# tarantulas for sale on EB*Y



## Cerberus1973 (Jun 28, 2009)

hi 
just been looking at tarantula enclosures on e**y and noticed people are selling tarantulas and scorps as livefood thoughtit was illegal to sell animals on e**Y


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## Athravan (Dec 28, 2006)

You can sell live invertebrates as food on ebay. As long as someone says it's food in the listing, it's fine. Even if it's not a suitable food at all. That's just how the ebay system seems to work!


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## spicewwfc (Aug 26, 2009)

Is not illegal if they are sold as "livefood".
It confused me at first, i couldn't fathom why a mantis was being sold as a feeder insect for £20.


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## arachniface (Dec 28, 2009)

I saw this too, was hoping that someone wasn't really selling _Brachypelma spp._ spiderlings as livefood for reptiles :/


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## firebelliedfreak (Nov 3, 2008)

i saw one guy who said that he feeds his red rump slings to anoles :/


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## garlicpickle (Jan 16, 2009)

it doesn't mean they really do, it just so the listing complies with ebay standards :lol2: I can't see somebody paying 15 quid for a spiderling just so they can feed it to their pet lizard.


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## David L (Jul 13, 2009)

There is a Cobalt Blue juvenile in there at the moment for £25 plus postage, he is advertising as food for your Chameleon / Gecko

This begs the questions:

1. Have people got more more money than sense?
2. Are people really dumb enough to put an aggressive species in a tank that might either escape the viv or cause some serious damamge to he reptile if it dousn't catch it quickly enough (I know my Chameleon likes to play wth his food before eating it.)
3. £25 for a juve unsexed Cobalt Blue... are you serious?
4. He warns that ths spider is for experienced keepers only... (why? It's only gonna be Gecko food, isn't it?) because they are aggressive (very true) and have beautiful colours..... ..................erm.... que?:hmm:


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## Hedgewitch (Feb 12, 2008)

garlicpickle said:


> it doesn't mean they really do, it just so the listing complies with ebay standards :lol2: I can't see somebody paying 15 quid for a spiderling just so they can feed it to their pet lizard.


^^^^



David L said:


> There is a Cobalt Blue juvenile in there at the moment for £25 plus postage, he is advertising as food for your Chameleon / Gecko
> 
> This begs the questions:
> 
> ...


It's just about eBay rules like Lisa says, no one thinks that they're really live-food. Well that's the assumption, seems every month or so someone's on here wondering why. However if you look closely most say "SOLD AS LIVEFOOD TO COMPLY WITH EBAY REGULATIONS"... plus if you can pick up a box of crix for £2 you're not gonna spend £10 on a single item of livefood.

It means eBay doesn't have to worry about people breaking pet sale liscenses and people have an easy method for selling on sticks, gals and mantids (mostly). I personally don't have an issue with it myself... people complain about sales via eBay, but in all honesty there's little difference between that and sales via TSS or the forums... hell, it's probably better than most pet shops.


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## nick gilchrist (Oct 16, 2008)

Actually i think its quite ingenious!! First. as long as the seller ensures that the person who has purchased the spider is aware of its requirements in regards housing and food, this is easily axchieved . as after the sale he can directly contact the buyer. Next..he clearly states its not for an inexperienced keeper...and as far as the livefood thing..obviously it gets past ebay rules. but they do state clearly "if however you decide to keep this as a pet..then full care details are supplied)
And finally...its exactly because you ask the question about its price..he wont sell it on here...you forget..if hes advertused on ebay..he has paid at least £2 for his advert if not more..then if he sells it they will hit him for commission..most likely the buyer will pay via paypal..there is another cut..so realistically i would expect his profit and his real return at only slightly above selling it on a forum.and good for him! bigger the better i say. Anything that increases the valueof tarantulas is always a good thing! for everybody.

I will give you an example..RED KNEE TARANTULAS. Now in my time ive seen 100s. bought loads..and for some inexplicable reason forums seem to have set some form of "expected" price on an adult female..of approx40-50..why? Ive seen adult females that are dull. crap condition. not particularly outstanding nor for that matter just about scrape the definition of adult.£25 worth if you are lucky..yet ive also seen absolutely stunning females..now on a forum both are worth the same normally about £50 max.I guarantee if you listed it on ebay, a good one would sell for a minimum of £75..in other words what its worth,,because you have an enormous marketplace. and one not encumbered with value experts ready to do an antiques roadshow on your loved spider...

I never criticise people for making a profit...thats business...in the same way its pointless putting an advert up saying "offers" WTF does that mean? So i make an offer of what? what im willing to pay? i dunno i might make an offer of £50 and you only wanted £20...the auction concept is absolutely the best way to sell anything...and that goes for spiders..if you had an auction option on the site your spiders would sell for more than they do..or not at all..if there is a reserve,,thats the only true way to "make an offer" when in direct competition with another...:whistling2:

PHEWWWW Sorry Its Monday and ive not had my hot choccy:lol2:


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## Stelios (Aug 28, 2009)

Well put.:no1:


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## shep1979 (Feb 24, 2008)

nick gilchrist said:


> Actually i think its quite ingenious!! First. as long as the seller ensures that the person who has purchased the spider is aware of its requirements in regards housing and food, this is easily axchieved . as after the sale he can directly contact the buyer. Next..he clearly states its not for an inexperienced keeper...and as far as the livefood thing..obviously it gets past ebay rules. but they do state clearly "if however you decide to keep this as a pet..then full care details are supplied)
> And finally...its exactly because you ask the question about its price..he wont sell it on here...you forget..if hes advertused on ebay..he has paid at least £2 for his advert if not more..then if he sells it they will hit him for commission..most likely the buyer will pay via paypal..there is another cut..so realistically i would expect his profit and his real return at only slightly above selling it on a forum.and good for him! bigger the better i say. Anything that increases the valueof tarantulas is always a good thing! for everybody.
> 
> I will give you an example..RED KNEE TARANTULAS. Now in my time ive seen 100s. bought loads..and for some inexplicable reason forums seem to have set some form of "expected" price on an adult female..of approx40-50..why? Ive seen adult females that are dull. crap condition. not particularly outstanding nor for that matter just about scrape the definition of adult.£25 worth if you are lucky..yet ive also seen absolutely stunning females..now on a forum both are worth the same normally about £50 max.I guarantee if you listed it on ebay, a good one would sell for a minimum of £75..in other words what its worth,,because you have an enormous marketplace. and one not encumbered with value experts ready to do an antiques roadshow on your loved spider...
> ...


finaly someone with some sence :2thumb:


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## Wight_inverts (Nov 15, 2009)

i can see th point to this tread, you read spiderlings forsale as "feeder food" and think wtf?????!
but as nick gilchrist put it so well it is away of selling spiders,
you have to say its for food to comply with ebay and goverment rules, lets face it is every breeder or people who want to sell there spider is not going to pay out and obtain a pet liscence?????
most websites that sell inverts also in small print state there selling inverts as live food to get around this, because you don't need a liscence to inverts as food, but you need a defra liscence for manimals such luck mice and rats.

i sell items on ebay and i know a few other people on here do as well, i provide a full caresheet from sling to adult, a home and substrate, if people buy a spider to feed to a reptile or fish they have got more money then sense!!!

Take care all,


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## Athravan (Dec 28, 2006)

Wight_inverts said:


> i can see th point to this tread, you read spiderlings forsale as "feeder food" and think wtf?????!
> but as nick gilchrist put it so well it is away of selling spiders,
> you have to say its for food to comply with ebay and goverment rules, lets face it is every breeder or people who want to sell there spider is not going to pay out and obtain a pet liscence?????
> most websites that sell inverts also in small print state there selling inverts as live food to get around this, because you don't need a liscence to inverts as food, but you need a defra liscence for manimals such luck mice and rats.
> ...


You don't need a Pet Shop License for any invertebrates, regardless of whether they are for pets or food. Ebay has it's own list of rules regarding the sale of animals, and they put the feeder list rule on purely out of their choice - there are absolutely no legalities stopping people selling inverts as pets. The licensing excludes inverts completely for any purpose. It's also not DEFRA regulated, it's a license issued by the local council - but you only need a license to sell them commercially, which is why sites like this can have large classified sections for people to sell their pets which is 100% legal. Ebay listings would be legal from priviate individuals for pets. 

Basically I'm just explaining that ebay does it because they choose to make that policy, not because of any of the laws/licenses that wouldn't apply.


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## pfb25 (Nov 13, 2009)

The great thing is, if the person has a high rating on ebay...... you are likely to get your spider!!! Because they have a reputation to keep. Some people get stiched up and lose their cash in some classified forum sales. I welcome spiders on ebay from the right sellers!


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## spider_mad (Mar 8, 2007)

firebelliedfreak said:


> i saw one guy who said that he feeds his red rump slings to anoles :/


Different strokes for different folks, even in the tarantula keepers handbook Schultz notes that he know a fellow hobbyist who fed Hiatian brown t spiderlings to larger tarantulas in the collection as found it to be such a common spider (going back good few years now bearing in mind) and bred species for food but inverts are invert food so no different what mother nature would have happen. Not saying the people should breed a species in their own collection as food but people have done.


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## spider_mad (Mar 8, 2007)

But in all fairness all debate aside at the end of the day anyone that would buy a spiderling or juvie on ebay are spider keepers anyway and would know what was what, what are the odds of a chav ********* accidentally typing in a tarantula species in the search engine. Trust me, there is very little chance with someone with no sense or responsibilty to come across tarantulas for sale so end of the day its no different to people advertising on forums and such.


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## Cockys Royals (Jun 28, 2008)

Ive purchased some mantids from greedbay, obviously not for food purposes. Got an order of 6 coming shortly too.


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## nick gilchrist (Oct 16, 2008)

Heres another thought for you..if you are selling a spider that you know is generally sought after..ie Blondi. or similar..and yet don`t want to go through the whole."how much do you want for it? or "would you swap for my air rifle and my brothers PS2 ?" ETC..plus avoid the annoying "thread drop discount"..you know..thats where you post up an ad selling your spider for a fair amount and then you get a few enquiries..then as your sale thread drops..you bump it. then bump it..then about the 3rd time you feel compelled to lower the price..which is exactly what everyone is waiting for etc...then instead,,list it on Ebay as an Auction with an acceptablereserve..then post the link on here? then you get everyone able to bid on it..and chances are as it runs a week you will get people actually putting bids in that they cannot back out of...plus you also have all the ebay punters also in there..and lets not forget by selling on ebay you have paypal protection if you get stitched. 

You will also get an indication of how many are actually really interested by the numbers "watching" the sale..as opposed to numbers on the forum who just read it out of interest..this will then indicate if its worth changing from buy it now to an open auction.

now i don`t know if this is allowed, or if there is a site rule against it..but if there is..maybe it needs changing...

I thought i would give it a go and sold 2 red knees in 1 day that way.. to experienced people i didnt advertise them here because at best id have got £80 for the 2..as it was they went for £130..now if thats not a good reason..not sure what is...

By the way my EBAY feedback is 100%with a total of over 3000 feedback (Think about what you need to do to achieve that!) Its fair to say it gives you an indication that you are likely to get good stuff..and the best customer service because im sure as hell not going to risk losing that rating!..not spiders though!! only the last 3!! but onviously it would have certainly helped in the sales of these.


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## arachniface (Dec 28, 2009)

spider_mad said:


> Different strokes for different folks, even in the tarantula keepers handbook Schultz notes that he know a fellow hobbyist who fed Hiatian brown t spiderlings to larger tarantulas in the collection as found it to be such a common spider (going back good few years now bearing in mind) and bred species for food but inverts are invert food so no different what mother nature would have happen. Not saying the people should breed a species in their own collection as food but people have done.


I know, I know. I am just a big soppy woman who hates even the vague thought of feeding itsy little furry spiders to things!



nick gilchrist said:


> Heres another thought for you..if you are selling a spider that you know is generally sought after..ie Blondi. or similar..and yet don`t want to go through the whole."how much do you want for it? or "would you swap for my air rifle and my brothers PS2 ?" ETC..plus avoid the annoying "thread drop discount"..you know..thats where you post up an ad selling your spider for a fair amount and then you get a few enquiries..then as your sale thread drops..you bump it. then bump it..then about the 3rd time you feel compelled to lower the price..which is exactly what everyone is waiting for etc...then instead,,list it on Ebay as an Auction with an acceptablereserve..then post the link on here? then you get everyone able to bid on it..and chances are as it runs a week you will get people actually putting bids in that they cannot back out of...plus you also have all the ebay punters also in there..and lets not forget by selling on ebay you have paypal protection if you get stitched.
> 
> You will also get an indication of how many are actually really interested by the numbers "watching" the sale..as opposed to numbers on the forum who just read it out of interest..this will then indicate if its worth changing from buy it now to an open auction.
> 
> ...


I think it helps people new to the hobby to pay more. I think it subconsciously makes one more careful and thorough about caring for your T. You're dead right about the reputation too - I'm not nearly as high as you but pride myself on my 100% in the last year and it does make buyers more confident as they feel unlikely to be that unlucky 1/500 or whatever who has problems.

LMAO @ "would you swap for my air rifle and my brothers PS2..." people have even started doing that on eBay now, my brother sold a souped-up car a few years ago and got a couple of pretty hilarious offers. 

Just don't forget to BREATHE while you're typing, Nick...


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## waynenoonan1234 (Sep 11, 2009)

i post something about ebay yesterday about them selling spiders. in a way its wrong and right. let me explain. i think its wrong as most of them will post even tho weather is bad and also the price of some of them. on the other hand this way you will have a garantee i mean that if you didn't recive it you could claim your money back though pay pal. but as some people said in this thread its stupid and unsafe. if you read some of the adverts on there most of them say live food but a lot of them say they can surply a caresheet, some pet shops dont even give you that. but i would rather buy some think i could see with my own eyes or from someone who can be trusted. plus some people on ebay have been rather clever in finding a way to bend the rules. and also this is not much different from buying from a online shop


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## Ally (Mar 8, 2006)

Don't lump all sellers together - my babies are on there too 
I will only post if the weather is ok, my prices are more than on here (I have to pay the ebay fees  ) but not unreasonable I don't think. I've sold quite a few of them, and have contacted every purchaser before I've posted to make sure that it's convinient for them to take delivery and to email over my caresheet. Generally they are already keepers, the new ones appear more than happy to chat for a few emails too.

It's the first time I've sold T's on ebay, and I've been genuinely pleasantly surprised. Having to put "For sale as Livefood to comply with Ebay rules" is an inconvinience, but no one is silly enough to actually believe it that I've found!

The only thing that I find odd, is that you *are* allowed to sell fish, and advertise as being able to post by Royal Mail - which technically you're not allowed to as they are vertibrates...


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## jack_rep (Sep 11, 2008)

dont really see what the fuss is about. I feed all my lizards ebay bought freshly moulted AF P.Metallica. They cant get enough of them.


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