I feel like, for sellers on Morph Market, there should be a standard on what the buyers want to see.
For example, I have seen countless Ball Python listings that do not list the parents, weight, birth, or even what they’re fed.
I understand sellers wanting real inquires and such, but I’m sure that it would be best to show at least what the parents are. What if (for example) someone wanted a BEL but didn’t want to buy one with Spider in its genetics? That almost happened to me because the seller didn’t list the parents and I didn’t think about it.
If buyers are required to inquire about more pictures, parents, weight, birth, and/or diet on every inquire, they’re bound to forget something. For me, it’s a lot more convincing to go for a listing that immediately appeals to my main priorities.
Listed parents, eating Frozen/Thawed, has an appropriate price, ETC is ideal.
I personally don’t really want to inquire and ask about a snake’s diet every time I’m interested.
Overall, there should be some strict guidelines or a rule of thumb on how breeders should present their animals. Make these things required fields and such. If the seller has a lot of information on an animal they’re selling, it convinces me that they truly care for the animal.
It also doesn’t help when a seller hides their reviews. It doesn’t say anything aside from “I have something to hide”. It is their right, I understand that. It’s still frustrating.
In conclusion, I believe Morph Market should set a standard on breeders and require them to fill out certain information about their animals. At the very least, the parents and what they eat. These two are huge factors for me as well as others.
What are your thoughts on this? Please let me know.
I hear you on pretty much all of this but that’s what’s great about MM. There are sellers, not to toot my own horn but like myself, that already do all that you’re looking for and others that don’t for whatever reason. This gives the buyer an option to rule out certain sellers based on their own personal preferences. Some of the sellers on here that hide their ratings, don’t put great pictures & info, etc. on their ads have a great reputation and great animals though but have their own reasons for doing this which they can explain further if needed. Now there’s others that don’t fit into that example either. Basically what I’m trying to say is that MM already has certain requirements for sellers. Some of the other added information is more upfront for the buyers to see before they inquire obviously and each person who chooses to list uses their time making up the ad as they see fit, which may give you more insight into the seller, or not. All of this should factor into your decision to buy along with any additional questions, which will lead into customer service on the seller. Again, another factor for your decision…I feel like I’m going around in circles lol Research, research, research & ask questions if something catches your eye, that’s my last 2¢.
I actually disagree with having such requirements, why? because it opens the door to more requirements such as pictures should be taken a certain way, the following payment methods should be offered, a minimum of so many pictures should be provided, breeder should respond in such amount of time etc. I believe MM team as already enough work as it is that they do not need to micro manage each and every breeder.
To me it’s simple breeders should be able to present themselves as they see fit if they want to present themself not putting any info, hiding their ratings, and taking pictures on towels it should be up to them, maybe they will realize why they are getting little to business and maybe they won’t ultimately that is on them.
There are enough breeders out there that some will fit your requirements, just like there are enough that fit mine and I am of of the most picky person you will ever meet but I would never dictate how people should advertise their animals as long as they are honest and the animal is represented accurately.
I wish you had taken away more from my post than that one sentence.
Whether you are a breeder or even a buyer you are not gonna meet everyone standard just like any other type of business, there will always be someone that will have one extra requirements (not happy with ads not showing prices, with hidden ratings etc)
And while I can see those has options I do not see those as requirements, maybe John will feel differently about it.
As a buyer I inquired once about a pairing (to know the line and it was at a show so different situation) as a breeder in 14 years I must have had 10 people max asking about the pairing (back when I did not list it)
Some breeders and buyers will do the minimum some will not, that is what allows them to set themselves apart without being forced to so (which can tell you a lot about a breeder already) and so bottom line people should buy from those who meet their standards and not buy from those that don’t.
If everyone HAD to fill in those fields it would become extremely difficult as a buyer to separate the quality sellers from the average/low quality sellers.
Say I’m looking for a Leopard Enchi:
Seller #1 -
Picture of a animal
D.o.b
Seller #2
Several pictures of the animal. (If they are top shelf businesses they will likely have videos of the animal aswel)
D.o.b
Weight
Pairing
Diet
Whether offers/trades are accepted on this animal.
A full profile including pricing, shipping, any guarantees, payment options.
I’m not even going to bother with seller 1. Where as seller 2 is going to receive a inquiry message straight away.
good point. wow, what a great advantage - for sellers to leave out information in laziness.
I think that’s very ironic, and no less true. when I weed out those sellers though, there’s usually very few listings that I would actually consider. it can be pretty frustrating, especially when you’re looking for a specific animal that is not in constant supply.
I base my judgement of sellers off the information they provide or don’t and the way they provide it. One seller was only showing length of snakes and no weight. Felt like this was for a reason and it made me uninterested in them. I read a sellers response to a complaint and the seller responded in short hand text abbreviation. I was more turned off by the unprofessional response than the actual complaint. Not everyone is a “professional”. Some are , Some Try, Some don’t. If you made a standard on the way things had to be posted it would be harder to spot the bad or good postings in my opinion.
I fail to understand why mandating the parents is necessary when part of the ad itself is whatever morph(s) you are selling. Why would an ad telling you that the Butter Pastel for sale came from a pairing of a Butter Enchi OD Pastel YB x BlkPastel Cypress make any difference? Whether it came from a Butter x Pastel pairing or an Acid Banana Cinder Disco Enchi Hurricane OD x Butter Fire Nanny Pastel Woma pairing, at the end of the day, Butter Pastel is just a Butter Pastel.
The reason it’s a problem is because spider, champagne, and spotnose (all problem morphs) can be hidden more easily behind certain morphs. for example, bels! those are very popular and in high damand. yet I found multiple listings of bels that were unsure if the baby was spider because one of the parents had it. sometimes they don’t even tell you what the parents were and you’re left guessing.
this can be a real problem especially if you get a snake with a wobble and you don’t know why. I’m not going to get into why spider/champagne/spotnose is bad as lots of people already know whether they agree or not. but I believe it’s the least that a seller can do.
I just had my first experience with this about two weeks ago when I put up an ad for a 2019 animal that I decided to sell. As a general rule, I always fill out the genetics, diet, birth month/year, current weight, and I make sure that my terms reflect the way I want to do business.
I had multiple buyers contact me about the animal but it was just to complain that it wasn’t heavy enough for a yearling snake. This particular snake did have a food strike, but what ball python hasn’t? The snake is healthy, robust, and the picture was great. Also he was hatched out later in the year. There is a huge difference between a May 2019 hatch and an October 2019 hatch.
So then I started looking through comparable ads. And I noticed how many sellers don’t list birth month or current weight. I always want to represent my animals accurately, but maybe sellers aren’t providing this information because they are getting hammered by certain buyers? I don’t know…
I am fully aware of how BluEL can mask other morphs (and the ways to unmask some of them) but the “problem” that you point out is problem for you alone, not everyone feels that way. With that in mind, your personal almost bad experience does not necessitate a full-scale revamp of how every seller must do things. There are other people who would be happy to buy a BluEL at regular BluEL price and come to find out they got a “freebie” gene or two in the mix.
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In situations where this could be the case, some breeders will mention the pairing as a way of letting people know. Other breeders will list their animals with “possible XYZ”. Breeders that do this may end up drawing more sales than breeders that do not. Good business sense, one might say
For me personally as a buyer new to Morph Market, but someone who has bought and sold many reptiles over the last 15 years, the information posted by most sellers is pretty sufficent. If you ask them questions they are usually willing to offer answers or advice. The one thing I find a bit annoying is the way some sellers take their photo’s. Using filters and extremely bright lights at point blank range to make the animal look something that it doesn’t quite look in natural light. I understand many want to give a professional appearance for their animals, but frankly it’s a crock of bs that they do it. I’m sure many sellers on M.M. will disagree with me, but the majority of people buying these animals won’t.
I think at some point the buyer should take some responsibility for contacting the seller prior to purchase if they want to know certain details about the animal they intend on purchasing, instead of relying on the platform used to sell the animal requiring the seller to give all information in advance. If you as a buyer want to avoid spider in an animal or for my example I’d want to avoid caramel, it isn’t too difficult to communicate that preference to the breeder and use how they reply as a guage to see if they are someone you want to do business with.
It’s sort of like being interested in a desk on craigslist that only has one photo. it looks good from that photo, but you can’t decipher anything wrong from it, and if you see a listing that provides multiple photos you’re more tempted to go for it. more information the better, really. it’s a lot more appealing and it can determine if someone will buy an animal from the seller or not.
hiding your ratings is fair and all, it’s part of selling and it’s the seller’s right. but whenever there’s no website or reviews to see about the seller, it can be a huge turn off.
I also agree that it’s up to the buyer to know what they’re buying. Some people are comfortable buying snakes with less information and others want more. When I’m buying snakes I like to have most of the same information you do, but if a seller say… forgets to list what a snake is eating, I can always ask later.
While I like to have most of this information, I don’t think it should be required. A lot of larger sellers and maybe some of the smaller ones who are busy outside of their snake hobby, may not have time to add all that information. I think requiring it would exclude a lot of good breeders and make listings more time-consuming for those who don’t already include that information.
As a hobbyist, I’m doing this for fun, not for profit. Requiring too much info can make an otherwise enjoyable hobby stressful. In addition, I can’t possibly know ahead of time what information each buyer wants. Some people certainly want more details than others and I’m happy to answer their questions. I also support and appreciate all of the breeders I’ve bought from who continue to communicate with me after I’ve already paid for and received their snakes.
The bottom line is that I don’t think requirements are any substitution for good communication. That’s my 2¢.
I think the more information the better. it really shows that a seller really does care about their animals rather than listing them like a lazy craigslist or ebay listing would do. I feel like more sellers should put more effort into the quality and not the quantity in their animals.