...you probably dont need a fancy "merchant" type website to move a few corns. Well, the proof is out there actually - several of the people I've purchased herps from take ONLY money orders, and they do not have personal internet access, let alone fancy websites.
The first name that comes to mind is Vinny Ritchie, whose name is probably a little familiar to regulars here at Rich's site. He isn't exactly a technophobe (that I know of) the way some of my breeders are, but nevertheless from what I can tell he isn't short on customers for his house full of corns, balls, and beardies...
I assume with a hint of intellect and a measure of effort you will have no trouble finding customers. If you can't get a table at a nearby show, or you can't find customers through your local herp society, and you can't sell to any petstores in your state, and you're too cheap to buy a tiny add in the back of Reptiles, or... well, there's LOTs of ways to move herps that don't require a whole lot of modern tech
I *suspect* that as herps continue to become more ubiquitous, there might be a fairly balanced market precisely because it's such a popular notion for herpers to want to breed their pet. There should both be plenty of herps on the market, as well as plenty of market-potential to absorb the available supply. I'm anything other than experienced on the specific topic of herp economics, but some of the principals I've learned getting to where I am are applicable to some degree, I think, and so I can say these things with a measure of confidence.
Personally, I have grandiose notions of making my mark on the industry not through my herpetological expertise, nor my quality, quantity, or rarity of my herps (although I will continue to strive toward the benchmarks set by my peers and predecessors, of course) but by bringing my own special talents and experiences to the table for the benefit of both my peers, and the less psychotic herpers too (i.e. people with less than 10 herps, on average?) In other words, taking my background in technology, and project management, and trying to facilitate new levels of information-flow (and other projects) between herpers, so for my "business" a website is a no brainer.
I don't recon it'll get me rich, or any particular notoriety, which is good because as an agorophobe notoriety is the last thing I could want. It's just "doing my thing" in much the same way Rich (now free from his full time job, at 56?) is doing the thing that "does it" for him.
Wow, talk about wandering far afield, this all started because of a discussion which concluded that we all ought to:
Boycott Godaddy.com
Rofl.....
Maybe I should get to taking those pics CK was asking for
^Curtis
