When Craigslist is too good to be true?

I’m into the four legged type reptiles my self, but I read these threads because you guys are so knowledgable and I can still learn so at least to give advise if I know of anyone who is looking for a snake. I love ball pythons, so many beautiful morphs and did snake sit for a couple of months for one some years back and it was a sweet snake. I personally think the ones that you guys call ‘normal’ are very beautiful snakes. If I were to ever get a snake, it would most likely be a ball becauses of their mellow dispositions, and I’d definitely get a darker colored one (regular type). Here is a local add from craigslist for some, but these seem to be the fancy variety. The add didn’t have prices, just to call for details.
snakes

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I would like to point out that that picture belongs to @jkobylka . The value of the animals in that picture is higher than my car and your chances of getting animals of that quality on Craigslist are next to none.

I would report that ad for using other people’s images to try and sell their own animals.

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Maybe it is their own? I can email them and ask them if they are that same breeder.

Here is the content of the add.

Beautiful and Healthy Ball python snakes

"They are very docile and would make a great beginner snake or a great snake for kids. We have various sizes. They are young and socialize well with kids and other house pets,vet check, never bit, very tame etc. below are some list of the available ball python and king snakes that we raise. Albino spider, albino ball python, piebald ball pythons, spider ball python, normal ball python, axanthic ball pythons, pastel ball python, ghost ball python, carmel ball python, clown ball python. pastel Ivory male double het axanthic piebald het lavender albino tiger ball pythons. kindly contact us for more details. "

This is a typical CL scam

They are young and socialize well with kids and other house pets,vet check, never bit, very tame

Usually screams Cameroon scams, they will tell you they are not local but can ship.

I have known Justin personally for many years and trust me he has no need to list animals on CL

The picture was stolen and is used to scam less knowledgeable people that think they will have a good deal, none of the morph in the pictures are even the one listed :roll_eyes:.

Here is my take on CL it’s fine if you want a pet (and even than a $20 snake can cost you $100’s) but anyone that aspires to be a breeder should not build the foundations of their breeding stocks with Craigslist rejects.

People that do are the same people that sell everything within 5 years or less saying the market sucks and they can’t make it. (which is not true)

People need to stop looking for cheap, they need to have a vision, a plan, invest wisely and support the market they want to be part of. This is what makes the difference between the people that make it and those that don’t.

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I sent a link to the add to this breeder so he can know that someone used his picture!

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actually think about it no famous breeder need craiglist or even a unknown one would use it to sell them

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Exactly. Someone like Justin at JKR is world renowned and a house hold name in the ball python community and I can guarantee that he sells more snakes than he has listed at any given time since he may do package/group deals. If I hadn’t known about Justin or the fact that these were his snakes I still would say it is a scam because someone who produces quality animal such as this would never sell on CL. Most people buying reptiles on CL are looking for deals. Not snakes worth 3-5k.

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In general I think most ball pythons on craiglist are wildly overpriced normals, mislabeled overpriced morphs and the few that aren’t are usually scams. While I’m guilty of using craigslist now and again to try find a good deal, I’d never recommend it to someone who’s new to the ball python scene, you’re far more likely to end up getting a sick animal or get ripped off (probably both).

If you’re looking to get your first ball python, I would either start with a Facebook group for local breeders or Morph Market, and still do due diligence on each breeder you consider buying from.

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This is the most important input in this thread.
You want quality animals, buy from quality breeders who are known for producing such.
CL will rarely if ever offer that.

I agree with famous breeders would never use CL to sell their animals. But it is completely false that unknown breeders won’t, there are many unknown breeders who sell on CL. The correct question would be would you want to invest in it compared to a known or respected breeder.

If Justin posted on CL we are all in trouble, because his stuff is so sick he probably gets pulled over by ambulances.
That is a scam a mile away like others have mentioned.

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Although I agree and would never recommend a newcomer to buy from CL I think as long as you know what to look for it is acceptable because some people are genuine good people and just trying to rehome a snake as soon as possible. A good example of this are people trying to rehome pets because of the fires here in California. In the last week alone I have seen maybe over 30 ads of people trying to rehome reptiles specifically because of the fires.

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Although there are some honest people on CL truly trying to rehome animals due to tragedy, this is also the time when you will see an uptake in scams. Not only from people trying to take advantage of people needing to rehome, but trying to scam those that feel this is the time to “get a good deal”

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Oh I agree, the key phrase being “as long as you know what to look for”. There are some new breeders who aren’t fully established yet who use craigslist to sell their animals, or people who have to quickly rehome a pet in an emergency, but you have to be able to weed out all the scams. Which means you need a good working knowledge of the different morphs, what each is worth, male vs female, ball python health. and what questions to ask. Which is why it’s a dangerous game to play for someone who’s relatively new to ball pythons.

My pied girl is a perfect example of a good craigslist find, but I would have never taken the chance if I hadn’t been able to verify that she was everything the seller claimed

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I can second that. I browse CL weekly just to see if there are any cages I can use( since I go with Animal Plastics I don’t want to wait 6+ months for a cage). I constantly see scams for dog adds, and probably 95% of them are scams. It’s a horrible time where people will jump on the less knowledgeable individual.
Definitely have to tread lightly in CL adds.

But like @chesterhf mentioned, you can find good deals like her Pied female. I too found a group of 1.4 Pieds over 5 years ago for 1k, but that was not the time we live in now and CL has gotten worse over the years.

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Yes like the breeders I got my dogs from, they would never sell their puppies on craigslist and most of the puppies are spoken for before they are even born. Not to mention the pedigrees go back many years, health testing done prior to breeding, working or show titles on sire and dam, ect. So I’m glad to learn today that responsible reptile breeders are similar! I’m very happy I found morph market and very satisfied with my first purchase from this site and plan to make a second one this weekend :blush:

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I hope you know that everyone here on the forum charges each person that gets a new reptile a picture tax! So when you get your new scaly buddy you better show him off!

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Yes sir ok!

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I’ll pop in and say that I’ve used Craigslist to sell my animals before. I’m not a known breeder yet, so using Craigslist does help get more eyes on my animals that I have for sale.

However, I’ve only done it for snakes that I’ve bought and then decided to sell for whatever reason. I haven’t and likely won’t with snakes that I’ve produced myself. I’ve had some pretty good luck selling my own babies on MorphMarket :grin:
I’ve also seen another breeder local to me that I’ve bought from post on there… though I don’t think she does anymore.

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There are a few thing I would like to point as far as selling on CL

1# It’s against their TOS
2# How do you want to be perceived as a breeder, and if you want to be perceived as a professional (and everything it involves) you do not want to list animals on CL

The “I am not known and this helps or this is what I have to do” is not accurate, when I started there was no MM and yet I still sold my animals doing so on proper platform where I could promote myself. (Not talking about social media either)

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Not meaning to go off topic but how did you sell your animals at a time where sites like MM didn’t exist? I’m still not a veteran breeder like you or some of the other mods and users and when I started getting serious about breeding MM in the early stages of the site existed.

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Back than it was Fauna Classifieds and Kingsnake Classifieds

Since MM was created I have exclusively sold on MM

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