About us

Ani-Malls was created from a lifelong love for animals, a genuine passion for keeping reptiles and almost fourteen years of experience in the hobby. Those years have been spent keeping and breeding reptiles, visiting and exhibiting at shows, and getting to know many of the people who make this hobby what it is. That experience has shown that keeping animals brings an enormous amount of enjoyment. There is always something to learn, something to look for and something to look forward to — whether that is finding an animal you have been searching for or waiting to see what a breeding season will produce.

Finding the right animal, or the right new home for one, is usually part of that positive experience. Unfortunately, things happen and it does not always work out that way. Sometimes they are relatively minor, such as a buyer who does not show up for an appointment. Sometimes the consequences are more serious, such as fraud, losing a deposit or animals being transported, handled or cared for in ways that put their health or welfare at risk.

Traditional classified websites are a proven and effective concept — and absolutely have their place — but they are not designed to prevent every negative experience that can occur once buyer and seller decide to do business. It is often at that point, when finding each other turns into actually buying and selling an animal, that uncertainty and friction begin to arise.

Ani-Malls was created with that in mind: to bring greater clarity and certainty to the purchasing process, while reducing the complexity and inefficiencies that come with making arrangements.

Our approach

Ani-Malls aims to support animal keepers in the parts of buying and selling where that support adds genuine value. At the heart of that support is a framework that requires the buyer to commit to completing the purchase and the seller to commit to reserving and ultimately delivering the animal under the agreed terms. Relevant conditions are presented before the commitment, reservations are confirmed by a deposit and handled through the Platform. Important transaction information is recorded so that both parties have a clear record of what was agreed, including both the applicable terms and the animal to which the agreement relates.

Once buyer and seller have found each other and a reservation has been created, Ani-Malls steps back. We want both parties to receive what they agreed to, but our aim is not to take over the transaction or police the arrangements they make with each other. Buyer and seller remain responsible for completing their purchase agreement and can make the remaining arrangements within the agreed terms, including the remaining payment and the practical details of collection or shipping.

A marketplace built around quality

We want Ani-Malls to be a marketplace where serious buyers and sellers feel comfortable doing business. Identity verification creates a deliberate threshold for using the Platform, while clear rules, reporting and moderation give Ani-Malls the tools to act when behaviour threatens the quality of the marketplace, the experience of the people using it or the health and welfare of the animals traded through it.

That responsibility also extends to the animals being offered through Ani-Malls. We are not here to tell responsible keepers how to practise their hobby, but animal welfare is not optional. Ani-Malls provides care information to help people make informed decisions, sets rules for what may be offered on the Platform and can take action where animals are traded or treated in ways that do not meet the standards required on Ani-Malls.

Quality also means taking the less visible parts of running a marketplace seriously. Ani-Malls is developed with attention to applicable laws and regulations and with clear information for its users. For professional sellers in particular, operating across borders can introduce substantial regulatory, tax and administrative complexity. Where technology can meaningfully reduce that burden, our ambition is to increasingly make that complexity part of the Platform rather than leaving every seller to solve the same problems independently.

In summary, our goal is not to build the marketplace with the most features. It is to build the simplest version of a marketplace that does what its users actually need it to do. We intend to listen to buyers and sellers, identify where unnecessary effort or uncertainty still exists and improve the Platform accordingly. Every feature that becomes part of Ani-Malls should therefore pass one simple test: can we confidently say that it makes buying, selling or keeping animals meaningfully easier, clearer or more reliable for our users? If the answer is not a clear yes, it should not be there.

Starting in Europe

Ani-Malls starts in Europe because it is a market we know. Europe has a large and diverse community of animal keepers, breeders and businesses, but the market remains fragmented. Distance, national borders, regulation and a relatively small number of major shows can all limit how easily buyers and sellers find each other. We believe the European market should better reflect the size, diversity and reach of the community it serves. Our ambition is therefore to make that market easier to navigate and better connected, giving buyers access to a wider range of animals while helping sellers reach interested keepers beyond their immediate surroundings.