Note: for anyone that doesn't want a lengthy read, I just get the feeling that a seller tried to bait and switch on me

I recently acquired a snake that was very reasonably priced. Just to make it clear in advance, there's some speculation on my part. There are some things that I have reason to believe occurred, but could be completely wrong about. I'm not going to identify the seller by name, since its entirely possible that there were simply a series of innocent mistakes on his part.

I initially made an inquiry on a site where multiple sellers post what they have available, that included a request on: what the snake was being fed, if it was ever refusing meals, current weight, what forms of payment were accepted, and shipping costs. He replied back a few hours later after I had logged out for the evening.

Next day, I replied back that I would purchase if it was still available. He confirmed that it was. I submitted payment, and also provided information that included the transaction ID for the purchase, my name, shipping address, e-mail, and cell phone number. He then replied back to me shortly after that the snake had sold. He offered a few alternatives that were priced significantly higher, or that I could look through what else he had for sale.

At this point, I had a feeling that something wasn't quite right, but couldn't say for certain that there was any wrong doing and willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. After looking at what else he had available, I came to the conclusion that what was available was either more than what I was willing to spend or just not anything that I was interested in. I e-mailed him back explaining this and requesting a refund.

His reply was basically to the effect of, "Oh, hold on a second. There's been a mix up. That payment I received was from you? I thought it had come in from someone else. The snake is definitely yours. I can ship out next Monday. Please send me your information."

At this point, I was heavily debating whether or not to just ask for a refund anyway. Everything was pointing to a transaction gone bad. I went ahead and sent my information to him again. The odd part, the same information that I had sent prior was still on the same thread.

Monday night rolls around, and I had already scheduled time off of work in the morning on Tuesday. He messages me telling me that he got tied up (no specifics) and didn't ship. Can he ship on Tuesday for Wednesday delivery (more red flags go up). I simply replied back that it was fine and requested tracking numbers. Went in to work Tuesday morning, and told them that I needed to push my morning off to Wednesday. Tuesday evening, I never received tracking numbers. I messaged him asking for tracking numbers again. He did reply back giving them to me.

Wednesday rolls around, and the package arrives. In all fairness, I did receive exactly what was pictured, appears to be in good health, no signs of illness or stress, and so far doing very well in quarantine.

Now the site in question, allows for sellers to show if a particular animal is on hold. It also enables sellers to immediately remove something that has been sold. I've bought from other sellers on the site before, and they've removed the animal as soon as they received payment. The snake that I bought is still up on the site showing as available.

My hunch is that the snake might be left up there to draw potential customers in, to where he can attempt to switch them over to others he has available for sale. Most of them have higher sell prices. The other thing that I thought about, maybe he had seller's remorse for putting something out for sale that could have gone at a higher price, and was initially trying to wiggle his way out of selling without reneging on his part?

Again, this is all speculation on my part. No proof of any wrong doing. At the end I got exactly what I wanted. Maybe this was just a case of him not being thorough when reading through messages. I will be very hesitant to buy from him in the future though.

I'm curious to hear other opinions though. Am I being overly suspicious here?