• Posted 12/19/2024.
    =====================

    I am still waiting on my developer to finish up on the Classifieds Control Panel so I can use it to encourage members into becoming paying members. Google Adsense has become a real burden on the viewing of this site, but honestly it is the ONLY source of income now that keeps it afloat. I tried offering disabling the ads being viewed by paying members, but apparently that is not enough incentive. Quite frankly, Google Adsense has dropped down to where it barely brings in enough daily to match even a single paid member per day. But it still gets the bills paid. But at what cost?

    So even without the classifieds control panel being complete, I believe I am going to have to disable those Google ads completely and likely disable some options here that have been free since going to the new platform. Like classified ad bumping, member name changes, and anything else I can use to encourage this site to be supported by the members instead of the Google Adsense ads.

    But there is risk involved. I will not pay out of pocket for very long during this last ditch experimental effort. If I find that the membership does not want to support this site with memberships, then I cannot support your being able to post your classified ads here for free. No, I am not intending to start charging for your posting ads here. I will just shut the site down and that will be it. I will be done with FaunaClassifieds. I certainly don't need this, and can live the rest of my life just fine without it. If I see that no one else really wants it to survive neither, then so be it. It goes away and you all can just go elsewhere to advertise your animals and merchandise.

    Not sure when this will take place, and I don't intend to give any further warning concerning the disabling of the Google Adsense. Just as there probably won't be any warning if I decide to close down this site. You will just come here and there will be some sort of message that the site is gone, and you have a nice day.

    I have been trying to make a go of this site for a very long time. And quite frankly, I am just tired of trying. I had hoped that enough people would be willing to help me help you all have a free outlet to offer your stuff for sale. But every year I see less and less people coming to this site, much less supporting it financially. That is fine. I tried. I retired the SerpenCo business about 14 years ago, so retiring out of this business completely is not that big if a step for me, nor will it be especially painful to do. When I was in Thailand, I did not check in here for three weeks. I didn't miss it even a little bit. So if you all want it to remain, it will be in your hands. I really don't care either way.

    =====================
    Some people have indicated that finding the method to contribute is rather difficult. And I have to admit, that it is not all that obvious. So to help, here is a thread to help as a quide. How to become a contributing member of FaunaClassifieds.

    And for the record, I will be shutting down the Google Adsense ads on January 1, 2025.
  • 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.

Allen Belcher

A

ArkValRep

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undefinedHi. I want to share with you my recent dealings with Allen Belcher in Alabama. First of all, let me preface this by saying that until about two months ago I didn't know the man whatsoever. However, I recently negotiated a transaction and bought some high end ball python morphs from him. This required quite a bit of trust because I sent him a very large sum of money. This was difficult to do because I am a full-time police sergeant and have a tendency to see the darker side of humanity on a fairly routine basis. This makes me inherently more skeptical than your average person. Additionally, I have been in the reptile business for some time and have been burned, as have many of you who have dealt via the internet for any length of time. For these reasons I spoke at length with Mr. Belcher and also searched the other threads here on the BOI. I read the two negative threads thoroughly. They concerned me for obvious reasons. Instead of just cancelling our deal though, I spoke with Mr. Belcher about the posts. He was more than willing to address both threads in detail. Amazingly, he wasn't angry at all, and didn't criticize anyone. He did feel that he'd been treated unfairly by both of the parties that started the threads though. His explanations were very reasonable. However, Mr. Belcher could totally understand my apprehension and politely insisted I speak with some of his references. I spoke with one of his business associates by the name of Michael Cole. Mr. Cole was more than happy to recommend Mr. Belcher without any reservations. In fact, he emphatically recommended him as trustworthy and honest. I spoke again with Mr. Belcher and he was more than willing to do whatever it took to make sure I was happy with our deal. He was even willing to cancel my check if I didn't feel 100% satisified with completing the deal. To make a long story short, we completed the deal and I am thankful we did. I received ten of the healthiest snakes I have ever laid eyes on. They are all plump and parasite-free. I will have no reservations whatsoever in dealing with Mr. Belcher from this point forward. If you are considering a deal with him I encourage you to speak with him yourself and research his references. He is a genuine man who is honest and really cares for his animals. If you have any questions or would like to talk to me about my experience personally, feel free to call me and I would be happy to talk with you.
 
More than a few of us thought that whole situation stunk, and not just the pictures. I thank Marc for his honest impression, and the time he took to document all, providing his in-depth account. From the way Marc worded it, I think he expected a cheap shot or two if he came here. He got one !
 
Glad things worked out for you, I'm surprised that you found it necessary to start a new thread, against the rules of the BOI by the way, when you had already posted this in the other thread regarding Allen. Just a heads up, the admins don't take kindly to such things. :)
 
Given that the other thread has over 400 replies as of now, I think that a new thread is warranted since it is unrelated to the specific topic and is a general good guy thread. The other thread was not an inquiry requiring all responses to be placed there.

While I have not purchased from him, I have met Allen on several occasions and seen many of his animals that were for sale or previously sold. Everything I saw was in excellent condition. Allen is very forthcoming and willing to address any accusations made against him calmly and professionally (despite me taking a couple jabs about it in fun). I plan on picking some animals up from him in the near future and do not hesitate to do so.
 
I don't think anyone is try to take shots here, Marc did post in the existing thread.

Herplover was ribbed for posting a good guy thread on Bill Leverton.

And I had a similar situation....I had to pm the mods to get permission to either unlock Wes's thread or start a new one....I was told to start a new thread.
 
FYI - After viewing the post from Mr. Mounts I sent a message to the moderators to have the duplicate post removed from the original long thread. I'm sorry for breaking the rules.
 
Another Big Thumbs Up

I recently completed a deal with Allen Belcher for some ball pythons he had listed. I'd decided to get in on the ball game - pardon the pun - and noticed he had some very good prices listed. I contacted him after I had already spoken to another breeder about getting the same animals from him, and Allen's reply was "I'll beat it." I told him what I was planning to spend, and he knocked off a hefty chunk to not just match and slightly beat the other deal, but to blow it clean out of the water! I honestly couldn't believe my ears. He then sweetened the deal by offering me another bp for a very nominal additional sum after I told him I was thinking of getting one of those too. All in all, I was looking at getting 1.0 '06 spider, 1.0 '05 pastel, and 0.1 '05 pastel.

So, like any good buyer who's about to invest a large sum of money into a dealer, I came here. Immediately I saw the bad guy threads and said "well nevermind!" I then saw this thread by Marc, a man who I met here in AR before he moved to CO. I read through all the threads, then decided to call Marc since he and I had a little deal together when he still lived here and I was very impressed with everything about him and his collection. I called him and we spoke for a little while about the deal he did with Allen and how pleased he was with the animals he received, and while we were talking he mentioned Michael Cole of Ballroom Pythons South being a friend and business associate of Allen's. After I got off the phone with Marc, I then called Michael and received further major assurances that I had nothing to worry about.

I then contacted Allen and told him I wanted to do the deal, that I had read the threads about him here, and had decided that he was not a 'bad guy' afterall. In short order, I sent him a hefty (though undisclosed, not sure how often he cuts people breaks like this!) sum, and a couple days later, got my snakes.

They're not only nice, they're perfect. The male pastel is huge, much bigger than I expected! Another gentleman ended up wanting the female pastel I had originally wanted - the smallest, and least expensive on his list - so Allen offered to give me an even bigger female for the same price. She too, is perfect. The little spider took his first meal for me today, just like Allen assured me he would. He's going to grow up into a nice, high white snake.

So all said and done, I very highly recommend anyone considering doing business with Allen to go through with it. He was always extremely courteous over the phone, and even offered me some other amazing deals that I was very upset not to have been able to take because of fund restrictions and the prospect of an 18 hour round trip! I have every intention of doing business with Allen again in the relatively near future.
 
Kind of nice to read. First off, you availed yourself of the BOI and got solid information on which t form an opinion. You then went further talking to references you had or acquired from others, as although I was in a bit of a battle siding with Allen a while back, no reader here could not see reasons for concern. And when it was all done, he not only met your expectations, he exceeded them. What a business concept eh? "Wowing" your customers. Thanks for taking the time to come here Chance.
 
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