• 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.

When Will People Learn "Goods and Services"

morbidangel

morbidangel

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I see posts on here every day of people getting ripped off and scammed, why are we sending these people money via "friends and family" when they are clearly not friends or family in need of money.

To me any merchant asking me to send them money friends and family puts up red flags. Lets protect ourselves as buyers and follow the rules and pay for our purchases through goods and services.

Make the sellers pay the fees, and if the seller is that hard up and does not want to pay the fee then offer to pay the few extra dollars but still send the money through "goods and services", or find a different form of payment. Lets face it so many of us are spending 100s of dollars on animals already a few extra dollars is not going to break that bank at that point as annoying as it may be.

I am sorry to write this and am not doing it to make people feel dumb but am writing it for their protection. Please, Please, Please pay through "goods and services" It kills me to read all these posts about people getting ripped off for sending money without protection. I know this is not a 100% full proof way of protecting yourself but at least its something.

Have a great day!!!
 
*Moved from the BOI to comply with BOI rules*

This is always a wonderful point to make Shannon, and I 100% agree. I know I have personally brought this up many times in BOI threads. No matter how many times it is brought up, people still send money via "friends and family".

When you go to send money it gives you two very clear options.
One says: "Covered by PayPal Protection for buyers"
The other does NOT.
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I know, right?! Ticks me off to no end, as well. Friends and Family, or as a Gift, offers zero buyer protection.

Asking the buyer to pay the transaction fee is annoying too. As you said, if the 3% is going to make or break the deal, either work it into your asking price, or don't accept PayPal as a form of payment. The convenience of getting funds quickly isn't free, and should be considered a cost of doing business.

Kathy
 
Whenever I have been asked by sellers to send the money "Friends and Family", my solution has been simply to ignore the request, as it is an unreasonable request, and send the money goods and services. So far, nobody has refused to accept the payment.
I also agree that it is tacky and unprofessional to ask the buyer to pay the fee. It is a SELLER'S expense, a cost of doing business, as Insomniac101 pointed out. It isn't the amount of money; it is the intent behind it. If I'm buying a $1000 lizard, another $30 isn't going to hurt me, but it isn't going to hurt the seller, either. Asking me to pay your banking expense for the privilege of buying an animal from you comes off as arrogant. I think they are taking advantage of the fact that herp keepers get so exited and ga ga to buy the animal in question, we'll agree to almost anything to keep from losing it.
Sellers should simply factor in their costs when pricing an animal.
 
I agree with everything all of you have said. 3% is not going to hurt the sellers pocket. Or like yall said figure it into the cost of the animal, and just keep it to yourself.

I read so many of these bois and just bite my tongue I just couldn't anymore and felt the need to speak up!
 
morbidangel said:
I read so many of these bois and just bite my tongue I just couldn't anymore and felt the need to speak up!
Click to expand...

No, more people need to speak up, and thank you for doing so!

I had one just yesterday, requesting payment via Friends and Family, or to include the fee if paying for Goods and Services. I politely explained why I wouldn't, and the seller agreed to accept payment as G&S, with no fee.

So, our standing firm is working!

Herpin Man said:
Whenever I have been asked by sellers to send the money "Friends and Family", my solution has been simply to ignore the request, as it is an unreasonable request, and send the money goods and services. So far, nobody has refused to accept the payment.
Click to expand...

Good idea; I'm going to try that next time. The worst they can do is refuse, and refund the amount of the transaction.

Kathy
 
I would imagine a lot of them are just flat out inexperienced in using paypal as a payment method. Still blows my mind when people are doing $500+ deals and sending without any protection. I, sadly, laugh every single time a BOI starts off with, "I sent $___ via friends and family. Now the seller isn't responding."

I don't really understand setting yourself up to get get scammed over about $15 or less.
 
MrTPlush said:
I would imagine a lot of them are just flat out inexperienced in using paypal as a payment method. Still blows my mind when people are doing $500+ deals and sending without any protection. I, sadly, laugh every single time a BOI starts off with, "I sent $___ via friends and family. Now the seller isn't responding."

I don't really understand setting yourself up to get get scammed over about $15 or less.
Click to expand...

To me, it's a matter of principle. Can I afford the extra 3%? Of course, but it is the responsibility of the seller to absorb those costs.

Perhaps PayPal could show more information on their site, when people click the F&F tab. I can't remember precisely what the wording is now, but maybe if people choose that method of payment, a dialog box should pop up, stating that, basically your money is irretrievable, and are you sure you want to send it.

My husband and I send money to the kids in college, all the time. That's the only reason to use F&F, in my opinion.

Kathy
 
Insomniac101 said:
To me, it's a matter of principle. Can I afford the extra 3%? Of course, but it is the responsibility of the seller to absorb those costs.

Kathy
Click to expand...

What I am referring to is people who are willing to do a sale F&F to save themselves $10 or the seller $10. A lot of time the buyer says they were trying to be nice....and honestly that seems crazy to me.
 
Yeah it seems crazy to me too. The extra $10-$20 is not worth me loosing several hundred and not receiving what I paid for. I am starting to not feel sorry for people.




Insomniac I like what you sais here!
Sorry don't know how to box it off.

To me, it's a matter of principle. Can I afford the extra 3%? Of course, but it is the responsibility of the seller to absorb those costs.

Perhaps PayPal could show more information on their site, when people click the F&F tab. I can't remember precisely what the wording is now, but maybe if people choose that method of payment, a dialog box should pop up, stating that, basically your money is irretrievable, and are you sure you want to send it.

My husband and I send money to the kids in college, all the time. That's the only reason to use F&F, in my opinion.
 
I don't understand the whole, "Trying to be nice" thing. If a seller is using Paypal, then they are getting charged the 3%. If you hate the fact you're being charged that amount, then raise your price to where you're comfortable with absorbing it. It may take you longer to sell your item (animal), but you already have a built in shock absorber.

If a buyer wants to be "nice" (such a dumb word in business...) then pay the 3% on top of it. Which I still think is asinine as it's not the buyers responsibility to be "nice" and pay extra so the seller feels warm and fuzzy.

Either way, when people send money for goods/services via Friends & Family, I almost loose all respect for them. They screwed themselves from the beginning and then are suprised when they get taken advantage of. (Not saying all sellers would do that.) If a seller asks to have the money sent that way, then that pretty much means I shy away and don't do business with them.

It's just a strange concept to me that people willingly do that....
 
Great points here. As anon-profit, we often have people who want to donate to us and send Friends and Family so we don't have to pay (and we pay a reduced percentage). We always tell people to use Purchase goods or services for supplies or rehoming fees. To eliminate any conflict, we recently signed up for and were approved as a PayPal Giving Fund Charity. People donate through the giving fund, there are no fees, but more importantly there is no deception or rule breaking going on. PayPay was even providing a 1% match on donations for quite awhile.
I know it does not apply to everyone, but it is the way we have chosen to go.
 
Keith,

The way you have your non-profit set up, is how it should be. I just view the F&F thing as, your money is gone (regardless of intended purpose), and it's irresponsible and unrealistic to expect any recourse, when you basically have sent someone a gift. Sure, you may have documentation with emails or texts, but if it came down to litigation, you agreed to give your money to someone, with the understanding of no buyer protection.

And kudos to you in your rescue work! :)

Kathy
 
So apparently people are OFFERING to pay through friends an family. Just last night I had someone make an offer on my snake that I have posted and asked to make payments via paypal "friends and family"

I turned down the proposal and told the potential buyer to please use "goods and services" in the future when they are sending money to strangers. Told said person to protect themselves as there are a lot of people out that who will talk advantage of the situation.

Blows my mind that people don't want protection on the money they send out.





Keith

As far as donations go I do not see why people cannot pay "friends and family" its not like they are getting/buying anything from you. They are only donating so the money is gone either way. I am just curious if people get tax write offs from their donations and how would the go about getting proof of a donation? I guess paypal sends a receipt, or is that why you have it set up as a donation thing now?
 
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