Minimum order

I don't know if any of you noticed it, but I had to put a MINIMUM ORDER in place this season. This is just temporary until I can get out of the crunch I am in taking care of newly hatched babies.

Packing up an order is time consuming. Unless you've ever done it, and had to pick through hundreds (sometimes thousands) of animals looking for that one blasted last one to complete the order, you have no idea what it is like. Quite frankly, at this time of year, I just can't take the time it takes to pack up a small order for a single $25 animal. Even with that single animal, I have to do everything basically that I do for a much larger order except pull the same number of animals. All I did was figure out a minimum value for my time. Yeah, I know it sounds mercenary on the surface, but it really is not that way at all. I'd much rather turn away 20 of the $25 orders than suffer a heart attack trying to fill them all. The minimum order is cheap life insurance.

Realistically, considering the cost of shipping the animals in the first place, it is pretty foolish to place an order for less that $100 any way. BTW, that figure does NOT include the cost of shipping. The $100 minimum is considering the value of the animals themselves.

I am sorry I had to do this, but the work load right now is absolutely unreal. And with eight shows scheduled between mid August and the first part of November, it isn't going to get any better anytime soon.

As such, my correspondence is going to degrade from it's normally 'just barely adequate' level to completely dismal and beyond. Any email that requires more than a grunt or two from me in response is going to get piled up on that huge list of other emails that are awaiting an answer from me.

I have a stack of orders that are awaiting all of the animals on the list to be feeding before I can ship them out, and it looks like many will not be able to be shipped before we get back from the Daytona Beach show. The amount of work I need to do prior to that show to be ready for it is ridiculous. When I think about the number of animals I need to sex and label, plus all of the ones still just hatching out that will need to be set up in their deli cups and offered food, my head begins pounding and my heart skips a beat.

And WHY does time have to go so darn FAST these days???

Rich,
I would say that mini ordering is fine. With that amount of work load you are having, replying our email is already a very hard job for you to do already. This is basically what you have to do...photos, web site maintance, feeding hatchlings and adults, replying all our emails, shipping and preparing for show (I know that there are much more things that you have to do other than these things....these are just a few that you have to do....) I mean that is a LOT of things to do. So doing that minimum ordering is totally understandable. I would think that 100 dollars minimum is low already (but it's fine, don't raise it...or else other people will kill me...LOL...)
So do value your time, we don't want you to have a heart attack or something!

Take care!

I have no problem with the minamum order cost amount. I dont think it makes sense to order a 25$ snake then pay a 20-50$ shipping charge LoL

$100 minimum is a good thing. how many of us on here in the past have searched for excuses to get more snakes. from my point of view rich you are just giving us an easy way out when it comes to explaining things to our wives/hubbies/significant others... "but honey, RICH said i have to get these three snakes if you want THAT one" ...lol
good luck rich!!! ---jim

Like Jim said, it gives us more of an excuse to get more snakes! I feel a 100.00 dollars is reasonable. Just my .02 cents *S* Take care, Lindsay

Originally posted by Rich Z
And WHY does time have to go so darn FAST these days???

I have a theory:

As they say, it does seem that Time flies when you're having fun.
I have also noticed, as I get older, that the years seems to be going by faster and faster.

My theory is this:

As I get older, I must be having more and more fun!

Of course, because of the rules set by the Federal Drug Administration, I am having to test this theory out on mice. Unfortunately, none of the mice seem to be able to live long enough for me to even adequately test my theory.

Hire people to do the work for you, who here wouldn't want to work for Rich, seriously? Then the money you save by shipping out the cheap small orders can be saved to pay your part-time worker(s).

(P.S. I got my two girls in yesterday, this "don't touch for three days" stuff is seriously eating away my sanity,... they sit there and look at me and laugh, I can seriously hear their teenie wispy laughs "tshe he he" "na na na na boo boo")

I know if I were in FL, I'd quit my existing job in a heartbeat to work for Rich...I wouldn't need to have my own collection, I'd have his to stare at and play with!