Pet Peeves in classifieds

[greenman1867]

**edit** sorry I was frusterated and hadn't had any coffee when I wrote this, I didn't intend to come off ignorrant but I re read it and it seems a little "dickish", anyways rather than censor myself I will just add this lil edit. **end edit**

Why do people insist on NOT giving as much info as possible in their classifieds? Are they hiding something? I am to the point now (even though I am actively looking for animals) that I refuse to waste my time pming/e-mailing) people who will not put important info in their ads, like location, price, age and pictures.

In this day and age I am reasonably sure everyone either owns or knows someone who has a Digital Camera. For that matter, almost every computer sold now days has a scanner included.

Anyways, it's hard to take ads seriously if the person posting doesn't seem like they care enough to include all the info.


Sorry, I am done now.

Shawn

[Ryan Pye]

I dont know a lot about computers, so I just learned how to put a photo on this site the other day(because of resizing) and it wasn't something that I would have just figured out on my own it was actually a little complicated. And even now I have photos, but they come out huge, I am not sure how to physically make them smaller....alot of stuff like this site is difficult to use when you dont know anything about computers, maybe thats the case.

Ryan

[Linds]

Technological problems can be overcome easily with a little help, you just need to ask. I personally will not even consider purchasing an animal without at least seeing a picture of it. The worst is when people ask you to make an offer, but refuse to give a pic :rolleyes: The camera excuse isn't that valid either imo, you can just as easily go get a cheapie disposable and have them put it on disc.

Really, by putting as much info as you can you save yourself a lot of 'junk mail', and possibly attract more serious inquiries. There are tips posted as well, but I don't think they get much notice *shrug* Not much ya can do.

'nother thread... http://www.ssnakess.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=42804

[Shad0w]

Heh... worse yet is when you finally come to an agreement to buy an animal, and the day before you are going to pick it up, the guy calls ya and backs out of the sale (in this case.. a yellow ATB, cause his girlfriend decided she wanted to keep it)...

LOL sorry... bit of a personal rant ;)

[bob2004]

I can live without a picture posted (maybe they're not that proficient with a computer), but not giving a location is down right ignorant.

[ATBlover]

thats true greenman....not many people put size, price, location, all that important stuff so that means i have to email them and then i find out they live inafghanistan or something and it was a waste of time...Connor

[emilsmee]

i worry about putting too much info incase it seems too long and incase people are too intimidated to read that much...
simple and to the point is best imo. pic, price, location, age, size, condition, and what is wanted for it (if other than money).
those are even better if they're in point form.

[BOAS_N_PYTHONS]

EVERYONE:

My thing is price flips, I get 1 price qoute and 10 other people get different numbers too and its not a small $1 - $10 difference we are talking thousands.

Also shipping is another some people won' t do it at all yet they could easily state that in there ad.

Oh well my 2 cents.

Tony

[jimbosballpytho]

Using a live cam to show your snakes,I can not think of anything better other than seeing them in person !http://jimbosballpython.ww.com/

[greenman1867]

**edit** because I don;t know how to make all the faces and HTML or whatever it's call work without having it on the side like when you do the edit thing. **end edit**

LOL Jimbo, your a funny guy :D .

Its true, I can't argue that the webcam is cool :medcoolgu , and I do mean funny haha :joker: not funny funny :medpuke: .

Shawn

[Rikki]

I know what you mean, I hate going to places like AquaBid.com or ReptiBid.com and see auctions with no pics, there is no point in even placing the auction/ad.....

[gonesnakee]

Ads without pics, who cares to a point. Ads without locations or prices or that don't state shipping etc. are BS Whats even worse my biggest classifieds PEEVE is when you are owed $ for specimens & then they are listed for sale, sold & the $ is still owed to you. Now thats BS! Quite a few folks seem to think that OK for some reason? That or the Wanted/For Sale ads that you take time to reply to & never, ever hear a word in return. Mark

[clint545]

Yup, not returning emails is my pet peeve. If you're selling something that I inquire about and you don't reply because it's already sold. Realise this if you do this what makes you think I'm going to bother buying something from you the next time you have something for sale?
It's not too much to ask for a simple "sorry it's sold" reply is it?

[HeatherRose]

I've had excellent luck using the classifieds... replies to my inquiries, solid sales and people even keeping me in mind after a deal fell through with someone else when I had made an offer (made it too late though) on what they had for sale...

My biggest pet peeves are people without pictures or locations... and people who say 'email me for pictures'. I know pictures aren't a big deal to some and that's ok... but I think they're really important. You need to see what you're buying.

Locations are also key.

[bob2004]

Maybe we need templated forms that have price, location....
and won't let you post an ad unless it's all filled out like other sites. Seems like the only way to go, some people just don't get it.

[clint545]

The whole pic thing only concerns me if it's a "must see to believe type deal". if you're selling normal leos or beardies do you really need a pic to know what they look like?
And if there is a pic involved at least take the time to make it a decent pic.

[HumphreyBoagart]

I have alot of the same "peeves" about the classifieds, but Heather, I think that those who put "email me for pics" are the same people who don't know how to load the pictures into the ad itself. I know I used to be one of those "email me for pics" people until I figured out how to do it. I think that's alot better than not having pics at all. But that's just my opinion.
Hump.

[greenman1867]

Clint, it is nice to see an animals health AND living conditions. A picture truely is worth 1000 words when it comes to laying out some cash to a stranger.

[concept3]

price and location are a MUST. If im serios about buying an animal I do not mind having the guy e mail me a pic. I would never buy an animal I did not see, I dont care what it is.

[Jeff_Favelle]

It doesn't matter how expensive or how common the animal is. You're not looking at the pics to see pretty pictures. You're looking at the animal for health and whether or not its what you want aesthetically. Common or expensive, I'd want to see pics. Money doesn't grow on trees.

[greenman1867]

Hmm, well Jeff, I will have to call you on that. I am pretty sure you have a money tree somewhere in your back yard. Especially with all those 5000% return investmenst :D

[BOAS_N_PYTHONS]

SHAWN:

Jeff has no tree I went there and cut the tree down and graphed it to a tree here next year I hope to see $20 in return, lol.

:D

Tony

[HumphreyBoagart]

I can think of one kind of money tree with that kind of return :D

[greenman1867]

Well, check out the classifieds. Some people never learn, even with the best advice.
Except I suspect this guy is looking for a bidding war.

[HumphreyBoagart]

I noticed that too! LOL!

[Invictus]

My big pet peeve is the whole shipping thing. Nothing drives me more insane than seeing an ad for something I want, and the seller says "will not ship." I did my first reptile shipment within months (probably around 8 months) of getting into this hobby. IT'S NOT HARD, PEOPLE. I guess for someone just selling off one pet, one time only kinda deal, it's not a bad thing... but for those who want to do repeated business and actually get into the business end of this hobby, I have only this to say: If you want to be taken even remotely seriously, learn how to ship. If you know how to pack your dishes to move, you can learn the few extra steps it takes to ship a reptile.

[Katt]

My pet peeves

buyers whom you reply to and never reply back

buyers who back out, many times

buyers who don't pay on time

buyers who email me and/or ask for more pics and never buy nor reply

buyers who ask for info that's already posted

I really hate taking the time to take pics for people, crop, fix, and upload to prospective buyers whom never ever email you back, not even for a thank you. I personally prefer to webcam animals so people can get a real live time look at the animal.

Personally, if a little thing such as lack of price or location turns someone off, then I'd rather they weren't buying my snake. If the animal doesn't interest them enough to email me or PM for more details, then I'd rather my snake went to someone who is wiling to go that extra bit.

[jimbosballpytho]

You go Girl!!!!!

[Lisa]

Here's an idea I've seen on another site, kind of like a feedback like on ebay. Basicly after a transaction or a flake you leave a message about your dealing with the person with their user name as the topic with the codes B(uy), T(rade) and S(ell) and +, - or nothing for positive, negitive and neutral plus any other comments.

[Katt]

That's what CBOI is for Lisa.

[MouseKilla]

The template idea is a logical cure for many of the problems with the classified ads. The issues tend to relate to the ads being constructed of thoughts that are less than complete, forgot to mention how old, how much or where the animal in question is.

I have suggested this before but was told that these are ad "quality" issues and that bad ads just won't sell animals. This is unfortunately true, which is why you see the same incomplete and half thought out ads for the same old obscurely decribed animals over and over.

It seems that it's easier to have to wipe the whole section clear once a month or week or whatever it is now rather than have the template that forces the seller to complete a semi-coherent thought before placing an ad in the first place. Maybe there's a technology issue here too, I don't know.

Personally I'll click on an ad then briefly scan the text of the ad looking for those basic components before giving it a real read. If I don't see things like punctuation (for starters), some numbers (hopefully indicating an asking price!) and some sort of description I just click the "BACK" button instead of wasting time trying to unlock the hidden meaning behind the primitive scrawlings. lol!

Snake for sale.
Taking offers.

Some Dude.

[Matt_K]

Originally posted by MouseKilla
It seems that it's easier to have to wipe the whole section clear once a month or week or whatever it is now rather than have the template that forces the seller to complete a semi-coherent thought before placing an ad in the first place. Maybe there's a technology issue here too, I don't know.

Believe me man, we'd like nothing more than to NOT have to worry about clearing out the classifieds or worrying about people continually posting the same stuff over and over again.. The problem is, the Mods have limited 'powers'. It were up to us, that would have already been implemented, but we're working with limited help here..

-Matt

[MouseKilla]

I don't doubt for a second that it's you guys (the Mods) that are annoyed and burdened most in this situation, the recent efforts to clean it up despite your limited "powers" represents a much larger effort than I would be willing to put forth given the resources at your disposal.

[bob2004]

Originally posted by Katt

Personally, if a little thing such as lack of price or location turns someone off, then I'd rather they weren't buying my snake. If the animal doesn't interest them enough to email me or PM for more details, then I'd rather my snake went to someone who is wiling to go that extra bit.

Go that extra bit??? If the seller can't even put a location in the ad, and I'm looking at dozens of ads, you've lost my business. How hard is it to put your location in an ad? I'm baffled why this is such a problem. Wouldn't you want to attract as much business as possible? Haven't you read all the complaints about price and/or location on this subject? You have a funny way of looking at things, I certainly wouldn't run a business with that attitude.

[ChocoMeijin]

I agree with Bob, a seller would want to get his ad to as many people as possible to generate interest/sales. It doesn't make sense to not list something as basic as price and makes any interested buyes lose, well, interest. ^_^;;

My pet peeve is a seller who says they have to check on shipping and then never reply back after many e-mails! >_<

~ChocoMeijin

[concept3]

HAHAHAHA, agreed with bob2004 100 percent on this one

[Katt]

Bob, I'm not a business. I'm a hobbiest. Most of my sales go to friends, or to repeat customers. I find most replies I get from internet postings are junk. So if my funny way of looking at buying/selling, turns you off, so be it. Perhaps you haven't had the great experience of being screwed by buyers to know, it's better to start the screening process right at the ad itself. Or lack of even basic courtesy from many "internet buyers". It is enough to turn you off from wanting to sell again!

As for location, I can understand, it being a pet peeve, but thing is, shipping is part of Canadian herpetoculture. Shipping should always be something you think about when wanting to purchase an animal. So location isn't all that important. I have shipped and been shipped to many times, that it just isn't something I really think about.

As for price, I don't always post mine. Why? B/c I give better prices to friends, family, repeat customers, and people I happen to know and like. Posting a set price, ties me to it. Plus I may sell less than market and I don't want to post a low price and ruin the market for professional breeders and other little guys.

[CHRISANDBOIDS14]

Originally posted by HumphreyBoagart
I can think of one kind of money tree with that kind of return :D

LMAO! Small trees mind you, but still trees!

and other little guys.

Lol, I've always worried about using that expression cause I worry it might make someone feel like.... "that nobody reptile breeder". Lol.

I do agree I dont like it when people forget to put stuff like location/shipping/pics, but I dont mind emailing for pics if everything else looks good.

C.

[Katt]

Originally posted by CHRISANDBOIDS14

Lol, I've always worried about using that expression cause I worry it might make someone feel like.... "that nobody reptile breeder". Lol.
C.

I hope no one takes it that way. I'm a little guy. I keep a few snakes, that never pay for themselves! I like the expression myself.

Yay to the little guy!

[BOAS_N_PYTHONS]

KEN:

I agree with you and there is always "how to' s" to learn and then ship by.

http://www.ssnakess.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=51454

KATT:

Originally posted by Katt
Perhaps you haven't had the great experience of being screwed by buyers to know, it's better to start the screening process right at the ad itself. Or lack of even basic courtesy from many "internet buyers". It is enough to turn you off from wanting to sell again!


I agree with that as well, screening is very important.

Tony

[CHRISANDBOIDS14]

Katt:

Im sure no-one will take offense. I know I'm a "little guy" but I hope that our snakes are sucessful with the breeding and they will pay for themselves. When im thinking I often use that expression though, lol.

C.

[emilsmee]

i think if your location is in your info (and is therefore posted in the upper right corner of your ad) then you shouldn't have to list where you live. i've gotten tons of replies asking where i live, and all they had to do was look up...

[Matt_K]

emilsmee

Registered: Jun-2004
Location:
Posts: 195

Your location isn't filled in.. Unless you're referring to it saying, 'canadian ads: snakes' or 'American Ads: Snakes' in which case, I think everyone is talking about a specific location.. Like, What Province or what State.. :D

-Matt

Edit: Okay, your location WASN'T filled in when you posted that! LOL. Did you just change it?????

[bob2004]

Katt, your never going to filter out inconsiderate buyers no matter what you omit from your ads, it goes with the business. I'm sure your still getting your share. I do have experience with rude buyers via our family business. We had to put up with them for the sake of revenues.
Location is very important because I look for ads within driving distance to save on $20-$30 in shipping. Also, I don't like to have reptiles shipped in cold weather, something I'm not totally comfortable with. There are so many breeders around now I'd much rather pick up a reptile myself then have it shipped in cold weather, not to mention the stress of being on a plane. Wouldn't it be easier for the seller to include a location in their ad rather then play e-mail tag and waite sometimes weeks for an answer? I'm sure I'm not the only one who thinks along these lines.

[emilsmee]

i forgot i took it out for a while, *oops*
i try to keep it off there unless i'm posting an ad for something. i'm not too keen on posting my location. paranoid i guess.

hehe sorry Matt... *place foot in mouth*

[BOAS_N_PYTHONS]

EMILSMEE:

I am looking up and to the right and see location as "nothing", lol

:D

Tony

[emilsmee]

it says "Windsor, ON" in my location....

[emilsmee]

...doesn't it?

yeah i know, i made a total @ss of myself before, lol

[BOAS_N_PYTHONS]

EMILSMEE:

Its there now, thanks, just joking with yah.

Tony

[emilsmee]

hmm, didn't know i could stick both feet in my mouth.
geez, the things i learn on this site, lol.
*grin*

[greenman1867]

lol emilsmee we all do that occasionally.

Unfortunatly after cruising the classifieds I have to report nothing changes :) Oh well. Can't say I didn't try. "You can lead a python to the rat but can't make him eat" and all the other silly little sayings that are that fit.


Shawn

[HumphreyBoagart]

Drives me nuts when you hold an animal week after week, for them to just not get back to you in the end. Especially when you're telling other potential buyers that it is spoken for. Guess that's why noone wants to put a deposit on the animal, because they're not serious buyers. Lesson learned, for the 50th time.
Hump.

[HumphreyBoagart]

And when it says "pick up only" but it doesn't say where it is. uugghhh!