I rate every one of my buyers - when I can. I’ve mentioned this in another thread, but I wish there was a way to fill in a MM buyer’s name for those cases where their initial inquiry was about a particular animal and then they bought another, especially when the purchase is not"instead of" rather than "in addition to. "
I know that’s not the focus of the original question but it’s all part of feedback.
I love this. The known time frame would definitely be valuable. I’m definitely a memberr of the “more than four” club. I’ve never ghosted anyone, never would, but I like the time framework as a way to remind everybody to stay reasonably engaged. Buyers can be ghosted, too. Okay, so somebody else bought it. Tell me so, so I can stop weighing the purchase.
ok I am a tiny bit guilty of doing this, but you have to hear me out here, so I planned to purchase but my parents didn’t want me to get the animal because they had done genuine research and were worried it might not tame down, so I had to say “I am very sorry but due to circumstances I am unable to purchase”
, look I definitely wanted to buy it, but I instead went for a bearded dragon.
Saying you cant purchase, or have decided not to, is all I am looking for. Do I hope to make a sale, Yes. But more importantly is to let me know that you have concluded the interaction. That way Im am not left wondering if you even received my response.
Yes I agree with @graysnake what you did @lizardkid was perfectly acceptable and all we as sellers want is just that! As long as we have a answer, either way, in a timely manner. That is all this thread is about. Very wise of you to get your parents permission, I was just always sneaking snakes in my house when I was a kid!
I never inquire with no intention to buy. I know i will get extremely frustrated with putting all that time in, then they disappar. I have had someone locally inquire twice about 2 different snakes. Disapear for weeks/months come back asking. I wont hold anymore for anyone more then 24 hours now.
I am like you @nikkip I used to hold snakes locally for people. They would say this weekend, or when I get paid this week. I am sure everyone has heard all these and more before. I like so many would get burned, and sometimes I would have other interested parties inquire and would lose them as well, saying I was holding it for however long. As so many on this thread pointed out, NEVER hold a animal for anyone (local or online) for any amount of time! First to put money down gets it period! I won’t even hold for 24 hours. If asked if I can hold by a potential customer, I simply tell them the truth. No I can’t hold for anyone because I have been burned way too many times, sorry. If they are serious they will at least put down a payment towards a expensive animal, or buy.
The message system in MM automatically provides a timestamp on a message when it is read. So if you do not hear from someone after a bit, you can just log in and confirm it was read.
It’s weird to me that anyone would even send an inquiry at all unless they were serious about buying. I would never even contact a seller unless I was serious about buying the animal. I may have a few questions, but if I’m inquiring, that means I’ve pretty much already decided that I want the animal. So long as I’m comfortable with the answers I get to my initial questions, my next step is going to be sending money. If I decide I don’t want the animal for any reason, I would say so, I’d never just leave a seller hanging in limbo. Doing that shows a total lack of common courtesy in my opinion.
If you’re just “window shopping,” you can enjoy looking at the pretty pictures without wasting a seller’s time. To my mind, there’s no reason to be contacting a seller with questions or requests for extra pictures/videos unless you actually intend to buy the animal.
That said, I’m not sure there’s a reasonable way to make such behaviour against the rules. People need to be allowed to ask questions before making a purchase, and people need to be free to opt against purchasing for any reason. I do like the idea someone suggested of having an alert pop up reminding/encouraging someone to reply to an open-ended inquiry after a few days. Beyond that, I’m not really sure what can be done. But I do understand why it’s frustrating, and I’m sorry to hear that it’s such a common thing sellers have to deal with.
One of my last inquiries was someone asking for 1/2 price because they were still working on their reptile room and had just purchased a bearded dragon.
Uhm okay? Not my problem.
Then they were upset that I wouldn’t help ‘grow the lifestyle’.
Like… Even a window shopper just asking about genetics would be welcome over that sort of thing.
It would be nice if inquiries were kept serious. Lol.
Sometimes I wish I could just be like, “5$ questioning fee. To be put towards price of purchase. No refunds.”
On both my art gigs or animal sales. Lol.
I’ve heard some real stinkers, but gee, that’s a new one.
It’s always frustrating when people disappear. Nothing we can do about it, and the time spent is just part of CDB but it’s still frustrating. Basic courtesy means at least saying, “Thanks, but no.” Or at least, “No.” Some people just never will. I like to think some of them are still telling themselves that they’re debating the purchase… for weeks. Maybe it’s even true. Unreasonable? Sure.
It’s kinda funny, I hadn’t had one who really surprised me in a while. Just happened over Thanksgiving. They asked for info about two animals, more pics, could I compare the dispositions of the two, etc. I was out of town for the holiday and told them so, but I answered all their questions. I happened to have some extra pics in my phone so I sent those. Nothing. I messaged them again in a couple days to ask if they’re still interested. Still nothing. Go figure.
Though I did have someone recently even go so far as to say, “Can I pick him up tomorrow?” Yeah. “What time is good for you?” And then went no contact after we set a time and before a location. Shrug
I received an “inquiry” that was just someone telling me that the snake I had listed was over-priced because it was not from a certain breeder lineage. Fun fact, it was from that line but I did not bother putting it on there because all known lines have proven compatible and are visually compatible. I ignored them
Three months later, they contact me again telling me they work with lots of rare tarantulas if I wanted some. I pointed them to the “interested in trading for” section of my ToS.
A month after that, they contact me again with a price and tell me they are “not lowballing” me. The price they offered was 57% of what I had the animal listed for. When I politely explained that I would not give someone a 45% discount they decided to pedantically argue with me that the price they names was NOT a 45% discount.
That was the point where I decided to block them from further inquiry on the animal. And the next day I sold it for my asking price
That’s just…wow. If you can’t afford an animal because you’ve just spent a bunch of money, then maybe it’s not the right time for you to be buying more animals. Just a thought.
If I were a seller, someone demanding an unreasonable discount on an animal I was selling would be a huge red flag for me. Not just because such low-ball offers are disrespectful to the breeder/seller and the time, work, and love they put into producing their animals, but also because if someone is that cheap/financially unstable when it comes just to purchasing the animal, that doesn’t bode well for the quality of care they’ll provide to it. Nobody is entitled to an animal just because they want it, and more often than not, the purchase price of an animal is the least expensive part of keeping and caring for them (especially if they need vet care).
This is EXACTLY why my ‘saved animals’ tab is bursting at the seams! I don’t have the resources to purchase any animals but I certainly don’t use the ‘inquire to buy’ button to answer questions.
So I hit save so I can both keep the breeder’s name linked to an animal I like and keep an eye on what is selling.
The one time I did have a question about diet (ie what size of rodent did their label of F/T entail), I found the shop’s website and emailed them about their feeding schedules while being clear I was not making an inquiry.
For shops without a website, is there a better way to do that? If I have a question about a store’s schedule/husbandry in case I want to use them as a resource later, but can’t buy now, is email the best way to do it? I don’t want to annoy anyone, and not every shop has a website or consistently checked email outside of the Inquiry Button
If you can’t afford an animal because you’ve just spent a bunch of money, then maybe it’s not the right time for you to be buying more animals. Just a thought.