Live Sales: Good way to buy coral?

[Jax15]

Hey reefers, I sure see a lot of ads for live frag sales from different vendors online (and here on R2R!), but I have never personally used this as a way to buy new coral. What do you think, is this a great way to get new frags? If not, what are the downsides?

 

[Everything Aquatics]

Hey reefers, I sure see a lot of ads for live drag sales from different vendors, but have never personally used this as a way to buy frags. What do you think, is this a good way to get new frags? If not, what are the downsides?

Same thing I want to know

 

[Robertellis30]

Honestly I think there a rip off still. Granted the frags are at a discounted price. Personally I think with the discount there still through the roof for what there asking. When they say drag size. It’s for sure a “frag” size. Support your LFS. Get to know them. Most stores will bring in stuff you want.

 

[PicassoClown04]

I think that they are great if you know how to play your cards. Participate in the games, buy shipping early, take advantage of the after sale, and don't get carried away! So far, POTO has been my favorite because you can literally as for a deeper discount. I straight up asked them to lower the price of a $50 fox coral down to $30 and they did! I think they're great, but make sure you know what you want and how much you want to spend before buying stuff.

 

[92Miata]

Any sales tactic that tells the buyer "you have to buy right now" is designed to make the buyer make rushed poor decisions.

 

[Dr. Dendrostein]

I say maybe, because if you notice some complaints on this website or on the Internet, the complaints are , not healthy when they receive it, not identical to what they saw in the picture, just some complaints, don't get me wrong I order from online, and 90% of the time it's fine . But if possible being able to see the specimen before buying is the best experience. Example yesterday we went to the West Coast Coral show in Santa Ana California and you get an idea what you see is what you get.

 

[Phycodurus]

i got back into the hobby early 2018, and found out what a live sale was later that fall ... just in time post-cycle with a fairly well matured tank haha. in hindsight, i would say they are okay, but stick to a budget lol, and look to the after sale to score some sweeter deals.

live sales are a great way to just sit on the bleachers and get to know others and also learn about all the different types of corals (but that urge to participate gnaws at you haha ... “well ... maybe just one or two”). ;Hilarious


@Dr. Dendrostein, thanks for mentioning the west coast coral show, i’ll check it out next year! just missed it!

 

[jesspal]

TSA and WWC both provided a large selection of frags from $5 to $500. The frags that I received were all as pictured and healthy. I wouldn't hesitate to participate again

 

[Dr. Jim]

I won't mention any names, but I purchased SPS frags from 5 Live Sales in the past 6 months. I was not thrilled with most of them to be honest. Most frags were brown and many were tiny. SPS won't turn brown when shipped overnight....they were like that when they are shipped. A few arrived in such poor condition that they died. Sure they will be replaced, but that still costs a shipping fee. (I use to sell and ship SPS. I would never ship something as tiny as some of the ones I received, and mine always had good color.)

Pricing was often frustrating. At the end of most sales, they drop the prices and many times I could have gotten a similar frag for much less if I had waited. (Of course some frags may not be available, too). I know....this is part of the "business."

My biggest complaint with most online sales is in regard to photography. Rarely do I see true colors that aren't oversaturated in processing. Some are so extreme that I "walk away" immediately. (If edges where a color ends is blurred, that means it is oversaturated).

 

[austibella]

I tried 2 times buying on line.both times corals were dead. Took 5 days to get here. It's so sad. these are live animals!! Suffered the heat of shipping to fla. Really upsetting I would rather pay overnight then free shipping taking 5 days to get here, with beautiful corals suffering in the mail.

 

[Amps Reef Life]

I'm not a fan of live sales. I like to shop my favorite online stores when they are hosting a sale on there website. I don't want to spend the entire day infront of my phone or PC buying items as they are listed. Scrolling through all the pages and comments on R2R can be very annoying and frustrating. I like to see all my options upfront and pick out what I want. I love R2R and have been here a long time. The live sales just aren't for me. I have participated in many in the past but the more I did the more I was turned off by it. I simply don't participated anymore.

 

[Buckster]

My first time I purchased online I did receive one frag from the several I ordered to have something solid growing out of its side. This was not pictured in the wysiwyg. Other corals (LPS & SPS) were partially dead and did not survive. I have now ordered leathers online and they have been perfect!

 

[NeonRabbit221B]

My lovely girlfriend got roped in and spent $150 on me for about 6-7 frags. Not upset at the pricing or discount I got but rather that I got 5 frags I didn't necessarily want/need. The "$1 frags" always disappear faster than you can click anyways.

 

[homer1475]

Live sales are a great way to feed that "gotta have it now" desire.

It's like gambling, people get the rush from trying to snatch up corals before other do. In reality, most corals on a live sale can be had for cheaper at other vendors as a normal everyday price.

Even better is to get to know your local reefers. Chances are, someone local really knows what their doing and will have all those corals for way cheaper then any live sale, and the frags are usually much larger then the booger you get in a live sale.

 

[j.falk]

Support your LFS. Get to know them. Most stores will bring in stuff you want.

Where I live there are no pet stores that carry coral. The nearest one is an hour away and I only go to it 2-3 times per year. It's more cost effective for me to buy online and pay for shipping than to gamble on what the nearest store might have in stock and waste the time and wear/ tear on my vehicle to go there and come back empty handed.

That being said, I don't buy from live sales. I prefer to shop at dedicated sites that offer good quality items (size/health of corals) at fair market prices.

 

[BobbyCline]

If you like a constant spam of memes then live sales are pretty awesome.

 

[fishface NJ]

I have participated in Live Sales and they were exciting. But I found that if I didn't know the going price for a frag, I was most of the time paying full price. There were times I won frags I didn't really care for because I wasn't thinking.

 

[Daniel@R2R]

I like them. I've gotten some really good deals in life sales

 

[Opus]

Hey reefers, I sure see a lot of ads for live frag sales from different vendors online (and here on R2R!), but I have never personally used this as a way to buy new coral. What do you think, is this a great way to get new frags? If not, what are the downsides?

I personally like them, but there are only 3 or 4 vendors that I like to deal with. They are fun to read the posts at the initial start of the sale and listen to all the complainers and see them get piled on by the regulars. Live sales have lost their "luster" now that there seems to be 1 or 2 every weekend now. Used to only be 5 or 6 a year. I do get it. It now has become the only way to survive against the "big boys". They put on a live sale and bring in what, $30k to $50k in sales in a weekend. That means that money isn't being spent at all the other sponsors here.

I don't know where you live, but if you are near a larger city, check out facebook and see if there are some local reef groups. There may be some local "garage" sellers on there doing auctions. I've picked up some great deals locally from auctions, we are talking 1/3 to 1/4th of online prices.

 

[sawdonkey]

I prefer just to buy direct from vendors. Usually, if you buy a few things, they will do a package deal that’s below list price.

I really prefer to skip the vendors altogether and buy from other hobbyists. I live in Chicago and there are quite a few of us around here.