Austin S.

I bought an A. Moorae sling from 03Arachnids and also was given a 3” A. chalcodes female juvenile and a 1” M. balfouri as Freebies alongside the sling. He was extremely helpful as I wanted to use the freebies as gifts to friends as a first easy tarantula and he helped come up with a list of his stock that best fit that description. He was very quick with communication and I received all my spiders very much healthy and alive.

I have given Austin more second chances than I can count. What I got for it: Several DOAs across multiple packages, lies, excuses, broken promises, ghosting for months at a time, and delays delays delays.

Our original trade was almost 2 YEARS ago(sorry mods, but I didn't write this until his final promised date passed) and his communication has been horrendous the entire time(no response for months at a time, dodging questions about times and details), and at this point I doubt I’ll ever get what I was supposed to, or even a refund. I sent him one of my rarest prized females and hundreds of dollars, to be mostly ignored and be given offhand excuses(be it import channel changes, flight prices, never spending time with his daughter, etc) and dodgy answers. I went ahead and messaged the exporter- and it sounds like he never even reserved stock with the money I paid, but instead was trying to trade for the animals! And hasn't sent the exporter anything!

So if you want all that, and a wallet several hundred dollars lighter(or more), buy here. Otherwise PLEASE stay away, for the sake of your money, your sanity, and the animals involved.

It seems like some people had bad experiences buying from Austin pre-import. From forum posts, it sounds like some issues were outside of his control, and that he had suffered his own bad luck as well, but I could be wrong. Since I wasn't buying pre-import (and it seems like he's no longer doing these due to the problems that occured), I was willing to try his shop out.

I bought some slings and an AF A. Chalcodes, which unfortunately died before shipping due to a stuck molt. I was quickly informed of this and the order was very generously upgraded. Communication was prompt and clear throughout the process, and the spiders arrived well-packed and healthy. Great experience, I'll be buying from him agian in the future.

Was part of a large pre order. Received a fraction of what I paid for. Enclosures i purchased were clearly used. Never received the final 3 missing spiders (several hundred dollars worth). I gave up trying to retrieve either spiders or money.

BUYER BEWARE!

Went to buy a really rare centipede on pre-import, paid for the order, and just like that, my money is gone and I have no idea when I'll be getting my order. Or if it'll even occur. Centipede is probably dead by now. Austin made up some excuse about how his importer was stuck in maylasia. Maybe deal with a different importer then, because this seems to be a common experience across the board. Will not be dealing with Austin in the future regardless of his fine selections.

T arrived healthy no problems in shipping

Unfortunately I have to fudge my purchase "Date" because it took almost 6 months to get my spiders, instead of getting my spiders I got an email telling me to more or less, well y'know, anyway.

placed an order with Austin @ 03arachnids.com and got an order confirmation. Here we are 17 days later and about 10 emails and he will not respond. If you can't ship what was ordered then don't take peoples money, that is screwed up. So now I sit and wait for my refund. a lot of people taking up for him saying he is really busy, well stop selling spiders if you can't offer anything better than piss poor communication and customer service.

On June 15, 2020 I purchased 5 Aphonopelma from 03arachnids. Among them was a confirmed female 1.5” Aphonopelma moderatum which was priced at $120. After ordering I did not see any confirmation email so I wrote to the seller to inquire. I later realized that the confirmation email had sent and was merely in my spam inbox but the seller did not respond to my email at all. When the Ts arrived, 4 out of the 5 were in stellar condition, but the Aphonopelma moderatum was missing three legs and had lost a pedipalp during shipping. The pedipalp was in the shipping container but the three legs were not, so I know they were gone before she was shipped. I contacted the seller to ask for, at the very least, some sort of explanation about the situation, but it’s been almost a week since my purchase and I’ve received *zero* direct communication from the seller. Furthermore, the packaging for the A. moderatum was loose at the top, which may have contributed to the loss of the pedipalp. I will not be purchasing from here again.

Picked up a few slings during 03arachnids.com's black friday sale and couldn't be more pleased. With the discount, they were wonderfully priced; they were shipped quickly and carefully; and the communication via the 03arachnids.com website was superb. I'd definitely buy specimens from this guy again--THANKS!

This missing spider was a gift for my daughter's birthday that was 8 days ago now. My last email received from Scott Spears at 03Arachnids was 9/28/19, where he promised to send a Hapalopus triseriatus ‘highland’ to replace the Columbia large, as the two he had died molting (per the email).

I gave him TWO WEEKS to communicate or send the replacement before making this review. In those two weeks, I've received advertisements from the website, but nothing in regards to my order our replacement.

I have also informed PayPal, although I doubt we will be getting our $25 back since I didn't use a credit card.

If we'd received even an email regarding the delay, the review would have been MUCH better. Spiders were healthy, plus freebies! But we received nothing from him since his promise on 9/28 to send the missing spider. I'd say 2 weeks is enough time to at least communicate. I work in specialty pharmacy where we ship sensitive packages by the hundreds daily, I know businesses get busy. 2 weeks is more than enough leeway to give him time to email or even send a package.

Spiders were all healthy and in perfect condition. Communication was great, any questions I had were answered promptly. I was completely happy with transaction.

Very happy with this purchase. Austin's prices were good to start with, and he also gave me a deal because I was buying multiple spiders. I preferred to drive out rather than have them shipped because of the unpredictability of the weather in this area. He had the spiders ready for me at the agreed time (including a freebie!) I would definitely recommend doing business with Austin.

Austin and I recently agreed to a trade. From the beginning, he was very straightforward in what he wanted and offered his slings at a very fair trade value. His communication was great and the packing was perfect. All 21 slings arrived very healthy and active. Don't hesitate to purchase anything from Austin in the future, as he knows what he is doing.

A pleasure to do business with, good communication and excellent packaging! My adorable Aphonopelma moderatum slings arrived snugly packaged and are now exploring their new homes. Congratulations to Austin for breeding this lovely species!

Ordered a fairly expensive order from Austin last week and just arrived this morning. Packaging was flawless and you couldn't ask for better communication. Safety was clearly a concern, as consideration was taken on what day to ship to best beat the heat and a cooling pack was included in the package.

Most important thing for a dealer to have is communication, and Austin has it down.

This was my first time doing business with someone on the boards and I couldn't have asked for a better experience. I'll definitely be looking to trade/buy from Austin again.

I'm very pleased with this purchase, as it is my first, I have no means of comparison, however, I will definitely be looking forward to purchasing more tarantulas from Austin! He takes great care and puts a lot effort into ensuring each tarantula will be shipped with their safety in mind. The prices were fair and comparable to other sellers, or better! They arrived exactly on time and he was able to provide a tracking number immediately after turning the package over to FedEx.

Thank you, again!

Austin and I came to an agreed trade and everything went as smooth as possible. He did exactly what we agreed on and went above and beyond to ensure that both our specimens arrived alive and well! Mine came super fast, was healthy, and packed to ensure a safe trip. Austin is someone I will continue to work with/buy from in the future!

Austin was helpful and knowledgeable. I had a zillion questiom he was very patient abou answering, even though I am sure I asked a few repeatedly. Provided the tracking numver right away and when the spiders arrived they were secure and comfortable both settled in right away, a very healthy female I. mira and healthy female A. hentzi

I would definitely buy from Austin again