I just wanted to ask if MM has anything to do with prices set by sellers…I mean if a seller has a price for say a Normal Corn Snake and is selling it for an obviously rip off type prics like $2000 for example can anyone do anything about it? I understand that just like certain items on ebay the current value is pretty much dictated by what its selling for recently…but what happens when you get 2-3 buyers who have no idea they are getting ripped off and next thing you know everyone thinks they have to sell that normal Corn Snake for $2000? In fact they might demand it when you ask about the price saying thats what they are selling for recently. In other words does MM have a way of keeping sellers honest. On another reptile website you can post a comment and warn prospective buyers but we can’t do that here.
It really just comes down to that first buyer. If someone buys it then they didn’t do their research and if a seller actually thinks they can get that price (which is not the norm) then they likely won’t get that. If everyone starts selling and buying for that price then the actual market price will change. Also some large breeders/sellers can and will mark their prices up because of how big of a name they are.
Not really, it’s a free market. While a buyer could certainly list a normal corn sake for $2000, if everyone else is selling them for normal prices, it’s unlikely that anyone would purchase the overpriced snake. I would recommend for any buyer to do their research and know the going prices for any animal they intend to buy. If a seller is doing something scammy and listing a snake for $1 so they show up first in the search results, you can certainly report that.
This is a tricky one that needs working on a case by case basis…
Let’s say you genuinely believe that a animal is worth big money, then you should have little trouble explaining that when your ad is flagged (and it will be if it is out of the ordinary). Rarity/genetics/age/sex…etc come into consideration.
If it’s obvious that your just trying to get your ads seen when people filter by Most/Least Expensive then it’s likely going to lead to issues.
We can only do so much to protect people from each other or from their own impatience, ignorance, or naivete. Ultimately, it comes down to Buyer Beware. If someone is willing and able to spend $2000 on an animal, then they should also bear some responsibility for having enough understanding about that animal to judge if an ad is fairly priced.
Letting anyone leave comments can quickly cause issues for honest sellers, especially if they have one small mishap with a buyer that can’t let something go. With the way things work online, it would be very easy for a group to take out a business this way in the matter of a few damaging comments.
We highly encourage users to do research on the other party before money is exchanged.
On top of our rating system, we have a support team that constantly work on situations like this and creating documents and processes for improving how we handle these type of things.
…and look what happened to that site. It was nothing but drama from day 1. It certainly had its heyday, but the owner knew that is was destined to fail, and that’s why he slowly ramped up fees for certain “features,” which resulted in the final nail in the coffin - charging people to look at the BOI. Which is no longer.
I was a member there. I made a spelling mistake when creating my user account that I didn’t catch until later. The owner charged me a fee to make the correction.
I am fully aware that the site is still online and operational, but in my opinion, its the graveyard of this hobby. Scams, fake accounts, false reviews, and crazy (but mostly empty) threats against people and property were rampant.
Personally I don’t want to see anything from that site be implemented over here. Regardless of how an animal is priced, the buyer HAS to do their research. I am 100% against being able to add a comment on a seller’s ad. If you think the price is too high or too low or is indicative of a scam, then it is your responsibility to steer clear. It is not YOUR responsibility to “warn” others. If you think the ad is there to trick or harm people, report it to the site admin.
If this was implemented, we would undoubtedly spawn an internal mob (“Wolfpack” for those of you who remember) that destroys anything resembling a free market. Certain sellers would be promoted, others would be trashed for no reason, price discovery would be in the toilet, and it would pave the way for someone else to step into the market and create a new classifieds site without the drama.
Are you also reporting if the price is too low or would you just buy it?
First of all I’ve never posted a negative comment on anyone’s ad on that site and most likely never will. I was just saying I’ve seen people warn others of scammers. I do think people should do their due deligence prior to any purchase especially an expensive one. What ever high or low price the seller puts its animal up for sale is his buisness…I just don’t want to see new reptile owners get scammed and turned off when it comes to future purchases.
I doubt even one person is going to buy a $2000 normal corn snake, let alone 2-3. It doesn’t take much research to find out that most are priced around $50-60. You can even sort animals by price on MorphMarket, so there’s no excuse for not knowing. They’re not hard to find, so even if all the sellers on MorphMarket were out of normal corn snakes you could just swing by your local pet store. The big box stores may charge $100 or so, but that’s still a far cry from $2000.
As a seller I kinda laugh at people who overprice their snakes. I price mine competitively, and though I usually don’t have trouble selling snakes, they aren’t exactly flying off the shelves most of the time. Even a low priced snake can take awhile to sell. Ads for overpriced snakes that are common in the pet trade end up sitting around for years. It’s all about supply and demand. Corn snakes are abundant and there are more than enough to supply the demand for them. Under those conditions prices don’t get sky high.
What annoys me more is when people put up ads with false low prices and then state the real (much higher price) in the ad. For example a $10 snake and then the ad says it’s really $1000. I think that’s a reportable offense now, and I haven’t seen anyone do it recently, but I’ve seen it before and it always used to annoy me as a buyer.
This is 100% a reportable offence and I ask that if anyone sees such ads they hit the report button.
We do our utmost best to find these type of ads before buyers do, but without the help of the community it would be much harder.
If you see absolutely anything that makes you suspicious about a ad, no matter how small, report it and we will look in to it.
One of the best I’ve seen is a Borneo/Blood hybrid that’s for sale on MM for 10 THOUSAND bucks. Like buddy, nobody is going to give you 10 dollars for that mutt, let alone 10 grand 
I’d give $10 . It could make an interesting pet since I don’t breed short tails. However, $1000 would be out of the question let alone $10,000.
What would make a breeder think it is worth so much I wonder.
Edited to add. I couldn’t find him on MM. Was he in the short tail category?
I also couldn’t find it but it probably cost so much because the breeder put in a lot of work to breed them. It would be challenging to breed two different species, keep the eggs alive and hatch them, and then keep the babies alive. Most probably didn’t make it. The breeder probably thought of it as a big accomplishment even though most people wouldn’t pay 1/10th of the price.
Other Pythons
That is a very good point and to the right person he may well be worth $10,000. For all we know, he may have sold. I couldn’t find him in " other pythons" either. It’s like the water monitors NERD sells, they are a lot more expensive then a field collected monitor. However, to some people they are well worth the extra money. It is easy to become judgmental of what others value and I’m sorry I did .
I found him in other pythons. It is like the last page or something.
Here:
And here:
Getting Breits, Brongs and Curtus to interbreed isn’t that difficult from what I can tell (obviously VERY against it so I don’t exactly have personal experience here, but there’s enough mutts passing around to give us a good idea) I’m happy this fellow is at least labeling it correctly as an F2 integrate.
Damn…I could get a Boelen’s Python for less than that lol.
Most of the time when a breeder posts a super high dollar animal they don’t do it to sell, they do it to get your attention. Appears to work 