Where have all the good sellers gone????

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madamwlf

Nevermore Acres
9 Years
Aug 22, 2010
6,661
45
258
Mount Airy, MD
At this point, I am so fed up with buying hatching eggs from anyone on here or Ebay. Now don't get me wrong, I've had some great experiences but the bad at this point are out weighing the good. For one, why is it when you ask a seller to mark a box "Call for Pickup - xxx-xxx-xxxx" some sellers just don't do it. I have a box now coming that the seller was told to mark it but apparently didn't. It's out for delivery. My post office knows me quite well. I've been there at least 3 times a month to pick up boxes of eggs and they know. Had eggs delivered Monday and same thing. Didn't mark it and my post carrier asked if it was eggs. They know me! I don't live in the city, more like at least 15 minutes out in a rural area. It's easier and safer for the eggs for me to pick them up on my way home from work. I've had boxes of eggs sitting on my steps in the hot sun when I get home from work, boxes that were suppose to be marked. I refuse to accept them. You as a seller have just taken my slightly good chance of hatching these eggs and shot it to heck. What do I hear from the sellers? Try incubating and see. What??? Do you know electricity costs? Why would I try to hatch bad eggs?? So I did with one batch. One chick. I wasted 21 days on one chick. And most sellers act like you are the scum of the earth asking for more eggs because they screwed up.

Another issue I have is how sellers say "I won't be responsible for what the post office does." Okay no big deal but how is it the buyers fault what the post office does. Can't you learn to work with your buyers? If a box gets lost and the hatch is horrible, why not work with them. It isn't the buyers fault the PO lost the box. Yes, I'm having this issue too. I have one egg that even developed after 10 days. What did the seller say? What to see what happens with the others? What? You think they are going to catch up? If it isn't developing after 10 days I highly doubt it will start developing. Did the buyer offer to work something out? Heck no because apparently it's okay to let a customer suffer the loss. My good hard money wasted because of something that wasn't my fault.

Which is my biggest issue with sellers. Their attitude. If it's your fault, fix it!!! Don't treat the buyer like they are absolutely wrong for asking you to fix it. It's just not right and very bad business. It doesn't mean the buyer is greed because they are asking you to fix what you did wrong. I work hard for my money and expect to get what I paid for. Yes, I understand the risk of hatching shipped eggs but I believe too many sellers use that as an excuse for having poor quality eggs period. I've had eggs shipped all the way from CA to MD and gotten over 75% hatch rate. I would buy from her again in a heart beat. Others, I've gotten the absolute poorest hatch rate and not in just one batch. If I get more then one batch of eggs from a seller and hatch rate is very low, I don't see how that is the PO's fault.

And if an individual PMs you about your eggs or birds, have the courtesy to actually answer it back. It's just rude not too.

Sorry for the rant but frankly it's just ridiculous how buyers are treated. Okay, I'm done.
 
Why don't you try having the sellers ship to your post office address ? Most shipping info is read by machine. The boxes go along conveyor belts and fall into bins. It does not matter what is on the box in terms of fragile, etc. That said, I had the post office lose one of my boxes going to Colorado . I sent them another box. They eventually got the first box, and some did hatch but I wanted them to be happy. I always send extras, and pack as well as possible, but my profit margin is very small . I just wish they would use more people and less machines at the po. Mail carriers can be wonderful or dense. I had one hand deliver a package yesterday, but left another in my box for someone at a different address! It us a crap shoot for sure to try and hatch shipped eggs. What breeds are you looking for?
 
I've always put on egg auctions that I'm not responsible for the eggs once they enter the postal system, becuase I have no control over how they're handled. I don't offer replacement eggs and people know that going in it because I also state that on the auction.

I wrap them well and when I sell eggs I've always got eggs from the same time frame in my incubator....just to keep tabs on how my fertility is doing.

I've sold a lot of eggs and also had a lot of eggs shipped to me over the years. They are a gamble under the best of circumstances. There have been many times I had 100% developing here at home while eggs that were gathered at the same time and shipped out don't do well.

PO handling and a person's incubation just varies too much......both things I've got no control over.
 
I would think that a seller, in a time when it is a struggle to sell eating eggs for $2.00 per dozen, that they would treat you like gold at lets say somewhat over that. I have seen them from $1.00 per dozen with a few extra shipping dollars padded in, up to $40.00 or so per dozen. Sometimes good farmers, hatcheries, bird people etc... aren't the best business people.

I feel your pain.
 
I don't see how it is that difficult to mark a box if the buyer asks and my box does read the boxes. I've had many boxes held there for me. And not just eggs. I'm into another hobby that I have boxes held there as well. I've been trying to hatch blue/splash Marans and Orpingtons and silkies. Unfortunately I'm having little to no success with sellers or their eggs.
 
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I completely understand it is a gamble but please explain to me how it is my fault if the PO loses the box. Is it not good business practice to work with a buyer if something like that happens? That's all I'm saying.
 
If you do a search for this topic you will find multiple threads touting both sides of the issue. Might be interesting reading.

I have been on both sides of the issue. I have purchased or traded eggs and had horrible hatches. I have bought/traded eggs and had great hatches. It is frustrating when you spend a lot of money on eggs and you get nothing.
But from the other perspecitive, as a conscientious seller I do everything in my power to protect those little eggs. I always do test hatches here to check fertility before I ever sell any. I spent an entire summer mailing out test lots to friends to check the best packing method. I spend a lot of time and money on supplies and packing. Once I get it to the post office I really don't have any control. From my seller's perspective I see mailing eggs as a courtesy to the buyer. I would prefer that the buyer come get the eggs. Since that is not feasible, I will wrap them up and ship them. But they really are out of my control once that box leaves my hands. I have done everything I can to ensure that they get there viable. My job is done. From that point on the risk is the buyer's since they chose to have these embryos mailed.

Truthfully, I have almost totally quit selling eggs. People complain bitterly when they don't get 100% hatch and feel like I purposely cheated them. I often set a round here right before or right after I mail eggs out. When I can get a 100% hatch here, it indicates to me that the problem happens in transit or in the incubation practices on the other end. I cannot control any of that. In order to ensure a live chick or chicken it is just easier to sell hatched chicks or started birds. You generally get the same number of chicks out of it for what you pay for eggs although shipping chicks and live birds is excessively expensive (between $25-60 dollars a box).

Sooooo... my general philosophy when buying is that the shipping is a convenience to me in order for me to get what I want. I assume the risks at that point. Yes, it is frustrating to have rotten hatches, but if I have chosen an ethical breeder to start with that's just how things happen. I can either suck it up and purchase live chicks or I can take the chance on eggs making it.

I'm sorry you've had rotten luck.
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I'm sorry you have had bad luck. Sometimes people get in a hurry to get to the po and forget. But really , most people do try to get it right. I think everyone screws up sometimes. Are you needing show or breeder quality, and what colors are you looking for?
 
I will also add that silkie eggs for whatever reason seem to be more fragile than other breeds. I have had horrible luck shipping them and ordering them. I sent 14 eggs on a test run to a friend (in two different boxes packed in different ways). I think she got 5 chicks out of the deal. Silkie eggs just don't do all that well in the mail.

If you want a specific color of silkies and want good quality it might be worth it to just purchase started birds. They you can hatch the eggs that they lay.
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Oh I have good quality silkie eggs coming from the state above me. And I know there are risks with shipped eggs. I have accepted that. I just wish sellers were more understanding that it isn't really the buyers fault either. If all goes well with shipping then great. But if the box is lost for days then why not work with them? Try to ensure they at least have a chance at something more the one lone egg.
 
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