Preferred Method of Buying Reptiles Online? (poll)

I've bought four online. They all started on Fauna, here, or Kingsnake. I would see something that piqued my curiosity or looks quality and then link to the breeder's site. Once there I found something I liked. From there I checked them out in the BOI or on here, and then purchased if everything still seemed good. Only one of the four purchases was actually the snake being advertised on the forum. The other three were just finds on their site once I started poking around.

Classified ads, hands down. They allow me to search for specifically what I'm looking for. From there I'll prowl the seller's website, if they have one, to see what else they have, what they've produced, how dedicated and knowledgeable they are, etc, but I do not buy directly based on the website. I don't care for Facebook. I might buy from someone on Facebook, but I don't prowl Facebook looking for reptiles. It is too difficult and too time consuming. I don't have time to browse personal websites, Facebook pages, and auction sites.

Great to see so many different opinions on this.
My methods tend to mirror rlditmars, I tend to see a breeder mentioned here or somewhere else (ks / fauna, etc.), if they have a page link I wll click it and see if I like their stock, etc. I will check them out on fauna, then buy from them if everything seems kosher.

I will say that it is hard to find specific breeder websites using google or other searches. I wish there was a "database" where you could look up, say, all bci breeder websites, etc. That would make it much easier to know who is working with what.

To date, I have only purchased two of my animals online.. One after seeing the breeder's comments on a boa forum (then going to his site, checking boi), the other, from a breeder who posted a litter on a species-specific group on FB.

I do have plans to buy from a breeder that has a website. He was recommended to me on this forum, which is how I found him.

I support small breeders that are here to stay the ones that are truly passionate about what they do. I don't build my stock on auctions, facebook or cl, way too picky for that and not the type of people I want to support anyway. :gj:

The only issue I have with breeders websites is either they don't have the time to update or it seems to me alot of it is "in the back." What I mean by that is your looking for a certain morph from a certain breeder and you email or call and its a just missed situation sue to poor updating advertising; "oh I had four of that morph around here somewhere, they've all been sold." Those animals were never even hinted at by that breeder as being in existence.

I tend to like right here right now availability announcements i.e. Facebook, Fauna/King Snake and auctions

Good question. I hope that the future is kind to those breeders who do have a passion for the animals but I don't think it will. If I wanted to flip animals I could invest 5k and have 25k in my pocket in about 4 breeding seasons. If some one questions that I have no problem sending a PM with exact projections (depending on who asks), I do exaggerate but I've found a little trick that's very unfair to the animals but people are doing it. Some people (even one big time breeder) make it way too easy for individuals to scoop up an otherwise 500 dollar snake for 50-150 dollars. I guess when you're so passionate about the animals that you sell hundreds and still have 20 or so that you need to "unload" you come up with great ways to make sure they all sell and make you money every year. I am still new so perhaps I am seeing things not as they are and I hope that's the case but I doubt it. I believe that I've had good luck so far (and will continue to)in building a decent collection of single gene animals for a really low price while being picky and making sure I do have animals that fit into the generally accepted definitions for quality genetics. I will not be taking part in the game of disrespecting the animals or over production to the point of basically giving them away if they don't sell right away or the other "normal" reasons. I haven't even gone on facebook to see whats happening there and I'm afraid to but perhaps I should.

I think I've bought from pretty much every platform. Kingsnake, Fauna, Facebook classifieds, indie websites, this forum... ^_^ If I'm looking for a specific animal I will scour the internet for it until I find the one that feels "right."