I Went To My First Bird Show

[Raleighwheels]

I was invited by a friend of mine to go to a nearby bird show on Saturday. It was sort of a last minute thing for me, so I didn't have tons of birds to bring, just four, but I wanted to test the waters and see how I liked it.

My friend and I were the only ones there selling only finches. It is a hobby for both of us and we do it out of love for the species, and not just for profit. That being said, our prices aren't as high as they probably could've been.

The one thing that happened that struck me as odd is that a woman that was a vendor next to us bought some birds off of us, and then sold them to other people without telling her customers that she didn't breed them, and I'm sure she sold them for way more too.

I think that if I do a show again that I'll have to not sell to other vendors at the show, or not sell to them until the show is done.

Has anyone else experienced this, or have some advice on what I could do?

[Sally]

The first time I was a vendor at a mart, another vendor bought all the Gouldians I brought before the doors opened for the public. He then told me that I had priced my birds way too low, that I should check out other vendor's prices when setting my own. But he didn't get them to resell, he said he wanted them for himself, as he wanted to get back into breeding Gouldians. At most marts, there is lots of swapping, selling, and buying amongst the vendors before the doors open to the public, but usually that is just vendors getting new birds or bloodlines for themselves, not to turn around and resell. It is just not kosher to do as that woman did, I would have been quite put out by her. You are probably right, she sold them for more, and never told the buyers that they weren't her birds. Not a good vendor in my book.

[lovezebs]

Raleighwheels
Sounds like crooked dealings to me. I would not buy anything from that woman (if ever you see her again) and I'd warn other folks about her as well. If she was right next to you guys, I would have commented to her customers: "Oh, I'm so glad you like OUR finches which this lady just bought from us for a lower price...."

~Elana~

[Raleighwheels]

This lady was selling some amazing looking budgies, and I really need some new blood for my breeding, but she just rubbed me the wrong way, so I didn't buy from her.

[lovezebs]

Raleighwheels

Good for you! I wouldn't have bought anything from her either. Not to be vindictive (well, that too) but for the simple reason that you wouldn't know if these are her birds or not. Maybe she'd bought them from the back of a truck in the parking lot for all you know.

Regarding amazing budgies.... here's my little Freebee, sending a friendly hello from Canada.

~Elana~

[steve]

Firstly, I can't wait for my first bird show, I just know it is going to cost me a lot of money. I believe that "Vendors" are all about profit, it maybe even their bread and butter, a lot of them will spin any story to make a sale. I prefer to buy from Breeders with a passion that are proud of their birds and will give the history of the bird and tips for it's well being. Thing is, if you have a bad experience with a vendor you are not going to return and word of mouth also helps to get rid of under handed sellers.

Steve

[steve]

lovezebs, nice budgie.

Steve

[Nagdabit]

That vendor certainly stirred up quite a few of the others. In addition to buying birds from us, and then turning around and selling them to another vendor, someone else found out that she had sold an unweaned bird. She, in turn, approached the gentleman who ran the show with that information after the purchaser came to her with the little fella asking for help. Poor thing was already in pretty bad shape, so obviously they were not qualified to finish the weaning process, yet the bird was sold to them anyway.

Most shows have it written in their by-laws that the selling of unweaned birds is not allowed, so after hearing about the unweaned bird and her shady reselling of our birds, the show's originator has said that she will not be allowed to set up a stand at any more of his shows.

[TailFeathers]

Bad business practice from others let me stop doing business altogether.i remember when I was real youngi had my own company, so many shady people and liars made me feel sick to my stomach.

The worst is when you have bad partner. I remember losing a 1 million dollar contract because of him. I literally went brankrupt after that.

[MiaCarter]

Eeek. That's not cool.

That's disturbing that she would re-sell your birds. Even more so while she's right beside you. That lady had one helluva pair of peanuts, that's for sure.

That's just plain horrifying that a breeder would place an unweaned bird.

I know some hookbill breeders do this for those who wish to handfeed for bonding purposes. I don't love this practice, but at least the buyers know the baby is not weaned.
But selling an unweaned bird to a buyer who doesn't realize this is a death sentence! That poor bird is lucky that the new owner was astute enough to realize what was happening. A less knowledgeable individual may not have realized what was happening until it was too late.

This woman is clearly a less-than-responsible breeder which is unfortunate. I would alert the show organizers to what she did with your birds, so they're aware. That, combined with the incident with the unweaned bird, would make me loathe to allow her to participate in a future show.

As a breeder, you have the right to know where your birds are going. Her act of selling the birds totally undermines that right.
In fact, many breeders (mostly larger birds, dogs, cats, etc.) make you sign a contract agreeing to return the animal to the breeder if you can no longer care for the animal for whatever reason.
I would have been upset that she resold the birds to goodness knows who.

As for selling to other vendors in the future, I'd be straightforward - simply tell them that you've had issues with less-than-reputable breeders reselling your birds. So they're free to purchase a bird for their own collection, but you'll hold on to the birds until AFTER the show.

[Sally]

Most vendors at bird marts are honest, many are hobby breeders who use the marts as a way to rehome their excess babies. When any of us see a vendor acting in an unethical manner, we need to let the mart management know. They don't want this type vendor either, so they will usually ban them from future marts.

[Nagdabit]

Yea, she tried to be sneaky about it, but I spotted her snatching the birds out of the cage they were in and then place them in a small cage that the vendor behind her had set up in a suitcase of sorts, so it wouldn't be obvious that he now had them. And while the wife and I have been to a number of bird shows in the past, it was our first time as vendors. Hence the reason why we invited Raleighwheels along to help, and a huge help he was...

I certainly agree with Miss Sally that most vendors are honest and a lot of them are like us, just trying to sell off some of the fruits of their finches labors to people who share a love of all things finches. And the rest of our sales were just that, helped some kind folks reconnect with their love of Zebras.

It's just that this lady was deceptive, had a matronly, friendly grandmother appearance about her, but turned out to be a greedy witch who could've cared less if the birds dropped dead the minute after she got her money...

She knew full well that the purchaser wasn't very experienced in aviculture, so apparently she tried to justify the sale by giving them a syringe and formula along with basic instructions on hand feeding. Unfortunately not enough to ensure the little fella's survival, the vendor who was approached for help wasn't so sure how well it was going to be able to bounce back...

And yes, the guy who ran the show took the initiative and called us to get the story once he got wind of this lady's actions, so we shouldn't be seeing her anymore. Told us he was going to send her a nice letter in the mail so her dismissal from all of his shows would have a sense of formality about it