Price matching

[joeymo]

Recently I have had a lot of people message me about things I’m selling and try to point out that it is cheaper online and then offer a lower price then that (on post that don’t say OBO). I know it’s cheaper online! Go ahead and order it online. After shipping, it will be more expensive. If you are comparing online prices and not factoring in shipping, it is not comparable. I’m not upset about this at all, I am just putting this out for food for thought. I have always thought I am pretty fair. EX: a guy just bought fish from me and one of them died on the transport (I didn’t think it was my fault at all) and I offered him his money back. I have always tried to help people who are “strapped for cash”. Just think about what you are doing and offering. Most likely, if you are offering 50% less then what people are asking and trying to point out that it is cheaper online, you might be out of line. Keep on reefing and care for others. Have a great day today and I’m excited to meet someone new today!

[dizzyjay]

I respectfully disagree with this. I always post items for sell at or under what I value it at. If my perception is off, feel free to contact me (privately) with the idea that getting my perception inline with its true value will help my sell. Worst thing that can happen is I won’t respond It’s a very good point that one thing to keep in mind when pricing is the shipping costs but there are plenty of local shops that will forego shipping if you buy and pick up.

[joeymo]

The prices that I sell my items at are well below retail. The way I think of it is, would you go into a local fish store, ask them to price match and then say I’ll give you 50% less then that? The answer is no because they would laugh you out of the store. Yes some stores will “waive shipping” but it is definitely reflected in the price. They wouldn’t let you shop around. You have to buy it at their price. I don’t have a problem with people offering prices at all. I really don’t. It just gets old being offered $20 on a $40 item when retail is $60-80 and I never said OBO. I’m not talking about reasonable offers, I’m talking about crazy lowballing. Once again like in my original post, I just said this is food for thought

[dizzyjay]

Ah ok- I can understand that for sure- this is the classic “SD cheaps” issue that has plagued this community for a bit; unfortunately OBO seems to be implied if not said. I do post things at mentioned “no haggle” prices which probably loses me some business but also helps with headaches.

[joeymo]

I 100% agree with everything you just said. I’ve even agreed on prices and when people get to my house they want to negotiate even more. It just gets old after a while. That’s all I’m trying to say. Maybe I’m just a little worn out from it. Doesn’t make me want to sell stuff on here though. Recently, I just switched to bringing my stuff into LFS and trading. Less headache and I even got a dragon soul torch out of it. Pretty good experience if you ask me

[crustaceon]

The trick to combatting the “craigslist snipers” as I call them is getting everyone on the same page as far as pricing goes. When we sell livestock like coral or fish, we’re essentially selling “new” merchandise not unlike any store. It’s not used gear and there is no wear and tear that should warrant a discount. Considering this fact, If everyone in this community decided to sell, let’s say a red planet frag of an established size for $30, then this would become the typical price and people would be more likely to pay it. The problem is when people cave to the pressure and drop their prices too much just to offload frags or equipment. I partially blame those who are trying to get things dirt cheap. For those people, keep in mind the people you’re haggling with are likely putting that money into obtaining new corals that they’ll frag a year from now and that you’ll probably get a good deal on those frags if you aren’t haggling with them on every deal before then. For those who appease the bid snipers, you’re enabling this behavior. I have some zoas up for sale myself and WILL NOT lower the price any further so anyone else who wants to sell a few nivanas or pink & golds will get enough $$$ to make it worth their effort. Lastly, we have no reason to price match online sources because our prices do not come with the additional risks attributed to buying from an online source. When you buy coral online, you run the risk of those corals being stressed to near death and kicking the bucket in your system. For that matter, you may not know the parameters and light sources these corals are acclimated to. When you buy locally, those corals can go straight into your tank with little delay and far less stress not to mention being able to ask the seller about their water parameters and equipment used to grow their coral. This is value that isn’t being considered and really should be when tossing out an offer.


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