is the MorphMarket membership really worth it I have been on here for almost 2 months have 12 animals listed and have not sold a single animal on the site I am paying $19 per month have better luck on free faunaclassifieds account I sell a variety of different reptiles
3 Likes
It is worth it, in my opinion, but you actually have to try and not just expect people to show up simply because you listed something. Looking at your store from a customer perspective, there are a handful of indicators that say you may not be the best to purchase from. A few things of note:
- Your store name is “Bernzomatic”, this does not sound like someone who sells reptiles
- About section is a single generic line about what you sell, and it’s a run on sentence with no punctuation whatsoever
- Store policy is just two forms of payment and “live arrival guaranteed”
- No profile photo/logo
- None of your animals have descriptions or trait tags
You don’t look reputable based on the above factors. Customers want reassurance that they’re buying from someone who cares about the animal and knows what they’re doing. You can’t just put in zero effort and expect people to buy on a platform this large with many other sellers who put in the time to really market what they have for sale.
14 Likes
I agree with @noodlehaus here
I’ll also say 2 months really isn’t a long time to be on the platform at all.
Welcome to the harsh reality that is selling animals, and I don’t mean that in a snarky way. I didn’t sell my first snake for 2 years after it hatched, and that wasn’t even on Morphmarket, it was at an expo.
I’ve been a Morphmarket member for 5 years and I’ve only sold 8 animals on the platform.
Do you make any attempts at all to advertise your MM store elsewhere? Do you plan on going to expos? Do you do auctions? You have 1 free auction a month and I’ve found that I have better luck getting a sale from that. I sell through the auction at a lower price but breeding animals for me is never about the money so I dont really care about the price.
9 Likes
Ill offer a slightly different stance here. It depends. Are you selling animald valued at 50$ or less where people are comfortable taking the risk? Then it may not be. MM is known as a fairly safe platform for both buyers and sellers. The value you will get from that depends on the risk. So if you are trying to sell animals valued 3-400$, youll likely have better luck on MM (assuming you fix the issues addressed by others, looking like a 1 day standup store does not bring confidence to a buyer). If you instead for example are just breeding normal ball pythons and selling them for 20-40$, you will likely lose money using this platform, as people are just as likely to buy that type of pricing from a craigslist add.
5 Likes
Following up on my post. I just looked at your store, I think a large issue besides what has been brought up by others is the animals you are selling are very large investments, and your storefront has no ratings. Many people will not feel comfortable forking over that much money to an unknown entity. It will likely be VERY slow until you get some ratings. I think going to expos to raise awareness of your store, and making it look more professional will help you a lot. Once you have some happy customers, people will feel more comfortable dropping that kind of money.
6 Likes
You’ve gotten some great feedback already. Speaking from the perspective of someone who does not sell reptiles but has purchased some, I honestly wouldn’t feel comfortable purchasing a somewhat pricey animal from your MM shop in its current form. I don’t mean that as any sort of personal sleight against you, it’s just that I don’t know who you are, and therefore don’t know if you’re trustworthy. And your shop page and animal listings don’t do anything to remedy that.
Your shop page doesn’t really give me any information about you and your personal or professional history with keeping and selling reptiles. The ads for the animals don’t give any description of them, their history, origin, health, temperament, etc. All the ads say they’re eating “frozen/thawed meal replacement,” which doesn’t even seem like it’s accurate for some species (I doubt you’re feeding that black headed python meal replacement…and if you are, I have questions).
I think that most people are going to need a lot more info and reassurance that you’re a legitimate, ethical vendor before they’re going to feel comfortable spending hundreds if not thousands of dollars to purchase an animal from a seller that has no sales history on the platform. Some people just simply won’t spend that kind of money with a vendor who has no sales, but I think that if you put a little effort into making your store page and ads more professional and informative, you might have a bit better luck. And then once you have made some sales and have some good reviews, you could be off to the races.
Just my two cents.
6 Likes
I am a keeper only. I agree for the most part with everything that has been said above. However the pictures you have posted present the animals very well. I believe your store deserves a plus in this category……
5 Likes
The impression i get from the vast difference in picture quality vs storefront quality is either a scammer that doesnt know about the animals they are pretending to sell, or a reseller that just knows they are valueble, but nothing of their history.
Not saying this is the case, but it is heavily the impression it gives.
5 Likes
Uh… for privacy reasons i wont say more… but perhaps have a dedicated reddit account so your personal posts arent mixed in with the animal ones as well xD. Anyways… yeah, i got a good chuckle, but probably best to keep those seperate haha.
5 Likes
Ouch? I think?
2 Likes
I have no clue what you mean by this?
2 Likes
For their privacy I wont say exactly what I found, its of a personal interest nature, nothing to do with their store, just bad optics for professionalism. They will likely know what I am talking about, its not meant to attack them, just let them know their store can be traced to their Reddit and its post history.
I approached it as a potential buyer doing research on a store and its animals, the only thing i found related to the store is that they are likely reselling animals (which i dont think is against the ToS, and as long as they are healthy, whatever). But while looking at their posts, there were some that a store wouldnt want attached to it.
If I found evidence of them scamming people I would have said it outright, so it isnt that.
5 Likes
Giving honest take from a buyers perspective. A buyers perspective affects whether a potential buyer will invest or not. The OP has 0 ratings and the animals they are selling $600-1500ish, so having a bare bojes storefront looks shady, not saying the OP is shady, just saying why it may drive away buyers.
5 Likes
I’d also like to note, you might find yourself having legal issues, since “Bernzomatic” is actually trademarked by the torch company.
4 Likes
Well I suppose I am still naive! But I don’t understand why this person would want to call attention to himself and his store???
1 Like
Hmmmmm. Big red flag, is it not???
1 Like
I don’t think the name is a red flag per se. Two people can independently come up with the same name for two very different businesses. It happens all the time. But when that happens and you realize someone else was using the name first, it’s usually easier (and a whole lot cheaper) to just pick another name than risk getting taken to court, which I believe was what Jess was getting at.
4 Likes
I agree. Better to change it before building a reputation and community than do confuse everyone if forced to change it later.
4 Likes
Sorry caron, im really not trying to be mean here, you arent naive and I appologize if my cryptic posts are coming off as super confusing, they are meant to be vague out of respect for OP, not to confuse everyone else xD, though i suppose I could have sent a private message to the same effect. I had forgotten that was an option. I’ve been away for a … good long while.
4 Likes
No worries! I don’t mind! It’s just good to have you back! 
4 Likes