Deposits, whats a reasonable timescale?

[retri]

I know alot of people on the forum like to take deposits to prevent those unreliable people letting them down.

But what if someone does pay a deposit and then keeps putting off collecting the animal and paying the remainder of the price?

How long is a reasonable time to wait, do you just wait for the unforseeable future or do you wait a cirtian ammount of time and then put the animal back up for sale and keep the non refundable deposit?

I just wanted to know how other people go about thier business with this type of thing, I mean after some time you will end up spending the deposit on feeding and caring for the animal anyway.....

[Saedcantas]

When I worked in trade we would allow a maximum of a month between deposit and collection, but one week was much more usual.

I think personally I'd call it somewhere between 2-4 weeks depending on the situation

[Replika]

I would suggest written contact stating a time for full payment and collection or else the deposit is forfeit and you will sell the snake to another person. Keep it polite and a copy for your records. The buyer enters a contract with you when the deposit is paid it is not unreasonable for you to expect full payment after a reasonable amount of time. By giving them written notice of your intentions they cannot bleat later and haven't a leg to stand on, IMHO, if they moan. But be fair and I'm sure it'll either shake them up to complete the transaction or you'll never hear from them again. If they have found themselves in the position where they cannot afford to pay the outstanding amount then if they say it you may chose, your descretion, to return some or all of their deposit. By doing the above you would be acting fairly and transparently and, in my opinion, well within civil law.

[lizardloverrach]

probably best to give them a time scale in the first place.
but i also say 2-4 weeks max. if no payment/collection. then you keep your deposit and put it back up for sale.

[hogboy]

This is where i think non returnable deposits would prove useful, after a given time.

[GeneticMorphs]

When i sell snakes i require a deposit to hold the snake for the new owner.
25% is normally the going deposit.
I agree a time scale for the payment and expect total honesty from the buyer. If they cannot come up with the payment in the recomended time scale, i sometimes offer a payment plan, and depending on the price of the snake, this could be anywhere between 1 month and 3 months.
If the person does not contact you for say 2 or 3 weeks, then i assume they are avoiding me and i put the snake back up for sale. (deposit forfeited)

Alot of the people from this forum buy from me, and when i have had succesful dealing with them in the past, then i would normally hold the snake without a deposit, but then also with a time scale attached.

I have only had one let down so far tbh, and that is why i still have one baby boa for sale.

On my website there are terms and conditions that i ask all new buyers to read and agree to via email. (exception for previous buyers) this email i keep as proof.

www.GeneticMorphs.com

Hope this helps?

JP

[jnr]

Originally Posted by Replika

I would suggest written contact stating a time for full payment and collection or else the deposit is forfeit and you will sell the snake to another person. Keep it polite and a copy for your records. The buyer enters a contract with you when the deposit is paid it is not unreasonable for you to expect full payment after a reasonable amount of time. By giving them written notice of your intentions they cannot bleat later and haven't a leg to stand on, IMHO, if they moan. But be fair and I'm sure it'll either shake them up to complete the transaction or you'll never hear from them again. If they have found themselves in the position where they cannot afford to pay the outstanding amount then if they say it you may chose, your descretion, to return some or all of their deposit. By doing the above you would be acting fairly and transparently and, in my opinion, well within civil law.

Under civil law a customer can simply serve a small claims action to recover their monies, a legal contract would have to be drawn up by a solicitor & signed & witnessed by both parties..it is simply not enough to give a verbal agreement & with hold monies..you will find that it would not stand up in court

[Caz]

I arrange a date for collection and then take a deposit.
If the collection date is not met by the buyer and no contact received before that date then...tough.

[Tops]

Originally Posted by jnr

Under civil law a customer can simply serve a small claims action to recover their monies, a legal contract would have to be drawn up by a solicitor & signed & witnessed by both parties..it is simply not enough to give a verbal agreement & with hold monies..you will find that it would not stand up in court

Im sure I read something along those lines too. You cant just keep someones money because they havent managed to get the rest together as they will have never received any goods. You still have the snake and have in theory lost nothing (apart from some time).

Just telling someone its a non-refundable deposit doesnt make it so.

[cornmorphs]

we have done a non refundable deposit on our scheme.. by entering, people have had to acknowlegde this fact.
I have said tho, no one need to lose anything, the deposit is 25 pounds, so all they need to do is take a 25 pound value snake at the end of it rather than lose, so i expect no one to lose out.