Thank you for sharing your story with us Mike! I nearly quit breeding and keeping snakes due to my entire collection being stolen but since some amazing people here on the forum and outside of MM helped me I am slowly rebuilding my collection to what it once was and hopefully I surpass what it used to be. I think this story is really great for anyone to read and does not apply to just snakes but in life as well like you said. It also made me really happy to see that even one of the biggest breeders in this industry does not see it as a race or competition because I see far too many small to medium size breeders try to compete with everyone else. I find it most rewarding to just do my own thing and not try to constantly keep up with everybody else.
I used to work at Walmart as a cashier for about 3 years total, so I kinda already know good customer service skills.
I respond to new inquiries as fast as I can, answer any and all questions to the best of my ability, and keep those updated that have animals on deposit. I actually just shipped out my first self-produced ball python today, he’s going all the way to California (I’m in Indiana.)
That snake was purchased from me through MorphMarket.
I currently only am shipping on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, but that’s mostly because of SYR’s guidelines specificying that those are the safest days with COVID-19 causing delays with shipments though FedEx. Once that settles down, I plan to offer shipping on Mondays-Thursdays, per the normal SYR guidelines.
@mikewilbanks Your story is a great example of what anyone is capable of if they put themselves forward. There’s been a few times I wanted to give up (mainly because of harassment from judgmental pet keepers) but a few breeders kept encouraging me to keep doing what I was doing and to ignore the haters.
I’m actually friends with a few local breeders in my area, and even though I’m a new breeder I’m always recommending the others to people looking for snakes since I don’t have a whole lot of selection myself. I don’t see it as a competition at all. We’re all here to share and enjoy a wonderful hobby together, right?
I’ve always been an advocate for teaching others and sharing my knowledge, and getting other people into the hobby and even getting them interested in breeding is exciting for me.
@mikewilbanks thanks for chiming in. Top notch to offer help to the OP. I’ll be a customer to you just for your help here. I hope to meet and learn from you in person one day as well. Cheers.
Hey Thomas, just wanted to point out, that per MorphMarket’s membership tiers, you’re not able to post more than one picture until you’re a Standard user. I personally only have a Basic membership, so sadly my posts only have one image apiece.
Everything else is absolutely solid advice!!
I believe it stays up for 30 days. I could be off, but I think that’s right.
Your are right. 
If you are a basic member then I recommend making the most of other features to make up for the lack of images:
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We have just introduced store followers which I think will make a huge difference. Get that ‘follow’ link shared everywhere.
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You also are allowed to use a single advertisement to sell multiple animals as long as they are the same sex and genetics. So you can have 5 male mojaves all listed in the same ad. (Total value can’t surpass $7,500)
This bit of advise from Mike is the most important tool you can have -
@xpensivewino
This is correct.
A bit more to add:
Sorry for dissecting your comments Mike.
This is important also, the only way I found your store was through looking at mojaves in that price range
(Which checking again I see it has sold 
).
Use your introduction and profile bio here to add your social media pages and on all your social media, add links to your store, and vice versa.
Post pictures on Facebook and Instagram of your animals with tags.
Get involved in conversations.
Start conversations!
Message the big guys and ask for help, you would be really surprised at how willing they will be, as proven by Mike right here.
This is mostly a “pay it forward” hobby.
If Mike helps you today, one day in 10 years you might sell him that 5 recessive gene combo for a decent price 
I know how you feel about not having your animals sell, and it can be really frustrating as a new breeder, but don’t give up! I also have some snakes listed for sale that have been up for months, but I am willing to wait as long as it takes, but I think of it as a learning opportunity as well, it can help me figure out what people like or don’t like and I can adjust my post to make the snake(s) more appealing. The other breeders on here have posted really good advice, and I would definitely agree with making at least an Instagram or Facebook page (I have both but I hardly ever post on Facebook), though it can also take a while to get a decent number of followers on those too. Try finding a local Facebook reptile page, post your snakes there, and link them to your MM page. That way maybe you can at least get your name out there locally, and if they leave a good review then it will help a bit with your reputation.
And just to verify that this is not hyperbole, I was standing at OzzyBoids table at a ReptiCon seven years ago when Tracy Barker called him to buy an animal he had listed. That animal was a VPI Axanthic Pastel Pin.
It also needs to be said that some people will never be successful because they just don’t want it badly enough. They do not have what it takes. It takes a level of dedication and tenacity that most do not possess. It is not a get rich quick scheme. This guy acted like he really wanted to do this but after tons of encouragement from many people here we get nothing from him. He didn’t participate in the conversation. He didn’t even bother to tell us who he is. I feel like I put more effort into trying to help him than he did himself. I sort of feel stupid for falling for it. It obviously wasn’t his dream as he claimed. We got played. Hopefully someone else who genuinely needs some guidance received some benefit from this post.
Hey hey,
We are fairly new to ball pythons and this is our first year on morph market. I have not had any trouble selling animals for the most part, I can tell you certain morphs go a lot faster then others. I will say that social media is a huge factor in the animals we sell. There is 500 mojaves out there, so why would someone want mine? Because a lot of people in this hobby want to support people they know or have some sort of connection to. Most of our sales have been from subscribers on youtube or friends on instagram and facebook.
My biggest tip is grow that social media… make friends and get you animals out there!!
I have absolutely zero doubt that they will, there is some fantastic info here that need ls to be taken seriously by every single person that wants to make money from their hobby. Not just in the reptile world.
I really appreciated your advice in this post and found it very helpful. Any opportunity to learn from some of the great names in the field is valuable because it give insight into the strategies that brought you success.
Breeding animals is a ton of hard work and often seems like an uphill battle at certain stages. If someone decides that this isn’t the right path for them, it’s probably better for them to figure it out early before investing a lot of time and money into it.
Also guys, don’t forget that if you have a YouTube channel we have a thread specifically designated to sharing it … Your YouTube channel.
(This is the only place in the forum where this is allowed)
Thank you!! I didn’t even realize there was a thread for that.
For me at least, this is the most inspiring and encouraging thread on the internet. Solid advice, very constructive critique.
This was where my opinion fell after he brushed off what I had to say as worthless criticism.
Criticism is not inherently bad and if you choose to apply someone’s criticism of you in a constructive manner then it can lead to potential growth.
He, obviously, chose not to.
I dont think a complete loss. I’m sure there are new breeders reading this that maybe were thinking the same thing but just didn’t make a post about it, and there’s some valuable information here.
it’s actually pretty funny how much in common ball python breeding has with other hobbies & industries I’ve also been involved in (horses and the music world). I don’t even own a snake yet and it seems pretty obvious to me that a single gene male is not particularly marketable in the first place.
just because he didn’t reply didn’t mean he didn’t take on the information and consider it. takes some time for criticism to sink in for even the best of us. it also looks like he sold the snake too, so his complaining was all for naught lol
I got encouraged by this thread. What @mikewilbanks said reminded me of this quote
So much encouragement