Hey Cam.
You’re right it’s a huge challenge as you can see we have been discussing it here. I’m waiting right now to ship a female out to someone and to get my first male in. I live in Indy which is specifically mentioned on SYR website as being a place causing an expected delay. I’m hoping to ship soon but fortunately both my buyer and the breeder I’m buying from have had great communication with me and I’m confident we will get it figured out in a way that satisfies all parties involved.
In my oppinion disclosure is everything. If you have been clear about the risks associated with shipping and the buyer is aware and still determined to go for it anyway, then Create a waiver of liability, that explicitly voids any liability on your behalf.
As far as refunds, live arrival gurantees from either you, or syr, should be considered null and void. (Syr has anounced this on their behalf) i recomend following suit. The risk however minimal it may be in my oppinion is still too great to put your name/reputation on the line, to gurantee something that once it leaves your hands is completely out of your control. You of course can gurantee as you already likely do that the animal is healthy before shipping takes place. But i would mention your position, and your current policy to any buyer before any transactions are processed. ( you still run a small risk that some entitled individual will try to leave you a negative review if you didnt provide a refund or replacement ) but thats where the waiver and tip top communication on a case by case basis is key. Overall shipping is being conducted in good form and fasion, but no gurantees. I would recomend however maybe shipping on mondays only, and using 72hr heat packs depending on how far its traveling.
Thats awesome, and all that you could ever ask of anyone. Yes on the Indy fedex hub delay btw, ive had 2 stay there for an additional 24hrs. I have not experienced it from Memphis.
The biggest reason for my post is that having someone go through the entire process of selling you an animal only to start giving you excuses of why they dont want to ship it rt now… or just as soon as you have sent payment in full, that they then say “due to the current shipping issues im not shipping out rt now, but will keep a close eye on it and ship as soon as things get better” to me that is the most unprofessional scammy thing you can do. Esp if you took a deposit and then allowed someone to pay the full balance without mentioning it first.
But i can say that like i said originally, everyone thinks or is under the impression that they wont catch this…in my personal opinion if you dont have some crystal clear safeguards in place, id rather run the risk on shipping…esp if you’re located in a hotspot, because when someone is sick with this, and abt to head into the hospital, the last thing on their mind is you… its only human nature to be concerned about the emediate threat to yourself. Ive just throught alot about all of the “realistic” possibility that what our intentions were may not pan out. The truth is that it turns into a monopoly of who can afford to loose the money invested if everything goes wrong… lets say you inquire about an animal and the seller expects your money/payments based on his “normal payment policy”, but isnt shipping. The buyer is then put in position of can i truly afford to loose this, things could get worse, not better…and i could’ve had the animal in my hands if they had shipped it when there was only a possibility of delay. Not to mention that you can quickly get a breeder in an “ivory Tower saying” I care too much abt my animals to risk their well being"…Completly ignoring the fact that when u recieved the payment on that animal, its not theirs anymore and not their place to make decisions for the rest of the world based on their personal preferences or convictions. If you care that much, dont sell them rt now! Not selling them allows the breeder to retain the privalege to make decisions regarding the animals in question. When you give someone your money, they hold all the cards,. Esp those that require an under the table paypal friends and family transfer…i mean how could a customer ever have any recourse with the payment processing company under those circumstances.
Im glad things are going smoothly for you, as they are for me. But its just some food for thought, and maybe a warning to put some effort into sifting out the self righteous sellers that may try to control you regardless of your preferences.
Thanks for your input on the topic, voice your oppinion and consider making others aware of this issue. Thanks Again
I also forgot to address the intial question that you had about established breeders and their current policys. Truth is everyone is doing something different. I think it depends on where they are located, and their own peronal covictions. Many have paused their outgoing shipping until things are back to normal. However i believe that no matter who you are, if you recieved payment in full for an animal, that you as the breeder have relinquished your right to make decisions for that animal. It should be left up to the customer. Now, thats not to say that you can’t take a deposit to put a hold on the animal, but conducting business as usual ACCEPT for the last step is unprofessional. If a breeder touts that their largest concern is for the animals well being, and that keeps them from shipping then dont sell them…its simple.
Its really not that hard to ship only on mondays,
And use 72hr heat packs. If you want to be able to assure your customers by comparing your policies with an established/renound breeder, i recomend contacting a few and asking what their policys are rt now regarding shipping.
I am not the one that posted the original so it isn’t me you should be replying to lol. I just pointed you towards the existing thread with a link.
In the couple of years that I have been building my collection there have been all sorts of reasons to delay on shipping a snake. Mostly weather being crap. The most I’ve waited is 2 months until weather cleared well enough to ship. And I’ve run into the same “problem” with Covid. Not really a problem to me or for me to have to wait other than my own excitement and impatience.
Currently I have one that’s been on hold for a couple of weeks now, and just got another that will probably be on hold for at least a month. Both instances I’ve paid in full to the breeders with full confidence I’ll get my snakes.
I don’t think there’s a problem with people still selling snakes and then asking people to wait a while to get them. To me it should be implied with the current environment right off the bat. If you trusted the breeder enough to give money to on a “normal” situation understanding weather delays, to this it’s no different.
In the last few weeks I have purchased 3 snakes, a visual high white pied, a bumble bee ghost, and a het ghost pastel, vanilla fire. I have had 0 problems shipping to FedEx hubs
Real quick someone that has done this before…when I submit the order on SYR does it give me a label to print out or something at home, an email confirmation, or does it just put and order in Fedex system that they can look up at the hub when I go to ship?
It does all of that. It gives you a label, email confirmation, and a tracking number that automatically shows up when you put the tracking number into the fed ex site
Huge Kudos to Fedex. I dropped a girl off at my FedEx hub at 6pm yesterday evening here in Indianapolis and she is already delivered to my customer’s doorstep in Wisconsin.
I expected a 24 hour delay, not bad. Not bad at all!
I told you she would get there just fine! It’s scary when you ship for the first time but just becomes a regular thing once you see how it all works.
I just wanted to give this a bump and ask everyone again. Is everybody comfortable enough with the shipping situations to resume shipping as “normal”? I’m wanting to do what’s safest for the snake, but I have a customer or two getting a little antsy with the duration of the wait, so I want to make sure I’m not being TOO cautious.
@stewart_reptiles Deb, I know you were waiting until at least May 4th, and I was wanting to try to follow your example. Have you been shipping throughout this month with little to no issues?
I have been shipping out, but only to fedex hubs for pick up. Both the customer and i have to comfortable with shipping conditions. I have been holding on to some until things get better and i am perfectly fine with that. Safety of the animals is always first and foremost. If the customer is not ok with that then they get a refund.
Thanks for the response, Mary! I think you’re holding onto one for me, and I really do appreciate it!
yep 
She is hanging out and getting fat.
I have resumed shipping on May fourth, my shipping procedure right now is a bit different than what it normally is, I ship Tuesdays for Wednesdays delivery to the hub.
Until things resume to normal I want to use extreme caution and according to SYR website Mondays seems to be the days with the most delays being observed.
So far I have not had any issues.
Have received 2 snakes so far and another coming today. No issues with delays or with the snakes themselves. Id say everything is good.
Shipped one out and one in, the one coming in had a 24 hour delay in Memphis.