything to go wrong would be devestating for me. I've seen too many threads on the BOI where good deals go bad, so I just want advice from the experts here on how this sort of transaction should go, and what steps I can take, to ensure that I end up a happy customer.


I hope I put this thread in the right place. If not, moderators please feel free to move it for me.

Thanks!

-Amanda Easterwood

(PS, I can't figure out how to change my name in my profile, but I recently got married and my last name is no longer Hodges. If anyone wants to send me a PM or something to let me know how to fix it, I'd appreciate it. thanks again!)

Welling the best thing you can do is buy off of a known good guy. And I have heard nothing but good things about Animal Plastics. I myself was pondering picking up a few rack from them myself, but just went ahead and built them myself again.

Buying online can seem scary at first, but it really doesn't need to be. Besides it's not like bad things can't happen at a normal retail store either. When I went to walmart to buy the computer I am using right now I had something happen that I wouldn't wish on anyone. I bought a computer, took it home, and as I started to take it out I found out I was unpacking someones old computer. I am guessing someone bought a new computer, boxed back up their old one, and took it back for a refund. Walmart "always" checks to make sure that what is being returned is the right thing, but apperantly forgot to this time. The managers didn't want to believe me at first and weren't sure what to do. After about an hour of discussing they decided that they would let me exchange it if I wanted to.

I was almost screwed into buying an old used computer that someone slipped past them. So bad things can happen anytime and anywhere. It is what the person does when things go wrong that make them worth dealing with or not. I am sure Animal Plastics have had things go wrong with shipments, but they make it right. That's why so many sing their praises, and why you shouldn't worry about buying from them.

I would make sure to get some kind of tracking number so you can see exactly what's going on.

If something does happen during transit, you can call FedEx and provide them with a tracking number so they can do a little more than look online.

As stated, the most important thing is to check reputations. Although "good" companies can go bad, it doesn't happen that often. Most people who have spent years building a good rep value it highly and take good care of it.

But I also always pay with a credit card if I have any concerns whatsoever. Not Paypal or another 3rd party payer system (although that is how I receive most of my payments, and have had no difficulties - but then I never tried to con anyone, either!), but directly with your own credit card. You do have a bit of protection when you do that.

We probably would have been out about $900 for a digital camera we bought online if we had sent a check or money order. They kept trying to convince us it was already sent, or was about to be, for a long, long time. But before the time limit was up with the credit card, we canceled the order (it was at least a couple of months or more, I think). What a surprise - several days after the chargeback, it suddenly arrived! Thanks goodness we had used a credit card!

Thanks for the tip! I wouldn't have thought about the credit card thing.

I do think I'm going with the right company. I've been wanting cages a long time so I've been reading up on everyone, and they seem to have such great feedback.

To repeat the above just make sure you research the company you're buying from and you'll have infinetly less problems. I was hesitant at first to buy online as well but I've never had any serious problems, infact less than when I buy from local retailers!

Bill Bowers