Preferred Method of Buying Reptiles Online? (poll)

I've come across a lot of opinions lately on where the hobby is going sales-wise online and was curious to get a general idea of everyone's preferences when buying from a breeder online. I've seen opinions that forums, ks, fauna, and websites are dying due to a move to FB, but I've also read that many herpers are against the move to FB (for buying). What I'd like to do with this poll is get a little input from everyone on which methods you prefer to buy using (not necessarily what is most common).

I'm going to allow multiple choices for the poll, but please select only your top two preferences.

As always, thanks for your time and input. Feel free to discus this topic if you'd like as well.

For myself, I prefer to buy from a dedicated breeder's site (provided they keep it up to date and there's ease of communication and transaction) and from forum classifieds (i.e. our classifieds section here on BP.net). I like to know that people I'm buying from are professional and / or have a good reputation in the community. Seeing a person post on a forum, to me, demonstrates their knowledge base and makes buying from them more appealing.

I currently keep 10 different species of snakes, so it's pretty hard to follow all of the specialty forums and know who the best breeders of so many species are. If I'm looking for anything in particular, will often start at kingsnake.com, to get a general idea of who might currently have it for sale. And then I check out the websites of those who are selling it if they have websites. I really do appreciate it when they do. I also follow the Facebook classifieds reptile ads and auctions some and have occasionally found snakes there that interest me for good prices. I have to wonder, though, if some of those Facebook deals (and steals) are actually crashing the market?

Independent Breeder Website has a surprising number of votes. Do you guys just prowl around 50+ different sites regularly waiting for updates?

I was also surprised at the number of votes that "breeder websites" received. I'll admit, sometimes they are the only place to find a specific multi gene combo morph that I've been looking for, however, I could hardly rate them as my "preferred" method.

To be fair, I've only bought one reptile online -- actually, now that I think about it, I've bought all 3 of mine in the common ways: from a pet store (although I found her online), at a reptile show from a private breeder, and online (but met in person) through a forum where another breeder had recommended me said breeder. Sorry if that was confusing...

Essentially, if I am going to buy any animal online, I'd like to be able to meet up with the person in order to talk with them face-to-face, ask a bunch of questions, check over the animal, and pay in person as well. It's just the way I prefer to do it, but if I knew the breeder was well-known (BHB Reptiles, for example) I might be persuaded otherwise.

:)

Most of my snakes have been bought through Ben Siegel's fb page where he does auctions and bins .i have never had an issue with Ben ever and will continue doing business with him. He gets a lot of business through his page but also get a lot of local business also

Sent from my LGLS740 using Tapatalk 2

I do a lot of facebook auction buys from loxahatchee herp hatchery. You can get quality reptiles at great prices.

Most of my ball pythons were found on Fauna. The other were on KS or from private local sales. Heck, one was on CL.

Two came to me via craigslist, one Dumeril, the other a RTB. Three from pet shops. One Anery corn, a Blood Red corn (Jacks Pets) a Normal BP from Petland (where employees know nothing). Last but not least my adult BP was from a breeder at a local show. (Best $25 ever spent)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by MrLang

Independent Breeder Website has a surprising number of votes. Do you guys just prowl around 50+ different sites regularly waiting for updates?

---

Yep, pretty much. I wouldn't say I prowl 50, but I definitely have my top 15 that I check from time to time to see if there's anything that I like.

Most of mine came from a local reptile store. I don't mind paying retail for quality. I also like to support small business. I did buy one of mine online and it was pleasant experience so i'll buy online if I don't find what i'm looking for locally.

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."