BRS and Neptune Merger

[revhtree]

Well now, since BRS and Neptune have, and I quote, "MERGED" , and in a merger the surviving corporation assumes all of the merged company's liabilities and obligations, and BRS is well known to have excellent customer service, maybe now I can expect to receive that Go and Grow light that I supposedly "won" in the contest from Neptune but still have not seen?

Last word was it was shipped a few days ago. You should get it any day!! Sorry for the delay!

 

[Brew12]

I'm going to share a few quick thoughts....

Monopoly: I don't think BRS is even close to qualifying as a monopoly and, even if they went on a massive spending spree, they still couldn't get to that level. I can get everything I need to run my system on Amazon. I may not get the particular brands I want, but I can do it. And, even the government recognizes that not all monopolies are bad. To run afoul or anti-trust laws they must have monopolistic control of products/services AND be bad for the consumer. I'd suggest people take a similar stance and wait to see if this is bad for the consumer before getting too upset about it.

Rebranding: To the best of my knowledge, BRS doesn't make a single product. They pay other manufacturers to make stuff for them. I saw Costco/Kirkland and Sears/Kenmore mentioned. In Sears case, other suppliers didn't mind because companies like GE and Whirlpool made the Kenmore appliances. Most of the motors used by different brands in the hobby come off the same production lines in China.

R&D/Customer Support: Many products we use are unique to the salt water aquarium hobby and the hobby just isn't that big. Why do things cost so much? Companies need to develop/design and test the products. They need to pay a manufacturing facility to retool their lines to make a production run of the product. They need to advertise the product. They need to store and distribute the product. Then they need (or at least should) support the product post sale. Even with a small team, that is a large number of people who need to be paid. Those costs must be spread over a relatively small number of items sold. This could make a lot of sense for Neptune because BRS will be able to take on the advertising, storage and distribution costs with almost no increase to them. It only eliminates the burden from Neptune.

Final thought: I'm a GHL guy, and the consumable parts (doser rebuild kits, KHDirector refills) have become very easy to obtain because BRS started carrying them. If Ryan has screwed this up I'm going to chase him down at MACNA 2022 and kick him in the junk.

 

[ca1ore]

This sort of vertical integration i could see could lead to some companies not wanting to be sold by BRS for sure.

In the end, vertical integration is cheapest for the consumer (no middle man). And any monopoly concerns will sort out if GHL and others don't want Neptune to profit from GHL's (and other products) being sold by competition.

Really, i think Ryan loves the idea of having more of a say in what is being made in this hobby.... Just another challenge and way to keep his job new and exciting. If he must join with others, so be it.

In 1996/7, when DVD was first coming out, Circuit City introduced their competitive DiVX format. Some thought it would 'win' over DVD, though I thought it was doomed from the start. Why? Primarily because what retailer (recall this was the heyday of Blockbuster and Best Buy) is going to want to carry something that pads the financial pockets of a key competitor. Secondarily, it was experience regressive, focusing on 4:3/P&S displays (oops). Anyhow, it was a commercial turd because of both reasons.

I'd be shocked if BRS/Neptune results in material price decreases.

 

[Cjeippert]

I think there is enough competition to avoid that, but maybe.

Just amazon

 

[ca1ore]

I am very happy with this merger. Most retailers have private label brands where they sell what they manufacture. Kirkland is Costco’s private label. When a retailer has more say in the manufacturing the quality gets better. Give it a chance people. In a world of transparency it will have to get better. Neptune hardware needs to improve greatly. Ryan will make that happen.

Some fallacies here. Retailers almost never manufacture private label stuff, they get it from contract manufacturers (often the OEM). Agree with @Brew12 that none of the BRS branded stuff is made by them. Also, no actual evidence that the quality of private label is somehow better than mfg. branded stuff. I actually find the inverse to be true as private label usually competes in the value or discount tiers of a particular market. Don't really follow the 'transparency' comment ..... Better hardware means better design and better parts/build quality. None of that comes without a premium.

 

[burningmime]

Look at any consumer electronics product. Each version has improvements. Like Samsung & iPhone.

But my headphone jack... :-(

 

[ArtisticReef]

But my headphone jack... :-(

Haha, couldn’t agree more on the headphone jacks. Still haven’t forgiven Tim for that.

 

[ArtisticReef]

Some fallacies here. Retailers almost never manufacture private label stuff, they get it from contract manufacturers (often the OEM). Agree with @Brew12 that none of the BRS branded stuff is made by them. Also, no actual evidence that the quality of private label is somehow better than mfg. branded stuff. I actually find the inverse to be true as private label usually competes in the value or discount tiers of a particular market. Don't really follow the 'transparency' comment ..... Better hardware means better design and better parts/build quality. None of that comes without a premium.

Perhaps private label isn’t the best example of vertical integration. Although the previous BRS Apex monitor is an exact example. Walk down 5th avenue in NYC and you will see a perfect example of manufacturers selling directly to customers in retail space. Nike town is a perfect & fun example. I took my two teen age daughters down 5th Avenue several years ago and wow was that expensive. There are a million models of how widgets get designed, manufactured, distributed and sold. I’m probably bias because I specialized in consumer products and retail at a Fortune 500 consulting company and have see most “mergers” succeed. There will be speed bumps, but good will come out … at least while Ryan’s passion is involved.

The transparency I referred to is how candid Ryan & BRS are and how much good they have done on YouTube. If something doesn’t work they admit it. Look at the end of the ULM series. I don’t expect ANY company not listed to open their trade secrets or financials to the public. That’s not the transparency I’m referring to.

Bottom line is only time will tell, but my fandom of BRS is not shaken.

 

[ReefRxSWFL]

Agree.... I don't see any strong synergies here; probably would have been better to simply take a large silent investment in Neptune versus publicly tying them together. I feel this only serves to promote alternate products at BRS' competitors and ultimately isolates Neptune's distribution base. Furthermore, Neptune's quality issues could prove to be quite the stain on BRS's, largely, excellent reputation... can't say I'm excited about this.

Wait…. Neptune has quality issues? On any forum, you can read the story of how the Apex was brought down from Mount Olympus, and you will displease the gods and Neptune himself will cast a plague on your reeftank if you try reefing without one…….

well, they did make thar significantly reduced quality version of the Phillips Coral Care, and the rest is cheap Chinese garbage, software is written by folks who cant get a job with a good software company……

get your gear from SaltwaterAquarium.com, and try a quality Germain Controller… GHL.
Also, its no coincidence that everyone who grows corals for a living uses Radions, and I'm sure Ecotech wouldn't mind if you bought them from a non-BRS retailer.

 

[ReefRxSWFL]

You cant compare consumer electronics to niche products. Compare the numbers of iPhone owners to the number of reefers who have interest in controllers. Id say hundreds of thousands to one. The scale is why improvements happen. There are a lot less reefers out there when we would like to think. So i wouldnt expext a ton of improvements. And Steve Jobs was educated and didn't have a mullet in this millennium .

 

[Mywifeisgunnakillme]

Really, i think Ryan loves the idea of having more of a say in what is being made in this hobby.... Just another challenge and way to keep his job new and exciting. If he must join with others, so be it.

If you listen to the latest BRS video--with terrance and ryan talking--this is what they say it's all about....

I'd give Ryan the benefit of the doubt and let him make some cool new toys before criticizing this move...

 

[ReefRxSWFL]

If you listen to the latest BRS video--with terrance and ryan talking--this is what they say it's all about....

I'd give Ryan the benefit of the doubt and let him make some cool new toys before criticizing this move...

Ryan also got a lot of folks to buy Vertex products, because they were the best. If you have been watching videos for long enough, there is a lot of hypocrisy over what was once pushed by BRS. This is not a hobby for toys. With all the years of reefing, and more support any of us can muster, all those toys didn’t prevent him from crashing his dream tank.

 

[Doctorgori]

So now will it be the Ryan and Terrance show? Wonder who will be controlling the number of thumbs up or down? he he he :mad:

 

[Mywifeisgunnakillme]

So now will it be the Ryan and Terrance show?

No slight against Terrance, but I hope not...

 

[Mywifeisgunnakillme]

crashing his dream tank

When did he crash the dream tank? I know he bought all kinds of corals... They're dead now?

 

[Peace River]

Thank you everyone for your input! We truly appreciate the discussion and realize that events like this can create (or at least surface) a lot of emotion and tension. As you share your projections, opinions, and experiences, we ask that you focus on the issue and not the people and, in line with that, be nice. R2R was founded on the simple premise to develop a warm, friendly, suitable place to gather and discuss this hobby for people of all ages, backgrounds, and experience levels. The “Be Nice” policy is something we take very seriously.

 

[ReefRxSWFL]

When did he crash the dream tank? I know he bought all kinds of corals... They're dead now

When did he crash the dream tank? I know he bought all kinds of corals... They're dead now?

Did you miss the bloom that killed fish?

 

[MuscleBobBuffPants]

Did you miss the bloom that killed fish?

yes, please link this.

 

[robbyg]

 

[ActualProof]

Maybe now Neptune Systems will get a upgrade from their currently child’s toy quality materials to some real high quality plastics or metals.

Secondly improve that customer support!
I missed your post @Billldg but perhaps these are two things you touched upon?

@randyBRS @Bulk Reef Supply @Terence @NeptunePaul

Metal is a mostly terrible idea.