How to contact a seller

Sending an inquiry from a listing

On any active listing, click the "Contact Seller" or "Send Inquiry" button. You can send a message directly from the listing page without needing to navigate elsewhere. Your inquiry starts a private conversation between you and the seller in the Herpify messaging system. Both parties can see the full message history in Account → Messages.

Write a message sellers actually respond to

Sellers on Herpify receive inquiries from people at every level of experience. A message that signals you're a serious, prepared buyer gets faster, more detailed responses. A one-word "available?" message gets either ignored or a terse reply.

• Introduce yourself briefly — who you are, your experience level, and what your current setup is
• Mention specifically what interested you about this particular animal (morph, sex, age)
• Ask your most important question first, not ten questions at once
• Include your location so the seller can assess shipping or collection logistics
• If you're ready to purchase, say so — sellers prioritise serious buyers

Stay in the Herpify messaging system

It might feel natural to swap numbers or email addresses early in a conversation, but keeping communication on-platform protects you. The messaging system creates a timestamped record of everything agreed — price, condition, shipping terms, and any promises the seller made. If a dispute arises, this record is what you'll need. See Why communicate on-platform? for the full explanation.

Response times

Most active sellers respond within 24–48 hours. Hobbyist sellers with full-time jobs may take longer on weekdays. If a seller hasn't responded after 3–4 days, a polite follow-up is appropriate. If they remain unresponsive, the animal may already be sold — listings aren't always marked sold immediately.

If a seller asks you to move off-platform immediately

A legitimate seller has no reason to demand you move to WhatsApp or email before any conversation has happened. This is the single most common pattern in reptile purchase scams. You can exchange contact details for practical reasons (arranging a collection time, sending a video) once you've established trust through on-platform messaging — but payment and the key terms of any sale should always be agreed in writing on Herpify.