Don’t give up due to a lack of success on here. Ive only had tire kickers on this site, but sold out 2 Boa litters fairly quickly elsewhere in the same time frame.
I sell more animals on MorphMarket than I do on all other platforms combined. And that has been the case for me since day 1. Why? I sell animals that people actually want, like Angolan Pythons and Argentine Boa Constrictors. The only people that want a baby male mojave ball python are beginners, and beginners usually buy there snakes from the big names. My suggestion: change your stock around. Choose to breed things that are rarer, so that there is more demand and less competition. And it’s been said before, but high-quality pictures are everything. When you sell an animal online, you are essentially selling a picture. When I see poor quality photos, I think amateur, inexperienced.
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I think everyone has different selling experiences on here so it isn’t to say that there aren’t tire kickers on here but there are more people on here that actually buy snakes than time wasters.
I don’t sell snakes yet…but I have purchased snakes from New breeders. I look for a good picture and a well written add. I usually ask some questions and request another picture to see how the seller responds. I normally purchase multiple gene animals but I have purchased 1 or 2 gene animals that are het for desert ghost or another morph I really love but can’t afford a visual or a 2 gene animal like GHI Mojave just because I like the animal.
Good luck.
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How long, or how many listings, or how many sales does the ‘new seller’ tag stay up for?
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I would have to agree with every statement thus far. I believe your market for a single gene Mojave is as a pet. With that being said, If I was looking for a pet here is what would catch my attention. #1 quality photos, #2 very detailed description, and #3 I think your best option is to invest time into this snake. Pet owners do not want a snake with attitude or a difficult snake to feed. Socialize this guy so he’s puppy dog tame, work with it on taking different foods, preferably F/T because it’s easier on people with only a few snakes. And then, prove how friendly it is, maybe take video. Putting this kind of time into it will fetch you a better price and a reliable pet for someone maybe not as experienced to getting their foot into the door of reptile keeping. Make it bomb proof/kid friendly. Someone will pay a fair price for it
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I imagine it is like anywhere else, theres likely a fair number of each. So far my personal experience was interest shown, but they either quit talking, or the animal sold somewhere else before they could purchase the animal themselves.
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That’s a very good point- while I do breed reptiles, they are my pets that stay with me their whole lives. So, from the perspective of someone like me, I am a sucker for ‘cute’ photos, ones that show character, shots especially of the face. I definitely have a preference for listings that discuss temperament, as I’m in the market for a pet. So that’s definitely a different angle to consider!
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Not all of them will sell right away. It can take anywhere from a few days to almost a year to sell some snakes. There are a lot of different factors that play into it, but supply and demand is an important one. Even if your snake is lovely and the price is good you may have a hard time selling if there are a lot of similar snakes on the market and not many buyers. Single gene males in particular can be a hard sale to make. Sometimes you either have to hold onto them for awhile or lower the price.
People have already given you a lot of good advice that I won’t bother repeating, but ultimately I wouldn’t take it personally if it takes awhile to sell some of your animals. Things will get better if you stick around long enough to establish yourself. Build ratings and a reputation, so people know they can rely on you. If it’s really a dream of yours to breed snakes, don’t give up! Success doesn’t happen overnight. It takes time and effort to make a name for yourself.
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Sometimes people don’t see the good in new breeders and the quality reptiles they produce… I have been looking at ball pythons, but don’t have the money. The only ball pythons I don’t like are spiders, due to the neurological issues that come with the morph. 
I understand your frustration. I experienced exactly the same thing. In 1999 I went to the National Reptile Breeder’s Expo in Orlando, FL, before it moved to Daytona. I had only been breeding for a couple of years. I went with Bob Clark and Greg Graziani was at the table next to Bob’s. He had some of the first Pastels offered for sale at $7500 each. The expo was like the super bowl. I remember being in awe of it all and dreaming that one day I would have a table there. I went with Bob to the expo for a couple more years and witnessed him selling over $100k at each show. I couldn’t wait for my opportunity. Finally, in 2004 I got my own space. I printed Price Lists and I was ready to be big time. I had a lot of good animals and couldn’t wait to be drowning in Benjamins. It cost me about $5000 to go between travel, hotels, bar tabs and booth rental.
I stood there all weekend and watched people walk by my booth on their way to Pete Kahl or Bob Clark or NERD or Tracy Barker. No one knew me and seemingly no one wanted to know me. I did not sell even one single animal, donut, $0. I had been investing all of this time, money and energy into something I loved but seemed like an endless black hole that consumed money and any semblance of pride I once had. I went home dejected.
I almost quit so many times. Honestly the only reason I didn’t is because Bob Clark encouraged me. He would say come on, stick with it, you can do this and you will. After the pep talk I would keep at it just another year. Slowly, it started to change. I started having people know me. I started getting phone calls looking to buy animals from me.
Year by year since then I have still had set backs and have persevered. But through it all I have built an amazing business that is way beyond my wildest dreams. It is very easy to make a little extra money in this business as a hobby. It is extremely difficult to build a really successful business, one that will make you rich and give you the last laugh at all the family members who thought you were crazy. But you can do it. Stick with it.
If I could offer one piece of advice. Build relationships with people in the industry. Make friends. Do not look at this as a competitive deal with the other breeders being your competition. Call on those friends and offer them help in any way you can. Do things for them, don’t think about what you can get out of them. As you build a network you will find those same friends calling you when they need something. They will send people to you when people ask for things they don’t have but know you have. Building a big network will get you far in almost everything you do in life.
If you stick with it and work hard on your relationships with people in this business one day you will wake up and realize you built a business beyond anything you imagined possible for you. It happened for me and it will happen for you too. Good luck.
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I personally have only been selling for slightly longer than a year on morph market. I have sold 198 reptiles on here since I started. Basically every other day on average I am selling something. I’ve had $50 snakes sit for weeks and $2500 snakes sell in hours. Trust the process and it will work out, customer service is also key, I respond almost immediately to emails from potential customers they clearly have many options so I like to be prompt and on top of communication.
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I agree, that is a good tip. I took note of all the things I hated when I was a customer. I hated buying a snake and being excited only to have the breeder tell me they only ship on Tuesday so they couldn’t ship until next week. I always said I would do things differently and ship fast. We ship same day most of the time. It is easy to compete with people who won’t ship until next week. To this day I get annoyed with breeders who tell me they can’t ship until next week or they only ship one day a week. Shipping one day per week might make it convenient for you because you can ship all your orders in one day but if you want to be successful you need to think about what your customer wants and put that ahead of your convenience. When I started we only shipped airport to airport. Fedex or UPS were unheard of for shipping animals. I would make a separate trip to the airport for customers every time so I could ship fast. Set yourself apart by providing superior customer service. Today when I buy a new animal from a breeder and they tell me they can’t ship until next week, I just think to myself, “This is exactly why I am so successful, because much of my competition does not understand customer service.” Maybe I should just keep my mouth shut, lol.
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What is the name of your business? I did a search for Parker and for Cofield but nothing came up. I was going to look to see if you had anything I might need or want to help you out but I can’t find you. You should make every username you have on any sort of social media be something people could search to find you. What if there are other people on here who want to buy from you? How would they find you?
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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.
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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.
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@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.
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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!!
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I believe it stays up for 30 days. I could be off, but I think that’s right.
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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.
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