I would not ever ever ever show off my collection in person to a stranger way too many ppl get robbed in this hobby. Including some members of our very own community.
I understand the appeal of having someone finally interested in seeing them but that’s a hard nope from me. I’ll meet ya at a park or nearby store parking lot but not giving anyone I don’t know my address.
I wouldn’t show a stranger my safe contents or anything else valuable so why are reptiles different. Just my 2 cents. Be careful out there.
**it’s probably fine…but you’re never going to expect the worst to happen until it does.•••
(Also why I think people with big collections need to carry insurance on them and I’m shocked most write it off as “too expensive.” Seems wild to me especially if it represents a large chunk of your income.)
Only problem is your name is on your MorphMarket page. A quick google search will show you exactly where I live. So it’s easy for people to get this info without you showing them your collection.
There’s still a difference between someone going to all that work (some will, many won’t) and me laying down on a platter for them. They don’t know what I have, etc if I don’t show them.
Also no it doesn’t because I moved twice in the last year ha, but I get your point.
Yeah, my address is on Google as well.
And on my Facebook business page.
It wouldn’t be terribly difficult for people to figure out where I live
Again, that’s why I’m installing a camera system throughout our property — it’ll likely deter anyone from trying to break in, and if they do try anything they’ll likely be caught on camera doing so. I just ordered it and should be able to pick it up within the next week or so.
There’s also several other factors as to why I’m not as concerned about it as some others would be… but I don’t feel it’s necessary to list all of them, haha.
Though this also prompted me to start looking into purchasing a commercial property as a storefront. That would eliminate any need for people to visit my home, where I’d be keeping my main collection. I’d also be able to expand more on what I can offer to locals.
There’s a single property here in town that’s priced just under $100k.
I had the idea in my head for awhile to have my own storefront, and there isn’t much around here for options when it comes to reptile speciality shops. The one I know of is really small and doesn’t offer much.
So now I’m gonna attempt fundraising… super ambitious for a new business owner, I know… but hopefully I’ll have some luck and maybe find people who are willing to help my dream come true. I already set up a GoFundMe, but wondering if a Kickstarter might work better so I can offer some sort of compensation (t-shirts, stickers, other merch??)
More importantly, if you are registered with your city/county/state in order to be selling and properly reporting the income you are making off your snakes (as you should be, though many people see fit to just slide under the table on that), then your address is a matter of public record. And is required to be updated when you move.
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Last I checked, there are no companies that offer insurance on snakes. I have heard of people trying to get their collections insured through farm-based groups as “livestock” but once the companies learn the “livestock” is snakes then they refuse
If you have a business, you are part of public record and can be located by anyone with an internet connection. I have an LLC. I have an EIN. I make profit, write off expenses, and pay income tax. I also pay my state a yearly fee to keep my LLC active and in good standing. I don’t know of a way that I could do any of this legally without being part of public record. You can go to my state’s website and find my address, date of incorporation, etc. As a business owner, that is a risk that I accept.
Risk is a very broad subject. We can’t eliminate all of it, so some of it has to be accepted or mitigated.
Let’s say that you allow local pickup of animals. If you meet your customer at a public place, you are reducing the risk by concealing the actual location of your collection. Sure, someone could look up your registered business address online, but how would they know if the animals were in your house or in a commercial facility? Would they know that the large shed on your property was actually your snake building? No, they wouldn’t. They could make a guess and break into your home a few weeks later. Maybe your snakes are in there and maybe they aren’t. Maybe you’ve got a nasty German Shepherd that likes to bite. My point here is that by NOT allowing pickup at your physical address, you are reducing (not eliminating) risk by not providing any potential perpetrator with confirmed intel.
For those that do not want to read the whole thing:
At trial, snake breeder Mark L. Haas told Assistant District Attorney Sandra Urban that he had agreed to sell a man allegedly traveling through the area from New York $12,600 worth of snakes during a Jan. 22 meeting at the Woodlyn Shopping Center in Ridley Township.
…
When Haas peeked through the window, he said he saw Dowdy turn and fire. The bullet entered the victim’s chest at the clavicle, traveling down through his lung and lodging in his back.
This is why you always have someone with you when you are going to meet up with a stranger to buy/sell something. Or meet in a very public place, like a Walmart parking lot full of people and stay where the cameras can see you. Or better yet, meet at a police department. I have heard of people doing that before.
I remember the Mark Haas story. Absolutely crazy. Stuff like this does happen and people get hurt, robbed, etc. There is at least one old Ralph Davis interview floating around where he talks about the early Ball Python heyday where people were coming to his house to buy snakes for thousands of dollars and he mentions that he was usually armed.
This is why I practice risk reduction. I don’t fool myself into thinking that risks can be eliminated.
Last year I had two inquiries from customers wanting to browse my collection in person before committing to a purchase. I know for a fact that I lose sales due to the sheer number of inquiries that I decline, but if I detect anything even a little bit sketchy, that inquiry goes nowhere. Its simply not worth it for me.
We have been worried about this same thing. The risk that comes along with selling these expensive pets so we have not yet. Here in Florida to do so legally requires a class 3 license and we are hesitant about that being public record. Also meeting in a public place reduces the risk sure but again we want to do this legally and pay our due taxes and things of that nature but again in Florida the class 3 is required to do so. It covers the sale and/or public exhibition of these animals which some fwc officers might see us having the animal in a public place as exhibiting the animals I am referring to.
