SPS frag selling guidelines v1.2

[bauder1986]

Originally Posted by fencer

Tony this is why these are guidelines. These are for personal use, not Canreef Forums / policy. This sort arose when at the local meeting when someone had mentioned they paid a lot of bucks essentially for a frag plug.

Then it is Buyer beware policy only. If someone is going to pay the price for something when seeing it in person then they will have to live with all the possible consequences of buying the frags.


These rules however should apply to hobbyists SHIPPING to hobbyist.

That way there is an establish honor system for it.

[fishoholic]

The conversation arose when we noticed that some fish stores will sell frags that are always over an inch large while other fish stores sell you frags that you can barely tell that there really is a frag on the plug because it's so small. It's like I think a see a polyp, yep there it is look real close.

It's nice when some stores give you really good sized frags, but then you expect the same from other stores and then they don't, and it gets frustrating. We were thinking it would be nice it there was some sort of industry standard were if you buy a frag from a store it should be (at the very least) half an inch in size. Personally I like the stores (like Red coral) that give you an inch or more and that is their standard frag size. It's really disappointing when other stores don't do the same. Although I guess that's why RC gets a lot of business while some other stores don't.

[kien]

Originally Posted by Madreefer

Buyer beware. ie: you going to buy a frag from lets say Kein or Whatcaneyedo or some junior member that has no pics or reputation. Word of mouth is probably the best thing.

Originally Posted by lastlight

Aside from the unwanted personal contact getting frags from Kein was a great experience.

I wanted to get some frags from Kein but he wouldn't stop talking about himself . He's a bit of a narcissist, so buyer beware!!

[lockrookie]

i like this idea since im still new and green but what about a rating system for ppl that are selling frags for example i would rate dez a five star seller he was great and helpful. i didnt know him from a hole in the ground and took a chance. now i would gladly piurchace from him any time. but the rating system could be used for all sales not just frags. so when you have dealt with a person it would be your choice to rate but as a new buyer you can check the persons rating.

just a thought it may too much coding and hastle but it would be handy

[lastlight]

Originally Posted by kien

I wanted to get some frags from Kein but he wouldn't stop talking about himself . He's a bit of a narcissist, so buyer beware!!

Kien don't assume I'm misspelling your name. If I had been talking about you I'd have mentioned a lot more than the un-warranted contact.

[Jeff_]

Wow, seems like a lot was talked about at the last meeting, too bad I was tied up with some last minute plans. Would have loved to participate in the discussion but I guess I'll have to do it here instead
1. Declare lighting conditions picture was taken - should be a given
2. Frags should be at least 1/2 inch or larger - agreed, this also helps the survivability IMO
3. Price is what the market will bear - price should not be ridiculous
4. Frags should be pest free / iodine dipped ( at the buyer or the seller end ) - Stress would be an issue for shipping but I think it all comes down to the buyers choice in dipping.
5. Frags should be on established bases( sometimes not possible) - For me I'd prefer unmounted but on some pieces it should be on plugs or bases, either way I think frags should be established and healed before being sold, unless its the odd time (ie accidental breaks) it all goes back to the survivability rate.
6. Return policy up to the seller / buyer - agreed on the communication is key idea and if I knew the person I would be more keen on giving another frag should the original have problems.
7, Picture of the mother colony if possible - would be appreciated but this point for me would not be a deal breaker, I'd rather see the actual frag than the colony.
8. Disclosure if picture was "photoshopped" - should be a given.

The biggest point I see in selling frags is just to keep "backups" of your colonies and in the end I think it helps protect the wild colonies and your own. If something should happen to your tank (ie crash, flood, pests etc) and you lost your most prized piece I would hope that there would be someone out there with a frag thats able to replace your colony. I would argue that it probably won't bring profit unless done on a large scale and in the end I believe helping others whether it'd be a neat coral or helping a beginner out in return some of them will help you out when you need it. Of course there will be people looking to make big bucks selling tiny tiny frags or people that will take advantage of that I don't mind because most of the reefing community in large is quite nice and friendly.

[wickedfrags]

a good read with some useful info for those considering getting into SPS

[fencer]

Guidelines for SPS Frag selling v1.1 is up see top of thread. I have incorporated the thread comments in the document. See first post

[DiverDude]

While I applaud what you're trying to do here (really !), I just can't see this flying. Point-by-point remarks:

1. Good idea but useless unless there is some way of expressing the lighting conditions in a standardized manner and in which people can understand.

2. The size is the size. If someone wants to offer something rare and people are willing to buy it, then that constitutes a market. It might make more sense to simply say that an accurate size measurement should be posted.

3. Price is what the market will bear. Period. Ridiculously priced frags won't sell. If they DO sell, then the price wasn't ridiculous to someone.

4. Sell should declare if they have been dipped. I prefer to dip my own stuff. Dipping prior to shipment would be a bad idea and causes issues of stress/survivability.

5-9 I more or less agree with.

For what it's worth, I might consider refering to this guide as more of a 'code of ethics' since that's really what it's all about.

<dismount soapbox>

Originally Posted by fencer

The last reefers meeting we talked about some hobbyist selling gudelines for frags. Below are some suggestions. Please feel free to comment and I will compile the ideas:

Guidelines for SPS Frag selling/buying V 1.1

1. Declare lighting conditions picture was taken
- the camera can also make a difference, with white balance
2. Frags should be at least 1/2 inch or larger
- helps the survivability
3. Price is what the market will bear
- guideline for pricing is approximately 1/2-2/3 market value
- price should not be ridiculous
- hobbyist prices should not be over 30.00/Frag...anything over...it better be rare
4. Frags should be pest free / iodine dipped ( at the buyer or the seller end )
- dipped the corals before packaging since this would increase the corals' stress during shipping
5. Frags should be on established bases( sometimes not possible)
- frags should be established and healed before being sold
- Coral growing on the plug is a good indication of health
- Sometimes it is not possible to establish growth on the plug...sometimes I frag/mount/sell this is
more a time issue.
- unmounted frags are less stressed
6. Return policy up to the seller / buyer
- agreed on the communication is key idea and if I knew the person I would be more keen on giving
another frag should the original have problems.
- For private buying and selling there is always risk on each side of the fence, and there should always
be an agreement of expectations before the transaction is made.
7. Picture of the mother colony if possible
8. Disclosure if picture was "photoshopped"
9. Buyer beware. ie: you going to buy a frag from a member that has no pics or reputation. Word of mouth is probably the best thing.

[GreenSpottedPuffer]

You could have just summed this up in one phrase..."common sense".

Why do private sellers get the short end of the stick so to speak when it comes to selling frags? Especially (unless I am reading this wrong) how you mention frags cannot be over a certain price. Ridiculous. IMO frags from a private seller should be worth more than a stores in most cases. I have never understood how livestock depreciates so much in our aquariums.

Just let people sell and make deals among themselves. If these things are important to you then ask them of the seller. If they are important to the seller then he can implement them.