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[Jabberwocky Dragons]

So..

This happened twice, and I'm very skeptical now, and wondering how anyone else deals with this.

I had two people (hopefully different people?) who, once they found out I was not available to ship the following day, or even the following week, refused to send payment until closer to the shipping date.

Now, I have no idea why it would matter when you pay vs when you will receive the snake. I got a bad feeling both instances that they didn't want the PayPal payment to complete the process. I replied saying that regardless of my shipping availability, I would not ship the snake until the payment is complete....

In the first instance, the person was trying to get me to ship immediately (Thursday for Friday arrival). Then they asked for a few more pictures, then more pictures, then when I said I can't ship until payment is complete, that person fell off the face of the earth.

In the second instance, the person asked if I can ship a snake that day, however I was already at work, and was unable to. So they said they would send me money once I'm ready to ship.... Is that a good enough red flag for you guys?? I was up front, and said I won't ship the snake until payment is complete, to avoid getting scammed. And that person said they felt uncomfortable at that time, saying I might be trying to scam THEM ..

Too long - didn't read?
How do you avoid getting scammed on PayPal where the buyer cancels their money sent after you've shipped the snake?

I may have missed something but it doesn't sound like this is an issue of a buyer wanting the seller to ship before being paid but rather a question how soon an animal should be paid in full before shipping.

Hooblah, I don't think you were being scammed, it sounds to me like browsers who jumped the gun and got cold feet. It happens and they could have been more gracious about it.

Now, from a different point of view, take someone new to buying reptiles online. They don't know who you are and you don't have a big online presence (relative to the well knowns or online stores). They may be just as worried about being scammed as you are.

They say "hey, I'll take this snake, can you ship tomorrow."

You say, no not tomorrow.

They say, "Well what about next week, the temps look great!"

No, I can't ship the following week either but go ahead and pay in full now.

I can see how this scenario could raise flags in a prospective buyer. I have happily paid in full and waited a couple months before for temps to let up. As a seller, I have held paid dragons for weeks for the same reason. I have also shipped immediately (after receiving immediate payment of course) and such requests do not raise flags. However, this type of back and forth could also make me walk away from a seller. This hypothetical convo is not directed to you personally (as I have no idea how that went down), this is just an example of why a buyer may not want to pay immediately after originally intending too. Could even be two good guys who just get mixed up messages.