Thoughts on forum price gauging on hard to get / new release items (aka Neptune Trident)?

[Doostur]

I'm curious on everyone's feedback on this topic. The only reason I'm making this post is because I was at MACNA today and spoke with a bunch of members apart of the community. The frustration of members trying to get a Trident has really taken a turn for the worse.

Now you're probably thinking... who cares? They will eventually get one. Which is true, but sure does sting after many failed attempts to buy one, only to see people flipping them for double the price.

We are here to be apart of a community. But this sort of thing sure doesnt reflect that.

What if we kept new items at a MSRP cap? Or cap it at a certain percent over MSRP? More than welcome to price gauge and sell it anywhere else etc... but why not keep the tension off of these forums?

I was there today and managed to finally get one from Salt Water Aquariums. Many thanks to @SaltwaterAq

 

[vetteguy53081]

It does NOT bother me the least.
Respectfully, if I see a price I think is crazy, I move on. This is not just a trident specific issue but with homes, cars, food, concessions.....its sort of a norm.
People have the right to ask what they want - we have the right to not pay the asking price.
SUPPLY AND DEMAND HAS STRENGTH WHEN IT COMES TO PRICING.
We have to make educated decisions in this manner.

 

[Doostur]

It does NOT bother me the least.
Respectfully, if I see a price I think is crazy, I move on. This is not just a trident specific issue but with homes, cars, food, concessions.....its sort of a norm.
People have the right to ask what they want - we have the right to not pay the asking price.
SUPPLY AND DEMAND HAS STRENGTH WHEN IT COMES TO PRICING.
We have to make educated decisions in this manner.

I agree with you. But I just dont see how this sort of thing makes the forum any better.

 

[Silver14SS]

If I was in the market for one, my angst would be directed at the limited supply and the cause of it, not individual resellers.

Everyone places their own value on a Trident, Indo Torch, fancy pants acro, etc. f there is a capped price it would need a lottery or some other method of being "fair."

The forum doesn't require the betterment of it in transactions, but maybe someone making a profit reselling betters the forum elsewhere through other deeds. I try not to assume much about a person based on them capitalizing on a sales transaction.

 

[Nasir]

I have been discussing this issue a long time and I hate to say it but this is something that will never change. As long as people keep paying these stupid ridiculous prices the prices will continue to go up and the size of the coral will continue to get smaller. You almost can’t blame the sellers. If I name a lollipop and put a price of a 1000.00 on it and people buy it then I’m going to continue to do it.

 

[Scurvy]

For every person that grumbles at the price of something theres another happy they had the chance to pay double/triple retail to get it when they wanted or needed it and No im not one of them. Ill get mine sometime in probably 2022 at this rate.

How are the coral any different we see going for 1500/2000k per head now when most of the folks selling them paid 100/head years ago. We’re right back to supply and demand.

Dictating things like this would personally rub me the wrong way.

 

[Doostur]

Dont give world wide corals any ideas or their shop will be full lollipops with exotic names and $1000.00 price tags ;Happy

 

[James77]

I'm curious on everyone's feedback on this topic. The only reason I'm making this post is because I was at MACNA today and spoke with a bunch of members apart of the community. The frustration of members trying to get a Trident has really taken a turn for the worse.

But this type of thing happens all the time with new and popular equipment. When the ATI Powermodule exploded on the market like 10 years ago, I was on a several month long waiting list. I do think that Neptune should have seen the demand coming, and been better prepared for it. We have been testing our tanks with these silly test kits for decades, people shouldn't get frustrated over waiting a few months. IMO, the early users are the guinea pigs to see how well the quality works.

But there are always going to be people willing to fork over all sorts of cash to have something NOW NOW NOW, and there will be sellers that take advantage of it. While it is not beneficial to the forum, I don't think it is harmful.

 

[ZoWhat]

Has Neptune ever put their equipment on sale past a very very rare 10% off?

Their price is their price. Retailers lose their relationship with Neptune if they charge anything but what Neptune tells them to charge

Neptune knows how long it takes for them to get back all the R&D money they spent to develop a product. They know exactly what profit margins they want.

But....you as the consumer do have a "vote" by not buying their product and just wait for spin offs to be developed by other Mfgrs

 

[Nasir]

LOL, like I said this is a discussion. I also wasn’t talking about somethings I was talking about coral.

 

[TTNuge]

Supply and demand. Personally I think it's a good thing as it allows those with more money than time an opportunity they may not otherwise have. Restricting prices that the market supports would only push traffic away from the site hurting it and would do nothing to stop the practice.

 

[motortrendz]

I still think it's crazy when someone buys a product for 600ish and tries to resell it on here for double. It's one thing if it's a coral that has grown over time and has had time invested into it. but the straight up scalping of products for the sole purpose of taking advantage of others for gain is just wrong and I would think isnt in line with a family value we promote here. If you wanna do that sell on ebay. Anyone can ask whatever they want but some things are just straight up robbery and taking advantage of people that may not realize that the could buy the same product from a vendor within the next few days for the map pricing.

 

[Bigwrasse]

so many .. buying to resell them that it makes it difficult for the people that actually want one to get it.

 

[Hair Algae Wizard]

Hopefully, inventory will be sufficient for the holiday season, that these price gougers will take a bath on the units they bought to mark up.

I was seriously contemplating buying one off eBay for almost $900, but BRS had Trident's in stock yesterday, and I snagged one at the MSRP price. So glad I was patient!

 

[phatduckk]

I’ve seen this stuff on guitar forums and other hobby hangouts. I’ve gotten pretty used to it. It sucks but it is what it is.

I got lucky and saw a trident in stock even before my tank had water. I finally got a chance to set it up 2 days ago.

 

[vetteguy53081]

so many... buying to resell them that it makes it difficult for the people that actually want one to get it.

iTS REALITY. I WOULD NOT REGARD THEM AS .. BUT RATHER A PERSON WHO EITHER CHANGED THEIR MIND OR ARE LOOKING TO MAKE A FEW EXTRA BUCKS, This is no way makes them a lesser person but rather an opportunist. Next weekend is Black Friday shopping. You will see the many that as an example that will be #1 in line at Best Buy to get that 65" TV and later have it on Craigslist for $500. This happens all of the time.
Is it politically correct- No.
Do you have the right to choose it or walk away - Yes.
A few Years ago, Hatchimals came out and Stores had them for $60.00 but they sold before the arrival at stores. My former girlfriend's daughter wanted one. I paid $149 on ebay to get it because they were to be found no where else. SOMETIMES THIS IS THE ONLY MARKET WE ENCOUNTER WHEN IN NEED FOR GOODS.

 

[motortrendz]

I would call them .., but they're definitely scalping. And like you said people waiting in line to get something for half price or less then selling for actual retail price isnt taking advantage. That's working to make a few bucks and not ripping people off. And again you said that you bought something for more on ebay. Fine but when you take advantage of a family oriented forum like that I feel like its wrong. And true you can just ignore the post, but theres no reason to take advantage of our members. Just my though and no disrespect to you @vetteguy53081, I agree with you on alot of things here but this one just bothers me. and I don't even have a dog in the fight as I dont have a Neptune, or a trident. Nor do I even want one. I actually like testing and doing a few things myself. It's all part of the hobby for me.

 

[NanoDJS]

if you need the neptune that bad , then you gotta pay for it , but a few days reading and a few more weeks putting in practice whats learned on this forum , you could have better water quality imho . There are some LEGENDS on here folks , that have invested what appears to be millions of hours , crafting extremely detailed observational experience and real-world results based algorithms for success. My advice is save your money till they get their supply chain fixed and things come back to reality. In the long term you have to learn all the factors they are cutting out with a gadget or your still not going to be able to Master the Art of Reefing .

 

[EMeyer]

I dont have a dog in this race, since its not an item I can imagine ever purchasing. But I will add: the manufacturer could stop this in a heartbeat by announcing that they will be enforcing their "no warranty on resold units" policy. The manufacturer would also be well within their rights to do so.

I suggest if people want to stop this practice, it would be more efficient to have Neptune prevent it rather than asking each forum and web platform to prevent it individually.

The decision rests with Neptune, and right now their policy allows reselling. I'm not a fan, but I'm not a fan of a lot of human behavior, and have come to accept most of it is out of my control. This one is pretty small potatoes.

 

[TheShrimpNibbler]

I agree with you. But I just dont see how this sort of thing makes the forum any better.

Someone is getting a trident. Albeit at an insanely high price, but these sales still allow someone to get a product that they want. If someone has a product, why should we be allowed to say that they can’t make as much money as they want off of it. You never know, maybe that extra money from selling the trident is what allowed them to stay in the hobby. And if there had been a price cap, they would have been forced to quit the hobby. That doesn’t sound family friendly to me. Like @vetteguy53081 said, if you can’t afford it, move on from the product. There are other ways to test.