Are reptiles the dodgiest industry out there for genuine consumers?

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the fact zebras are here to begin with shows dodgeyness,lol

in all seriousness though, theres shonkiness in every industry where moneys involved,do your homework at shop around,it shouldn't be to hard avoiding being burnt

shonkiness in buyers is just as bad,ive had more issues with that over the years then actual sellers,this sort of thing happens in every industry so not really worth dwelling on,if it doesn't sound right look elsewhere
 
Its no different to other poorly regulated pet industries really, cats, dogs, birds etc. There are always a few that do the wrong thing. I am certain that if everyone who purchased a reptile or reptile related goods posted there experiences, we would all have a very different view. By the same token, a good seller can do 100 things right, and one small mishap or a slightly sensitive buyer has a whinge and the 100 things are all but forgotten. There are lots of top people in the hobby, but also there are a lot of different people in the hobby to, people who stretch our own views on the world. Get to know people and you soon learn who share similar views to yourself, and I always find, if its sounds to good to be true, it probably is.

Wing_Nut
 
Every area where money changes hands between individuals, especially between unsighted individuals, is going to be vulnerable to abuse by shonky operators and con artists. However, I do not agree that the reptile trade is the worst affected. As already mentioned, there are other trade areas such as second-hand cars, puppies and even birds (parrots in particular) that are equally or even more afflicted.

The point was made that one tends to notice things more when it has recently come to one?s attention. This is very valid and highly relevant here. The mind elevates recent events to prominence. For example, while we can remember everything we did today, we can probably remember almost nothing of what we did on this day a week ago and guaranteed nothing from a month ago. The only exception would be if something special happened, which makes it prominent. The mind is bombarded with a massive amount of information which it needs to summarise and sort. To do this it continually looks for patterns by noting associations. The more prominent something is in our mind, the more likely anything associated with it will be noted. We subconsciously ?go looking for? it. At the same time, and for the same reasons, the mind tends not to register what we are not ?looking for?, in this case - fair trades.

If you think about it, there must be an awful lot of fair trades that take place. When people get ripped off in a trade, the natural tendency is to be vocal about it. In contrast, a fair trade is an expected outcome and as such does not warrant specific mention. Every owned reptile mentioned on APS, which is not a rehab case or other wild-caught, has been acquired via a trade. If you compare the number of these animals to the number of trade complaints posted on APS, this will provide a realistic perspective on the situation. The numbers generated by such a comparison are proof-positive of what others are saying ? that there are a few bad eggs but the over-whelming majority of sellers and sales are good.

It is worth noting that not all scammers in the industry are necessarily hobbyists. A few examples have been pointed out in APS threads where adverts for animals such as birds and puppies used the same reply address as a reptiles-for-sale ad that was clearly dodgy.

Blue
 
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