FRAG RUNNER IDEA !!

Polyp Punk · May 29, 2022

Hey Reefers

This hobby is already expensive as hell and it’s not getting any better. so I got to thinking … most of us reefers now a days order online from our favorite companies like @TopShelfAquatics and @WWC. The only problem is shipping costs kill us because of the overnight shipping to keep these beautiful corals and fish alive. Not everyone has the cash to spend 400$ in order to get free shipping it’s insane. SO… I was thinking last night of creating a shipping service call Frag Runner. It’s something you can subscribe to yearly that would give you free shipping across all your favorite online vendors who are willing to participate. I think this would really change the game for our hobby and even increase sales across the board for all of these companies. It would work like Amazon prime. One yearly fee for free or lower cost overnight shipping. How many people out there want to buy some frags or even a single piece but decide not to because the 40$ shipping price on top of the frag is just not worth it ? Just throwing this idea out there to see the reaction it gets. Let me know what you think

there is no doubt that this would increase online revenue for all of these online shops because more people would be purchasing more frequently and not have to wait to buy a ton of frags to make the 40$ shipping tag worth it. I know I’m not the only one that feels this way! I would absolutely love a service like this. Let me know what you guys think below!
Happy Reefing

T-J · May 29, 2022

Not sure where you got the $400 for free shipping number.
WWC requires $249 for free shipping
TSA is $250
During live sales you can usually get shipping boxes for about $30. So, if you save some money for a live event, your shipping costs are relatively cheap. Not sure how much of a subscription price you were thinking, but I'm sure it would cost more than 1 or 2 shipping charges a year.
Personally, I'd never order 1 or 2 frags to have shipped. I'm going to make sure I hit the $250 to get the free shipping, which isn't that hard to do.
If you can't afford the shipping costs, then I suggest supporting your LFS, coral shows or your local hobbyists. My local FB group always has amazing stuff for really cheap prices.

Polyp Punk · May 29, 2022

T-J said:
Not sure where you got the $400 for free shipping number.
WWC requires $249 for free shipping
TSA is $250
During live sales you can usually get shipping boxes for about $30. So, if you save some money for a live event, your shipping costs are relatively cheap. Not sure how much of a subscription price you were thinking, but I'm sure it would cost more than 1 or 2 shipping charges a year.
Personally, I'd never order 1 or 2 frags to have shipped. I'm going to make sure I hit the $250 to get the free shipping, which isn't that hard to do.
If you can't afford the shipping costs, then I suggest supporting your LFS, coral shows or your local hobbyists. My local FB group always has amazing stuff for really cheap prices.

spend 250 to reach free shipping is not hard to do ? really? You cant say that. The majority of people are not as fortunate as you are to have that kind of money and not everyone has a LFS near them. I think its a great idea that many people would adopt. It would also increase sales across the board for all of these online vendors as well. There would be a ton more orders flowing in. I know there are a lot of people who want to order online but don't because of shipping costs... sometimes im just surfing these sites and see only one piece i like but dont buy it because adding another 30-40$ for no reason isn't worth it...It would get rid of these "shipping box" purchases for all of the live sales and auctions. there is no way it would be more expensive than shipping boxes. you literally have to buy a shipping box every single sale or auction...With all these events on R2R i think a subscription like this would be fire i would participate and buy so much more knowing shipping is covered all year long...but to each their own. thanks bud

Dhaleillama · May 29, 2022

TSA and WWC have the cheaper shipping, and I always wait for the sales and drop $$$. I don't go retail shopping on a site and pick coral 1 or 2 at a time.

MaxTremors · May 29, 2022

The only way this could be feasible is if it was $200+ a year, which at that point if spending enough to get free shipping is already an issue, this service would also be too expensive. If I was having a hard time justifying the cost of shipping, I would probably use lower cost vendors, for example corals.com has $25 shipping, free at $150.

TheDragonsReef · May 29, 2022

The problem is shipping costs in the first place. I dont know how you could feasibly get shipping prices any lower. For a hobbyist to ship something overnight right now is typically $70-100. Tsa, wwc and other big vendors get shipping discounts due to the amount they ship, so they're already about as low as shipping prices can get.

Lets say your service costs $400/yr just for a rough example, someone could order 8-10 $10 frags one at a time over a few months and now the company will lose money each sale thereafter due to shipping costs especially if the person continues to buy inexpensive frags.

The reason you get free shipping when buying bulk is because its more economical for all parties including the shipping company. The solution to cheaper shipping prices for the buyer is to not buy 1 or 2 frags at a time but to save up and buy enough at once to get to the free shipping quota.

T-J · May 30, 2022

Salt_Life said:
spend 250 to reach free shipping is not hard to do ? really? You cant say that. The majority of people are not as fortunate as you are to have that kind of money and not everyone has a LFS near them. I think its a great idea that many people would adopt. It would also increase sales across the board for all of these online vendors as well. There would be a ton more orders flowing in. I know there are a lot of people who want to order online but don't because of shipping costs... sometimes im just surfing these sites and see only one piece i like but dont buy it because adding another 30-40$ for no reason isn't worth it...It would get rid of these "shipping box" purchases for all of the live sales and auctions. there is no way it would be more expensive than shipping boxes. you literally have to buy a shipping box every single sale or auction...With all these events on R2R i think a subscription like this would be fire i would participate and buy so much more knowing shipping is covered all year long...but to each their own. thanks bud

Listen, "bud", don't come in here with an idea that you present to everyone for feedback, and then get defensive when someone doesn't agree with you. You asked for people to "let me know what you think...", which I did and it didn't agree with your plan. Your response...well, it speaks for itself.
Not only did I not see how this could work, but everyone else that commented to this point also don't see how this is feasible.
Perhaps you could lay out your idea a bit more. Costs? Who's paying for the actual shipping? Are customers the only ones paying or are you suggesting vendors pay a fee to belong to this?

youcallmenny1 · May 30, 2022

I don't understand, who is actually shipping this? I really doubt UPS/Fedex/USPS are going to agree to lower prices for your third party coral Uber. You compare it to Amazon Prime but you're not a multi-billion dollar international megacorp with market leverage to demand lower prices. I too would like to know exactly where the costs are being eaten up because you can't just create something out of nothing and call it a business.

i cant think · May 30, 2022

T-J said:
Listen, "bud", don't come in here with an idea that you present to everyone for feedback, and then get defensive when someone doesn't agree with you. You asked for people to "let me know what you think...", which I did and it didn't agree with your plan. Your response...well, it speaks for itself.
Not only did I not see how this could work, but everyone else that commented to this point also don't see how this is feasible.
Perhaps you could lay out your idea a bit more. Costs? Who's paying for the actual shipping? Are customers the only ones paying or are you suggesting vendors pay a fee to belong to this?

You both could’ve said it a bit better but also, they are right. Taxes can get in the way of a lot. And not everyone has an LFS nearby that they can safely transport corals or fish to and fro without risking any deaths or too much stress.

Sharkbait19 · May 30, 2022

Salt_Life said:
spend 250 to reach free shipping is not hard to do ? really? You cant say that. The majority of people are not as fortunate as you are to have that kind of money and not everyone has a LFS near them. I think its a great idea that many people would adopt. It would also increase sales across the board for all of these online vendors as well. There would be a ton more orders flowing in. I know there are a lot of people who want to order online but don't because of shipping costs... sometimes im just surfing these sites and see only one piece i like but dont buy it because adding another 30-40$ for no reason isn't worth it...It would get rid of these "shipping box" purchases for all of the live sales and auctions. there is no way it would be more expensive than shipping boxes. you literally have to buy a shipping box every single sale or auction...With all these events on R2R i think a subscription like this would be fire i would participate and buy so much more knowing shipping is covered all year long...but to each their own. thanks bud

In all fairness, corals are not a cheap thing, and anyone who is serious enough to be ordering online would know the major expenses that come from coral, and should be willing to spend it. I agree that most people cannot pay that much money in a single order. That’s why I rarely place online orders. However, these places need to charge shipping, because UPS, FedEx, and USPS are nationwide services that require fees for delivery. This service is not provided by the fish store, so they don’t have the ability to dictate delivery charges, and they certainly won’t be willing to cover the shipping out of their own pocket. In a “free shipping” service, you’d probably wind up spending more every year than you would by spending the 20 or 30 bucks for an online order. Or, you could plan to place your orders in bulk and less frequently. You could spend more on a single order and spend less on multiple shipments. The reason many stores have such a high threshold for free shipping is to encourage buying a large amount of livestock at one point instead of frequent small orders. Small and frequent purchases should be done at a local fish store, or, dare I say, a local Petco (assuming there’s no other nearby option, and you quarantine your new livestock).