Not trying to make it a business....

[jben]

Hey everyone,

Let me see if I can explain myself. I'm not trying to make money or a business out of bp's but I would like to sell/trade what I would decide that i don't need to keep in my collection but only to improve my bp collection. Would it be recommended to be FedEx certified, how about writting a TOS and guarantees?. Also, anyone that I would deal with will be a customer to me and the one thing that I live by is Safety First with Quality Always in Mind. Is there any advice that you have? Did I miss anything?
Thank you

[Ash]

Even if you're not operating as a business, it helps to have TOS, guarantees, etc, just in case something goes wrong. When something goes belly-up, it's nice to have a policy to reference and make the situation right again. You don't technically HAVE to, but it will definitely make people more comfortable when they're thinking about making a deal with you, and it's not hard, so I'd recommend doing it to be on the safe side.

Regarding FedEx certification, I know it's a giant pain in the butt, but it really broadens your potential market and makes you more accessible to everybody. I've heard that ShipYourReptiles might start accepting snakes again, but on the other hand if you're FedEx/UPS certified you make yourself less dependent on them and it shows that you're professional.

Also I just wanted to mention that I do not own a business and I'm not UPS certified or anything yet, but I certainly plan to be. I've thought a lot about it and this is what I think. I hope it helps :-)

[jben]

Thank you Ash. I will definitely have guarantees, I agree with you, it would be better to have them written down as well as a TOS. I would have to look at others TOS to get a good idea. If anyone has a sample one please post. Thank you

[SlitherinSisters]

I haven't sold anything yet, but I wrote this out awhile ago and put it up on my site. I read through tons of TOS that other breeders put on their site and picked out ideas that I liked, and added things that I thought needed to be included. I also discussed this with a close friend of mine who made a lot of good points. I give a live health guarantee, but I will not refund the money because I don't know how that person was caring for the snake. I haven't read through it in awhile, so there could be something I need to change or some spelling errors I missed. My advice is to write down every single little detail you can think of.


Terms of Slitherin' Sisters

Health and Sex Guarantee
We guarantee that each of our animals are in top notch condition and have been eating well, unless otherwise stated. We will not ship babies that have had less than 6 meals. This is to ensure that the animal is healthy and ultimately guarantees that the animal will eat for you as long as your enclosure is set up properly.

We guarantee a live healthy snake when you open the box, and that each animal has been correctly sexed. There MUST be someone to accept the delivery or the live, healthy animal guarantee is void (more about this in shipping section).

If anything happens to your animal within 7 days please let us know immediately. No refunds will be given, because there is no way for us to know whether or not your animal has been cared for properly. We will consider transferring the amount paid to another animal of equal or lesser value, but you may have to wait for the next breeding season. We reserve the right to refuse transfer of funds.

Payment Plans/Hold Animal
We will accept payment plans and hold the animal for a limited time. A deposit of 25% is required. This deposit is non refundable as the animal has been taken off the market, even if temporarily. Once the deposit has been received the animal will be placed on hold and payment plans are as follows:

***For animals under $200 you have 7 days to pay in full
***For animals between $200-$500 you have 30 days to pay in full
***For animals over $500 you have 60 days to pay in full

***We will not refund the deposit or the payments that have been made*** Please carefully consider a payment plan before agreeing to one. If there is any chance that you may default, don't agree to a payment plan! Save your money and buy an animal you can afford. We do not refund payments because the snake was taken off the market, has grown, and must now be put back on the market. If you default on a payment plan the animal will automatically be put back on the market the first day after the payment plan was defaulted. For example, if you had a 60 day payment plan, the animal will be posted for sale on the 61st day. You will be given 30 days to pay off your balance and buy the animal *if* it is still available, or you may transfer the amount you have paid, including the down payment, to another animal of equal or lesser value. No refunds will be given if an animal of lesser value is chosen. Once 30 days has passed, your contract is void, and the funds are no longer available for your use. If there are no animals available for you to transfer your funds to within 30 days, that's very unfortunate. We do not refund payment plans because it is pointless to offer a payment plan if people can ask for their money back whenever they feel like it.

We ask that the shipping be paid in a timely manner, weather permitting. We are quite sure you will be excited to receive your animal, so we have not yet set a time limit on shipping payment.

A contract will be drawn up the day you put down a deposit. It will have the start and end date for your payments, which animal you are purchasing with picture and ID#, the amount plus shipping, and the contract details that are written above. This contract will be sent via email, we ask that you reply to the email agreeing to the terms of the contract or the animal may be taken off hold.

The animal must be paid in full, including shipping, before we will ship the animal.

Accepted Payment Methods
PayPal we prefer to use PayPal because it has some protection for both parties involved. I believe PayPal has a 2-3 business day hold if you take the money out of your checking/savings account. Please keep that in mind.

Money orders will be accepted, but they will have a 3 business day hold on them to ensure available funds.

Personal checks will be accepted, but they will have a 10 business day hold on them to ensure available funds.

***Do not send cash by mail***

Please keep in mind that holds take time, do not send me a personal check on the 29th day if you have a 30 day payment plan. Your check will be deposited and placed on hold, but the animal will still be put back up for sale on 31st day.

Shipping
Our animals are shipped via www.shipyourreptiles.com by UPS overnight delivery. Someone MUST be present to accept the snake when it arrives or the live, health guarantee is void. Please plan ahead and be 100% positive that someone will be there to accept the animal, some people send the animal to their work place. We will be following the tracking information along with you, so we will have a rough guesstimate as to when the package will or has arrived. Please contact us immediately after you have received the package and inspect the animals. You can contact us in several different ways: email, phone, or text. Phone number will be provided. We must be contacted right away if there is a problem otherwise we cannot be sure if it was something we did or you did (for example, leave the box outside too long). No refunds will be given, but transfer of funds will be considered.

***Shipping Outside the United States***
We cannot ship outside of the United States because of the extreme cost and time that is involved with shipping to other countries. It can take up to 6 months to get all the permits, and at minimum $1,000 just to ship the animal.

[Twisted Reptiles]

Keep in mind, just because you aren't trying to be a business, doesn't necessarily mean the IRS won't consider it a business. Its a touchy area.

[SlitherinSisters]

Keep in mind, just because you aren't trying to be a business, doesn't necessarily mean the IRS won't consider it a business. Its a touchy area.

Do you know when you have to claim it as a business? Is it when you reach a certain amount of money coming in? I'm not worried about claiming it yet because I haven't made one penny, but I'm thinking the tax season after next I might have to.

[Auletto]

I've been doing freelance illustration for the past 5 years. I pretty much treat it as a business even tho it's not my main income. Each year I file a schedule C with my taxes. If you really want you could treat your reptile hobby in same way. Declare what your bring and write off what you spend. Keeping good records is key for your deductions.

I started using a product called neat receipts to cut down on paper work.
http://www.neatco.com/

I also just finished with getting FedEx certified just because I don't want to be doing anything illegal by shipping under the radar. I know a lot of people do it, but it feels good knowing your not breaking any rules or laws. The process took about two months. FedEx does want you to be a business, but as long as your present yourself in that matter getting certified shouldn't be an issue.

[Twisted Reptiles]

Do you know when you have to claim it as a business? Is it when you reach a certain amount of money coming in? I'm not worried about claiming it yet because I haven't made one penny, but I'm thinking the tax season after next I might have to.

Technically, if you are selling snakes, you should be paying taxes on it. Whether its as a business or supplemental personal income is kind of an individual choice.Whether or not you're turning a profit doesn't matter. I don't want to get into the nitty gritty of it and give any bad advice on this topic though.

Ask a CPA to be sure. I think there's numerous threads in this area about the same topic too.

[Auletto]

Technically, if you are selling snakes, you should be paying taxes on it.

I'm not sure if I agree.

Say if your 10k in the hole like a lot of us are and your selling some of your hatchlings and snakes just to bring some of that loss expense back. I don't think it's 100% necessary to pay taxes on your loss. There's a lot of tax laws relating to hobbies and I'm no expert, so take this with a grain of salt.

Talk to a tax professional or an accountant for more information on hobby tax laws.

[ted1025]

Anything that increases wealth from whatever source derived should be reported as taxable income. (i.e. finding money on a street or selling 1 snake).

How will the IRS know if your reporting everything you should be? They probably won't but if you get audited, they'll probably find it.

It's your duty to report it and also scroll through the thousands of sections in the IRC (internal revenue code) to find any allowable deductions that could be associated with that income.