First time selling on MorphMarket

Geckos Leopard Geckos
, ,
1

Hi everyone,

I’m a new breeder preparing to list my first Leopard Geckos on MorphMarket. I’ve invested a lot into this hobby, and while my primary focus is ethical breeding and raising healthy animals, I want to use this as a real world lesson in salesmanship, communication, and financial management.

As a beginner, I’m hesitant to jump into shipping immediately and would prefer to stick to local pickup (though I am willing to travel a reasonable distance to meet buyers). However, I have a few concerns I’m hoping experienced sellers can weigh in on.

Is it realistic to rely solely on local sales starting out? I’m worried about a lack of inquiries and the potential of stagnant stock. (Also considering that there isn’t an extremely high demand for Leopard Geckos on MM that I’m aware of.)

My biggest fear is having babies sit for too long. I am committed to housing them separately and ethically, but I’m worried about running out of space or facing high food costs if they don’t sell quickly.

I’m also nervous about losing money on advertising plans if the local-only approach doesn’t gain traction.

For those who started with local-only sales or manage a small-scale shop, what advice do you have regarding money management and balancing inventory with ethical space requirements?

Thank you for any help!

3 Likes
2

I’m not in a caffeinated state so this may be a ramble. I’m sure others will also chime in

So I originally fell into the reptile breeding world with leos. It was a long time ago but a lot of it still holds true…

Local sales can be pretty tough sometimes. I definitely have gotten a few through MM though.

You may also have to do the rounds through Craigslist. Honestly I don’t think anyone adheres to the adoption only rule and just lists the sale price as ‘adoption’. Or they use the farm listings. There’s also many people these days that don’t understand that buying an animal isn’t adopting an animal. It may be the whole anthropomorphizing of pets but that’s a whole different can of worms. Just don’t be surprised if someone keeps talking about ‘adopting’ your Leos.

If you have a local reptile shop that is clean with healthy animals I would also poke around there. Get to know the usual employees. Remember for local sales they may be selling goods to the new homes your Leos have. Just be cool, don’t constantly push about it.
I chat with the employees about the geckos they have and how I house them sometimes. Most of them are happy to know you know your stuff. It’s less work for them to try doing the ‘retail grind’. It also makes it easier to ask if they source locally for animals. I’ve had 2 stores purchase animals after. It also helps if you have reptile shows coming up in the area and you’re not ready to vend there.
The downside to selling to a store is you will be selling wholesale. So you’re looking at up to 1/2 your regular sale price if you’re lucky. I would do 1/3 my asking prices for the more common morphs and save the fancier ones for MM

I haven’t worked a reptile show myself yet, but it’s not to difficult to explain. You will have A LOT of eyes on your animals, but maybe not a lot of interest in a purchase. Don’t be discouraged. Just be friendly and chat. Obviously be aware of people waiting to ask something that you may need to pause a window shopper convo for. (Pet peeve of mine, lol)
With shows you will most likely have people asking to haggle more than with a MM ad. It’s really up to you. They may be grumpy if you decline, but just try to stay polite and brush it off.

That’s at least my thoughts on sales in different situations. As long as you’re friendly and are not too difficult to contact for questions you should have a good start.
Don’t be discouraged by people contacting you for a question and ghosting on you after. It’s the downside of having a sales business. I know for myself I will avoid other breeders or shops if they are rude or brush off an honest question someone asks.

I try to only breed what I have space for. It can really be difficult though with things like infertile eggs or females just not wanting to breed and so on. Just be kind to your little ones and don’t get in over your head.

If I break even on upkeep costs at the end of the year I consider that a success. If you haven’t already, consider breeding your own feeders even if it’s a supplemental amount it can help. It can be very difficult to start and break out into the higher tier of sales. I have already given up on ever making back all of my investment costs. XD

6 Likes
3

Best of luck in your upcoming adventure! I’m only a year into selling myself, so I don’t have much advice, but I will say this:

  • You WILL most likely lose money and sell slowly, especially in the beginning! It’s okay. It’s all part of the experience, and the experience is the real reason most people are in this hobby. I think the really ethical people are the ones that lose the most money (ideally break even), but again, they are the kind of person that is most needed in the hobby, so it’s a good thing.
  • I agree with the advice to only breed what you have room to house for a long time (just in case). We ended up needing to house our babies from last season for nearly a year when (1) a wholesale opportunity feel through, (2) most of our babies refused to eat (still no idea why), and (3) other life stuff happened that made it hard to manage 1:1 MM sales. I still loved it, and I’m still here, and I’m back for a second year, but I also still have some of those original hatchlings that haven’t sold. Several of them STILL aren’t established eaters, so they’ll be here a while.
  • MM shipping really isn’t too scary—at least for the animals I breed. You’ll have to do your homework on geckos (sorry I can’t help there), but the actual boxing and shipping part is a breeze with MM. Their prices have been awesome and making labels is simple and straightforward. After careful packing and checking of temps, FedEx has taken great care of my animals and they’ve all arrived healthy. I would definitely recommend trying to tackle it if you have a FedEx shipping center within 30-45 min of your house.
3 Likes
4

Thank you for the input. Your suggestion about reaching out/talking to local reptile stores reminded me that I’m near a Cold Blooded & Bizarre shop, as well as a Pet Supermarket (Which I’ve noticed doesn’t have leopard geckos). Only thing is that the Pet Supermarket is a chain store, from what I’ve seen they take care of their pets well and I even thought about getting a job there, would that be ethical? As for the Reptile show suggestion, I go to the ones in my area every single time they’re available, only thing is that I’ve heard that the tables can be expensive and it’s always really packed. Once again thank you so much for all the ideas, input is greatly appreciated!! :grin:

3 Likes
5

Awesome! Thanks for the input. I’m just really new to this and have a fear of messing up, I’m trying to get as much instruction as possible. I’ll give shipping a try for sure, also wanted to ask about advertising plans. My biggest worry is that I’ll spend money on it and not end up selling. Any suggestions on that? How frequent is selling for you? And what advertisement plan would you suggest for me?

3 Likes
6

Same here lol :crazy_face:

This is understandable, I myself wanted to do this when I first started out back in 2018 with Crested Geckos before I ever even made a MM store. The Local Pickup thing didn’t last long :sweat_smile:

Just keep in mind that with local pickup, you will have a whole lot less of a customer pool than if you did with shipping as an option. My reccomendation if you really want to do local stuff is to attend Expos if you have any local shows, my shows are a bare minimum 2+ hours away -not including if there’s heavy traffic in the absolute nightmare that is Houston- so be prepared for when you may need to travel longer distances with a bunch of animals.

Breed ONLY what you absolutely know you are comfortable housing and feeding long term (years in advance), and only what you have room for. Make breeding plans in advance for the next few years and stick to it- try to avoid changing plans too drastically either unless you absolutely need to. Do not keep holdbacks unless they will 100% serve a purpose in your breeding plans.

Be prepared for what you would need to do for a special needs animal that will need either to stay in your care indefinitely or go to a home that specializes in that specific animal’s needs

This is the unfortunate reality of being a small scale breeder in a world full of others… you will be lucky if you break even in costs your first few years. Though some years are much better than others its still difficult.

Be prepared to put everything you earn back into the animals. I’m 6 years into owning a MM store and I still put every dime of what I make from selling back into my animals, and even then I cut into my actual paychecks to cover the rest of the costs.

You will also need an animal emergency fund for vet visits and treatment costs for anything that can go wrong during the breeding process. I suggest you set the minimum to at least cover the worth of the animals you currently have… maybe more, some treatments are very expensive :face_with_spiral_eyes:

Be prepared and expectant of this, especially as a Local Seller. Sometimes sellers can go months without even a ghoster, and be mindful that you will be ghosted eventually… I had one from my first ever inquiry.

If and when you do decide to switch to shipping, be mindful of where your nearest shipping hub is. Be mindful of shipping material costs and labels. Be very mindful of weather conditions at dropoff, at the main Hubs (Memphis or Indianapolis) if going thru FedEx, and at pickup and package shipments accordingly.

Be aware of state laws in reguard to animal shipping and ownership.

Be prepared for the event of a shipment delay or DOA, these are things we hope to never happen but must always be prepared to have happen.

Hope that advice helps :slight_smile:
I’m going to go have a cup of coffee now lol

Edit:

I’d reccomend starting off with the lowest cost option, I forgot what its specifically called though… Just so you can get a feel for things for a little while and see if you do get anything out of it :slight_smile:

3 Likes
7

Looking at the website, I wouldn’t ask about selling to them. Usually the corporate sides of chains like that have a very specific list of vendors they vetted ahead and will stick to.

However, if it is a local shop, it doesn’t hurt to chat with the employees in the small pets/reptiles area every now and then if you stop in.
When I was working for a big box shop in the small pets section I would chat with shoppers about their animals and plans all the time. I personally took a number or two from people who were breeding animals I was interested in…and on the flip side they can possibly recommend shoppers to you if they don’t sell Leos at all. It does depend on how chill the employees and management are though.
My old manager bred cornsnakes so she was chill

At the least… The chain shop is a good neutral location to do a sale outside of. I like to meet by a local pet shop just in case there’s something last minute the new owner may have forgotten and we can go find it. Also helps boost the local shops a bit too which is nice if you have that rapport

3 Likes
8

This is, unfortunately the risk part of any venture. Although, I will say that even though sales have been slowish my first year (as I expected), I have definitely made my money back on shipping supplies if that’s the only cost you’re worried about. I’ve made more income overall on MM than I made wholesaling to a local vendor so far.

I have also made my money back on the cost of a membership through MM, and would do it again. I am on one of the lower tier memberships (it allows 3 photos of each animal), but the best perk of that tier is the confidence buyers get when they see that MM has a money back guarantee on my account (effective after a few milestones are met). Having that third-party stamp of approval really helps new buyers feel confident that I’m not some scammer who sells sick animals.

I figure it will take time to both grow a reputation and sales, and I expect a LOT of losses in the meantime. There’s a good chance you won’t get your investment back. BUT if you’re doing it for the experience, I can think of a lot of other pursuits (tickets to live sports events, theme parks like Disneyland, etc) that cost a ton of money and give back much less exciting experiences than nurturing cute little baby reptiles. I’d take caring for a struggling little sickly hatchling over Disneyland any day…but I’m weird like that :laughing: To me the present monetary losses are worth the memories I’m building with my son, who is learning about business, hard work, dedication, commitment, life and death, birds and bees, negotiation, honesty, ethical care, and on and on. It’s been cheaper than music lessons for my girls and just as valuable IMO.

4 Likes
9

My bottom line recommendation:

Figure out WHY you’re doing this, how much you have to spend on it, then double the expected cost, and assume worst-case scenario (keeping babies for a long time before finding homes, sickly hatchlings, unexpected health problems and vet bills)…and then decide if it’s still something you imagine you’d want to stick with for at least 5-10 years, anyway, because that’s how much you like it.

If your WHY is big enough to take the risk, your commitment is long term, and you’re a good, ethical person, you’ll eventually do well. And by “well,” I don’t just mean monetarily well—I mean, it will be a venture you enjoy and don’t regret regardless of how the finances work out.

That said…I do believe it is at least POSSIBLE that finances can ultimately work out. I think there’s evidence that it can and does. It just isn’t my “WHY,” and if it was, I’d have quit after the first year.

3 Likes
10

I thin kthats a pretty great way of putting what the experience is like :slight_smile:

I’d gladly take working with my animals over what most people would consider a hobby :laughing:

3 Likes
11

Thanks for this! My main goal in all of this is to learn everything I possibly can from it, biology, husbandry, time management, work ethic, responsibilities, and so much more. This includes finances, both buying and selling. I want to takeaway as much as I possibly can from this because I enjoying, and I’m preparing for the real world.

What drives my goal is the passion and enjoyment I have in it. There’s nothing I love more than learning.

I appreciate your advice and everyone’s on here as well. Thanks so much! This really helped me realize what I hope to gain the most from this.

2 Likes