Ratings & Feedback & Ghosting Sellers / Buyers

[zebrabluestuff]

I am new to this site but have purchased critters from faceless commercial to individuals on obscure message board sites. Back in the late 90’s I used to send money orders on the trust that some rando on that newfangled electronic-bay auction site would send something someday. I’ve been around.
Sadly the 1st two snakes I inquired about on MorphMarket resulted in a ghosting (pic was pretty poor so asked for retake to confirm if the older adult corn was striped or spotted bloodred, they responded “will do”, then radio silence) & a straight non response. I waited almost a month & politely followed up (briefly I am interested & committed but “If you are not interested on selling to me, no worries. Just let me know & I will not pester again”). Ghost on both. I lost the opportunity to pursue other 2nd choice animals which sold. Everyone has their prerogative to not sell or buy for any reason. But if it is a notable pattern others should be aware. I don’t like to pester people if I am not serious (80-90% will buy conditional on a few reasonable questions). Unless something dramatic happens in my life I have payment ready to go. And I know people have lives so am fine to wait a week or month or more if they just let me know. Or some way for sellers to turn on an auto response or store status “I’m at a show till Month day so don’t expect response till then”. Sorry for the long preamble but I have seen some peeps on here upset that seller didn’t respond after 4 milliseconds & cater to their every self deserved whim & didn’t want to be grouped in with that hot mess. Anyway…

I received a follow up email from MorphMarket about the interactions:
Have you purchased this item and paid in full?
1.No, I inquired and do not plan to purchase or never heard back.
2.No, I inquired but still may purchase this item.
3.Yes, I purchased this item but have not received it yet (or a refund).
4.Yes, I purchased this exact item and have already received it (or a refund).

Can the first option be split into:
1a.No, I inquired and do not plan to purchase.
1b.No, I inquired and never heard back.

This is a valuable distinction.

Sellers should also have the opportunity to flag buyers who are flakes or ghost. Maybe they get a buyer pester to purchase ratio. Shame. Shame! And an inquiry to response ratio for the sellers will encourage patience from buyers.
And maybe a generic “No soup for you” / “Don’t want no more” neutral message option to let buyers / sellers know to move on.

My 3rd snake inquiry has gone great so far. Very reasonable response times (couple/several days apart as the process has progressed from negotiations to payment to shipping when weather is safe). If things fall through it’s cause the unpredictable happened not irresponsibility.

I have high hopes this site, which has a good start, will improve it’s transaction experience over time.

[solarserpents]

I like the idea of having those two options separated. My experience has been pretty much the opposite of yours however! I don’t think I’ve ever not gotten a reply to inquiry on MorphMarket , so hopefully your experience is just a weird fluke and not a trend!

[zebrabluestuff]

Thanks for the hope. I assume it’s a fluke. I tried to make my initial critter inquiries short (ie I’m actually interested / reasonably experienced / have correct enclosures / money in hand) but personable. Crickets.
Most people are fine & just trying to buy/sell without hassle. But a little transparency always helps remind marginal people to be more decent.
And it’s understandably hard for a platform to strike the balance of not enough structure vs overwhelming options. Interface design is “fun”.

[d_y_python]

I personally would like to say it is a fluke. But in my experience I also had some not reply, some tell me much later it was sold (but still has it listed). The bad part is some of these sellers are well known and do high sales. One even filled out the survey that they contacted me through other means, but the did not have any other way to contact me.
So unfortunately, some sellers just do not care and have bad customer relations. I guess since they are so big, they feel they can treat people the way they want. But they will never get my business, on either end.

[t_h_wyman]

The nature of being in this hobby/industry means you have to accept certain behaviours because people are people.

I have made an inquiry with full intent to purchase, money in hand, received the ‘Read @’ message fifteen minutes later, and then seen the animal marked sold 48 hours later with no reply by the seller. I have had someone ask me questions about an animal every day for a month and then give me the “let me ask my wife” routine. I have taken a potential purchase all the way to the point where I needed their PayPal to finalize only to have them suddenly stop answering me and the ad disappearing.

These people exist. You learn to deal with it. Not everyone who walks onto a car lot is going to drive off in a new car. Not everyone that comes through the door of a department store is going to leave with a new wardrobe. Not everyone that opens Amazon is going to fill their cart and purchase it all right then and there.

If you feel that someone behaving in this manner is so egregious, go to their profile page and block them and you will never have to deal with them again.

[armiyana]

I’m sorry that the first two experiences you had on the site went that way.

It’s one of the things that really sucks sometimes.
I’ve gotten remarkably lucky when talking to sellers. But as a seller I’ve had a couple ghost and I’ve had one be extremely rude after I explained why I had my animals priced as I did. They even asked why in the first place. Lol.

I don’t know if that part of things will ever change. It would be nice to be able to give that feedback. On the seller side, ghosting is more expected. It’s just something that happens when you work with the public and in sales…
But for that on the seller side is just disappointing. They should be at least giving a short response over nothing, even if it was ‘sorry I’m in talks with another buyer’.

[caron]

Well first of all I want to welcome you to the community! Despite your not so great response from the sales side of MM, the community side is, in my humble opinion, a wonderful group of people that are passionate about reptiles, and a family even more than a community. If you ever decide to participate under different circumstances, I dare to say you won’t be disappointed.

Now to respond to your original post. I have purchased a plethora of animals on this site and not had the problem you are having. However, I am not a breeder, nor am I a high end buyer. Whether this makes a difference or not I don’t know. It should not but……Neither do I know your buying circumstances.

That being said, and before I inquire about an animal, I always check out the seller’s ratings, quality and quantity. I try to avoid sellers with negative and neutral reviews, (unless it’s no fault of their own). Period. There are plenty of other breeders with great reviews due to hard work on their part.

I also look at response times. Shortly, pretty soon, eventually, don’t hold your breath, see ya next year. There are other things to check out, such as membership length with MM, number of badges, if paid membership is up to date and so on. The information is provided so why not use it? Or not use it, it’s a prerogative of the buyer.

But I for one do use the above to determine whether I call or avoid and move on. Like you, I have the funds ready to send yesterday. So far with this strategy I have had good results.

Now, my situation is different than yours I am sure. Maybe since I am only interested in low dollar purchases because the animals I buy are for pets and not breeding projects, I have better luck, I don’t know. I am sorry that you had some unfortunate experiences with your first 2 attempts to buy an animal. Unfortunately the bad seems to get the most publicity than the good. It’s that way with anything and always has been. But I do hope you will stick around and give us a few more chances. There are a lot of good reasons to: a lot of great sellers, great animals, and a great community.

I hope you have a blessed evening!

Regard, Caron Ludan

[zebrabluestuff]

I too am just looking for reasonable priced pets. Both the snakes in question were older unfancy adults for expected prices ($200-$350). I have a soft spot for the older sometimes overlooked ones who need a home too. They would have had spoiled retirements. I could buy a many k snake but I leave those to be in the gene pool for the professional breeders.
Thanks for the good info, but I feel I did standard online vetting. I’m game to buy from newer, smaller sellers so they get established. Us newbs sometimes have to stick together till we collect enough clout.
But both no-response or ghost sellers were 100% positive reviews, prompt response, 30-100 critters available, many sales, long time members, lots o shiny ribbons & badges. Also what other critters they had available to determine if they were a specialist or generalist in case I had random precise questions down the line. Their social media / outside online presence seems proper.
That’s why I found the non response odd and, since I am new, came here for a temperature check to see if this was accepted norm or odd for this sites culture. You know: friendly or 4kun. Ya never know.
The 3rd successful transaction snake was $100 from a 30 snake inventory seller with similar tenure & accolades. I’m taking off a bit o time from work & driving over to the delivery hub in the morning as soon as it opens so I can bring her home to rest in a warm, quiet place after travels.
Outside reference: on the e-bays I have made about 2k purchases over 2+ decades. Only a few transactions went south. I am acquainted with the s.o.p. of online buying of used goods. Clearly auctions & buy it now are quite different from living creatures with expected consideration by the seller to vet the buyer but I have bought a number of critters (fancy roaches, spiders, snakes, etc) from message boards without issue yet.
Shrug. Sifting through 1000s of pics over many moons to find noodles I liked really weighted my sunk cost. Perhaps I will pester the ghosts again in another month. That’ll be closer to 7 & 10 months that the snakes have been listed for. Should I approach them wad o money first?

[spottedbull]

@zebrabluestuff

I have a soft spot for the older sometimes overlooked ones who need a home too. They would have had spoiled retirements.

Sounds a lot like my wife and me.

[caron]

You struck a chord with me when you mentioned looking for older snakes to buy to give them good retirement homes. I never thought of that regarding reptiles but it makes sense that a person would feel that way. It’s just that I don’t think many people do, so your sentiments are certainly refreshing.

I too have been around awhile, at least before communication became either voiceless or pre recorded. We live in a world of texts and emails now, in the name of progress. I realize it’s faster and easier to type a few sentences, hit send, and boom, on to the next. Unfortunately the humanity, namely the human voice suffers. And imho, you can tell a lot about a person just by listening to that person’s voice. I may be stepping out on a limb here but I think if you had been able to speak to the first 2 sellers about your intentions for buying those snakes, you would have those snakes right now. And by the way, if a seller lists a phone number on the seller information page and I wanted the snake bad enough, would I call instead of emailing? In a New York skinny minute I would! Even if I had to leave a voicemail! A few times! But I am a cray old woman! Lol!

Ok so let’s turn this around into something joyful and celebrate your new arrival! I would really like to see a picture when he/she gets settled in! I am excited for you but more so for the lucky snake that gets to live out its golden years in comfort! And here’s to hoping that you will stick around and usher in a few more retirees, compliments of MM!

Regards,

Caron Ludan

[zebrabluestuff]

I have various friends that do rescue work & seeing a lot of older animals (especially the ones that are “old” at 5 even though they live to 30+) who have a hard time finding homes. And the ones that have any “issues” have an even harder time. I call the one eyed nippy one “Pirate Bittey”.

3rd time was the charm. The youngling arrived this morning a bit confused but perky. She shall rest for several days in quiet warmth. I hope to provide for her in a manner she is deserving of.

[spottedbull]

Excellent news and a beautiful addition to the family! Congrats!

[caron]

Oh my goodness I love sand boas! She looks like a stripe maybe? I am so glad she arrived safely! I am sure the hustling and bustling during the overnight flight is a tad harrowing for a little noodle bug!

I know what you mean about older animals and rescue groups. My husband and I have a third rescue fur baby (dog). The first 2 lived out their golden years in surrounded by comfort and lots of love.

God bless you for your compassion! Do you have any names in mind for her? And thank you for keeping me posted! Please continue to keep me updated if you don’t mind. I would love to hear about her progress!