Online Aquarium Goods Auction

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Romi
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Online Aquarium Goods Auction

Unread post by Romi »

After the aquarist meeting at Vijendra Suryavanshi's place last Sunday, the need has been felt for holding an online auction first to make the actual auction in the meeting easier, get better prices for the different stuff, and tone down the noise and commotion in the host's house in an open auction.

What do the members at Aquapetz think about it?

My take is that we could decide the prices for around half the stuff online. We would concentrate on the stuff that needs the members to have some prior knowledge like species of plants being sold. The rarity of the species, its care, the particular purpose it is used in the aquascape and so on, could be mentioned by the seller beforehand.

This will allow the buyer to not only have a better idea of what he is buying, he would be able to appreciate it better, pay a fairer price, and maybe research the species more for himself, learn anything else he wants to before purchasing it.

The same thing could be done for the fish species. Sometimes the fish in polybags lose all colour due to fear and naturally, the buyer might not recognize the species for what it is and miss out. I think this happened to the Giant Danios (Devario aequipinnatus). They are wonderful, active, hardy fish, and can be used as dither fish also. Just the species we need to popularize more, but because the fish do not look very attractive in stress or bad lighting, it is difficult for a buyer to appreciate them on the spot. They were available for a throwaway price for us, luckily, but went back home instead. If you click on the link below, you will see the beauty of this danio when in a good aquarium with correct lighting.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/creativeaq ... 413261704/

I did not buy them because they jump also, and only one, of my 4 two-footers, has a proper hood. Others have gaps.

We could have the seller give us a short description of his fish or plant. If he himself does not know that much, other more knowledgeable members could tell us more and help us choose. A good accurate picture from Google (with source credited) or a website URL describing a species could be proffered by the seller.

This will help all of us learn. One more way of having fun while learning would be available on Aquapetz. I am sure it would boost traffic to both the website and the meetings 8-) What say?
vijendra_s123
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Re: Online Aquarium Goods Auction

Unread post by vijendra_s123 »

A great initiative here, we should certainly hold an online auction and start a thread for it. As earlier mentioned it would not only help the seller get a decent price by ensuring a larger participation but would also allow members from outside Delhi to place their bids.

Now there are people here who want to sell their stuff and there are also a lot of people who want to donate theirs, the new auction thread would help the former. People who want to donate it can happily do so in meets or howsoever they wish to do it, while people seeking a decent price for fish and plants which they have cultivated can use this new platform to sell whatever they have to offer.

To add to the points mentioned by Romi, the seller can post a pic of whatever fish or plants he has to auction wherein a time slot like 1 or 2 days would be given for other members to place their bids. After expiry of the auction the highest bidder would be declared the winner. Now we can work out how the delivery is to be made in case of an outstation buyer. We can formulate rules related to it before we start the thread. Anyone having any more suggestions please mention them here and lets get this thing going. Guys this will immensely benefit all the members and especially the forum as it will definitely get more hits…..:)
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Re: Online Aquarium Goods Auction

Unread post by syed.ali »

I would definitely recommend suggestion about plan, providing detail about the plant. So person know what it is rather than taking it away and then deciding what to do.

But i would not recommend online auction and shipping, that option is already there for individual to post in the seller section.
It should be mix of sharing plants and selling plants to bring more awareness about what they are taking and how to take care of it.

I will quote my own example, the Nesaea pedicellata, i never know about this plant, now i took it know i have to care for it.

There should be some way to telling about plant, so it can we either that in a meet we talk about the rarest or most expensive plant person has to sell in the meet.

My whole point is that ppl need to be made aware of what they are getting the meet and value it. At the same time there should be check in balance that who is taking what plant, grading, Easy, Medium, Difficult.
Medium and Difficult should be shared with old timers in hobby.
If first timer to the meet wants it then it should come at some token money so that they know the value.

Just a thought
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Romi
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Re: Online Aquarium Goods Auction

Unread post by Romi »

I agree that all plants should not be auctioned, and some should always be offered free. I think this action will not stop people from offering free. It will only make it possible (or increase the possibility at least) for us to get the plants we have wanted for a long time, by offering the sellers a better deal than taking it free.

Sometimes you pay a high price for a plant, and then u succeed in propagating it. you do not want to courier it half across the country. you just want a fair price for that plant, not give it free, because you have worked hard to propagate it. you get money that subsidizes your future plant purchases. It gives you a warm feeling, not necessarily a profit! :P (I saw this warm feeling even this time, it is good to see one's stuff appreciated and paid for. it is like, you are doing something right, and even subsidizing your hobby, which is a good thing)

The point is encouraging people to sell plants and similar stock at reasonable prices (common plants cheap, expensive plants little lower than the usual price and saving on the usual courier charges) in a way that brings a lot of people together and there is something for nearly everyone. We will try to focus on hobbyists who have extra stuff and want to sell. Not on hardcore sellers who get stuff from outside and sell it straight. They do not need our help as much as the hobbyists who are embarrassed to make WTS threads, but still have extra stuff they can sell. The hobbyist-turned-sellers also need our help, because they offer us good prices but they cannot give a sales pitch every chance they get, like pure sellers.

It should not be about making big profits, but getting the incentive to save plants after your trimming and sell them instead of throwing them away, or postponing trimming till you have to throw them away! :mrgreen:

The Want-To-Sell (WTS) posts are very specific to one or two things, and there is no scope for open interaction since only moderators can post there. We cannot change the only-moderators-can-post rule because it would make the WTS process difficult to manage. So that can't change.

When we sold that Porto Velho this Sunday, it went so cheap and I could see the disappointment in the eyes of one plant grower who had worked so hard to grow those stems after getting the original plant.

And the open auction took a lot of time, and made a lot of noise for our host. We cannot do these Open Auctions easily if there is a lot of stuff like it was this time. In case of 2-3 driftwoods or 4-6 plants it might be possible, but even this time, the first time, there was more stuff than that....
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Re: Online Aquarium Goods Auction

Unread post by bobvin »

I am not an expert but online action will also lead controversies. it will not good for reputation of forum.
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Re: Online Aquarium Goods Auction

Unread post by syed.ali »

I agree to most of what you are saying romi
Lot of noise for the host 666 , but it was entertainment too letsparty , we can control it
Yes plants went cheap too, but this was the first time, as the word spread more ppl will come in. but at the same time we might want to moderate between hobbyist and commercial buyer also.
Also other reason for plants going cheap is that most of the plants true cost is know to most of the ppl, there are few members who know the price. This i have suggestion that we fix the base price for each at min of 25% of the cost any know plant seller, we can get thier list and have it handy to fix base price. So this way we cap off on low selling also and yet make it affordable to hobbyist.
The main reason i am lil against online auction as then there will be too many commercial ppl jumping in and that might kill the whole intend to making aware about plant and raising their interest in plants. Hobbyist who want to sell are free to post of seller section.
We can use the threads linked to meeting thread, where ppl update the items that might be on sale and also ppl can show interest, based on which items can the bought into the meeting, if there is no interest, the seller can leave the stuff, spply if it happens to big item
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Re: Online Aquarium Goods Auction

Unread post by bmukh »

I have some reservations about online auctions. Let me try to put them across;
1. The meets will go for a toss: Many of us participate in the meet also for the exchange buy/sell/auction. If we start moving the B/S/E/A to online, I am afraid the numbers for these meets will start to dwindle.
2. Managing the logistics: Post auction, the logistics of delivering the goods to the eventual buyer can become a headache. This is true for both dry bulky goods as well as fragile livestock/plants.
3. Complain about quality: We do not want anyone to complain about quality/quantity post purchase. It is best that bidders see/feel what they buy or bid for. In other online portals where auctions are held, the portals devise mechanism to ensure delivery/quality/quantity. I a afraid we should not devote our energy towards that.
4. We should start thinking about memberships (a paltry sum that would keep the forum running etc) and one attraction of membership is to participate in the meets where members get the chance to participate in such auctions. With online auctions, most people won't turn up and hence may refrain from membership fees.

Use of online: However, online has an important role for auction. Any item that is put up for auction, the sellers can post the exact description, picture and reservation price. The potential bidders in that meet can indicate whether they are interested in the item, Interested would automatically imply that the bidders is willing to pay atleast the reservation price. This is important because we do not want members to carry stuff for the meet and find that there are no takers and hence have to carry them back again. For example, one would not carry tanks, good quality substrate (use and/or new), filters, fishes etc if they think it won't be bought by anyone! Therefore, we can have all sellers posting what they want to auction (4-5 days before the meet). All willing bidders showing their interest at the reservation price, and on the day, the actual auction can be held.

Type of auction: I prefer sealed bid auctions...other variations are second price sealed bid auctions. I can explain that given I am often forced to design that in my professional capacity!
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Re: Online Aquarium Goods Auction

Unread post by apuda2010 »

I have only one request - lets try and keep things simple for everyone. The more we complicate the auction process, the less people will be attracted to it. Why can't we have a simple process of - create a group on Whatsapp and ask members to bid between a certain time of the day - say 2pm to 4pm. Sellers put up details including pictures of what they want to sell - buyers start bidding. Some of us can moderate the sessions.

I second Bappa's suggestion - go for an auction 3-4 days before the meet.
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Re: Online Aquarium Goods Auction

Unread post by sushant »

apuda2010 wrote:I have only one request - lets try and keep things simple for everyone. The more we complicate the auction process, the less people will be attracted to it. Why can't we have a simple process of - create a group on Whatsapp and ask members to bid between a certain time of the day - say 2pm to 4pm. Sellers put up details including pictures of what they want to sell - buyers start bidding. Some of us can moderate the sessions.

I second Bappa's suggestion - go for an auction 3-4 days before the meet.
:1, or we can have a seperate section dedicated for bidding on forum itself this way we can limit the benefits to the members only
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Re: Online Aquarium Goods Auction

Unread post by VishaalDalal »

bmukh wrote:I have some reservations about online auctions. Let me try to put them across;
1. The meets will go for a toss: Many of us participate in the meet also for the exchange buy/sell/auction. If we start moving the B/S/E/A to online, I am afraid the numbers for these meets will start to dwindle.
2. Managing the logistics: Post auction, the logistics of delivering the goods to the eventual buyer can become a headache. This is true for both dry bulky goods as well as fragile livestock/plants.
3. Complain about quality: We do not want anyone to complain about quality/quantity post purchase. It is best that bidders see/feel what they buy or bid for. In other online portals where auctions are held, the portals devise mechanism to ensure delivery/quality/quantity. I a afraid we should not devote our energy towards that.
4. We should start thinking about memberships (a paltry sum that would keep the forum running etc) and one attraction of membership is to participate in the meets where members get the chance to participate in such auctions. With online auctions, most people won't turn up and hence may refrain from membership fees.

Use of online: However, online has an important role for auction. Any item that is put up for auction, the sellers can post the exact description, picture and reservation price. The potential bidders in that meet can indicate whether they are interested in the item, Interested would automatically imply that the bidders is willing to pay atleast the reservation price. This is important because we do not want members to carry stuff for the meet and find that there are no takers and hence have to carry them back again. For example, one would not carry tanks, good quality substrate (use and/or new), filters, fishes etc if they think it won't be bought by anyone! Therefore, we can have all sellers posting what they want to auction (4-5 days before the meet). All willing bidders showing their interest at the reservation price, and on the day, the actual auction can be held.

Type of auction: I prefer sealed bid auctions...other variations are second price sealed bid auctions. I can explain that given I am often forced to design that in my professional capacity!

Agree here totally.
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