How often do we recomend....?

[sharlaxle]

I've had a few odd things happen recently and wanted to ask the people on this forum if similar things have happened to them.
Let me start off with I am a hobby breeder. By this I mean I might have usually one clutch a year from my Ambi's or Nosey Be's. So I usually go to shows or sell by word of mouth. So at the last show I had several people stop by and of course fall in love. When I talked to them I try to get the feel for experience. If there is any doubt I made sure to give them a care sheet and told them to go home and think about it. If they decided they really wanted to do this, get the cage set up and a month later I would be at the next show. So yes, I probably lost a good 8-12 sales, but I don't really mind. I'd rather them know and understand what it is they are looking at getting into.
I also make sure they see that at the top of the care sheet is a link to the forum (highlighted) so they can see other information.
Now when people come to the website, if they are looking for something specific and I don't think what I have what they want, I usually steer them to other breeders I know who will have the colors they are after.
Ok here's where the question comes in; More then 7 people in the last week alone have asked me why I do this? Why do I risk losing sales, or causing someone to back out of this hobby.
You know I never thought of it like that. When I first got into chameleons I was very lucky in that the breeder (seeing my complete and utter lack of anything called experience) immediately pointed me here and kept in close contact. Now My ex-husband had raised chameleons while I just kinda watched, but with her help I soon realized that I really had no idea.
Well years later I think I should help out others. I don't mind losing a sale if they really want something specific, and so I point them to someone else.
Have any of you come across this type of thought? I have found that for the most part the chameleon world is very supportive of each other.
Ok end of long drawn out post, and sorry if I bored you. I was just wondering how many of you have found something like this either odd, or not.
Sharl

 

[pigglett79]

I don't breed or sell chameleons, but when people see mine and start talking like they want to get one my first reaction is always to practically talk them out of it. By that I mean I focus on all of the high maintenance and costs involved as most people don't understand. I think when you are overprotective like that it's because you care more about the care of the animal than making a buck off the sale. We see so many in hortible condition because someone didn't know what it takes to give them everything they need.

I think you do the right thing in making sure it's the right owner and that they get what they want.

 

[sharlaxle]

I suppose I'm just surprised. I don't really know anything about other reptiles, so I just never stopped to think that the other reptile hobby might not do the same.
Sharl

 

[fluxlizard]

You aren't loosing sales.

At least that is how I think about it.

I want my buyers and my animals to both have a good experience as a result of the sale. If they don't over the long run, it is bad not only for the buyer and the animal, but also for me!

People talk and everyone has opinions and many opinions are based not on fact but on impressions of an experience. Bad experiences leave bad impressions. It is also not human nature to blame oneself for a bad experience.

So what all this adds up to-

If a buyer has a negative experience, even if it is the buyer's fault because the buyer is ignorant of good husbandry, misinformed, well intentioned but moronic, etc, when that buyer talks to his/her friends about the experience that will not be what the buyer says. Instead-

It will be a defective animal from the seller

or

It will be bad advice from the seller

or

the species is to difficult and should not be sold or kept

etc.

Any way you look at it, it is bad for future sales.

If you do things with care for the animal and the customer, however, and work towards ensuring a positive experience for both, it is good for the seller too.

In this case when buyers talk their success is due to

the healthy animal from the seller

or

The seller's great advice

or

the animal species is a fantastic terrarium species

or

the buyer is really good at caring for their animal

The first way = fewer sales for the seller over the long haul, bad for animal, bad for buyer

The second way = good for everyone/thing

 

[Olimpia]

When I worked at the pet store I would very often sell a customer an animal, whether it was a chameleon, a bearded dragon, or whatever, the "vitals," like UVB bulb and calcium, and tell them where to get everything else for less (like the Walmart down the street or Home Depot). Was my boss happy about this? Not at first, I can tell you that! But you know what, people left 100% happier that I saved them a little money and were 100% more likely to come back and ask for ME specifically, and buy whatever else I recommended next time. Because they knew I wasn't going to BS them with useless products and they could tell I was genuinely interested in helping them succeed.

Additionally, I would steer people away from something that didn't fit towards a pet that would be perfect for them. Like a tame little leopard gecko for a family with 3 small boys instead of a WC tegu. I lose money on that sale, but the fit for everyone is better, and they realize that. So again, people would come back and ask for ME specifically, knowing they could trust my advice.

So I still think that even if you send business elsewhere they're still going to remember you because it takes a person of good character to send a potential customer to someone else who would be a better fit for what they need at the time. I bet you next time those people are talking to anyone about chameleons they'll bring you up as a good source of advice and chameleons. So it may not be a chameleon sale today, but it might be several down the line from word of mouth.

 

[jamjam]

Im in the process of looking for a cham and checking out some breeders. I almost expect breeders to interrogate me of my knowledge and my set up to own the cham. and id rather them do so as well guess gives some sense of security knowing that they care for where the animal is going and that they themselves more than likely took good care of it while they had it.

 

[Cooper]

I really can't understand breeders who bring new beings into the world and then don't give a toss what happens to them after money has changed hands.
I'm new to chameleons, but once thought about breeding bearded dragons, but realized there really was hardly anyone out there I'd be comfortable selling the babies to, or even giving them to. Even people with the best intentions often get things wrong and their reptiles end up living in horrible conditions, or the person loses interest a year or two later and then unloads their pet onto the first person who offers 40 bucks on Craigslist.
I wish people would take the commitment of owning let alone breeding an animal seriously, but even the ones with the best intentions often don't.

 

[FrankTheTank]

Shoot I wish there were more people like you. I wish someone would have told me everything that was involved before I got started. I've raised iguanas and other reptiles so I thought chameleons will be fun! They eat insects by shooting a long cool looking tongue and have color changing camouflage (yes I was one of those who thought they could stand on a candy cane and have red and white stripes), which I laugh at myself constantly for. But I digress. I had no clue (obviously) what I was getting myself into. Yes I wouldn't have the love, respect, and, most importantly, knowledge about these amazing and beautiful creatures, but I also would have known that I wasn't ready for that financial and time-giving responsibility it would turn out to be. I say I would go back and do the same thing just because I love them so much, but at the time I would have said no had I been informed by someone like you.
People can look at it like, "You could have just given them the information and still sold it to them that day, and they go on to be successful keepers, but now that they went home and really thought about it, they decided not to." Yes you can say you have lost a "sale". But you could have saved someone from making a costly (emotionally and financially) mistake. Not to mention the health and livelihood of the chameleon. I applaud what you do and I hope you continue to do it. We need more people (breeders) like you!

 

[sharlaxle]

Well honestly I wouldn't change it to make a few sales. I guess I got lucky with my mentor, and just assumed that's the way things were
Thanks all I'm glad there are others out there who don't view this as weird.