• Posted 12/19/2024.
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    I am still waiting on my developer to finish up on the Classifieds Control Panel so I can use it to encourage members into becoming paying members. Google Adsense has become a real burden on the viewing of this site, but honestly it is the ONLY source of income now that keeps it afloat. I tried offering disabling the ads being viewed by paying members, but apparently that is not enough incentive. Quite frankly, Google Adsense has dropped down to where it barely brings in enough daily to match even a single paid member per day. But it still gets the bills paid. But at what cost?

    So even without the classifieds control panel being complete, I believe I am going to have to disable those Google ads completely and likely disable some options here that have been free since going to the new platform. Like classified ad bumping, member name changes, and anything else I can use to encourage this site to be supported by the members instead of the Google Adsense ads.

    But there is risk involved. I will not pay out of pocket for very long during this last ditch experimental effort. If I find that the membership does not want to support this site with memberships, then I cannot support your being able to post your classified ads here for free. No, I am not intending to start charging for your posting ads here. I will just shut the site down and that will be it. I will be done with FaunaClassifieds. I certainly don't need this, and can live the rest of my life just fine without it. If I see that no one else really wants it to survive neither, then so be it. It goes away and you all can just go elsewhere to advertise your animals and merchandise.

    Not sure when this will take place, and I don't intend to give any further warning concerning the disabling of the Google Adsense. Just as there probably won't be any warning if I decide to close down this site. You will just come here and there will be some sort of message that the site is gone, and you have a nice day.

    I have been trying to make a go of this site for a very long time. And quite frankly, I am just tired of trying. I had hoped that enough people would be willing to help me help you all have a free outlet to offer your stuff for sale. But every year I see less and less people coming to this site, much less supporting it financially. That is fine. I tried. I retired the SerpenCo business about 14 years ago, so retiring out of this business completely is not that big if a step for me, nor will it be especially painful to do. When I was in Thailand, I did not check in here for three weeks. I didn't miss it even a little bit. So if you all want it to remain, it will be in your hands. I really don't care either way.

    =====================
    Some people have indicated that finding the method to contribute is rather difficult. And I have to admit, that it is not all that obvious. So to help, here is a thread to help as a quide. How to become a contributing member of FaunaClassifieds.

    And for the record, I will be shutting down the Google Adsense ads on January 1, 2025.
  • Responding to email notices you receive.
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    In short, DON'T! Email notices are to ONLY alert you of a reply to your private message or your ad on this site. Replying to the email just wastes your time as it goes NOWHERE, and probably pisses off the person you thought you replied to when they think you just ignored them. So instead of complaining to me about your messages not being replied to from this site via email, please READ that email notice that plainly states what you need to do in order to reply to who you are trying to converse with.

Inquiry David Zeitz aka Chelonia Guy

C

chairman

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An individual with user name Chelonia Guy, real name David Zeitz, responded to an ad I have in the Turtles/Tortoises classifieds. The user asked for communication to move to email, specifically [email protected]. I know this is a typical scam approach. Public records do indicate that there is a David Zeitz in Malabar, FL. There are a lot of DCReptiles, though none seem to match up with this user. The account is also odd since the account has been around since 2015 but they're a 'new member.'

Has anyone done business with this user?
 
chairman said:
The account is also odd since the account has been around since 2015 but they're a 'new member.'
Click to expand...
I would suspect that the forum software calculates this based on post count.

A little Googling suggests that the email address you mentioned is one that I personally would dump, given the risk of confusion with someone else using a name like that. Just an observation.

You can confirm the identity of an inquirer once you've gotten to the point of shipping details. If the name and location doesn't match what you expect, then you can back out at that point.

You don't have any obligation to use any method of communication other than the PM system here, keep in mind. Personally, if I say PM and someone doesn't PM, I'm not likely to be especially charitable. Folks who don't follow simple instructions don't usually follow more important instructions either, and that can sometimes turn into a problem.
 
Dave is a real person that been breeding tortoises for a very long time. Longer than 95% of the hobby.

Using email instead of this clunky messaging system is 100% not a red flag. Post count is what determines the title a user is given. Many, many users on this site have join dates in excess of 5 years but only have a few posts. If you just use the classifieds, and delete your adds after animals are sold, you will have a post count you can count on two hands, regardless of your join date.
 
Thanks for the reply Eric.

Posting your email address or phone number might not be a red flag but it is a very common way for scammers to operate or for scammers to locate targets. It was probably more dangerous for Dave to post his email than for me to respond to it.

I'm not looking to disparage Dave if he is a good guy but I'm also not looking to have to deal with a cashier's check for the wrong amount and shipping agent middle men nonsense.
 
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