A MorphMarket Buyer Protection Badge is available for sellers who meet specific MorphMarket standards. Sellers who participate in our Buyer Protection Guarantee program have been vetted and meet the requirements for MorphMarket-backed protection.
However, this does not mean that sellers who do not participate are any less trustworthy or offer animals of inferior quality.
All sellers on MorphMarket are held to the same high standards of quality and customer service. The Buyer Protection Guarantee simply provides an extra layer of confidence for buyers, ensuring MorphMarket will step in if a covered transaction does not meet our standards.
The sellers who qualify will benefit by:
Placement of a Buyer Protection Badge to make your listings stand out!
Qualify for Buyer Protection for your buyers, providing extra confidence in purchases.
Sellers can qualify for different Buyer Protection amounts based on the specific criteria that they meet. Coverage amounts will be listed in the Buyer Protection Guarantee informational card shown on the seller’s ads and storefront. Stores must be active for at least one year to qualify.
Agree to ship all animals sold on MM through MM, and follow safe shipping practices, as defined by MorphMarket shipping here.
Local and expo pick-up is OK. We just ask any animals shipped are shipped through MM Shipping. Contact us for other exceptions.
Additional Coverage
Ads with “Buy Now” enabled may qualify for additional coverage amounts. This amount will be noted on the informational card shown on the individual ad’s detail page.
What is Buyer Protection?
Buyer Protection provides buyers with extra confidence, making them more likely to purchase from a seller with a Buyer Protection Badge.
Buyer Protection is NOT insurance.
Sellers remain responsible for 100% of the purchase value to the buyer if there is an issue.
Sellers who do not satisfactorily resolve a situation, as determined by MorphMarket, risk being removed from MorphMarket, whether they are part of this program or not.
Learn more about how it works and how buyers can qualify.
In order for a buyer to qualify, all correspondence must be made over the MM Messenger. Please keep this in mind if you choose to opt-in to the program.
How to Participate
You can check your qualifications or adjust your opt-in settings via your Seller Profile page. Sellers who qualify for this program will be shown an opt-in message at the time of qualification; it can take up to 24 hours after meeting all of the requirements for the pop-up to be visible. If the pop-up is accidentally closed, you can also opt-in from your Seller Profile page.
To access this page, open your user profile menu.
On mobile, this appears when you click your profile photo in the upper right corner (next to the messenger button)
On desktop, click on your username.
Find the “Account Settings” menu option. It will expand. From there, click “Seller Profile.”
Scroll down to the “Buyer Protection Guarantee” section.
Disclaimers
Regular reviews will be conducted to ensure sellers meet the qualifications and comply with the rules. Sellers who violate the agreed-upon terms will be removed from the program. Additionally, MorphMarket reserves the right to remove sellers from this program at our sole discretion, with or without notice.
MorphMarket may update or change the requirements and policies as needed.
If you have any questions about the Buyer Protection Badge or the Buyer Protection Guarantee, please email support@morphmarket.com.
I find it disappointing that this “protection” is only available for sellers who choose to use MM shipping. That will prevent a lot of trustworthy, upstanding sellers from getting the badge simply because they choose to work with other shipping companies. It should be made very, very clear to buyers that this guarantee requires a seller to only use MM shipping and that choosing to use another shipping service is all it takes to be restricted from having the badge. Or even better, roll this back and allow it to cover all verified shippers as long as the transaction takes place through MorphMarket. In my opinion this badge should be a certification of a seller following MM policies and being trustworthy, not a loyalty badge as to whether they use MM shipping only or not.
It’s disappointing, but I can understand why.
MorphMarket is able to vet everything on their side vs having to deal with a separate company entirely for animals that are shipped.
I’ve used the big three. They are all great and work really well with what they do… But they’re not integrated into the site now like morphmarket shipping is. Morphmarket is able to follow along what packages are shipped and when immediately. And MM can also immediately jump in and try to remedy the situation for the best outcomes.
I had an issue where the snake went missing in transit. At the time I was told I would get refunded for the price of shipping I paid by that company. I never was. I honestly don’t even know if the breeder was credited for the shipping amount either.
Finishing the entire process through Morphmarket is exactly why they are able to give that MorphMarket Buyer Protection. Otherwise I’m pretty sure the only option is to see if they can strongarm the seller into a refund with threats of a ban from the platform.
“Buyer protection” is just that - buyer protection. Sellers still have to purchase separate shipping insurance. The “buyer protection” is advertised as being for trusted sellers, but it will exclude many upstanding sellers who don’t want to jump ship from their other companies. If it’s a shipping guarantee, then make it a MM shipping guarantee, not a “buyer protection” guarantee. Buyer protection verified badges should be open to any seller following MM policies, not just the ones who also choose to buy their labels through MM.
If they want to do shipping guarantees, that ought to be done separately. If the badge is for trusted sellers, then make it for all trusted sellers. Buyers will be tricked into thinking sellers without the badge are less trustworthy when in fact, the only difference is that they also support other shipping companies. If they want to leave the badge as is, it should be made VERY clear to buyers that it’s a badge granted for MM sellers who ship loyally through MM, and that not shipping through MM but instead another verified shipper is grounds to not get the badge.
It’s all on the same page so it is very clear. If the buyer reads it is a better question. How many times have we all had to ask if they read the TOS or shipping info?
I just see it as no different than Etsy or eBay. It’s annoying, but it’s their own protection service so they call the shots on how you get it.
Tagging @drollinger because I want you, specifically, to see this discussion, not to go through Brittni or Thomas or anyone else. Let’s just call this what it is: really crappy live arrival insurance.
Looking at all the covered scenarios, three of them (misrepresentation, failure to honor terms, fraud) should never be possible if a seller qualifies for this program in the first place. The other three are covered by any other shipping provider under on-time/live arrival insurance. On top of that, the cap of $500 (if that is the limit) is laughable for high value or multi animal sales.
I’m not pleased, as someone who pays for a MorphMarket membership, that I’m possibly going to be considered not as “trustworthy” as another breeder by a customer solely because I won’t agree to only using MM to ship. I get that you own this site and your goal is to make it a reliable one stop shop, but this isn’t the way. It’s pretty clear most of these changes are only for the good of the larger sellers on this site. Heck, you don’t even offer individual shipping kits for those of us who don’t do enough volume to justify bulk buying supplies.
Right. I’m not saying they don’t have the right to decide that - I’m saying don’t advertise it as a verification badge for “trusted sellers” when that’s not actually the criteria for getting the badge.
Frankly, it’s just a business move to incentivize people to abandon their other shipping companies and jump to MM shipping. I for one don’t want to support MM having a monopoly on shipping and driving other companies out of business, but that doesn’t make me an untrustworthy seller.
I was thinking the “Morphmarket Shippers” thing was disappointing too, but wanted to wait to see if there were other opinions on it.
I honestly don’t think its really fair to everyone who already meets all of their qualifications except for the shipping one, when Morphmarket Shipping is still very new compared to other shipping companies that have been around for years that others have relied upon, for years. Especially to stores that have been trusted Morphmarket members since its beginning but use an outside shipping company they know they can rely on.
I get that its a business strategy to draw more people into their shipping company… its just kind of restricting and isolating.
Let alone that this “badge” thing will make buyers believe that only sellers with the badge are more trustworthy than those without, that simply are just missing the shipping qualification and are otherwise very trustworthy. If you want a “Blue Checkmark” system make it for what it should be- a badge for those who are trustworthy and ethical sellers/breeders.
Edit: One more thing, buyer protection is only $500? What if the Live Arrival Insurance that is supposed to be refunded and covered by Morphmarket, when the seller refuses/fails to provide a refund, is more than $500? I know well that there are a lot of people who will spend more than $500 worth of animals off of Morphmarket. Say the buyer needs a refund for a snake/snakes that cost them $1500? Are they just SOL for the other thousand, when it wasn’t their fault for the circumstances?
I am also frustrated and disappointed. I was pleased about the concept of trusted sellers who have long-term, solid, reliable history here on MorphMarket being identified as trusted sellers. This is valuable for people on both ends of a transaction. I’m sure as can be that, especially after the discussions about the new feature wear down, new or less frequent buyers will indeed believe that sellers without the Buyer Protection badge are potentially less trustworthy.
I get it, it’s a business call to drive shipping volume to run through MorphMarket’s shipping. It still leaves a bit of a bad flavor. I say this despite using MorphMarket Shipping regularly since its inception and being very pleased. I love the integration with sales and notifications. I’ve had a couple of customer service questions, and they’ve been answered pronto. (I’ve used both the chat and email features.) I do wish MorphMarket offered on- time arrival insurance, but given the low shipping prices, I guess it’s not financially feasible. I applaud the emphasis on shipping safety. I’m quite happy with MorphMarket Shipping and will continue to use it.
But I don’t think it’s right, nor is it fair, to imply that a seller is not trustworthy solely because of a safe, ethical, reasonable shipping choice. This is especially so when some of those same people are in fact choosing to honor a long-term relationship with another shipping company.
Thank you for your concerns. I completely understand your frustration. We required this for a few reasons:
Without it, we have less control and insight into whether things go wrong. When sellers fail to follow through, we must cover buyer claims, which could cost hundreds of thousands of dollars per year. To support this, we had to either increase membership fees, charge an additional fee, or require shipping through us. We chose to start with shipping.
Using MorphMarket Shipping ensures we have full access to shipment details including timestamps, GPS coordinates, and direct FedEx Premier support allowing us to fairly and efficiently handle DOA claims or shipping-related issues like incorrect addresses.
That said, we do plan to offer an alternative for those who don’t use MM Shipping, with a small monthly fee.
Thanks, @drollinger. It’s good to have your direct input. (Absolutely no disrespect intended to the Team!)
It makes sense that if MorphMarket is to offer some type of buyer protection, for all of the reasons cited, shipping must be done through MorphMarket. I don’t think anyone can reasonably disagree with that.
For me personally, my discomfort is not with the requirements. It is more that I’m a bit uncomfortable with the “Trusted Seller” badge title. Any seller who meets all of the qualifications except that of shipping through MorphMarket should be, to my mind, a “Trusted Seller.” Would it be possible to have some other distinction? It seems like the appropriate moniker for one who meets all of the qualifications for Buyer Protection might be something else. Maybe “Verified Shipper?”
It is semantics, but words matter. If the distinction is in the shipping, wording which can imply that it’s something else might be confusing for many users.
I am not a seller but as one who has purchased a lot of reptiles from MM I believe I understand the point Caryl is making. When I see an animal I like I immediately check the reviews before I start liking the animal too much. If the reviews are truly unfavorable I move on.
I can see how all of these green check marks would be extremely confusing to a new buyer on MM. Does the green check mark trump the sub par reviews? Is it safe to buy from a seller because he/she has been verified? Woo hoo buyer protection! Oops bad experience.
There should be another way to accomplish this goal. I don’t think MM is being very considerate to the really hard working sellers/breeders at this point. I don’t think this plan was very thought out before the check marks were rolled out……
I appreciate that. I understand the reasoning on your end and how this could impact the bottom line. My wife and I own a few businesses in the construction and services sector. None of this is about money for me, it’s about relationships. I’ve been friends with Robyn for a long time and as far as that goes I’ve been friends with Chad and Suzie nearly as long. They’ve collectively take care of my animals for a decade. It’s no offense, I just don’t need to save money enough to switch services.
I’m sure you’re well aware of how the pet customers at large will view the presence or absence of a verified badge and the effect that can have on us as sellers. That’s the only concern I had. Thanks for addressing that.
People don’t really trust reviews anymore, and even if a seller has great reviews, they can still get out of the hobby, dump a bunch of sick animals, or take buyers’ money and disappear. When that happens, MM can’t refund the buyers, and it’s becoming a real problem. It damages our reputation and makes people less likely to trust the platform, which hurts not just us but every seller on it.
I believe the best thing for the future of our platform—and everyone who relies on it—is to give buyers full confidence in their purchases.
Here’s just one example: A seller left the industry and took tens of thousands of dollars from buyers with them. Those buyers lost their money, and there was nothing we could do. With buyer protection, we can charge a small fee to build a fund that covers these situations, similar to insurance. It may not be perfect, but it’s a step in the right direction, and we’ll keep improving it over time.
I DO trust reviews and I have with every purchase. I have 20 ball pythons. They all came from sellers with reviews I trusted. That’s not including a house snake, corn snakes, a hognose, 2 rosy boas, and the list goes on. Not once have I had ANY issues. If you say no one trusts the reviews anymore then why not abolish them?
Sorry, I left out a key word there. What I meant to say was that *many people don’t trust reviews anymore, they want an actual guarantee or protection. The bottom line for me is that this will protect our buyers, and increase purchases which is good for sellers. We may need to make more changes or improvements to it, but I believe it has a lot of potential.
trump the sub par reviews? Is it safe to buy from a seller because he/she has been verified? Woo hoo buyer protection! Oops bad experience.