wickedfrags auction items! Sunset Monti, "Grape Jelley" subglabra, wicked a. cytherea
 

Well, I have some truly wicked SPS frags available. Because several are truely limited in availabiilty, and becuase I have had many requests for them (an eye towards being fair...), I will be placing them up for auction this week here on canreef.

As I have never auctioned items before I am up for hearing members feedback on the best way to do it. May not incorporate your feedback, but would like to hear it!

I am thinking I will put the items up for sale as a pack, with an end date of 5-7 days (max). Selling the frags individually would be too much hassle. There would be a minimum price, which would be a steal.

And oh ya, up for grabs will be the Sunset Monti, "Grape Jelley" subglabra, Sunrise subglabra and wicked a. cytherea. I will also have some other sweet SPS to add to the order should you be intersted. Will post more details and pics in the next few days. Cheers.

Hey Dave, is it only going to be one of each frag available? Or will there be a couple packs?

Anticipate only one pack at this time. I have some other nice pieces available also, but not duplicates of all pieces noted above which are ready to go.

Depending on how the auctions style sale goes I may have another pack available on canreef, or I may just add them to the website. I will have a low minimum price, but hope not to give them away!

I would suspect a 'pack' will price people out of the running rather quickly. It would be nice if you could bid on individual pieces.

Oh I can't wait for this!! Also whats the deal with shipping with this pack, do regular rules apply?

What he said... :wink:

The ability to buy individual pieces would be great, that way if one liked a few pieces then bids could be made all those pieces, but if only one piece was wanted then the person could just buy that piece.. If done in a pack will shipping be included?

Thanks for the feedback everyone. I am thinking I will make one pack available, and then I can do a separate thread for a few special indivual frags........I can update the site later... Both individual frags and the frag pack will be done in the next week so these sweetheart frags can be in your tank well before the holidays.

Regarding prices, should buyers post their prices in a thread (publicly) or send them to me privately?

Publicly. It will help some of us decide whether or not we can afford them.

+1 on publicly

Why not use ebay and post a link here. It seems like the easiest solution, you'll only get serious inquiries, the time frame you want, you can set minimum bid, easy current bid tracking, no clutter, and overall a proven system.

I don't think a forum will work for auctions, maybe it's just me but I see issues already.

I dont like the whole idea of an "auction" being conducted on a message board. Saying that,

If you go with secret bids, I would want to see an impartial 3rd party keeping track of the bids. I would suggust making the bidding process public with the bidders posting bids in a specific thread, and not relying on PMs to get the bids in.

I will not, as a matter of point, ever purchase from a company that auctions corals. It's just wrong. If you have something to sell, post it. If I want to buy it, I'll offer to buy it. If I miss out, I'll try to be quicker next time.

I've purchased corals from eBay before and think it's a great system. Items will almost always sell for a true market value by using an auction, provided it's done properly.
I'm not sure how someone can say it's wrong, sometimes someone may not know what the market value is for an item and it's a great way to figure it out.

Thanks again for the input.

And I agree, publicly posting a bid seems like the right way to do it. My intention is to ship this order to a canreef member, not sell this locally or have someone local say they bought the pack. I am guessing a repeat wickedfrags customer will grab this! I need to have canreef sales to cover the monthly canreef sponsor costs.

I thought about the eBay approach, but then I would have no reason to post here - my thoughts were only Canreef Members could/would bid on the pack (I do not intend to advertise it elsewhere). While I appreciate some may not agree auction is the way to go, you may have an opportunity to get some great frags at a better price then would normally be extended.

So does auctioning some frags makse sense??? Or a frag pack? Would it just make more sense to update the website and market a site update??? Just thinking out loud.

I think that doing the auction is a good idea. Whether it be a frag pack or individual makes no difference to me. Although for shipping purposes, you will want to send out more than just one frag, so a pack makes sense. With it being a pack full of rare corals, somebody is going to get themselves a great deal anyway. If it goes to high for anybody, then you just stop bidding on it. The advantage you have, is that they are not corals that you can really get anywhere else. So if someone wants them, they could be willing to pay top dollar for them.

I agree on publicly bidding.

Public viewed bidding. It will make for much less overlap in bids you get to your message box.

People are going to complain since someone will likely wait until the last minute and post a price 1 dollar higher than the last bidder right when the auction closes. There really isn't anything you can do about that, just bid as high as you want and don't feel bad if someone out bids you.

I appreciate the opportunity you are trying to provide Canreef, plus this will draw people who want these corals to sign on to Canreef. It's a win/win situation in my opinion. Of course people are going to try and make it complicated, but that just seems to be the way of the internet forum.

I think it's a great idea Dave, and I know I'll be bidding!

Cheers,

Scott

Again, thanks for the feedback everyone.

Well, think I have decided on the the procedure. I will post a small and very wicked frag pack with a very reasonable price attached to it. The starting price and all subsequent bids will include shipping right to your door anywhere in Canada.

There will be a defined end date, and the date with the end date and time being determined by the canreef.com date and time. High bidder will have 48 hours to pay for the pack.

The high bid publicly submitted and posted in the specific/official auction thread in the wickedfrags forum before the auction end date will receive the frag pack. Bids/prices submitted via email and/or PM will NOT be accepted.

Price will include shipping to one address. While bidding with a fellow reefkeeper may help secure your favorite piece, in the event shipping multiple packages is required additional costs will apply. Also, should you care to add a few more frags to your order, my standard shipping container can hold apx. 8-10 SPS frags.

Stay tuned for the pics and the low low starting price! Cheers.

You mentioned this wasn't for locals but for Canreef members. What about those that are in southern ontario and are memebers?

Fair question, I generally think not that many locals are on this board. That being said, I always encourage local reefkeepers (Ontario and Toronto) to join canreef whenever possible as I feel it is a good community, so of course locals can bid.

My intent is for this auction is to be for all canreef members, perhaps all canreef members that have been on the board since at least December 1, 2008 (don't want people to think anything funny is up!).

FYI, the starting price, and any subsequent bids will include shipping anywhere in Canada. There will be no shipping discount on the final price if you live in Ontario despite the fact that shipping charges may be less than shipping to ship to BC, AB, SK etc. Hope this seems reasonable.

I like the idea or including shipping with the bid, as we know shipping to the west is a nice little penny in itself.

Ya no kidding - just shipping can cost me as much as $80 for my standard shipping container, not to mention the cost of the best container I can buy and a heat pack or two. Can be looking at almost $100 just in shipping and materials...

So when are we going to get this show on the road?

Hopefully tonight, but likely tomorrow. Just need to take a couple pics and then get it posted.