Thoughts from a buyer...

[carolinareefguy]

I have been in the hobby now for nearly 10 years. I love this hobby and want it to thrive. I have bought a little bit of everything from just about all the big names, BUT i have a few questions to the sellers, from a simple buyer.

1) What exactly does it mean... "Buyer will receive 1-3 polyps of the coral in the picture". These are usually posted on Ebay and whether its 1 or 3 might change how folks bid by as much as a $100.

2) Listing corals under confusing live sales, all the time. Why not just list it on your website where i pick what i want and buy normally. These live sales are confusing and tend to leave folks upset cause they didnt refresh at the right second.

3) Posting pictures of corals with no prices and asking to send PM for more info. That makes me feel like that the seller is waiting to see how many request will be made and the price will be determine afterwards. More PM equals higher price.

4) Selling corals without a WYSIWYG photo. I feel like some sellers use a generic picture, giving buyers that they will get something but ending up with a fraction. Of course the fine print says you will get 1-3 polyps of the mother colony in picture, which has 20 polyps. LoL.

This is a simple perspective from 1 hobbyist. I could be off my rocker, and if so holler at me to just shut up. Happy Reefing

 

[ritter6788]

I have been in the hobby now for nearly 10 years. I love this hobby and want it to thrive. I have bought a little bit of everything from just about all the big names, BUT i have a few questions to the sellers, from a simple buyer.

1) What exactly does it mean... "Buyer will receive 1-3 polyps of the coral in the picture". These are usually posted on Ebay and whether its 1 or 3 might change how folks bid by as much as a $100.

2) Listing corals under confusing live sales, all the time. Why not just list it on your website where i pick what i want and buy normally. These live sales are confusing and tend to leave folks upset cause they didnt refresh at the right second.

3) Posting pictures of corals with no prices and asking to send PM for more info. That makes me feel like that the seller is waiting to see how many request will be made and the price will be determine afterwards. More PM equals higher price.

4) Selling corals without a WYSIWYG photo. I feel like some sellers use a generic picture, giving buyers that they will get something but ending up with a fraction. Of course the fine print says you will get 1-3 polyps of the mother colony in picture, which has 20 polyps. LoL.

This is a simple perspective from 1 hobbyist. I could be off my rocker, and if so holler at me to just shut up. Happy Reefing

1) Probably means they haven't cut it yet so it will depend on how well they frag it.

2) Usually the point of live sales is the prices are much lower than regular prices. It's a fun way to get a lot of new corals at lower prices.

3) Yeah I don't care for it but some vendors do it and you're likely correct it's probably to maximize profit by seeing how much interest there is before setting a firm price. I tend to ignore those listings anyway since if it's secret pricing it's likely out of my price range.

4) Lots of sellers use wholesaler pics or colony pics taken when the coral first came in. Lots of times frags brown or polyps aren't open so they use the colony pic to sell the product. I use colony pics when I sell corals to show what it will look like when it grows into a colony. I can easily show frag pics also if requested.

 

[Diesel]

Gab basically sums it all up what would be my answer too.
One thing I would add is when you stick with a few sponsors that you like here on R2R they will always take care of you.
Thanks for your question as I believe you're not the only one who was asking this.

 

[kschweer]

I agree with gabe as well. I think #3 gets me the most. I stay away from those as well. I know I have been given different prices than others for the same item via pm. Since then I look at the pictures and nothing more. I stick with upfront vendors with wysiwyg pictures and a good reputation.

 

[hybridazn]

1) Probably means they haven't cut it yet so it will depend on how well they frag it.

2) Usually the point of live sales is the prices are much lower than regular prices. It's a fun way to get a lot of new corals at lower prices.

3) Yeah I don't care for it but some vendors do it and you're likely correct it's probably to maximize profit by seeing how much interest there is before setting a firm price. I tend to ignore those listings anyway since if it's secret pricing it's likely out of my price range.

4) Lots of sellers use wholesaler pics or colony pics taken when the coral first came in. Lots of times frags brown or polyps aren't open so they use the colony pic to sell the product. I use colony pics when I sell corals to show what it will look like when it grows into a colony. I can easily show frag pics also if requested.

^what this guy said.

 

[Triggreef]

3) Posting pictures of corals with no prices and asking to send PM for more info. That makes me feel like that the seller is waiting to see how many request will be made and the price will be determine afterwards. More PM equals higher price.

This is one that drives me nuts. What are you hiding? Why the need to PM for a price? Just seems shady. There is one vendor in particular on here that does it all the time. I was going to "@" them but to be more politically correct I did not. But hopefully they see this. I will never buy from a vendor doing this. And I'm sure there's many that feel the same.

 

[carolinareefguy]

Thanks for the mature responses. This thread was from 1 perspective and I wanted to see how others felt. I am hoping this could be used as some simple feedback to any vendor, that might be looking for some.

I guess with the first situation... I will treat it as if I am bidding on a single polyp, and if I get more then I will be excited. However, if I am a vendor, this would be alarming, cause if I had a 2 or 3 polyp frag, I want would want folks bidding as if they thought they were going to get more than a 1 polyp frag.

2. My problem is not live sales, but... live sales all the time. Yes, this is a personal problem, I know, but being a father of a 2 and a 4 year old, sitting for hours clicking refresh is simply not an option. I do try to follow the live sales, but dont have hours to refresh every 30 seconds trying to find enough items to fill up a cart to make the experience worth while. Many vendors have used these successfully for for themselves, so its definitely not my place to say they shouldn't. I just guess i am a bit disappointed cause I would like the opportunity to buy some of these amazing corals. Maybe every once in a while, just list them all on the website, say they are all up and let me click and buy my $350 to $500 and get me some free shipping.

Thanks to all the hobbyists that sell and all the vendors for what you guys do. It is truly a difficult task to just maintain 1 tank, but to successfully operate 100s of 1000s of gallons is nothing short of amazing.

 

[puffy127]

The live sales and ebay auctions are to drive the reefers into a buying frenzy. You read all the time about people stating that they bought way more than they intended to. You make people impulse buy without time to think just because it's price is lower than the normal inflated prices on their websites. Even with WYSIWYG, some vendors don't provide size information. I get that there's a picture, but with your macro lens shots, there is no way to get a good perspective on the size. You can probably estimate based on frag plug size, but they vary too. I asked one vendor what size plugs they used twice and got no response. Not sure why they are trying to hide that kind of information.

 

[Salty1962]

Develop relationships with reputable sellers and you won't have to worry about these issues. I have 2-3 vendors/people I do business with and they usually can get me what ever I want. You may pay a little more but you get what you pay for these days. It always helps too when you get responses back when you have questions. JMO

 

[luke33]

I would also agree with Ritter, and the only one that really bothers me is #3. If someone says PM for price i just pass 100% of the time as it seems like they are playing games to me. If I have to PM you for a price you obviously are to embarrassed to post it for everyone to see.

 

[jolt]

Our local forum does not allow items for sale without prices. Not sure why R2R allows it, but I personally would support that policy here too.

 

[hybridazn]

Thanks for the mature responses. This thread was from 1 perspective and I wanted to see how others felt. I am hoping this could be used as some simple feedback to any vendor, that might be looking for some.

I guess with the first situation... I will treat it as if I am bidding on a single polyp, and if I get more then I will be excited. However, if I am a vendor, this would be alarming, cause if I had a 2 or 3 polyp frag, I want would want folks bidding as if they thought they were going to get more than a 1 polyp frag.

2. My problem is not live sales, but... live sales all the time. Yes, this is a personal problem, I know, but being a father of a 2 and a 4 year old, sitting for hours clicking refresh is simply not an option. I do try to follow the live sales, but dont have hours to refresh every 30 seconds trying to find enough items to fill up a cart to make the experience worth while. Many vendors have used these successfully for for themselves, so its definitely not my place to say they shouldn't. I just guess i am a bit disappointed cause I would like the opportunity to buy some of these amazing corals. Maybe every once in a while, just list them all on the website, say they are all up and let me click and buy my $350 to $500 and get me some free shipping.

Thanks to all the hobbyists that sell and all the vendors for what you guys do. It is truly a difficult task to just maintain 1 tank, but to successfully operate 100s of 1000s of gallons is nothing short of amazing.

If live sales aren't your thing many vendors off "grab boxes" for you. You send a certain amount of money and let them know what type ofor coral you are most interested in and they fill the box for you, sometimes 2-3x worth the amount you sent. Usually this is your best bang for your buck.

Our local forum does not allow items for sale without prices. Not sure why R2R allows it, but I personally would support that policy here too.

Neither do we, only paying sponsors are not required to post prices. Hobbiest who sell are required to post.

 

[d2mini]

I agree with #3 as well and I too stay away because of it.
List your retail price. THEN if you want to give a special customer a better price behind the scenes, fine.
But at least all the potential new customers don't feel threatened and shop elsewhere.

 

[shoelaceike]

I never understood live sales. The prices don't even seem that amazing and yet people go nuts for them.....it's the same as black Friday. A few great deals and a million so so deals that people go nuts for.

I think these venders have them just to clear out old inventory and then add a few nice pieces to make it exciting. I sometimes check on what's sold and even the items that never sell are gone as people are in such a hurry to get anything. There is no thinking.

 

[Jimbo]

Live sales are so HYPED. Must be some psychology involved because people get crazy over those sales, priding themselves on being faster than everyone else and " winning" ( LOL) a$200 or more frag!

I've gotten involved in a couple of these sales myself so I understand the attraction . Was never really overly impressed with any frags I ended up buying. I've always done much better just dealing directly with a couple of choice sellers and putting together frag packs. Much better value that way IME

 

[puffy127]

And then you have to pre purchase the shipping to check out quicker and hence increase your chances of being able to buy a frag. So if you've already purchased the shipping and are spending hours of time on the live sale, you want to walk away with something even if you aren't thrilled with the frag or price so that you don't feel like you've wasted all that time and go through the hassle of getting the shipping refunded.