I’ve never offered lower on any of the animals I’ve purchased personally. I don’t necessarily see a need to do so as I spend a lot of time researching, comparing and contrasting, asking questions of sellers, etc.
But I’ve also had sellers pull some shady things on me; one seller in particular upped a price because there was more interest in the particular snake…not realizing that the “more interest” was me text messaging them a few days after I sent them a message on MM because I was highly interest in the snake in particular and was ready to drop money on her.
I’ve also been the “tire kicker” in that I’ll ask a lot of questions of sellers, and if they don’t answer in the ways that I am searching for, I’ll pass on the animal in question. I care that my sellers’ can answer me questions about temperament, feeding responses, lineage, etc. I’ve even passed on well respected/known sellers because I’ve been told they couldn’t share the information I requested because they have too many animals on hand to know.
However I’ve always answered if I was going to purchase.
In some ways, I take MM as a worldwide expo in that I can communicate directly with sellers, negotiate with them if I want, ask the questions I want, and decide if they are a worthwhile business. I would personally prefer not to change the current system because it works for me as a buyer. Eventually I want to become a seller and I may or may not change my mind, but that’s years off yet.
I notice a lot of frustration from sellers with people like me who are determined to vet the quality of my sellers and their animals. A lot of frustration that, I as a buyer, see as an integral part of the selling process.
Buyers aren’t just buying animals, they are buying your brand too. Whenever people ask where they got such an awesome looking animal, they are sharing their experience of buying from you with others. If they use that animal to breed, they are then sharing that lineage they got from you.
I’ve paid higher prices for that lineage and being able to trace it. I’ve also passed on animals that didn’t have a traceability to their lineages, even if they would work for my projects.
I don’t want to lose the focus of communication I find necessary on MM, because it’s that communication that makes my purchases happen. And afterwards, I like to get permission to post on FBI reptile groups about my experience so people can know safe sellers.
My methods have been called tire kicking before, which I’m cool with because I’m buying an animal with a commitment to decades of care. I want to make sure we fit very well together.
