Just about every other email, right now, asks if a cage comes with a chin. The best ones ask what type of cage, and if they can pick, because they'd really like to get a ferret nation, and it'd be an awesome deal to adopt a chin for $75 and get a full decked out double FN with the chin.
The gecko people, sadly aren't much better. We'll get back to the chin people, but just for a moment, let me quote you, right off my website, the part that talks about if you need supplies (other than a month's-ish supply of food) with your gecko:
We can send these geckos home with their (temporary) setups (they will eventually need upgrades, but these enclosures work just fine for the moment), as well as some supplies, as follows, in a gecko kit.
This gecko kit will contain:
Tub or kritter keeper-type enclosure for the gecko
Foliage / plants
Possibly a hide, depending on size of enclosure
Water bowl
Supply of bottle caps (feeding dishes)
1 ounce Pangea CGD (our 50/50 watermelon/insect mix)
Mist bottle
Paper towels for the bottom of the cage
If you said, a glass terrarium with all sorts of fancy climbing items from the pet store that run $13+ each, you'd be sadly mistaken. I don't have a lot of those accessories for my OWN gecko cages... heck, the tree-trunk thing I have in my one gecko enclosure was $39.99! So, no, unfortunately I am not able to include something like that in your gecko kit. But yet, I get emails, like the one today, which says --
"Hello, I am interested in adopting one of your crested Geckos and was wondering about the terrarium that is available with them. What are the dimensions/are internal wood/climbing surfaces included?"
Not to dash people's hopes, but I mean... the words "tub" and "kritter keeper" -- to me, those words do not suggest that the gecko comes with a terrarium. Terrariums start at $70 for the tiniest tiniest one that will hold a gecko for a fraction of its life, and sure, that'd be great if I was donated 20 of them with the geckos, but... reality check (cause this is rescue, let's remember)... these geckos are in small tubs. I need to email that person back and answer their question... and I'm sure, after dashing their hopes about getting a fancy terrarium for pennies, I will likely never hear from them again. For reference, the largest tub (and there's not that many of these, most are smaller) is like 18L x 12W x 10H. Hence, notice, where it says "temporary" enclosures. Most people who have adopted a gecko have gone and purchased their own, nice terrariums, for their gecko... I think only two geckos have gone home with their "stuff" and that was only because, in both instances, the people were waiting for their terrarium to arrive in the mail.
I mention this example with the gecko because that was literally today that I got that email, but I get this with the chins all the time. Surely, they all come with cages. And not like, little cages, like great big fancy cages. Oh and that month's worth of food that I provide... that's a good start. Can I throw in some dust as well? At one of these expos, I had one of my retired breeders listed at $75. Some of you have undoubtedly heard this story. The guy wanted me to throw in a bag of dust. I said no. He asked why not. I told him, the price was $75. He asked for more food. I said I could throw in another bag of food. "How about that dust too?" No. I explained that this chin was a fancy chin that I had paid a fortune for, a few years back, and the only reason I was selling him was because he wasn't producing as good as I'd like, but that $75 was only a FRACTION of what I'd paid, and he was still less than 5 years old... hardly old, and nothing wrong with him. He haggled and haggled and wanted me to throw in this and this and this and that... eventually, we settled on the chin, an extra 2 pounds of food, and a bag of dust for $80. That should have cost $82.75 ($75 chin + $1.50 food + $6.25 dust), so obviously not a huge loss, but... looking back, I should have stood my ground and said, sorry, these prices are firm. Everyone wants something for nothing, and I must have missed the day when they taught people that buying a pet was a garage-sale-type-transaction, because that's not how I've ever been. Short of being in person at a physical garage sale, I will not ask for a discount. I must be in the minority.
I realize people do ask for discounts, all the time. Heck, when I used to work at Meijer, people would walk in and find an item, and say, "this is cheaper at Walmart." My personal opinion on that? If it really is cheaper at Walmart (and Meijer doesn't price match, just for reference), then they should go to Walmart to go get the cheaper price. I mean, right? Meijer isn't going to lower the price just for that person.
And that's how it is here. Few days ago, someone told me about a chin for sale on craigslist, came with a cage, supplies, whatnot. I think it was $100 and (according to them) had a nice cage and all sorts of supplies. They asked what they could get (here) for $100. So I showed them some $75 chins and then said they could use the other $25 for supplies (which could be a few months worth of food, dust, hay, toy, etc... not going to be able to get a cage for that, but could get the chin and everything but), and then also showed them some $100 chins. Their response -- they were incredulous that they would have to *gasp* BUY supplies! Surely the chins came with all of that! I mean, those nice cages that I spent years decking out so the rescue chins have it nice... those should be INCLUDED WITH THE CHINS. Uh-huh. I told them, for my FNs, I spent a lot of money buying them, cleaning them up, buying the metal bass pans, getting those powdercoated, making sure each level of each cage has a wheel... you get the idea... I explained, if I gave those away, what would I use for the next rescue chins that came in? You'll love their answer -- I should buy more and deck out more, so the new chins can have that too! I'm sorry, did I win the lottery and just forget? I nicely explained, there isn't a lot of money in rescue, surely not enough to do that, but that I offer cages for sale, new and used, and even the new ones are much cheaper than pet store cages, as are all of my supplies, which I explained, I carry / sell, so that people are able to get these supplies cheaper. Their response -- "but I can't get a chin, cage, and all that for $100 here, like I can on craigslist?" No. No, you can't. So, again, trying to be nice, I mentioned to this person... since they said it was such a good deal, why was it that they didn't get the craigslist chin, but were instead, here at my place? You'll love this -- they were here because my chins were nicer and looked healthier and they knew the were cared for better.
I'm not saying that you couldn't find a nice chin on craigslist with a nice cage and all the fixings and all that. I'm sure you can. Some people do sell good setups and all that and care about their pets. Definitely not saying I'm the only one who does -- nothing of the sort. But... I charge what I charge, the craigslist people charge what they charge. I'm not price matching some random person, because someone saw it cheaper elsewhere. They are free to get the chin wherever they'd like to. The craigslist chin may be healthy and friendly and wonderful... or may not be. No way to know except to go look at it and see what they think... but this isn't craigslist (sure, I list on craigslist, but if you read the ad, it is obvious that it is an ad for an animal in a rescue), and our animals don't come with all supplies. Heck, many people drop off the chin in a cardboard box, so I often don't have supplies to dole out, even if I wanted to.
But keep in mind -- if you go to the humane society and adopt a dog -- does it come with a crate? Food bowl / water bowl? Collar / leash? Potty trained (do they even know?)? In case you haven't been to a humane society lately, the answer to all these questions is no. You are expected to show up with a leash and collar for the dog, and they usually have some for sale if you need those items and didn't bring them. You are presented with the dog, which becomes your responsibility to provide for. Anything extra you need, they may sell, but if they don't, the pet store has. Same here. If you wouldn't think of asking them to lower their adoption fee, or include extra things, why ask here? If anything, we get less donations and volunteers than these places with the cute dogs and puppies that can show more affection to their owners than the average small animal... so we have less to give. The critters all come with some food to start you off with, a care packet, a lifetime of support, and some chews / treats. Be happy with what you're given.
No comments:
Post a Comment