This is really just to blow off some steam. I’m more or less disappointed. I inquired on a snake here recently, gave an offer and the seller set the date I could pick it up. I waited for an invoice and never received one. No less than 24 hours later they contacted me telling me The snake was no longer available and had a deposit on it and I could purchase the other snake they had for sale that was “identical”. I don’t know how a snake I offered to buy had a deposit put on it by someone else afterwards, I guess I’m grateful they could of just sold me the other and it would of been hard to tell the difference. Disappointed I won’t be getting the snake or any new snake right now.
Making an offer and telling someone when you can pickup an animal is very different from putting money down or even buying a snake.
A little example last week I listed a proven female within 1 hour I had 7 inquiries all being VERY interested, ultimately the person that was the most responsive and sent money was the one that secured the animal, those that took time even little time which is understandable when you make the decision to buy an animal were most likely disappointed as well.
Breeders cannot live on offers and dates and if they had a $1 every time someone says “I am interested I’ll take it” they’d be reach.
We all missed on some animal, here is what I do when I see something I am truly interested in from someone I know I can trust I ask immediately can the money be sent (no questions no back and forth).
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I don’t know if it’s always like this or not, but it seems like recently ball pythons are selling crazy fast on here. I reached out to 8 different breeders to try and buy a female clown before getting my girl, and in most cases by the time I even sent that first message they already had a deposit down. It’s really tough because you want to be able to ask questions and look into the breeder first before committing, but also if you do you might miss out.
Ultimately it sucks to miss out because someone else got there first, but I think it’s better than the alternative of ending up with a snake that’s not what you want or has problems because you didn’t look into it thoroughly. I’m sorry you had that experience and I know venting is therapeutic, but there will be more! 2020 hatchlings are just starting to come out, so hopefully you will find another one you like even better.
It’s all about finding a good balance between getting answers to any questions you may have and checking the breeder’s reviews without waffling around and wasting their time.
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It did help to vent, Your response probably more so. Thanks
No problem, and I am sorry. It can be really disappointing to see “the perfect snake” and get all excited and hopeful only to not have it work out. I wish you all the best and bet you’ll be able to find one you like even more with time! Sometimes it takes a while (I searched through ads for six weeks before I found my girl)
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Yeah I saw the girl you listed and was going to inquire but was bummed someone got her. Good example with that and I like the idea of just sending money straight away if you are truly interested and I’ll give that a try next time. I missed out on so many animals but then again I guess we all have.
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I understand many breeders deal with people messaging and wasting your time with wanting pics and invoices. Question though if you have a buyer that messages and asks about availability and then asks about shipping would you assume they want to buy? I just was in process of trying to buy a bumblebee ball and was an active conversation my next question after shipping was how do we proceed and I get it’s been sold. This was not over a day or two period if so I could see but it was not and I was obviously wanting to purchase. This is ridiculous and I know buyers play games and try to scam but sellers shouldnt play games either
I don’t think sellers are playing games, they’re just selling to the first person who sends them money. When I bought my clown girl I sent the money immediately because I knew she’d sell super quickly, the whole interaction from her ad being posted to me sending money was less than 10 minutes. For some reason ball pythons are selling more quickly than ever on here and unfortunately if you want one, you have to move fast, especially if it’s a good deal
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Why do you assume sellers play games? They run a business, I get I am very interested, can I get a shipping quote, where can I send payment all the time, and answer all those without issue but you should never assume that you are the ONLY person actively talking to the seller about a specific animal.
2 weeks ago I listed a proven female within less than an hour I received 7 inquiries and more have followed since. Ultimately the snake was sold before some buyers who inquired about weight, or shipping etc replied back to me once I answered them. It came down to the most responsive person and it all played out within 1 hour.
It can go that fast and if you really want an animal and it’s one of those rare opportunity, than you have to say where can I send the money and ask questions later. (I have on more than one occasion)
We all have missed out and as a breeder which I can tell you are not you have no idea how many times breeders have heard “I am very interested, when can it ship, what your payment address etc” and than it either “I need to ask my wife” or you never hear from them again so you answer everyone the same and ultimately deposit or full payment is what will make the difference.
So no that does not make a breeder play game or be shady it’s just business.
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I don’t feel it is fair to say a seller is playing games, we answer questions as they come in and whoever send the money first get the animal. It is as simple as that. Just today i had some message me with "i am very interested in these animals, can you give me hatch date, weights, pics of parents and more pics of said animals, how are there feeding habits, are there any genetics issues, do they have mites, do you have a 30 days guarantee like petstores. After answering all the questions and pic taking, the last response was ok well i have to wait until the end of the month to buy i don’t have the money right now.
When you see animal you like you always run the risk of someone swooping in and getting the animal out from under you. It is the problem with buying online vs in person at a show. Good luck with finding your new animal 
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Money talks it’s that simple. The first person to send the money gets the animal. We sell out of our panda pied’s, and black pastel het pied’s normally within 2 hours of listing them for sale. We don’t have time to respond to all the questions. Then we have to respond to the people who are asking questions they are sold already. We have a copy and paste response it happens so much.
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Like everyone else has said its basically first come first serve and you shouldn’t take it personal if they dont sell it to you and they don’t technically need to sell to you, they could very well just refuse but the fact is that they just sell to who pays up first. As simple as that.
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I could see if they want to flat out say no I don’t want to sell to you but this was an active conversation about buying the snake. Dont like wasting my time with people who play games
That’s a different situation. I see what your saying but I was not asking all that extra crap I was asking cost of shipping and how do we proceed. I dont get on here to play games and waste mine or the sellers time. I have dealt with 5 other breeders off of here and not once has someone done this stuff
Again that is you assuming people play games, when communicating with a breeder don’t assume you are the ONLY person interested in that animal at that time, ultimately the most responsive person paying first will get the animal, and the other party will generally move on and understand and not make baseless accusations
Imagine if breeders had to complain everytime a buyer backed out or wasted their time.
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As other breeders have said, it all comes down to who sends the money first in most cases.
I listed one of my baby hognoses on MM and got 11 inquiries on him within the span of several hours. Ended up selling to the person who was willing to wait for me to get a shipping kit ordered so I’d be prepared to send them out.
Had a similar situation with the blood python pair I decided to sell, had several inquiries on Facebook, one on MM, but sold to someone on Instagram since they were able to make the full payment up front.
Business can be competitive and unfortunately you sometimes miss out on things… I know I have a few times. Doesn’t mean the seller has something against you or did it purposely to spite you.
You just gotta be able to let it go and move on, for all you know you’ll find a better animal down the road.
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First off, you really need to knock off the swearing. This is a PG-oriented forum. It does not matter how upset you are with the situation, there is no place for it here.
Second, let me try and put this in an analogy since you seem to be ignoring all of the advice here.
Imagine you are out clothes shopping and find a pair of pants you like. There is no price tag on them so you put them back on the rack and leave to find an employee that can tell you the cost. While you are looking for someone to answer your question, someone else finds the pants on the rack. They like them and, even though there is no price tag, decide they are going to buy them so they put them in their cart and head for the cash register. You come back with the employee but the pants are gone from the rack and the person that picked them up has now paid for them and is walking out the door.
Now, can you honestly tell me that in this situation, the store “screwed” you over on buying those pants??
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One of the big breeders said last week that he has had a lot more sales, starting when we had to shelter in place. I guess a lot of people are taking advantage of this extra time they have at home. This gives them more time to set up cages and acquaint themselves with the new pets they bought.
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I had started shopping around a few weeks before then, but that’s around the time I noticed snakes were selling out a lot faster as well. Then when you add in the $1200 stimulus check, I think it lead to a lot of people deciding now is a good time to either get into ball pythons or increase their collections. It’s wild, usually there’s a bunch on craigslist and even those are selling quickly.
I’ve bought one so far and was planning on getting a few more, but given how fast they’re selling and the high prices now, I think I’ll wait until people go back to work and are too busy for their new pets or further economic collapse. I can wait it out
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