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how to tell
the good from the not so good from
the pretty darn bad breeders/sellers. |
Once upon a time, only a
dozen breeders in the U.S. offered bettas for sale. Everyone knew
who they were and trusted them. Now the internet has made it possible for no
less than 5749000050043 breeders and breeders wanna be to advertise
their stock and try to sell it. Betta sites pop up daily. In this
jungle of betta sites, betta photos and betta sellers, how is one to
know who to pick as a betta supplier? Do you really know who you are
dealing with? Here are some very vital facts and advice designed to
help you make sound choices.
Things to look for in a betta
seller
You
know how picky you are about selecting a doctor? Well, think of your
betta supplier as you would a doctor. You must trust him/her. They
must have a good reputation and EXPERIENCE. They must be available
and willing to help you if you need help. They must know their
stuff. They must be able to save your (you know what) LOL. People rarely pick a doctor because they are
"cheap". Instead they look for one that they know is going
to help them, and be there for them in their time of need and be a
life saver (literally, when it comes to a doctor LOL). One with
which they can build a long term relationship. One that is going to
be around for a long time. All the above are qualities you must look
for in a betta supplier, too.
The following are the criteria you
should go by (and a few things to meditate upon) when looking for a betta seller:
 | accomplishments. Has this
seller accomplished anything worthwhile? (for example won on the
IBC show circuit, created new betta strains, wrote articles for fish
magazines, been featured on television LOL etc.)
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| longevity. How long has
this person been in the hobby? If only a couple of years or less
chances are they might not (yet) know what they are doing and
may not even be around tomorrow. Betta hobbyist
are notorious for getting in heavy into the hobby and then quitting within the first
2 to 3 years. Only those who pass that 3 year mark will stick with the
hobby.
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| experience.
How many years has this person been breeding bettas? Anything
less than 2 years is not worth mentioning. Years of hands on
experience are usually necessary before someone knows what they
are doing when it comes to bettas.
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| knowledge.
Does the seller appear to be very well versed in all aspect of
betta breeding/keeping? Remember that they will be your customer
support person, so make sure they have the extensive knowledge
to back it up. It might make the difference between all your stock
dying on you (because they were unable to help you) and your stock
being saved (because they promptly and accurately assessed your
specific problem and provided the solution to it).
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| professionalism.
Is this seller professional, organized and efficient? If not, I
would pass. After all you are going to trust this person with
your money. You want to make sure they do not lose your payment,
send you the wrong fish, type the wrong address on your betta's
shipping label and send the fish to the Bermuda triangle!!! As
you see professionalism can make the difference between a smooth
transaction and one that turns into alter HELL !
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| IBC affiliation. Is this
seller an IBC member? Here is a rule of thumb: All reputable
breeders are IBC members BUT IBC members are not all reputable
breeders. Many novices who have never bred bettas do sign up and
become IBC members. So be careful cause an IBC logo does not in itself
constitute any guaranty. However, no IBC logo is usually a bad sign ;).
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| availability. Does this
person update their site once a month? If so they are not
focussed on their betta business and it is likely they will not be available to help you when you will need them most. A
happening popular seller updates his/her site very often and
replies within 1 to 7 days to their vital emails.
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| reputation. Does
everybody know about this breeder? Good breeders are usually
widely known.
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| popularity. How fast
does this breeder sell their bettas? Do they have a lot of
orders under their belt? These are two sure indications of a
seller's level of success.
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| track record. look at
numbers. They should speak for themselves. How long has the
seller been selling, how much does he/she sells, etc...
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| shipping experience. A
very important detail not to be overlooked. An inexperienced
shipper can kill or hurt the bettas you have ordered! This has
always been my biggest complaint. Not only do beginners not know
how to ship, but many seasoned breeders do a very poor job, too!
Some may be very negligent in the way they go about things (ship
without letting you know, not use a heat pack when necessary,
send your fish priority mail etc...).
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| shipping track record. Find
out if sellers has a lot of DOA (Dead On Arrival) on their
record. Most sellers will have at least 1 to 20 a year. The lower
the number, the more highly it speaks of the seller's shipping savvy. But
remember you must ask how many bettas they have shipped and then
ask how many died during or right after shipping. Just asking
for a DOA number means nothing. For example if a novice only
sold 4 bettas that year and 2 arrived dead, it means he/she has
a 50% DOA record (BAAAAD). But if a breeder shipped 2000 bettas
and 2 arrived dead, then he/she has a 0.1% DOA record (good).
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| cleanliness. That is an
important issue but also a difficult one to assess, since you
will not have the opportunity to visit the sellers' set-up. Some
breeders are notorious for being "filthy" and having
very poor set-ups. Dirty tanks, overcrowded tanks and careless handling
will quickly spread diseases to all the stock they sell. So if a seller's
fishroom does not look 'squeaky clean' I would pass in a
heartbeat. Many fishrooms I have visited over the years were very musky and had
a lot of mold everywhere. Breeders only had 1 to 5 nets for all
their fish. I'll spare you the details. For that reason, photos of
a very clean, organized, well stocked fishroom are always a plus
in my book.
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| shared water. If a
breeder relies on a system with shared water to spawn bettas or
keep their stock, I would pass too. There are too many diseases
that are HIGHLY contagious and deadly and will wipe out an
entire fishroom in less time it took me to load this page! One
fish or live food carries it in, the system (with its shared
water) will quickly spread it from tank to tank, from jar to jar
and from betta to betta. Soon all the fish are contaminated. So
beware!!
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| references. Make sure
your seller has a LOT of references. 2 to 20 is not enough. 50
and up starts painting a more accurate picture. Read the
references and see what others have to say.
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| age. You might take this
factor for granted but I would not if I were you. Many of the
sellers that have websites or auction their bettas out there are
no more than teenagers. I once had a 15 year old in my fish club
who had her dad bring her to the meetings (she was too young to
drive). One day I bumped into her website and just about fell
off my chair. The website described her as a 'top professional
betta hatchery aiming to provide show quality stock to betta
hobbyists across the nation, etc etc.". Meanwhile I knew
for a fact she bred bettas in her bathroom and was barely 15
(and had only bred bettas for a few months). Had I not
known her personally I would have swore by looking at her
website that she was a top seasoned breeder, THE seller to go
to! So be very careful! I would personally favor a breeder
between 30 and 60 years of age. There are, of course, exceptions
to this broad rule of thumb.
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| attitude. Does this
breeder have a good, positive attitude? Does he/she feel the
need to flame or put down another seller in order to steal
business away from them? A successful seller does not need to
resort to such sordid practices to build his/her business. So if
a seller flames another seller on a forum or on his/her
website, I would not select this person as my supplier. Flaming other
sellers shows a great lack of professionalism and a negative attitude
that usually will reflect in the seller's dealing with their own
customers, especially if a dispute should arise. This hobby is
notorious for attracting a lot of mean people (petty, jealous,
negative, gossipy etc). Trust me, you do not want to have dealings with
that type of betta people and should stay as far away from them
as you possibly can. (if you want to preserve your sanity, that
is LOL). I have been flamed and attacked so many times on forums
and have read some of the most delusional lies about me on
occasion LOL. I just go about my business and let the ugly
people waste their time saying ugly things. While these people
are busy doing their little petty betta warfare, I am busy
becoming better at simply doing bettas. So then it is no
surprise that Animal Planet interviewed me (and not them)
hehehehe. If they stopped wasting precious time relentlessly
flaming others and invested that time in working on their craft,
surely they too would soon be on TV ;). (outch LOL). Well and
having said that, there are also some wonderful, awesome, friendly, kind
betta breeders out there (which I am honored to have as
friends). These positive people should be your aim and who you
should buy from.
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| 'personability'. Just as
you would with a doctor, you will want to build a relationship
with your betta seller. It is important to have a good rapport.
Is the seller personable, friendly and likeable? If not, I would
have reservations about purchasing stock from them. A friendly
person is more likely to help you and to be patient with you.
Also you are more likely to become friends with them. This
friendship may save your betta fannies one day ;).
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Cheaper is not the best way to
go
Although
you may get lucky and get nice bettas from a young unknown breeder,
it is usually a GREAT gamble that none of us can really afford to
take. You might
think you are saving money by finding a cheaper pair of bettas out
there, but if you get low end bettas (poor gene pool) you have
wasted not only the money spent on the pair (and the shipping fee)
but more importantly PRECIOUS TIME!! See, once you spawn that low
end betta pair, it will be another 6 months before the spawn grows,
the offsprings mature and you can see what you got. If all you got
is junk then you have to can the spawn, start again from scratch and
go back to square ONE. YIKES! Now you have to buy a new breeding
pair (again) and pay for its shipping (again) and in the end you did not save money, you threw money
(and time) out of the
window. You might want to complain to the seller only to find their
email address is no longer valid and their website vanished. These
are but a few of the things you must consider when going to whomever
has the cheapest prices around (thinking you are getting a bargain
LOL). Also remember that you get what you pay for. If a
seller is giving away their fish that means that there is no demand
for their stock (hence they can't sell them unless their prices are
super low). If there is no demand on their stock it means is that the seller is not successful.
If the seller is not successful it means they are not good at what
they do. And if they are not good at breeding bettas, then how good
can the bettas they have bred really be?? So you
probably should pass on them. (duh) Last
but not least, at the risk of being redundant, I must remind you
again that when you buy bettas you buy genes AND customer support
AND a service. So expect to pay a bit more for a seller that excels
in all above three. If a seller has
1)- great gene pools 2)- can provide great support (if ever needed)
and 3)- is very good at selling, collecting funds, coordinating, explaining
things, packing and safely
shipping THEN such seller is worth money themselves. Expect the
prices to be a bit higher, but you will be glad you spend the extra
$10 or $20. In the big picture, that is truly money well invested.
There are some good sellers out
there There are
some good sellers who are professional, honest, competent and have worthy
stock. Many of us know each other and are great friends :). So apply
the above advice to select a good breeder/seller, whomever they
might be, may they be me or someone else worthy :). There are more than one seller out there who do
combines all the above qualities. There are also a zillion others
who combine only a few or none of above qualities. So it is up to
you to do your homework and to chose WISELY. Wise Faithyoda,
spoken has.
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