Ballbids.com

[yankeepython]

Anybody else seen this? It just popped up on my facebook homepage. It looks like it's one of those 1-penny-at-a-time bidding websites, but for ball pythons. I feel like it's a leeeetle sketchy. Where are the snakes coming from? Interestingly enough, there have been no winners yet and there isn't any customer feedback.

Either I don't like it because it's a serious market crasher, or I don't like it because it's false advertising and a scam/rip-off.

http://www.facebook.com/BallBids?sk=app_190322544333196

This is a tweet from the guys @snakebytes

Ball Bids
I hate to bring attention to this, but I felt a need to share my opinion. There’s a “new” website called BallBids, where you bid a penny on a morph Ball Python. How it works is you pay for your bids, average of .60 or so. Each bid the animal goes up a penny. The auction goes for a few days, so in the end a $350 snake sells for $4. Keeping in mind that every bidder has lost money except for the winner, who has gotten a great deal on a snake. Now there have been “penny” bidding sites for a long time, with lots of them being shut down as scams. To me buying a laptop for $3 is a different story then buying an Albino Ball Python for $5. These are living animals and the care of the animal and the after the sale support will be non-existent.:cens0r:
For now all the animals being auctioned off are from Mike Willbanks from Constrictors Unlimited. Mike is a good friend of mine and has great animals and a good reputation. I have not spoken to him about this, but I hope he does not realize what part he has to do with “cheapening” our hobby as well as having no concern for the animals only money. Knowing Mike like I do, I have to imagine that he will “run” away from this as quick as he can. He is a good guy and cares for his animals and our hobby.:cens0r:
I am curious about your opinions. First, what do you think about this “penny” business model selling animals and second, do you think that you will still support the breeders that supply animals to this “make a buck quick” website.
I am hoping and praying that this site closes soon, not because I am concerned about the prices of animals, but the way the rest of the world sees how we treat our animals. These are incredible creatures that are alive! Not object that are valued at pennies to make “one” person a lot of money!