Just wanted to vent some frustration

So on Tuesday night I see an add on Craigslist for a guy who is selling a breeding group of ball pythons. Within this group are a nice butter pastel male, a beautiful proven bumblebee girl, and the crown jewel, a 700 gram female clown. He was only asking 900 for the clown female, so I jumped on it as fast as I could. Within a matter of minutes we had mad the deal and she was to be mine. He wanted to do the pick up the next but I couldn't due to the fact that I would be working a 24 hour shift for Guard (I'm a Marine). So he said no problem we could do it Thursday night when he got off of work. I was beside myself that I would finally have a clown and it was a big girl. My mind instantly raced to the time when I would be able to breed her to my pastel lesser. Then around 9:30 the same night he sends me a text saying that he hates to do this to me but someone just offered him 1000 for her. He tells me if I will meet him half way with 950 then "no matter what anyone else offers she is mine" so I say no problem since she is a steal already. Yesterday I come to work and begin counting down the hours until I can pick up my clown. I speak with him several times via text, asking more questions about the clown. Then again at 9:30 last night I get another text saying that he's really sorry to do this to me again but his buddy just offered him 2000 for her and he has to take it. He expected the conversation to end right there. I tell him that he has just crushed me and asked what happen to "no matter what she is mine"? He tells me that he hates to screw me over again and go back on the deal but he was taking the 2000 because it was coming from his "close buddy". We have a few more exchanges, none of which were mean or rude from either of us before I ask to know is name and his buddies name so that I will never do business with either of them. Apparently this buddy is a breeder in the San Diego area. He would not tell me as he said he didn't have a "death wish" and didn't want to "paint a target on is buddies back". Granted I was upset, but never once did I give the impression that I would hurt either of them, and frankly I'm a bit irritated that he even assumed that. In the end I am still very, very mad that it went down this way. After so many times of things falling through for me, I honestly thought that I would finally get to win for once. But yet again this was not the case. Furthermore the fact that he went back on his word, not once but twice, really gets to me. What happened to a time when a man's word was a binding contract? What happened to man law? What happened to being a good person? Thanks for letting me vent guys.

You know what they say, "if it's too good to be true, it's probably not", $900 for a 700 gram clown female is one of those ...Sorry it fell through :(

:( Dang, I'm sorry. That really sucks, and I hear you on your frustration. CL can be really sketchy a lot of the time. I've learned to never keep too much hope on a CL deal. Sometimes they end up backing out, and sometimes what they say they have isn't the quality or health that you expected. It's a bummer for sure - just don't anticipate too much when dealing with CL... then when you DO get a great find and it all works out, you're extra pleasantly surprised :)

That's the truly sad part, this time it was true, had I been able to pick her up yesterday she would have been mine. But that does seem to be the story of my life as of late.

Sometimes curses are blessings in disguise.... :) You never know what's around the next corner

Apologies for your misfortune. Your anger is well founded and understood. And that guy has no honor. You strike a deal, you stick with it. That's just how it is. What a two faced dealer.

Thanks everyone for understanding

Same thing happened to me with a motorcycle. It was a 78 honda cafe racer, very nice bike. Guy wanted 1000 for it, so I texted him "please do not sell the bike I will be by tomorrow to buy it". And guess what he did....sold it. :mad:

I feel ya.

Guy is prob full of it, just stringing you along for fun. There's a lot of messed up people out there.

If you were getting an 1100 discount, shouldn't you have gone immediately? But yeah, that's crap that he got 50 more out of you then sold her.

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Man that really sucks! If I ever find a good deal on craigslist I jump on it as fast as I can. I found a used freedom breeder rack on CL for a great price and I was so worried someone else would come along and offer a little bit more and snatch it away from me. So I made the drive as soon as I could to pick it up, even though I can't set it up until I move to my new house. I couldn't let the opportunity pass me by!

That is the thing about CL... they don't have to honor your agreement. If a better deal comes along they have every right to take it. I hate to say it, but I would probably do the same thing. :( But what that guy did was pretty rude. He should have said that if someone offers higher, he will allow you to counter offer but after that, he has to take the best deal. False hope..the worst. I hate that.

Next time make sure you pick up your CL gold asap!!

Well sorry to hear that but unfortunately Craigslist is a TOTAL IMPULSE market of people sometimes pushing and selling reptiles and sometimes selling to maybe feed their family after a personal loss such as a job. I have learned that on Craigslist never wait for tomorrow if the deal is good push for as soon as possible or forget it because if you don't someone else will cut your throat for the deal.

Ooooor.....

You just dodged a bullet. Possibly even literaly.

He may not even have had any snakes just pictures he stole from the net and planned on stringing you along so you turn up somewhere nice and dark with a pocket full of cash.

I'm not saying bargains never turn out to be true on craigslist - but there is a high chance of someone trying to fob you off with a normal or even a stolen snake.

You already knew his word was worth nothing so why assume anything he said was true?


dr del

I agree, what happened when it was a really nice faux clown normal? That'd be the highest priced normal for a while.

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First sign of shady-ness and to run would be that he would damage his reputation with you over 50 dollars. Sorry it didn't turn out well but like the others said you could of just saved yourself a heart and wallet ache if the snake wasn't what it should be. Stick to breeders. CL is a scary place.

Ok, I'm going to try to respond to all the posts at the same time:
The only reason I didn't go get her the same time I saw the ad was because it was 9:30 pm when I finally heard back from him with the first contact. Then where he is located is about 2 hours away. The only reason I didn't go down the next day was because I was working a 24 hour shift, something I can't leave for any reason because you are on call. And we had already discussed all of that and he was fine with holding her. I know the snake was real, I still have about 10 pictures of her in my text messages from him. I highly doubt that he would have robbed him, we were meeting in a well lit and traveled place, plus I'm not exactly a little guy either. Which to further ad on to that this guy thought that I was gonna hurt him just because I am a Marine. And even though I've not been in this hobby to terribly long I know the difference between a normal and a clown so why would I pay that much for a normal? You guys did say it best with "there is no honor on craigslist" and "you have to jump quick".
Thanks for taking the time to read and reply everyone.

So, I would have to say that just like a purchase off of a "professional" website, a deal isn't done until money has changed hands. Unfortunately, there are many more people making promises to make a purchase and not following through than there are people in your situation who just need a day to fit it into their schedule. That being said, he gave you his word and broke it, which is flat out unethical and greedy.

It sucks you lost out on a good deal, but if that's the worst that comes out of CL you are doing OK. CL is the wild west. It can be beautiful one day and ugly the next. Great deals from desperate people abound, but desperate people are often only concerned about $$$$$$. BTW, asking for his buddy's name might have been a lil over the top and was probably what inspired the comment about the target.

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