The business end of things?

[Neill]

Been wondering, and have asked questions along the way. Now very interested on what steps to take to sell a few geckos. This is a hobby for me, by know means will this turn into a full time job (got one of them already). Space is limited and there are certain morphs I would like to produce my self. So the other babies I would like to pay my electric bill, feeder, and cleaning costs.

I have seen most ways for selling reptiles, pet stores, shows, websites to people or other breeders. The questions i now have are what is needed to start the process.

So hear are a few questions that really stick in my head right off the bat.

Do you need a license to sell your reptiles? TO A: Show / internet / pet store

Do I have to worry about being audited? When does "the tax man" start wanting some of my money.

What are the steps you go through for a smooth delivery of a reptile sold over internet (money transfer... reptile.. box .. ship .. delivered all in 24-48 hours)

What went wrong??? How bad was it??? How did it affect you???
Everyone talks about the good times or how fun it is what a great hobby. What is the worst thing that's happened to you from the hobby?

Think those are the main ones. Just want to know because this year I know im going to have around 12 babies and I cant keep them all. There are a few shows in my area but I don't want to go into them blind. So just want to know what I will need.

 

[acpart]

Good questions. I'm actually investigating my legal obligations in Massachusetts (where we both live) so this is what I've found out:

Do you need a license to sell your reptiles? TO A: Show / internet / pet store

You do not need a license to sell your geckos to any of these places. I actually emailed the Pet Shop contact person to ask if I was a pet shop and she said that as long as I'm not taking animals from other people and keeping them in my house to re-sell, I am not a pet shop.

Do I have to worry about being audited? When does "the tax man" start wanting some of my money.

If you gross less than $600/year, as far as I understand, you are not obligated to pay federal taxes. Technically, someone who will gross more than that should register as a business. The easiest way to do that is to be a "sole proprietor". That means that you don't need to file anything with the state of MA, though you may have to get a certificate from your town (I'll be contacting the town clerk in my town tomorrow to see if I have to fill out a form). If you have a business name, you can be DBA ("doing business as") Business Name. When you pay taxes, you put this info on your tax form. You may have to file some additional federal tax forms (Schedule C and/or SE).

I have been keeping records of all income and expenditures and starting in 2010 I'm saving receipts as well.

What are the steps you go through for a smooth delivery of a reptile sold over internet (money transfer... reptile.. box .. ship .. delivered all in 24-48 hours)

a. correspond with a potential buyer. Decide on a payment method (I highly recommend paypal) and shipping date
b. use the tool in shipyourreptiles.com to figure out postage from your zip code to the buyer's zip code **next day air** which you will quote in your total price to the buyer
c. receive the buyer's paypal payment
d. before you even have a buyer, go to shipyourreptiles.com and read all their stuff and learn what to do (and get the supplies you need, which they also sell)
e. pay a visit to your local UPS hub on the pretext that you want to know what time they close so you can bring your REPTILE near closing time. What you really want to accomplish is to let them know you're shipping a reptile and make sure they don't say "reptiles aren't allowed". If this happens (it happened to me when I did my pre-ship check), I called the main UPS customer service number, told them which hub I had gone to and what the problem was and was then called back by the supervisor from that hub (who had been contacted by CUstomer Service) who assured me it would be ok (and it was)
f. The afternoon of the day you are planning to ship, pack up your reptile and take it to the hub. I prefer to take the package some time after 2pm so it doesn't have to sit in the center all day
g. email the tracking number (which will be provided when you book through shipyourreptiles.com) to the buyer; email the buyer that the package went out and encourage him/.her to let you know when the gecko arrives
h. haunt your computer around 10:30 next morning for indication from the tracking that the gecko has arrived
i. breathe a sigh of relief.

I have only shipped about 4 times and they have all been good, problem-free experiences.

My worst experience with buyers is when they indicate they want to buy the gecko and get all the way to the point of "how will you pay/ when do you want it" and then they just stop corresponding.

I responded to a post within the last month where I listed a lot of ways to sell your geckos. I will probably turn it into a Gecko Time article this spring.

GOod luck, sorry so long.

Aliza

 

[Neill]

No problem with it being long at all. Not sure if i will be able to do shipping after seeing your time posts. The damn 9-5 will keep me on the toes. Maybe i could do like one day out of the week as a ship day. Great info! First I will see how many hatch this year.

 

[MichaelJ]

We use FedEx for shipping and our local hub accepts overnight packages until 7:30pm, so we drop off shipments just before then (leos spend less time in the box). We ship 50-80 geckos a year and haven't had a problem.

As far as things we did wrong... we spent too much money building our first rack. We got smarter the second time around and it was a quarter of the cost. We also obsessed over every detail in the beginning.. documenting every mealworm eaten (to the number), every poop, etc. Then we finally realized that we don't have to count every worm! LOL!

 

[granitestate]

On this subject, does anyone here make a living breeding and selling geckos? I'd imagine this to be more of a side project for extra money, unless you were also breeding other reptiles.

I read some ladies blog saying she actually got into a hole doing this, but did it for the love the of animals. Eventually though I would imagine you'd run out of room

 

[Neill]

i have little room and so far about 1000 down in buying geckos heat regulators food medical bills. I'm having fun so I don't see it as a hole its money well spent I love it!

 

[acpart]

As I posted in another place, I made a grand total of $300 last year not counting mileage and electricity. I'm happy to more or less have my hobby pay for itself. That doesn't mean I would turn down an ethical way to make more money with a moderate amount of work, but it's not really an issue.

Aliza