Did you really just compare it to falling off a ladder and blaming gravity lol now that's silly and pointless. We don't pay for gravity for one and climbing up ladders isn't a hobby where I'm from. Look the way I see it is if we stop paying these redicuous prices and let vendors know we don't like where they are taking this hobby then vendors will have no choice but to reason with all fellow hobbyist and at the same time if we continue to buy into it then it will continue.Vendors can cut their chalice/z's and p's prices in half and still make money bro trust me.
Just because it's a hobby (which I'm thinking just means "something one does as an enjoyable pursuit," please correct me if I'm missing the definition) doesn't entitle it to be cheap does it? I know people who consider aviation a hobby, and I would count myself amongst them, but there's no way for me to get angry about the price of aircraft, training hours for a pilots liscence, etc. Yea, the person COULD give me some super cheap price and only make themselves a few bucks for their time to help me out, because it's a hobby to me, but what's their incentive to do so?
Lastly-I haven't heard you state a direct rationale, so I'll ask you directly- Please tell me how vendors are taking this hobby somewhere? I thought the vendors were at our collective "mercy" to stay in business (or not as is the case with some lately sadly.) I can't connect the metaphorical dots to get to the line of reasoning that the vendors have us outwitted somehow.
At the same time, you say they're taking the hobby somewhere you don't like-yet with the advent of the internets, I'm witnessing greater trading going on than ever before. Back when I started, you could go to your local store to buy stuff. If you knew the right people, you could get into a club and then maybe trade some. The net wasn't that big, so you were basically at the mercy of whatever you found in the stores, and when you grew out a coral and had extra, well, only people to sell it to was those same stores who'd give you usually 1/3 in store credit. Now, it's anything but that. I grow out acro's, I can hit up the local community and offer them some corals for cheaper than retail putting actual cash back into my hand. They benefit, I benefit (and usually Domino's benefits immediatley after). And pretty much 90% of the time, providing they're not jerks or flakes, we hang out and chat about the hobby, and I throw in extras. The reverse has almost always happened when I buy from someone in the same circumstances.
So the direction the hobby seems to be going from my perspective is even MORE into a social hobby, thanks in part for the same reason that you seem unhappy about-the ability of a large market driving up prices on some very choice pieces through collective viewing-That same collective viewing (the internets, a system of tubes) is what gives us these discussion boards where we find a community helping each other out.
That people are getting out of the hobby because of high prices on livestock? That's absurd-if someone who has a nice tank says "wow, I just saw that The Troll Cave is selling a chalice for $800.93, that's stupid. I'm done, I'm tearing down the tank and not going to do this anymore" I'm going to not pass on the blame to the vendor and instead say that person needs a nice shot of whiskey. I know a lot of "newbies" do get turned off when they look at equipment and see all these fancy systems, ULN systems, etc, and when they turn to get help they get people saying "go do research." That attitude (in which I'm not directing at anyone, just a generality) seems much more destructive than a store that has a wide range of corals with a wide range of prices.
and cursing at gravity after falling off a ladder is one of the best feelings in the world, short of pulling out a good splinter after a long day.
And Peter, I agree with ya, on the private (non-business) level both methods work hand-in-hand, I was more stirring the kettle on the "vendors should behave a certain way" brew. I'm still upset with you for not keeping your ******* perkier and off the rock :sad:
