Just Curious--Have "Live Sales" Hit Their Limit?

[Rusty_L_Shackleford]

I guess it’s a number of things, for me…

1) I don’t want to dedicate an entire day to constantly hitting refresh in the offchance of scoring something I’ve been in search of, even if I’m solely focused on that one thing. It’s a waste of time and energy.

2) If I am searching for something specific, my time/energy is better spent searching local or finding specialists online (which I did for my gigantea anemones) who I know will provide quality livestock.

3) There are enough local reefers (on this board’s marketplace or my local board) who sell the very same frags, at similar or cheaper prices, and those frags/fish happen to be larger and reach my tank with far less risk of loss because of transport time.

4) Lots of OFS have gone to the auction model, something I also don’t like doing. Beyond that, there are so many livestock OFS, that you’re nearly guaranteed to find what you’re looking for, unless it’s incredibly rare (and rare, means going to reason #2).

Number 2 ftw. For the most part right now im looking for specific stuff. I dont have unlimited space. Example: i wanted a pair of onyx picasso clowns. Do my wife nd i drove an hour and a half each way to pick out a pair direct from the breeder. Livestock isnt cheap, so if im gonna spend the money, im willing to spend the time and effort to get exactly what i want.

 

[Fishgeek88]

I cant stand them

 

[DaneGer21]

Never participated; never will.

After 15+yrs in the hobby, these sales really rub me the wrong way. Plus, I’ve been stocked for years and years. IF I decide I want something, I wait for the local annual frag swap for the ultimate cheap hobbiest pricing.

 

[OrchidMiss]

I also just want to see corals under whites. Not blue tinted whites. No whites with 4 actinic t5s above then. WHITES. Why havent we pushed harder having sale photos and tank photos under normal reef lighting the way it's going to be viewed 95% of the time?

And no post editing. Don't delete the background, allowing the consumers to see eggcrate for size reference. Making your photos look better should not come before customer service.

 

[STEEZY]

yeah waste of time to me. I don’t want 98% of the items. I am selective and I am after specific things, don’t have time to wait around all day, hoping the coral pops up and then still have to frantically “win” the item.

I will be patient and find the right item at a price I consider fair.

But I fell victim to the FOMO “thrill” when I was a new reefer.

 

[rja]

Economy is definitely one reason. Moreover, there’re so many live sales - which makes you realize the prices in the live sale should be the normal price of those corals. Also old hobbyists should have generally stocked up their tanks, so unless you have a new tank, there’s too much motivation to buy a lot of corals. The marketplace is another competitor to those live sales. Corals are the kind of goods that you can sell again once they grow and split. I’m actually surprised to see so many people buying corals everyday.

back in the day, you would buy large colonies. nowadays, we pay $$$ for a 1” frag. Corals do not grow very quick. It was common to see tanks dominated by 5-10 large colonies. Now tanks are jam packed with a million frags.

 

[OrchidMiss]

back in the day, you would buy large colonies. nowadays, we pay $$$ for a 1” frag. Corals do not grow very quick. It was common to see tanks dominated by 5-10 large colonies. Now tanks are jam packed with a million frags.

Guilty....
Well, I was.
Now, I'm much more particular.

 

[sfin52]

I guess it’s a number of things, for me…

1) I don’t want to dedicate an entire day to constantly hitting refresh in the offchance of scoring something I’ve been in search of, even if I’m solely focused on that one thing. It’s a waste of time and energy.

2) If I am searching for something specific, my time/energy is better spent searching local or finding specialists online (which I did for my gigantea anemones) who I know will provide quality livestock.

3) There are enough local reefers (on this board’s marketplace or my local board) who sell the very same frags, at similar or cheaper prices, and those frags/fish happen to be larger and reach my tank with far less risk of loss because of transport time.

4) Lots of OFS have gone to the auction model, something I also don’t like doing. Beyond that, there are so many livestock OFS, that you’re nearly guaranteed to find what you’re looking for, unless it’s incredibly rare (and rare, means going to reason #2).

Thats well stated and true

 

[V A R I A N T]

Never have I ever participated in a live sale, coral auction, or allow myself to get caught up in the hype. I would rather give my business to solid retailers, or other R2R hobbyists who offer reasonable aqua cultured corals at a fair price.

Honestly, I would appreciate just one full week of opening Reef 2 Reef and not seeing yet another advertised live sale. There is nothing special about them. You missed one? Just wait until the following weekend, or as other retailers have started doing, look for the mid-week live sale.

 

[BirdFish5000]

I can't stand them. Between the GET IT NOW BEFORE SOMEBODY ELSE DOES and so many of the big boy vendors who constantly utilize these "sales" also now offering pay over time options just seems.... gross? to me.

 

[billyocean]

I can't stand them. Between the GET IT NOW BEFORE SOMEBODY ELSE DOES and so many of the big boy vendors who constantly utilize these "sales" also now offering pay over time options just seems.... gross? to me.

I don't dig on those sales either. Although there is something to say about using interest free things in life to your advantage..but only of ypu have the money in the first place.

 

[areefer01]

I also just want to see corals under whites. Not blue tinted whites. No whites with 4 actinic t5s above then. WHITES. Why havent we pushed harder having sale photos and tank photos under normal reef lighting the way it's going to be viewed 95% of the time?

Probably because heavy blue, or AB+, or whatever is the main think spoken about in the US by the two ton heavy social media thing. When it is labeled as "referred" or "preference" or "recommended" that is all most social media or new users know.

With regards to the OP and live sales I liken it to traditional TV and the various shopping networks. It caters to a certain group of people or mind set. It could work itself out but it really depends on the hobbyist participation. If they continue to flock to them they will remain loyal. If they stop visiting or watching or liking or subscribing or purchasing it will fall off.

I can only speak for me but I have zero interest in them nor have a participated in them (buy or view). I'm pretty selective on what i purchase these days and to be honest it is only captive bred, raised, or aquaculture. Nothing wild anymore. Hobbyist to hobbyist or aquaculture is it. Ban all wild imports and I wouldn't lose sleep at all but that is a differen't topic.

 

[PeterC99]

What are Live Sales???

 

[BirdFish5000]

What are Live Sales???

The opposite of zombie sales

 

[zuri]

I've never done a live sale and don't plan to, just curious. I've been watching a few recently. It appears to me as I click through the items offered that most don't sell.

With games, check-ins, unrelated banter, it seems that corals are almost an after thought.

Years ago there was the occasional live sale. Obviously, now there's one or more every weekend and some week days.

Have they run their course? Is it over saturation of the number of events? Are the deals no longer there? Are you just tired of it all?

Seriously, just curious. I've got no dog in the fight.

this forum is for sponsor's its why Reef Central (arguable more knowledge-based forum) died among a few other things, Live sales or 30%, buy 2 get one free off sales doesn't matter they are sales. Thats why the majority of us are here sure the forum has other things but sales are driving its core.
As for why some don't sell could be some mark to high, geography plays a heavy part here if you're based in NY the prices reflect that.
but if you have 500 corals to sell in a live sale and sell 100 that's still a win, 100 corals sold in day or more like 300 over the next week as orders come in with aftersales is what turns the hobby

 

[TnFishwater98]

Live sales are fun. Grabbing cool different corals and hopeful catching a couple of Great deals. I think they might of lost some participants because of inflation. Prices are ridiculous comparing them to the prices 2 years ago. Newer people might not see/feel it as much but ones that were in the older live sells definitively do. Doesn’t seem like a “deal” when some/most corals have doubled in price. This makes reefers want to just stick to the top venders that might not run live sales. Prices have reach a point to where the market for trade and sale from local reefers or R2R members is a lot more appealing. Hopefully prices everywhere drop soon but it’s going to be a long road ….

 

[Tamberav]

I tried live sales but they take awhile and refreshing a page is a terrible way to waste a Saturday.

 

[vtecintegra]

I wonder what kind of kick back the site gets for these live sales?

 

[spsick]

Live sales work great for vendors trying to move a lot of coral with the urgency factor. I can’t believe that people fiendishly scoop up frags of chopped up wild colonies that have been “cooked”.

I like to buy coral that I can find pictures of, do well in hobbyists tanks, and know what it will look like under white lights.

 

[TCK Corals Verified Sponsor]

I've never done a live sale and don't plan to, just curious. I've been watching a few recently. It appears to me as I click through the items offered that most don't sell.

With games, check-ins, unrelated banter, it seems that corals are almost an after thought.

Years ago there was the occasional live sale. Obviously, now there's one or more every weekend and some week days.

Have they run their course? Is it over saturation of the number of events? Are the deals no longer there? Are you just tired of it all?

Seriously, just curious. I've got no dog in the fight.

A few things I've noticed over the last year/two years...

Our first reef2reef livesale was in November 2017. At the time, there were only a handful of these live events and they were definitely fun, new and exciting. As time has gone on, a huge effort was made to make these events bigger, "better" and increase the selections of corals available, as well as increase the amount of frags offered to satisfy the demand.

Around 2018/2019, TCK went through a massive transition, and we've shifted our focus to becoming 99-100% aquaculture, growing the coral collection we built prior as they have proven over time to be good growers for us, and have adapted to a wide range of different lighting, flow etc in many of our systems. During this time, we also continued to try and up the ante every reef2reef livesale event we were scheduled for...

Not too long after there has definitely been a massive increase in livesale events on reef2reef, and an increase in the amount of corals available in the US all together... Partly due to the successes of various true aquaculture facilities, as well as a massive influx of mari/wild corals coming from overseas once the Indonesian ban was lifted. This plus the increased pressure from the current economy/inflation is probably causing "fatigue" and over saturation.