Quote Originally Posted by MrLang View Post
I agree about the reputation by the way. I should have phrased that more along the lines of 'does not have a bad reputation' rather than 'has a good one'


But if people ask me for references since I don't have a BOI I would probably refer them to a few people on this forum who can attest that a) I am a legit person in this hobby b) I am reasonable and intelligent most of the time c) I seem to care about making sure I'm doing things correctly and in the best interest of my future reputation. I guess I was thinking that kind of process would be included in 'make sure they have a good rep'.
I agree with this. There are a lot of us (myself included) that have very little if no "good rep" because when people are happy with their purchases, they don't always write about it. However, if they have a bad experience, that tends to be the first thing they do. So don't just assume that because someone has no good rep that they are necessarily bad sellers or shady. It could be that they are great sellers and people just haven't spread the word. Definitely ask for references. A good breeder should be able to give you references. And if they give you some, take a moment to send an e-mail and actually check them out.