BRS YouTube going down hill?

[BanjoBandito]

As a distribution sales rep in the pet supplies / aquatics categories I can say with 100% certainty that this is NOT any reason for drop in production quality. If BRS needs to make up margin from lost sales last year, they will most likely be out of business soon. Last year (2020) was a BOOM for the aquatics industry, the market had pretty much been stagnant for a couple years and trending down slightly.


With BRS being a niche market within the aquatics industry, production and shipment issues can hurt them even more than other companies. But remember when they gave away $100k worth of product within a week toward the end of last year? They were probably coming up on the end of their fiscal year and needed some tax write offs to offset the capital sitting in the bank. Companies don't just give away $100k worth of inventory because they want to and take a loss on those items, there's always a reason behind it.

This guy gets it!

 

[Jon's Reef]

If you look at videos now compared to same time two years ago, there’s almost the same amount of “useful” or interesting videos and discussions per month as now.

I disagree with this. 2 years ago we saw unbiased tests of salt, fuge lights, skimmers, lighting, etc along with the 2019 best of the year series where often times the winner was not the most expensive. If it had continued we would have seen reviews of the Gro, Orphek bars, maxspect skimmers and more.

Previously they sold by creating unbiased content and letting the results speak for themselves. The ULM and 160 series were other good examples. The way the store was stocked was based on that work. To the point it created controversy over the HYDROS when they wouldn’t sell it until it was fully tested and had their stamp of approval.

Now it is a superstore where you can get anything. The marketing has pivoted to support that with all products getting a spotlight, higher price/ margin gets a larger thrust.

 

[Johndros]

I'm sad to say I'm not a fan of their last 2 hires. Won't say names but if you're a fan of and subscriber to the channel you'll know who/what I'm talking about. Their too "ad like" and the personalities voices kinda bother me. I don't watch if Randy and Ryan arent on.

 

[srobertb]

You could tell they’ve been bought out when the online menu and payment system changed. It’s fine, I just think people need to be aware.

Their new motto is “the right tool for the job” instead of “the best tool.” I’m guessing they paid some ad agency a lot for that clever little twist on words because now every product is great and if you don’t find it suitable, it’s your fault not the product’s fault. Now no product is better than another product and that’s not reality and not what BRS was about or why I gave them so much money over the years.

You could even see in the video about the Kessil 500x. They don’t really seem to do any testing they just talk about it non chalantly. The light is a niche fixture at best and would require massive supplementation and they dang well know that (they don’t even carry it) but they won’t say it.

What is a Straton? I just spent $3000 on new lights (Radion) and have never even heard of it until yesterday on this forum. I could have apparently gotten better coverage for the same $$. The buzz is they look awesome, have excellent spread (T5 killers) and work extremely well but since they’re not Kessil or Ecotech they get no video or mention. They’re buried on the BRS website.

 

[fishlover1478]

I'm sad to say I'm not a fan of their last 2 hires. Won't say names but if you're a fan of and subscriber to the channel you'll know who/what I'm talking about. Their too "ad like" and the personalities voices kinda bother me. I don't watch if Randy and Ryan arent on.

I would love if they had the thomas on a live stream, he was on a reefdudes livestream and it was hilarious. btw I don't have fish or inverts yet so I'm not sure how good the info was: but I thought the stream with jen(insta tank rsr900xl) was helpful/fun to listen to.

 

[FangsAndGames]

Hey y’all, thanks for the great discussion. It just worries me as I really enjoyed their old content and think the new content feels more like an ad. It’s not bad content per se as they do good demos of the products that are informative. I also get they need to make their money and doing videos like this is probably better for business.

 

[FangsAndGames]

One of the things I do enjoy with the changes is how sleek the channel is and the emphasis on it. Still enjoy most of the content and it’s really nice to see brs moving to the forefront of our hobby. It’s awesome seeing what this hobbies capable of producing and brs is a shining light in all of this and I really their success. As I said I learned reefing from them and will continue to support them. I was just kinda like am I watching an ad or a video in some cases.

 

[Ricksreeefs]

I enjoy there videos even if they are selling me something lol I think it’s good to do a video or two here and there about different products but I do really like the fun and informative ones! You guys have great customer service and are great place to buy from. Keep up the good work!

 

[Oregon Grown Reef]

If brs is reading through this, I want to see a comparison between a true venturi skimmer and a needle wheel skimmer.

 

[Staghorn]

as a business owner I don't know much, but I do know nothing is free. lol.

No free lunch

 

[Staghorn]

I may be wrong but a couple videos back they showed all the changes they’ve done to their facility and it looks like they’re still under construction and they’re preparing all the testing areas and tanks. Some of the tests like the flow tests and pH tests etc. took months to perform. If there was a lag in the time they were preparing the facility to be able to do the tests then we should start seeing some content soon. They did do the shadow tests on one or two fixtures so far with that NSA aquascape Ryan created. I think we have a lot of good things still to come from these guys. It’s just everybody want something to complain about always.

 

[Patman]

It would be nice to see two seperate channels from them.

 

[Reef.]

You really think he paid for that?!? Bahahahaha

Ryan did make a point of saying the coral came out of his own pocket as he wanted to get want he wanted, and pick out the pieces himself, rather then them sending him freebies.

 

[Reef.]

I'm sad to say I'm not a fan of their last 2 hires. Won't say names but if you're a fan of and subscriber to the channel you'll know who/what I'm talking about. Their too "ad like" and the personalities voices kinda bother me. I don't watch if Randy and Ryan arent on.

100% agree, they are the total opposite of Randy and Ryan.
They are clearly ads rather than spotlights, no negative points mentioned about the products.

I did notice a couple of videos back Ryan will still recommend another product over one of their own branded products which is good to see.

@Sisterlimonpot was it a full buyout?

 

[DaneGer21]

Ryan did make a point of saying the coral came out of his own pocket as he wanted to get want he wanted, and pick out the pieces himself, rather then them sending him freebies.

That’s exactly what I’d say too!

 

[tehmadreefer]

Meh, I like marine depot better

 

[LBReefer]

One thing that may not be known is that a private equity group recently bought out BRS. Unfortunately for hobbyist this means that you have folks that know a great deal more about how a company should be ran to maximize revenue and care very little about informing the hobbyist.

This explains quite a bit. I hope they don't change the customer service level. That's been super important to my purchasing decisions.

 

[reefiniteasy]

We don't always have something to test,

How about you finally test the Hydros Wave Engine you have laying around.

I wouldn't be surprised if there's some sort of financial transactions going on behind the scenes for the products that they really push - either they make the most money on them, or perhaps the manufacturers are paying them for it.

Like whatever deal they have with Neptune.

Now it is a superstore where you can get anything.

Can’t get a Hydros Wave Engine.

I do most of my shopping with Marine Depot and CoralVue lately. For a while I did all my shopping with BRS and I was upset that they wouldn’t sell Hydros products. I was a fan and wanted to give them my money. But now I can’t get passed the BRS hypocrisy. They won’t sell the Wave Engine or even test or highlight it because it’s too new and untested but they will push and sell a light from Neptune, a non-light manufacturer.

Just my two cents.

 

[Twitchy]

I do most of my shopping with Marine Depot

About that... Looks like BRS is absorbing them.

 

[MuscleBobBuffPants]

Meh, I like marine depot better

Oof