Reef crystals discontinued??

Raptor72 · Jan 16, 2019

While attempting to add a 200 gal box to my cart, it showed the attached comment about this salt mix being discontinued. Is this just a glitch in the matrix?

Tailfisher · Jan 17, 2019

Try Dr Fosters and Smith, they had it the other day on sale and a few others as they are closing the door and have alot of supplies pretty reasonable. Also don't forget to look for a discount code to save extra.

Raptor72 · Jan 17, 2019

Right, I’m subscribed to that thread [emoji106]

MarineDepot · Jan 17, 2019

Raptor72 said:
While attempting to add a 200 gal box to my cart, it showed the attached comment about this salt mix being discontinued. Is this just a glitch in the matrix?

This was a poor choice of wording on our part. We'll update the page with a more accurate explanation.

To be clear, the manufacturer did not discontinue making the salt, although we did discontinue selling it for a time.

Bear in mind this was not by choice. Instant Ocean (Reef Crystals) is a popular brand. Evidently a decision was made by the company a while back to stop selling their products online.

More recently, they changed course to allow responsible online retailers to carry their salt. Companies that will abide by pricing rules and enforce MAP.

The good news is that Marine Depot is among those responsible retailers. We should have Instant Ocean (Reef Crystals) back in stock within the next 30 days.

We apologize for the inconvenience and confusion in the meantime!

Jeff @ Marine Depot

Brew12 · Jan 17, 2019

MarineDepot said:
This was a poor choice of wording on our part. We'll update the page with a more accurate explanation.

To be clear, the manufacturer did not discontinue making the salt, although we did discontinue selling it for a time.

Bear in mind this was not by choice. Instant Ocean (Reef Crystals) is a popular brand. Evidently a decision was made by the company a while back to stop selling their products online.

More recently, they changed course to allow responsible online retailers to carry their salt. Companies that will abide by pricing rules and enforce MAP.

The good news is that Marine Depot is among those responsible retailers. We should have Instant Ocean (Reef Crystals) back in stock within the next 30 days.

We apologize for the inconvenience and confusion in the meantime!

Jeff @ Marine Depot

Always nice when the good guys don't get punished for the actions of a few bad players. Glad to see IO changed their plans!

Monkeytank · Jan 17, 2019

Raptor72 said:
Right, I’m subscribed to that thread [emoji106]

What thread is that? Could you provide a link?

A777flygirl · Jan 17, 2019

What is MAP?

Sorry......I dont know

Monkeytank · Jan 17, 2019

Minimum Advertised Price - set by the manufacturer. If retailers don't use it, they can be cut off.

MarineDepot · Jan 17, 2019

Brew12 said:
Always nice when the good guys don't get punished for the actions of a few bad players. Glad to see IO changed their plans!

Thank you! We are grateful for their decision and really looking forward to making it available again to our customers!

Jeff @ Marine Depot

puffy127 · Jan 17, 2019

They have MAP for IO/RC salt? Is that just for online retailers or also LFSes?

MarineDepot · Jan 17, 2019

puffy127 said:
They have MAP for IO/RC salt? Is that just for online retailers or also LFSes?

Truthfully, we do not know what kind of agreements IO/RC has with brick and mortar LFSs. Our agreement is MAP. No undercutting the competition. That doesn't quite answer your question, though.

Jeff @ Marine Depot

MarineDepot · Jan 17, 2019

A777flygirl said:
What is MAP?

Sorry......I dont know

Monkeytank said:
Minimum Advertised Price - set by the manufacturer. If retailers don't use it, they can be cut off.

^ What he said.

xaflatoonx · Jan 17, 2019

so there goes our chance as consumers to buy these on great deals....

just like apex, ectoech etc - now everyone will sell at set price. No competition among retailers is BAD for consumers.

This is unfortunate if you ask me. Nothing against you guys MD, but i think it hurts the end customers the most.

User1 · Jan 17, 2019

xaflatoonx said:
so there goes our chance as consumers to buy these on great deals....

just like apex, ectoech etc - now everyone will sell at set price. No competition among retailers is BAD for consumers.

This is unfortunate if you ask me. Nothing against you guys MD, but i think it hurts the end customers the most.

It is a glass half full / empty debate. My take is simple because I don't believe let alone agree with the Utopian ideologies - there are other brands.

Edit: In this regard though I am glad it worked out for the seller if they did no wrong. Also kudo's for coming to the forum and answering/explaining. That is always a nice touch.

MarineDepot · Jan 17, 2019

xaflatoonx said:
so there goes our chance as consumers to buy these on great deals....

just like apex, ectoech etc - now everyone will sell at set price. No competition among retailers is BAD for consumers.

This is unfortunate if you ask me. Nothing against you guys MD, but i think it hurts the end customers the most.

Everyone has different opinions about MAP, even within our own company. I see both sides of the coin. On a personal note, it is challenging as a marketer to have a powerful weapon taken from you. On the other hand, it forces us to be more creative, to make more helpful content, and to really get out there and help people ... advocating for solutions that have worked for us, trends that excite us, etc.

In the end, maybe it's better for consumers since MAP puts the onus on manufacturers to be competitive with each other to put out the best possible solutions. But who am I to say?

Jeff @ Marine Depot

saf1 said:
It is a glass half full / empty debate. My take is simple because I don't believe let alone agree with the Utopian ideologies - there are other brands.

Edit: In this regard though I am glad it worked out for the seller if they did no wrong. Also kudo's for coming to the forum and answering/explaining. That is always a nice touch.

Thank you for your kind words. Speaking on behalf of myself only, I agree with you. I work at Marine Depot but don't use all of the "best money can buy" products on my tanks. There is enough competition that I am able to pick and choose areas where I think it's appropriate to splurge. There is a range of prices in most categories, although not all.

Jeff @ Marine Depot

TheHarold · Jan 17, 2019

xaflatoonx said:
so there goes our chance as consumers to buy these on great deals....

just like apex, ectoech etc - now everyone will sell at set price. No competition among retailers is BAD for consumers.

This is unfortunate if you ask me. Nothing against you guys MD, but i think it hurts the end customers the most.

It seems that some sketchy vendors anonymously sell below MAP on Ebay and similar sites- I believe wholesale is approximately 2/3 of the cost of retail, so they are still managing to undercut prices even with manufacturers trying to enforce it. Its not a "hobbiest" who sells 20 new XR30s, lol.

MarineDepot · Jan 17, 2019

TheHarold said:
It seems that some sketchy vendors anonymously sell below MAP on Ebay and similar sites- I believe wholesale is approximately 2/3 of the cost of retail, so they are still managing to undercut prices even with manufacturers trying to enforce it. Its not a "hobbiest" who sells 20 new XR30s, lol.

Anonymously and not-so-anonymously. It's definitely frustrating when we're playing by the rules and others do not. Granted we are not perfect and screw up on pricing now and again (our After Fishmas Sale springs to mind), but from what we hear from our vendor partners MD is generally perceived as a company that doesn't require much policing. For better or worse!

Jeff @ Marine Depot

xaflatoonx · Jan 17, 2019

You do understand that my issue is not with some playing by the rules and others not.
On that front I completely agree with you. Everyone should play by the rules.

My issue is with the rule itself. The map nonsense.

A manufacturer should sell its product at whatever cost it wants to the retailers or wholesalers. I fail to understand why they dictate how much retailers should sell it for.

It prevents retailers for giving out sales to consumers and that’s where we end up paying for it. And it helps retailers who don’t want to put things on sale and lose margin because they know every retailer is also selling for the same price. It’s no different than retailers agreeing to sell something for the same price in order to avoid competition which I believe is illegal.

Please know my frustration is not with Md or BRS.