What does one do to make you want to do business with them (or not?)

Thanks a lot, Tim. I was totally going to go back and edit, but now my foul mood is out there for all to see. I'm going to bed post-haste before something else sets me off.


~Kat

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Originally Posted by Bruce Whitehead

I get that people get busy... especailly during breeding season etc... but i think that it is the responsibility of the breeder to keep up on email and sites.

I have sold my first two clutches online, and get how frustrating it can be... but even if a person just keeps a page of macros to cut and paste that is something.

Especially when breeders do not have spaces to visit, consumers cannot come and see the snakes, and money is exchanged before you even see the snake you are getting.

I work in retail and we have a policy that selling a bulb (I work in lighting) is as important as selling a 10,000 light, as the person that buys that bulb, if he/she gets bad service will never come back, they get good service then they may be the next big sale.

And they will likely tell/bring their friends...

Customers are loyal so you cannot predict where the sales may go.

It is just my personal peeve. Even if I buy from a person, and I get bad service or dismissive service after the fact I will hesitate to buy from them again.

Snake buyers are repeat customers, as consumers we are ALWAYS buying and looking for more snakes. And we tend to buy better and more expensive snakes with each purchase...

Just a thought.

Bruce

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Totally agree! It's simple to have emails forwarded to a cell phone. But I do understand how difficult it can be to stop and check and email that has nothing in the subject line but "Interested" :rofl:

The fact that they can't visit my place of business is one of the reasons that I keep my prices low (marketing strategy). It's hard to know who to trust in this day and age of scammers and thieves, so it helps to get your name out there and get to know some of the respectable breeders that have been in the game for a minute. If it weren't for scammers, thieves, and haters, I wouldn't mind letting a customer come and pick out their own animal...but that's not very wise or safe when you are a single woman operating out of your home. Then.... someone may bring one of THEIR animals for you to look at, and their animal may have IBD or MITES...so it's wiser not to have strangers in and out of your home.

Because I am paranoid about getting ripped off myself, I use the Degei software, so my customers get their animals last 5 meal dates, poop and shed (automatic built in). Now that I have had quite a few people wanting to know hatch dates, I'll include that. This software helps both me and the customer because they are able to see the pictures on the site and the software printout of the animal's info also includes a picture of the animal. This allows them (and me) to compare and match up the markings on the animals so that they can be assured that they have the same animal as on the site.

I don't like breeders who just try to sell their snakes without any regard for where they are going. I go to the All Ohio reptile show just about every month, and there are always breeders there who are wonderful and willing to talk about the animals and discuss payment plans and give you their business cards and offer to answer any future questions.... Then there are breeders who hand you a snake, tell you how much it is, and when you say something like "well I'd really like to, but I can't afford it just now" they'll try to push it on you and get you to buy it on the spot. One time I was looking at a guys ball pythons and he gets out his 7 year old red tail boa and handed it to me and tried to get me to buy it:confused: It was then I walked away from his table and had a meaningful discussion about breeding with someone who I ended up emailing back and forth and eventually bought my two newest additions from.

Customer service is a major thing. If they cant take care of business how can they take care of their pets.

Customer service, answering communications promptly, all the stuff mentioned before. I also appreciate candor and maybe even a bit of small talk. The guys/gals who've made me feel like I'm not just dollar signs but maybe a friend as well are the ones I buy from repeatedly. I also like flexible payment plans, giving someone more than a month to pay off the higher dollar morphs.

A seller beating around the bush or flat out being dishonest makes me run for the hills.

I have seen reptile breeders that have reputations for producing healthy, quality animals that are nothing less than abusive when participating in online forums.

Does this affect anyone's decision to buy from them? If you can get a beautiful animal at a great price, do you pass because the breeder is known for antagonizing forum folks?

One thing I hate is instead of emailing you call someone, and they sound like they have better things to do than answer questions or find online the animal your talking about. earlier today I called someone about a reptile and asked if they wanted its id number and they said " Well DUH"