Yet another reason....

Reef Goddess · Nov 28, 2007

I found out today yet another reason why RC sucks so bad. LOL

I posted the same thread thats in the trading forum here about me wanting milles, in the trading forum on RC. I think I may have accidentally listed my email address as reefgardener@net or something instead of [email protected] .

Its been up for a few days, but today the mods write to tell me that my post has been removed because "its come to our attention that you maintain a commercial business" .

I mean are you kidding me?? I haven't posted on RC in ages and the thread is exactly the same as here with no commercial references, weblinks, etc.
So now us business owners aren't even allowed to trade with other hobbyists??? Crazy. I think they should just call RC what it is, the Chairman Mao reef forum. ;p

If I haven't told you today, I LOVE you club-zoa!! lol

turbois300 · Nov 28, 2007

That is rediculous......what the heck is the point of having a sell/trade forum if you kick people out for selling/trading. If it's not just a link to an outside vendor to another website then who's hurting their vendors? I don't know much of the infrastructure there but it seems to blow doors down!!!

Reef Goddess · Nov 28, 2007

That is pretty crazy, I imagine there were a lot of ticked frag farmers back then. I think they would do well to rethink some of their policies because they continue to alienate small business owners that may well be more successful someday than their current sponsors. Everyday I see a lot of questionable "hobbyists" selling stuff on the forums but what can you do? I gave up on selling there, but to block me simply from trading is really going overboard.

Hypertek99 · Nov 28, 2007

Yeah they banned me and then they let me back on. But it just doesn't feel the same going there anymore i like this site better. Oh Reef Goddess hope you got my mail on the Zoanthid if it's too late let me know and i can pay for the shipping.

Reef Goddess · Nov 28, 2007

I got it, no worries.
I was thinking about going down in flames and getting myself banned. Something big and flashy like checkout reefgardener. What do you think? lol So they'd really know what commercial is.

I've even been bugging them over the past three weeks for sponsorship info and they won't send it to me.

Reef Goddess · Nov 28, 2007

I'd be willing to do a few hundred bucks for a month but $500 just for a banner and a forum??!! Somebody is definately making some money off that site. There's no way that all that's "just to cover the cost of running the site".
I mean look at club-zoa, its a really nice site with good graphics and frequent updates. Rev only charges pennies by comparison.

Hypertek99 · Nov 28, 2007

WOW $500 is overkill. But it's just like corals as long as people are paying it they will charge that high.

Reef Goddess · Nov 28, 2007

Hypertek, let me know if you don't receive a tracking # from fedex.

Yes, RC needs to be brought down several notches. But I think they'll do it themselves with their attitude.

Hypertek99 · Nov 28, 2007

Well they are suppose to give me all my privileges back next week let's see how it goes. Thanks Reef Goddess i got the tracking number.

turbois300 · Nov 29, 2007

I'm down for some sabotage!! Or like goddess go down swinging. I'm tempted to go put threads in all the forumz like THIS SITE IS LAME!!!!!!!!!!! Go to CZ!! But I'm not sure that will go ever well anywhere. I don't want to make trouble fo us over here. I think also like Goddess says they will do it to themselves....

Hyper..... PIX PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

turbois300 · Nov 29, 2007

Yeah I won't mention this site... I don't want any trouble...well atleast for us over here. I think I'll just take a back seat and not visit there anymore.

Azurel · Nov 29, 2007

I still don't have my privledges back.....I never even got a notice and never really said anything truley bad about RC......Ooh well....Greener grass over here...

Reef Goddess · Nov 29, 2007

Oh and for the record, sponsorship is $500 a month for your banner to be displayed 50,000 times. You get to display your banner and get your own forum for this amazingly low price.

But unlike club-zoa you don't get to talk about your business in any other forums but your own or sell/trade on the forums. What a great deal!!

I think I'll pass thanks! lol

Reef Goddess · Nov 29, 2007

Oh, I think a good way to bring RC "down" is to keep having referral contests and just generally showing people what a laidback Woodstock kind of feeling we've got going on over here. Would someone pass the j please? ;p

shred5 · Nov 29, 2007

surfn said:
yeah, the email address probably gave you away.

they immediately assumed if you had egg crate in your tank, that you were commercial.

Its not that you are commercial it is you are only allowed to have stuff from your main tank up for sale, no frag tanks. So they see egg crate it is assumed you have a frag tank. But then again if you have a prop tank you are propagating things for sale really and I guess it really leads back to being commercial. Again it is to protect the sponsors.

Their breeder’s forum has completely died. They started banning anyone who breeds fish because obviously you can not raise larvae in your main tank so you have to have a separate tank. To me this is foolish because you are not commercial if you just raise a few fish to try it out.

The thing that bothers me about this whole thing is it really is anti propagation or aquaculture. These need to be promoted and not held back. Anything that gets us less dependent on wild product is a positive and RC stifles that.

In a way they are kind of stuck though. How do you protect your sponsors with out going overboard? Rc is huge the cost are up there. They also are in major need of a upgrade.

Dave

Reef Goddess · Nov 29, 2007

I had no eggcrate showing in my post and I'm not even sure if I did have my email address posted wrong. I told them that the frags i wanted to trade had been in my personal tank for some time and I wasn't just buying stuff to trade. So they told me this:

"Whether these came from your personal tank or a wholesaler doesn't matter to us because we cannot differentiate. Once you have a business, all entities are treated the same because we have no intention of coming over to your house to see what frags you are selling/trading or where they originated from. It would simply be unfair to other commercial entities to allow you to sell/trade your "personal" items. If Reefer Madness or DFS tried to sell or trade "personal" items in the general forums, we would remove the posts just the same."

That's why I said it appears that even if I paid the sponsorship fees I would still not be allowed to trade on RC.

I think they are over due for a restructuring of their policies that will probably never take place. I mean look how Rev does it over here, the sponsorship fees are low and we're allowed the freedom to talk about the biz without having to watch our backs. Nonsponsors can advertise their frags and we all have a cool classifieds forum for everyone to share. So far I haven't heard anyone complaining about it. So if it can be done here, it can most definately be done better at RC.

They should have different sponsorship levels just like they do at fundraisers, etc. Not everyone can afford to pay as much as some of their large sponsors and they shouldn't have to. Frankly for $500 a month I'd want more perks than just having my banner displayed and my own forum.

turbois300 · Nov 29, 2007

I guess we'll just have to smoke on it for a while huh Goddess!!! I knew I shoulda got those Rasta Zoas when I had the chance. At least something in my house would partake with me....