Gecko Keepers Beware?

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Originally Posted by bpkid

BUT I still have not known of a person who was sent a sick unhealthy snake, or no snake at all :P from MKR.

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BUT, if you want to produce quality animals, you have to START with quality animals. I believe Sean at EBN has a catch phrase that fits in this situation "Examine the animal, not the deal".

Those clowns that MKR is selling probably ARE healthy, but will they produce animals that look like EBNs, or more that look like MKRs?

Ok, this may be offtopic, BUT how do you decide what your snakes are going to look like? All clowns are different, and (please correct me if I'm wrong) a nice clown could make a lesser quality clown. (once again, correct me if I'm wrong.)

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Originally Posted by bpkid

Ok, this may be offtopic, BUT how do you decide what your snakes are going to look like? All clowns are different, and (please correct me if I'm wrong) a nice clown could make a lesser quality clown. (once again, correct me if I'm wrong.)

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If you start with nice quality animals, including the females you choose to pair them with (selective breeding), you will consistently produce nice quality offspring. MKR is clearly not concerned with that.

alot of this is perspective, if you are looking for the lowest price animal period, with no intention on breeding. then go to the lowest bidder. if you are looking at animals for investment potential and quality go with a breeder that supports you and your goals.



if someone sold me a snake last year at 10-15K, then sold the same morph at 1500-2500 this year! i would feel robbed/taken, i would be checking airline tickets and having a "talk" with them. to me that is real low and dirty to take someone's hard earned money, get them excited about a project, and then dump on them before they could make babies.

"that's not how i roll" and not people i care to support!:D


vaughn

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Originally Posted by bpkid

Sure I would be upset but they have a right to do whatever they want with their prices.

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This is not a attack at you.Whenever i look to purchase something i do several steps when considering buying from someone.First i check on any feedback from people who have purchased from him/her in the past(fauna,the site i found his/her ad and i ask several freinds).Second i read there responce to questions from possible customers.Third i read the comments they make about the quality of there breeding stock.Sometimes this takes awhile sometimes my decision is made in minutes on whether or not i do bussiness with this person.My decision on MKR was made the minute they mentioned that "these are the ugly majoves that we are selling for that price".By them making that comment i decided then i will NEVER purchase a thought from them.By them making this comment it shows they are interested in the money not the love of working with these animals :mad: .No matter what i hatchout i still am very happy to produce it and watch it hatchout and grow :sunny: .Perfect example,i was sooooo happy when my female laid her eggs from the breeding with my male pastel i thought i would die from stress befor they hatched :eek: .When they did hatch i thought some were pastels(i am color blind and misunderstood what they would look like) and i posted this here on this site.Yes i was heartbrokeing when they were confirmed as normals :( .I never made the comment that these were the ugly ones or they are not pastels so they are worthless.I proudly sold them as the healthy beautiful babies they were.My point here is majority of the people look for breeders that take pride in what they produce.Not the clown who point blank puts his love of the money to be made before the quality of his animals produced.So by MKR making the comment about the babies being ugly makes me question the quality of there stock.

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Originally Posted by bpkid

WOW! Those are really nice!

You are right about the quality of clowns then. I apologize for arguing about that.

BUT I still have not known of a person who was sent a sick unhealthy snake, or no snake at all :P from MKR.

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There's more to a good sales transaction with an animal than a) just receiving the animal you bought and b) it not showing up sick.

Things I appreciate when I'm shopping for anything: are the products displayed nicely, it is clear how much things cost or can I get pricing information easy, is the seller/store available for questions, are they friendly, do I have confidence that if something is wrong after I purchase or I have additional questions, that I can get them answered, do other people speak highly of the seller/store and/or their product?

Let's take fresh meat for example. I used to shop at big-chain-grocery store here in town. Why that one over the other 3, no clue...but the workers went on strike, so I had to find somewhere else to shop, so I tried all three of the other stores. Store A didn't even have a fresh meat counter; just prepackaged meat...no customer service, no select cuts. Prices were good, but meh...I couldn't pick out what I wanted. Store B had a huuuuuge selection and a fresh meat counter, but I never felt like I got good service, like I was wasting their time. Fine.

Then we come to Store C. Best meat in town, all the butchers know my name, I can ask their recommendation on cooking methods or when they'll have in my favorite cuts again. Guess what, the meat costs about $1 more a pound, but I'm a happy person when I walk away with my purchase.

I've never spoken to nor dealt with the folks at MKR, but I find their website unattractive (I hate distortion scaling on images), their snakes don't make me go "wow!" and I've read about a lot of people who have problems or complaints about them. That's enough to make me want to skip purchasing their product, even if it is cheaper.

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Originally Posted by cassandra

Things I appreciate when I'm shopping for anything: are the products displayed nicely, it is clear how much things cost or can I get pricing information easy

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Yes. Give them a call/email and they'll give you a price on whatever you want.

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Originally Posted by cassandra

is the seller/store available for questions, are they friendly, do I have confidence that if something is wrong after I purchase or I have additional questions, that I can get them answered

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They're definately available for questions. I called Wes to ask him what he thought about a problem I was having with one of my snake, and he gladly asnwered it even before realizing that he sold me anythnig (and, no, the problem was not with one of their snakes).

That is not to say that they shouldn't answer the questions regardless of if I purchased fromt hem or not. I just mentioned that they helped before knowing I made a purchase because I'm sure someone would have said that the only reason they asnwered is because I have an order with them.

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Originally Posted by cassandra

do other people speak highly of the seller/store and/or their product?

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Depends on who you ask. Plenty of people bash them because of how they dropped their prices so much, but if you talk to someone who has purchased from them most will have nothing bad to say.

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Originally Posted by cassandra

I've never spoken to nor dealt with the folks at MKR, but I find their website unattractive (I hate distortion scaling on images)

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I agree with you on this; I think their site sucks.

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Originally Posted by cassandra

their snakes don't make me go "wow!"

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The clowns they currently have available are rather ugly, but they definately did hatch some nice ones (like EbNs), and most of their genetic stripes are perfect.

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Originally Posted by cassandra

and I've read about a lot of people who have problems or complaints about them.

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Most of the complaints are about pricing. I have only heard one complaint about an animal someone recieved. It was a VPI axanthic, and it was a somewhat picky eater. They sent them another VPI axanthic for free, and let them keep the problem feeder.

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Originally Posted by cassandra

That's enough to make me want to skip purchasing their product, even if it is cheaper.

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There codom prices may be cheap, but all of their pricing definately is not like that. I paid $3,000 more for my stripe then most of the ones on KS are available for.


Now, with that said, Joe really is full of himself. He is very nice though (even if it is jsut because you're spending money with him), and will help you out if you really need it. He does come off as a bit of a nut, but everyone in that BOI thread is just as bad. To go into his thread and tell him he deserved to get $10,000 stolen from him is very childish, and completely uncalled for. That isn't karma. Karma would be more along the lines of him receiving the geckos, and then the breeder slashing his prices next year.

*scratching head*


hmm, from geckos to snakes.... so whats this thread about again?

Wow....i read that thread from start to finish. It is not because of what Ed or jas said, it is because of the way he made himself seem so self centered, selfish, arrogant, and rude that I will never do business with him. He is an ex-car salesman...and they're just as good as lawyers IMO (liars, and all about the $$$$)

I thought about going through each of his posts and quoting where he says he is the biggest and the best breeder out there, but that would take me way too long.

He mentions a half dozen times how he made 3/4 of a million dollars in 15 days, but he wants it to be a million in 20 days...well, He will not be getting any of my money.

Ed, Jas, I support you guys. Yeah at some time we all have to buy our snakes from somewhere. I see nothing wrong with that. From what I've seen you guys have contributed to this forum enough for me to know you're good people to deal with, and I will do so.

MKRs has begun something that will cause alot of problems in the reptile hobby.....they have become the "puppy mill" of the reptile industry....selling animals like they are items and not living creatures...and don't think for a second that it is anything other than a way to make money......i never thought I would see the day when someone takes the same approach to selling a snake as they would to sell a used car :(

The sad thing is that newer people to the reptile business do not see them as bad guys because they are making expensive animals available at lower costs. The new people will find out eventually that this is not good for the hobby.....and hopefully the hobby does not get hurt too bad before they do.