-Event- TCMAS Spring Expo - 3/21/26 - Minneapolis Airport DoubleTree (2 Viewers)

[KJoFan]

Is anyone else put off by seeing folks who are known vendors or buy for vendors swooping in and buying up multiple, if not all, of a given coral offered up by hobbyists in the Pre-sale thread?

Maybe this has always happened and I've just never noticed, but seems particularly obvious this time around. I'd much rather see hobbyist to hobbyist transactions happening, which I thought was the intent of forum pre-sales.

 

[spsick]

Is anyone else put off by seeing folks who are known vendors or buy for vendors swooping in and buying up multiple, if not all, of a given coral offered up by hobbyists in the Pre-sale thread?

Maybe this has always happened and I've just never noticed, but seems particularly obvious this time around. I'd much rather see hobbyist to hobbyist transactions happening, which I thought was the intent of forum pre-sales.

Oh fascinating. I’m guessing the clubs stance will be its sellers discretion but yeah that’s pretty cringe.

 

[ichthyogeek]

Is anyone else put off by seeing folks who are known vendors or buy for vendors swooping in and buying up multiple, if not all, of a given coral offered up by hobbyists in the Pre-sale thread?

Maybe this has always happened and I've just never noticed, but seems particularly obvious this time around. I'd much rather see hobbyist to hobbyist transactions happening, which I thought was the intent of forum pre-sales.

I haven't noticed it, but it could be that I still have trouble figuring out who's who. Is there a way to maybe let modmins/BOD know about it so a process can be thought out for it?

 

[Jposch]

Is anyone else put off by seeing folks who are known vendors or buy for vendors swooping in and buying up multiple, if not all, of a given coral offered up by hobbyists in the Pre-sale thread?

Maybe this has always happened and I've just never noticed, but seems particularly obvious this time around. I'd much rather see hobbyist to hobbyist transactions happening, which I thought was the intent of forum pre-sales.

I think it's an unwritten rule/moral standing to NOT do that, but TBH, the hobby/industry has become a big (try) to get rich scheme, and scrupulous behavior has taken a back seat or even gone out the window. Alot of my coral is from hobbyist frags. The dealer/"farmer" stuff is just not as hardy. That said, I don't go around scooping up all the killer deals on large colonies here or elsewhere.
Also, aquaculture is frowned upon by wholesalers. If you don't buy enough, often enough, turns out, they won't sell to you anymore. Lmao Hobbyist are the best place for me to get new coral.

 

[KJoFan]

I think it's an unwritten rule/moral standing to NOT do that, but TBH, the hobby/industry has become a big (try) to get rich scheme, and scrupulous behavior has taken a back seat or even gone out the window. Alot of my coral is from hobbyist frags. The dealer/"farmer" stuff is just not as hardy. That said, I don't go around scooping up all the killer deals on large colonies here or elsewhere.
Also, aquaculture is frowned upon by wholesalers. If you don't buy enough, often enough, turns out, they won't sell to you anymore. Lmao Hobbyist are the best place for me to get new coral.

I don't have any problem with vendors buying coral from hobbyists to grow and resell. We all do that, right?

It's the snapping up of multiple, or in some cases all of a given coral that is icky to me.

I'm sure sellers probably don't care because they just want to sell their livestock. I guess it's really just a moral/ethical issue for me.

 

[Jposch]

I don't have any problem with vendors buying coral from hobbyists to grow and resell. We all do that, right?

It's the snapping up of multiple, or in some cases all of a given coral that is icky to me.

I'm sure sellers probably don't care because they just want to sell their livestock. I guess it's really just a moral/ethical issue for me.

I agree with you. if it was buying the last frags the day before the show, that's a bit different. Especially if they are upfront about intentions. I mean, that's still aquaculture, and better than fresh cut, half dried glue chop chop stuff, but yeah. jumping in day 1...ugh
while I "whined" about sponsorship not including classifieds access, that was almost exclusively so I can buy everyone's used equipment. lol
like half of the equipment I use came from TCMAS members selling stuff. my personal rule is to not take anything Frag It Forward unless its super broken, and it's a bit of a question if someone should be paying to get rid of it. lol