Whats up with these nobodies who want to rip off everyone?

[Coral Kai]

Me personally, I would be 100% ok with all the fees you add on to protect the coral. I have yet to buy any coral online. But when I do, I want the seller to package as you do.

That was just the cost to ship from my end...no added fees for me

 

[Lost in the Sauce]

But you can't tell me that random people need to price gouge on corals to keep their blue lights on. I'm strictly talking about one hobbyist trying to take advantage of another.

I'm not telling you that they need to. I'm saying there is nothing intrinsically wrong, evil, or dishonest about a seller and buyer transacting in a mutually beneficial transaction.

Could the hobyists with no overhead sell it for less and slightly undercut the market? Absolutely yes and it would be a smart thing to do IMO.

Are they morally obligated to sell for less, Because they have no overhead? Absolutely not.

 

[adsf430]

Maybe I'm not being clear. I'm fine with an ASD being $750. I'm fine with a coral cruze being $750. (Or more) Those HG have stood the test of time. They've grown in many tanks under lots of different lighting and parameters and are beautiful. They should command a higher price.
It's scumbags marking up wilds I have an issue with. Calling it capitalism doesn't make unethical behavior suddenly become ethical.

The reference to being mad at high priced items for being high priced misses the mark. A buggati is a luxury car and should sell for a high price. If I was trying to sell a Ford focus for the same price, that's me trying to rip off someone. I understand the buyer needs to do their due diligence but we should be able to atleast call out these people for what they are.

I don't have a problem with that still, it's your choice to buy it. What I DO have an issue with is I've seen people claiming wilds are ASD's or CC's or other names as well and then selling them for what seems like bargain prices. That is just gross and fraud.

 

[Lost in the Sauce]

That was just the cost to ship from my end...no added fees for me

I break even on many shipments due to packing and shipping costs as well.

I miss $25 flat rate FedEx overnight.

 

[Coral Kai]

I break even on many shipments due to packing and shipping costs as well.

I miss $25 flat rate FedEx overnight.

I wish for FedEx was cheaper for my area ...I have a customer center near me so those 6pm dropoffs would be great

I have to use UPS because FedEx costs 50%+ more

 

[Coral Kai]

I don't have a problem with that still, it's your choice to buy it. What I DO have an issue with is I've seen people claiming wilds are ASD's or CC's or other names as well and then selling them for what seems like bargain prices. That is just gross and fraud.

Yea just hard to police this ... And better due diligence on the buyer side needed

 

[cdnco2004]

That was just the cost to ship from my end...no added fees for me

Oh so you are not adding the box and container costs you incur to the buyer? I think it would be completely reasonable to charge for the box and individual carriers for the frags.

 

[Lost in the Sauce]

I don't have a problem with that still, it's your choice to buy it. What I DO have an issue with is I've seen people claiming wilds are ASD's or CC's or other names as well and then selling them for what seems like bargain prices. That is just gross and fraud.

I think everyone is in agreement, that taking a wild collected torch, and falsely marketing/selling it as something else (ASD lineage) is fraudulent.

 

[Coral Kai]

Oh so you are not adding the box and container costs you incur to the buyer? I think it would be completely reasonable to charge for the box and individual carriers for the frags.

Nope ..just $50 to ship to match the market standard

 

[MONTANTK]

It’s insane. Local buyers used to be the way to go. I bought one of the very first HGs (before it was well known) for $250

 

[Coral Kai]

I do prefer to transact locally ... but shipping opens up demand just a little bit

my favorite is when some people will buy one torch for $100 and ask for free shipping

 

[Coral Kai]

The best way for me to reach local buyers would be the facebook groups that are concentrated locally

I think my posts are not allowed because I am undercutting the retailers that run those facebook groups ... so i just post things on reef2reef now

 

[cdnco2004]

I do prefer to transact locally ... but shipping opens up demand just a little bit

my favorite is when some people will buy one torch for $100 and ask for free shipping

Yeah, no. Livestock shipping costs are way to high to demand free shipping. If I want something in my hands faster than 5 days, I expect to be paying for it. I don't want any live stock more than 2 days and then only if it is low risk live stock. Otherwise its priority next day.

The best way for me to reach local buyers would be the facebook groups that are concentrated locally

I think my posts are not allowed because I am undercutting the retailers that run those facebook groups ... so i just post things on reef2reef now

Yeah I try to use local Facebook groups as well. I have seen the groups run by LFS owners but they seem to not block posts from people who are trying to sale. I can see a LFG FB Page restricting what people post, but that is on their Page not a public Group.

 

[adsf430]

I think everyone is in agreement, that taking a wild collected torch, and falsely marketing/selling it as something else (ASD lineage) is fraudulent.

I assumed I've just seen an uptick of it from retailers lately

 

[afrokobe]

The best way for me to reach local buyers would be the facebook groups that are concentrated locally

I think my posts are not allowed because I am undercutting the retailers that run those facebook groups ... so i just post things on reef2reef now

our local groups are just run by dudes with chop shops in their garage or backyard. Hard to get any kind of nice hobbyist deal... even when someone does post something cheap and nice. One of the chop shops usually get to it first since they are on fb 24/7. Kind of a bummer when that happens and a couple weeks later, you see it selling for higher...

on a side note, I hate fb groups. the layout is terrible and notifications are all over the place. I wish people stopped using fb...

 

[Coral Kai]

our local groups are just run by dudes with chop shops in their garage or backyard. Hard to get any kind of nice hobbyist deal... even when someone does post something cheap and nice. One of the chop shops usually get to it first since they are on fb 24/7. Kind of a bummer when that happens and a couple weeks later, you see it selling for higher...

on a side note, I hate fb groups. the layout is terrible and notifications are all over the place. I wish people stopped using fb...

agreed ...but was the best way to meet reefers locally .... ive met a lot of cool people through it

just pros and cons i guess

 

[BroccoliFarmer]

For you coral prices are unethically high, maybe for them what you are doing is priced unethically high.

I think we can all agree that many things which are much more important than corals are priced unethically high, like houses for example.

My main problem is not with selling @high prices, but if it's a business it should be taxed as other businesses.

I agree. If you are going to be selling corals for profit, pay the tax man. I know everyone hates taxes unless someone else has to pay them..but if you are running this for a profit, you are a business and should be taxed as such. I for one was very happy when paypal and venmo started requiring 1099s.

 

[BroccoliFarmer]

I'll acknowledge that this is a good point. Can you acknowledge that charging someone $800 for a wild HG is taking advantage of someone who doesn't know where to find the same one for $450? I would guess that many times when someone is taken advantage of, it's with consent, but because the one party simply didn't know any better. Doesn't make it right.

Inefficient market theory. If you could sell it for 800 and knew others were selling it for 450..would you then sell it for 450 or sell it for the 800? You can say no all you want..but we all know the answer.

 

[Coral Kai]

 

[Lost in the Sauce]

Nope ..just $50 to ship to match the market standard

Are you in the LA area? If so, I'd like to talk about commissioning a build of a dozen of those shipping buddies.