Enough with the live sales already

[BrandonS]

I have seen that here and totally agree with the move of certain threads being closed and totally get it.
I have also been part of and seen certain threads closed or censored that kinda left a bad taste and i spoke up only because i know it bothered me and obviously others.
That being said. I love it here. I actually kinda feel like i worked through my grievance and i was totally wrong on something and can admit that but I am totally right on the other.

That's how it should be

That's the best personal growth!

 

[BrandonS]

lol, almost like shopping at a Kohls clothing store. Look, 800% off, aren't we the best?

Man, I like kohls. Lol

 

[RobB'z Reef]

Man, I like kohls. Lol

I think they have great clothes and shop there myself but they insult your intelligence with the gimmicky sales tactics lol. Was just being tongue in cheek anyhow. It's all good!

 

[BrandonS]

I don't really mind the live/flash sales... gives me exposure to some corals that I might not know about otherwise, and I'm not required to buy anything just for looking. I do agree there is a lot of gamesmanship involved in some of the pricing (it definitely pays to shop around so you know what is or isn't a good deal).

I also wish the vendors put more into the information provided on each coral (like where it comes from, feeding/care recommendations, etc... you're lucky to get a vague flow and lighting recommendation that may not even be accurate).

In the end, online vendors really make me appreciate local sources more. Last week I purchased 3 large frags (they would be called colonies by many vendors) from someone 5 minutes from my house... all for less than the shipping fee charged at most of these sale events, and I made a new reefing friend to boot!).

I love when that happens

 

[BrandonS]

I have a couple of good LFS in my area that have decent fish selection. While many have no stock of fish and minimal corals, one in particular has a surprisingly large number of fish in stock. Another has a pretty decent selection of corals still coming in. I am in no hurry to purchase corals and my tank is already stocked with fish (to my liking anyway). I am happy to wait out the COVID-19 closures.

The real questions is what store and do they ship. Lol. Neptune aquatics near me in san jose actually has good stock. They were saying it's been hard for them to get fish in though.

 

[BrandonS]

I think they have great clothes and shop there myself but they insult your intelligence with the gimmicky sales tactics lol. Was just being tongue in cheek anyhow. It's all good!

I was jabbing back a little too. lol. The 100% off always gets me, but they always stop me when I try and walk out.

 

[evolved]

Also i have been part of certain threads here one in particular and we where only discussing what stocks to buy during this crisis and for the most part was going good and alot of insightful info being put out by members and it just vanished. Totally gone.

I do recall that thread. At that time, we were not permitting discussion about COVID, which that thread revolved around. Shortly after, the separate forum for such was established, and all conversation about COVID has since been directed to that forum. If one of us was inclined, that thread might be able to live again over in that forum. (I'm not volunteering because I care not to participate there )
And to Crab's point, the casual reader doesn't see how much stuff in a thread might be removed or edited due to ToS violations, prior to us electing to close it.
At the end of the day, that's all we're doing here as mods - enforcing the ToS.

 

[Copingwithpods]

Here's the overpriced on sale question of the day, if the vendors see this thread, do you guys think it will change anything?

 

[Mike N]

Here's the overpriced on sale question of the day, if the vendors see this thread, do you guys think it will change anything?

Nope.

Only thing that will create appreciable change here would be everyone voting with their wallets like OP says.

 

[Aggro]

I have a couple of good LFS in my area that have decent fish selection. While many have no stock of fish and minimal corals, one in particular has a surprisingly large number of fish in stock. Another has a pretty decent selection of corals still coming in. I am in no hurry to purchase corals and my tank is already stocked with fish (to my liking anyway). I am happy to wait out the COVID-19 closures.

Yes I hear ya this covid this by you s a blessing for me because I’m usually pretty impatient. So waiting for restock is good lol. I’ve heard of a few gods LFS by me but they’re a good 1.5 hrs away but of a drive to transport

 

[Sisterlimonpot]

lol, almost like shopping at a Kohls clothing store. Look, 800% off, aren't we the best?

that is exactly what I imagined, add in high pressure sales tactics and you have a live sale.

 

[jschultzbass]

I've been part of a few live sales that actually have corals for a decent price. Fraghouse, cherry, ARC, Calikid, joe knows reef, your reef. I don't participate in all and stay from the really BIG vendors because their stuff generally isn't much on "sale".

 

[BrandonS]

Yes I hear ya this covid this by you s a blessing for me because I’m usually pretty impatient. So waiting for restock is good lol. I’ve heard of a few gods LFS by me but they’re a good 1.5 hrs away but of a drive to transport

Always had luck with a foam cooler and USB airstone for transporting fish. For coral the building an obsession insulated carrier never let me down. For small frags.

 

[Sisterlimonpot]

Here's the overpriced on sale question of the day, if the vendors see this thread, do you guys think it will change anything?

Its not about vendors seeing this thread, it's about pulling back the curtain and showing customers that this isn't as good as you think it is.

The problem is that this is a touchy subject for r2r staff because when they host a sale like this, $500 is paid to this site. Of course Rev will retort with, "this is a business and needs to make money". But that's not my point, the staff here at r2r is biased to the alternative. Even though live sales are met with a lot of negative press, they will try to sway you by derailing or politely tell you to shut up and color. Just look how many r2r staff joined in to persuade this conversation. Almost like theres a thread in the Mod section that asks staff to change the subject.

I'm not saying this to make the staff mad... I'm saying all this to open the eyes of r2r patrons.

If given the choice to conveniently shop for corals, or to fight the refresh button in hopes to pay more for a coral, what would you really want?

Customers are forced to participate in live sales from certain vendors because they refuse to do it the traditional way anymore, out of convenience for them. Although if you want to make it easier on vendors, by all means continue to support these sales. If you have software that can almost guarantee you get the coral of your choice through these sales, then by all means continue support these sales.

But if you want to sit at home looking at your tank, thinking I can add a few more corals, let me search the online vendors and order a few, then stop supporting live sales. If you're reading a thread on r2r and see a coral you want and go to a vendor website to order said coral, then stop supporting these live sales.

 

[evolved]

Just look how many r2r staff joined in to persuade this conversation. Almost like theres a thread in the Mod section that asks staff to change the subject.

Respectfully, you're wrong there. That was an artifact of Rev simply asking us, in the back room, if we knew anything about this issue because he did not.

I'm more than happy to share my personal thoughts on the OP subject, when I have a bit more time in a bit.

 

[HotRocks]

So your saying just because folks may share certain opinions about politics a thread will be deleted regardless if thread stays on topic and views are debated intelligently?
Did you delete that thread?
Because all I seen in that thread where alot of really good stock info being exchanged and a few posts of people expressing feeling about certain politics but thread stayed on topic and worked through all that?
Was something in that thread said that you or someone else didnt agree with?
And why should a thread be deleted because you dont share same beliefs?

Please dont banish me just asking the question it seems to be on alot of people's minds.

I don’t even know what thread your talking about (I was just speaking in general). I didn’t delete anything. Btw it doesn’t matter if I agree with the views or not (Or anyone for that matter). As soon as it becomes political in any way shape or form it will be removed. It’s a simple extension of the TOS. Threads are usually discussed before being removed as well, it's not like we have a rogue mod that just runs around and deletes things that they don't agree with. Only threads that are a violation of the terms of service are removed and usually there is a discussion about it prior to removal that happens unless its clear vulgarity or something like that. The mod team is very diverse and we all have our own views and discussions between the team certainly don't go without disagreement either! I have been a part of the team for almost 2 years and I have never seen a thread removed that was because someone didn't agree with views or opinions in the thread. Only threads that violated a rule in some way shape or form. Only rules are moderated, not opinion. No one is going to banish you lol.

You would also probably be surprised at the number of threads that are reported on the regular where someone asks for 'bad advice' or something they don't agree with to be removed. We don't remove them. Again we don't moderate opinion, only rules.

 

[Joeg]

I was excited for the first few lives sales that I checked out but as we all know, the stuff sells fast leaving a lot of frustrated people. I understand that for the sellers this is a way to move a lot of inventory in a short time but I think the by-product is a bunch of customers with money in hand who had no way to spend and leave feeling less than positive about the amount of time they spend trying to buy.

 

[MelReefer]

An I the only one who has no idea what’s happening

 

[Pntbll687]

WWC lost my business.

I logged on their site to order some coral. Wanted some euphylia, zoas, and shrooms. NO euphylia listed, 2 shrooms, zoas were ok with 18 different to choose from. Didn't really look at prices so I don't know how they stack up price wise.

I logged on here to see the "live sale" banner at the top advertising 3000+ frags. It just rubs me the wrong way.

I think I'll stick with local FB groups for coral.

 

[Pntbll687]

An I the only one who has no idea what’s happening

i'm with you.

someone said something that wasnt allowed, then someone commented that it was removed, but it wasnt, then people piled on rev for being a nanny state communist or something.

i think, dont quote me on that though