Unlimited Edition

[James]

I read very carefully what you wrote but bringing it up in a public forum, trying to gather followers and publicly flog those such as myself who are willing to spend a lot of money for something I want can be interpreted as you trying to dictate what others can and cannot do. I personally do not believe I am shooting myself in the foot in the long run because if for some reason in the future I cannot afford an item I will simply walk away and not take my frustration out on a site and rally a cause.

Secondly, what role do you think vendors have played in all of this?

Clearly your "careful" reading is different than mine. You inferred much from my posts that was not simply not there. I never implied anything about what people can or cannot do. I am not going to beat that dead horse. There was no public flogging here at all, I simply stated issues that I have with the hobby-scene. I thought we were on the same page until you put up a thinnly veiled attack to me with your "I cannot afford an item I will simply walk away and not take my frustration out on a site and rally a cause. " Very mature.

The "cause" as you call it, is simply for hobbyists to pay it forward (as many already do, nothing revolutionary here) and to make this hobby more affordable for ourselves. I don't see what personal offense you took with this "cause"...


As for vendors which you asked about, the "end user" A.K.A. the hobbyist, will ultimately dictate the prices vendors and everyone else will charge us. If we pay the outrageous prices, they will keep going up because there will be more $ to be made. I am not saying anything about that, I am simply saying I want the hobby to be as accessible to all as possible.


I will not trade implied insults with you, as I stated in the 1st post, I want this thread to be constructive so I will simply wish you a pleasant day and hope we can agree to disagree...

James

 

[SWITCH420]

maybe we should have a genuine "frag" swap with no selling, just trading.

+1

 

[sanjay]

how about at the next frag swap we have a separate and vibrant thread for actually swapping, not selling corals???

I like this idea. Hope you can get people to participate.

sanjay.

 

[SWITCH420]

count me in

 

[James]

I like this idea. Hope you can get people to participate.

sanjay.

+1 I will be in, hopefully by that time I will have something "L.E'er" than xenia to offer

 

[Chiefmcfuz]

Lots of people talk the talk, it's getting them to walk the walk that is the challenge. Good luck!

 

[DCG1286]

Lots of people talk the talk, it's getting them to walk the walk that is the challenge. Good luck!

Best post so far. I am sure Randy is in on it (and Sanjay ... although I have never met him in person) ... since he has ALWAYS been generous with his tank. The rest of these guys are too new to the site to know.

Good luck ... I like trading ... gets you more pieces you don't have and gives others a chance to build their collection. I am in ... and will give an FTS and pieces I am willing to trade since they will have grown out so much by the time of the spring swap.

 

[Chiefmcfuz]

I have no question about Randy and Sanjay, they have put the W in Walk and the T in talk.

But there are people in this thread even who need to be careful of what they say because they are in fact living in glass houses and throwing pretty big stones.

 

[DCG1286]

I have no question about Randy and Sanjay, they have put the W in Walk and the T in talk.

But there are people in this thread even who need to be careful of what they say because they are in fact living in glass houses and throwing pretty big stones.

you pulling out the ban-stick? lol. <hides behind wall> :givebeer:

 

[REEF ADDICT]

1+ you know im with you in this one...
James...

 

[sharkbait69]

maybe we should have a genuine "frag" swap with no selling, just trading.

+1. name the time and date. the only thing i ask, give enough time that my frags are not clip and ship. I would like time for healing and maybe some base growth.

 

[sharkbait69]

I have no question about Randy and Sanjay, they have put the W in Walk and the T in talk.

But there are people in this thread even who need to be careful of what they say because they are in fact living in glass houses and throwing pretty big stones.

really???

 

[Chiefmcfuz]

Yes really.

 

[rookie07]

Yes really.

really?

 

[Quang]

really really?

 

[tonyyammine]

this is a expensive hobby if some one wants to make some money from it its their business if people think a coral or item on this or any site is too expensive they wont buy it.cheaper coral to me are cheap because they grow like weeds i have orange montis i have kenya trees they grow so much that sometimes i have to give it away..

 

[sharkbait69]

This thread is not really about vendors. It is about hobbyists paying it forward plain and simple. BTW, ORA is far from the match that started the designer coral craze-- you need to look a lot further West for that and they do in fact aquaculture their stuff and end up retailing reasonable size pieces for less than $100 so I'm not sure why the hating on them, but I digress...... how about at the next frag swap we have a separate and vibrant thread for actually swapping, not selling corals???

you might be right. Ora caught my attention with names when we were in talks about carrying ORA products.
The min cost (wholesale) is crazy. we did not want a whole frag section just for ora.
the sales tactic was all these 'names' of coral and fish.
I know and understand that they are aquaculture company. Its nice that they don?t pluck corals from the ocean and have breeding tanks.
I absolutely love and want more aquaculture coral. It only makes the hobby that much more easier. Yes, they do send nice size frags and they arrive healthy, I?m not saying they are not quality.
When your helping your friends to build a reef shop from the ground up, cost of supplies and live stock is a factor. I really don?t know what I would say takes priority, location with a lease with a high cost or stock. That?s almost the chicken and the egg scenario.
If the lease is to high, then the mark up has got to be higher. That drives sales away. If the location is wrong that also drives the mark up higher to make up the lost of revenue for a poor location.
Having been on both sides of the fence, you see things from a different perspective.
I understand that loyalty is only a military word now. Order from a select group of vendors, those vendors take care of you.
The wholesalers jack the prices up cause the corals have outstanding color. The small shops that take care of the loyal customers can?t afford to bring in the nice coral since a budget is a budget. The ?loyal? customers is forced to go and find the nice coral elsewhere. You can blow the budget on LE or ?rare? coral or you get a mix of ? coral and hope the bags are not filled with dead or dying sponge and other garbage. It seems to me, this hobby/business is choking out the people who sell coral all for more profit, forgetting that the people who retail the coral are the same people making the vendors money. Does it make sense to anyone? Or do I stand alone?
Like I said this is something I?m very passionate about.

 

[sharkbait69]

this is a expensive hobby if some one wants to make some money from it its their business if people think a coral or item on this or any site is too expensive they wont buy it.cheaper coral to me are cheap because they grow like weeds i have orange montis i have kenya trees they grow so much that sometimes i have to give it away..

you are right on all accounts.

I have seen some 'med green w/red scollys' come in that were awesome. No names, just a genaric 'med green w/red scollys' that were put up for retail 50 bucks. Med pastel scolly retail 65 bucks. med aussie red w/ stripes retail 90 bucks. purple strip aussie acan retail 100 bucks. Again no name just listed as such.
just like you said, if the prices are to high, people walk away. So who ends up going out of buisness? The LFS. The vendor made the money so why do they care? For every LFS that goes belly up another one is opening up. In some cases no one opens up a LFS.
Some people have to drive hours to get to find a LFS.

 

[SevTT]

Im down with the idea see what happens.I can frag my kenya tree to pass it along grows fast.

You don't need to frag Kenya Trees. Once they reach a good size, they do that themselves. %)

 

[russellbravo]

coral...
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