exoticanimals.co.za/

[stef]

Hi Guys

do any of you know is exoticanimals.co.za is actually a legit place to buy snakes or must it be given a skip. Add in gumtree proclaimed snakes in Sandton but on the website it shows Durban. I am just wondering if it is one of those place that you nust pay the transport fee and then never receive the goods. Please if possible shead som light on this

[LAMB Pythons]

The whole wording of the website doesn't feel right, and there is no address or contact us details. The website is also a beta. Me personally I`ll stay clear for now until proven wrong!

[Dr Dill]

All the pictures on the website are pictures of off google so the person running the website does not own any of the snakes advertised. So i agree i would stay well clear of that website never mind the fact that none of the prices even make sense as they advertise a creamsicle corn is the same price as a normal motley and a candy cane at more than ten times the price of the creamsicle corn.

[ghoti]

Hi,

Well thanks for that. Yes, the site is very new. Im kinda working on it at the moment. I felt there was a space for a reliable online snake store and Im slowly developing it and the logistics. Thats why it says beta. Actual launch date is 01 June 2014.

I dont know if the prices are borked. My primary breeder is based in KZN, he ships with my branding and I base my prices on what he is charging me. To answer your question if you would have got your animal. Yes, you would have got your animal safely flown to anywhere that has an airport. You would have got your animal or 100% refund. I run another online reputable business and am not unfamiliar with running a respectable web company.

Yes the pictures are mostly (but not all), from Google. Simply because Im not in the same town as the breeder. During beta testing I was uploading stock, based on the price list sent to me by the breeder, but I didnt have pictures of a lot of them. Since this was beta testing and I wanted to get an idea of what the site looked like with stock loaded. Hopefully Ill have the pictures complete by June 01.

PS, any other breeders who would like me to sell their animals through my store are welcome to contact me at info@exoticanimals.co.za . Im interested in doing business with anyone who can be a reliable supplier.

If you have any hassles or question or queries please dont hesitate to ask me. Im not going anywhere

PS: Thanks for letting me know about the pricing of the Candy Cane, it is meant to be $30, not $300.

[stef]

Thanks for the replies guys. ghoti where are you situated?

[stef]

Just a quick question. Yesterday the price was in ZAR today it is in USD?

[ghoti]

Thanks for the replies guys. ghoti where are you situated?

Im located in East London, South Africa, but my main breeder/supplier is in KZN. I did an add in that Sandton section as it costs the same to get an animal to you as is does to me. So I figured I would advertise in a bigger market.

The prices should adjust depending on what country you come from. The default currency is dollars and then it gets changed to your countries currency. It should change to ZAR if you are in SA.

[stef]

Thanks for the reply. Ok i understand now. Im in mozambique for work so thats maybe why is was in USD. Is it a door to door service or to the nearest post office for the shipment

[Dr Dill]

Im sorry if what i said offended you but the website setup is very dodgey looking as it has the stuff you look out for in a scam on junkmail, like the pictures off of google and also it does not say the size of the snakes either which is unusual and the fact that it is in dollars yet it is an south African site makes it seem not real but what you have going is a good idea and wish you luck.

[Bushviper]

Yeah I am sorry if I order a snake I want to know exactly what it looks like and not what a generic snake of that type looks like. Have you even looked at the legal ramifications of exporting snakes? That will influence your prices radically. To be honest I doubt you will even get it right.

I would not go public with something like this.

[ghoti]

Yeah I am sorry if I order a snake I want to know exactly what it looks like and not what a generic snake of that type looks like.

BHB reptiles does generic pictures and they have over 50 000 snakes. When people ask for detailed pictures I arrange them. I will be improving on this in the future.

Have you even looked at the legal ramifications of exporting snakes? That will influence your prices radically. To be honest I doubt you will even get it right.

I would not go public with something like this.

I might not get it right, I wont lose much in the process trying though. I do understand the legal ramifications and will be mostly concentrating on animals with low permit requirements. One of the reasons I am delaying the official launch is because I am waiting for EC permit changes to come into play.... though those still seem a bit off.

To highlight my compliance with relevant laws, the several orders I have processed (test bunnies from my family and friends volunteered) all went off without hassle. I imported the animals in from KZN to EC (organized the import and housing permits for the animals). I am complying with all legal requirements afaik.

[ghoti]

So from my side. Changes I have made based on concerns in this thread.

1) Added a contact phone number
2) Included a disclaimer on every animal that the picture is of the animal type and does not directly represent the animal they will be buying. They can ask for pictures of what they want to purchase.
3) Included a disclaimer warning everyone to take note of permit requirements for their province, as well as offering free assistance to all the people in EC.

I am trying to get pictures of all the actual animals, but I think I will need to take a trip up to Durbs to get that right. My supplier/breeder is always super busy, so its hard to get him motivated to take so many pictures

[Westley Price]

The website itself doesn't look bad at all.

I am however not impressed that you are using pictures from Google. You might be infringing on copyright laws---> Illegal.

If I were you I would rather take the website offline until you have pictures to which you own the rights. I would be super cheesed off if I found some of my pictures floating around on some guy's website who is trying to make a back off it.

But other than the pictures, I recon job well done.

Constructive criticism:
- Get rid of the USD ZAR conversion. No one in the US is going to buy Corns and Milks from RSA. South African will be your biggest clients so please them first.
- Get a coloured background. The white is a bit overwhelming.
- Maybe don't call them"Safe snakes" but rather "Non-venomous"
- Get a different slogan. Calling yourself SA's leading exotic animal site is a blatant lie.

Don't let criticism get you down. You have to start somewhere and work in all advice until you get a final product you are happy with.

[ghoti]

Okay, I have changed the theme to be less white. I have also removed all the pictures that are not mine, until they get replaced. I didnt see any copyright restrictions on any of the pictures I copied but to avoid conflict I have removed them.

I have asked the software vendor if they can default the currency to rands. They did not have that option so will wait on them to see if they can support

I called myself SA`s leading online exotic animal store because I couldnt find any other websites that had an exotic animal store. There are people advertising animals they sell on their websites or people who have offline stores, but none that was an actual store (with shopping cart and online payment processing). The closest I could come to that was reptilecity, but they dont really sell animals. Just the accessories. I figured that since I am going to be the first one, I am leading But I can see how that can cause issues so I have removed the logo for now, and will edit it when I get home.

[Westley Price]

Haha, I didn't mean to do all those things immediately. Just to keep in mind during the next review/update.

Good luck with your venture.