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Don't Put Your Common Sense on Hold

Lucille

Lucille

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There are tools you can use to help you as a buyer or seller increase your chances of having a good deal where all parties are happy with a transaction. One powerful tool is reviewing the BOI. If your buyer or seller has a BOI history you can review it to see whether you want to proceed with a transaction you are planning with that person.

Another reason to read the BOI is to review, and have fresh in your mind, common situations which have MANY times led to unsatisfactory deals.

Some examples:

DON'T sell on credit, get full payment including shipping FIRST.
DON'T send money to someone with a zero history that demands a money order or other kind of payment that has limited recourse.
DON'T take a check from someone you don't know REALLY WELL. If you agree on a cash deal and they show up with a check, tell them you will wait 30 minutes for them to go to an ATM, or just go home. DON'T do something against your better judgment just because your buyer or seller has maneuvered you into a situation where you just want to complete the deal.

From ancient times, smooth talkers have softened and persuaded their marks and then taken their money. You know better.
But sometimes when we want something, we put our common sense on hold and tell ourselves 'it will be OK' and take risks we know we shouldn't take.

I guess it just seems like with tough economic times there is a lot more of these bad guy shenanigans going around. Don't let it happen to you.
 
akaangela said:
Any tips on what to look for when trading with someone?
Click to expand...

Were I to write what I think might be common sense in trades:

Do a BOI search

Don't ship first to someone you don't know. If they don't have a phone number, don't do biz with them. Make sure, if they are Fauna members, that their real location is the same as their displayed location.

Ask for pictures, and if at all possible go look at the critter 'in person'. If you do the trade by picture, demand lots of pictures. It isn't like the old days when camera pictures involved expenses for film and developing, there's no added cost to the parties to provide 100 digital pictures showing every possible angle of the critters in question. Use your common sense: if a certain part of the critter is left out of every picture, there is probably a reason. If you are trading for a red dragon, and everything else in the picture is red, the dragon....isn't.

Anyone trying to rush you is sending a BIG RED FLAG.

If the trade sounds too good to be true it probably is

NEVER be persuaded to use an illegal ship method or one that is not healthy for your critters-sometimes because a trade doesn't involve cash, people who don't have a lot of cash at the moment might be tempted to ship on the cheap. If it isn't good for the critter, don't do it.

Quarantine everything.

ALWAYS have the entire deal in writing
 
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