#25 - SPIDERSHOPPE VAPORIZED!

Not really.

I have done as I've been threatening to do. I have closed down the e-commerce "shopping cart" site for Michael Jacobi's SPIDERSHOPPE. I am no longer buying spiders for resale. All that I sell are spiders that I breed or receive in trade. I will be liquidating some of my sexed subadults and adults soon as well. I want "semi-retired" to become more like "retired". As I wrote earlier today, after being in the pet industry, specifically the exotic pet industry, since 1982 I am looking for a change.

Right now I am working on my primary website ExoticFauna.com to add a SpiderShoppe page as it was before. Spidershoppe.com will redirect to this page so you can use either URL. But if you have shop.exoticfauna.com (the shopping cart) bookmarked you will need to change it.

I will continue to sell what I breed, but hopefully it will mostly be in bulk to dealers with some smaller orders going to friends and existing customers. I am going to enter the world of "hobbyist breeder" with a smile on my face and only work with rare species that interest me.

I will be at Arlington NARBC at the end of August, but will have little with to sell. I'll post a list the week before. I am going to cancel my booth at Tinley Park NARBC in October.

I ask that my customers support American breeders. I'm not going to play favorites and name names. But buy USA captive bred! Buy from professional dealers who have made this their livelihood and proven themselves over time. OK, I'll name a name - Kelly Swift. He's one of the only people who fit in this category, although there are a few that have been around for 8 or 10 or more years that could be included. Don't buy from pseudo dealers that you never heard of a year or two ago. Don't buy from reptile guys who now want to sell spiders despite their horrible reviews on the Fauna Classifieds Board of Inquiry. Don't buy from the idiots who ship via the US Postal Service. Don't support people who are basically just helping Germans reach American customers. Buy American captive bred spiderlings before European imports whenever possible. Please! And keep an eye on my spidershoppe.com page to see what I am offering. I offer expert, professional service. That will never change no matter how little I sell.

All the best, Michael