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.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).