Bacfm review

[northbay-reefer]

For those that was fortunate enough to be at the Bacfm yesterday, can you please give us a review of this year farmers market for those of us that couldnt make it to this year so it could be bigger and better next year. TIA

 

[sfsuphysics]

I don't know how a review would make it bigger and better but....

It was small, quaint, could have been more venders, last year JenDub had a showing amongst a few others that were missing, I would have liked to see a little more eye candy in the acan market (not that I wanted to buy any mind you ).

Just about every one of the vendors I talked to was super nice too and no one gave me any of that "*sigh*... ok I'll say it again..." type attitudes which was super cool. As long as we keep vendors like the ones there I'll be more than happy.

One thing that would have been nice though, would have been some sort of pricing scheme listed on some tanks. I realize that writing the price for everything down would be a little difficult but a few of the vendors did have separations and that made it a lot nicer to gauge pricing. Even if it would be a simple matter of putting all the cheaper stuff on one side then gradually moving to more expensive stuff simply because there are so many nice looking corals out there and they range in price by such a large margin that it'd be hard to gauge total price. I know the axiom goes "if you have to ask for a price you can't afford it" but sometimes it's a matter of not affording it but whether I want to shell that type of cash out.

I know vendor's pay for their space, and that helps cover the cost of the ballroom (in addition to ticket sales.. or at least I hope so), but if this is for "primarily exotic corals" and not drab everyday stuff, perhaps have two pricing schemes, one for initial vendors so you can see what sort of stuff they bring, and another for veteran vendors where you know they'll have the goods. Maybe this will encourage more vendors to be there.. like I said, I missed JenDub.. I probably dropped the salinity of their tank a few thousandths from all the drooling last time.

Also I loved what AWExotics did and pretty much posted most of what they were bringing, so not only could you gauge any nice things they had but also have an idea of price, so you don't have to be one of those customers that goes "how much for that.. how much for that"..

 

[DarkXerox]

Yeah, Steve's poster of all his prices as well as photos of the seed colonies was really helpful. I wouldn't have noticed the triple threat favia he had if that wasn't up there.

That should be super easy for most people since the poster was basically the photo with the price listed next to it (price normally vs price at the show etc.) as well as difficulty, light/flow requirements. It was just sheets of paper taped on but it made it really easy (especially for people that didn't know the corals by name).

 

[northbay-reefer]

sfsuphysics, Darkxerox Thats what I was afraid of was the point about not enough vendors, hopefully that will grow down the road. I agree with you on the pricing listing, with photos of the mother colony ect. That would be very helpfull.

 

[tuberider]

It was fun, I bum-rushed at first to get my "had-to-have" corals. Then I was able to wander and talk with the vendors, in order to make more informed purchases on items I was not familiar with. I completely agree with Mike ALL of the vendors were cool as could be, it was great to be able to talk in a casual manner with them. Tyree, and Ming both pointed me to people who had corals I was looking for, even though they both generally have those items available. It seemed as if the vendors were very cooperative and noncompetitive with each other. I feel if there were more vendors, there would not be enough people to support the event from a vendors standpoint. Again I had plenty of time to chit chat, without getting bumped aside by "the next guy".

 

[DarkXerox]

it still was great though since everyone pretty much everyone got good deals, plus if you factor in how we didn't have to pay shipping etc. then it was worth it. It was fun talking with everyone too tho and everyone was really helpful.

The "pre-ordering" idea was good though too since that helps both the vendor and the customer since they are bringing frags that they know are claimed plus no shipping for either party.

 

[dr.darkness]

With the acception of a few rude people who jumped in front of others that were patiently waiting their turn and it being so small it was ok. I did get some nice frags though but I don't think they were great deals just ok saved on shipping thats it.

 

[TimTen]

I had a great time. There where some great deals in the live auction. I love bidding and was able to walk away with a great Rainbow monti frag for 45. A few of the pieces didn't even get an open bid. I wish I could have stayed for the last auction.

 

[KMP]

With the acception of a few rude people who jumped in front of others that were patiently waiting their turn and it being so small it was ok.

Ditto - was waiting on the vendor to finish waiting on a customer and someone zipped right in the middle of that transaction and started pointing out stuff - of which, I was eye balling.

Dr. Darkness - I owe you a fish store list. Sorry I lost the paper w/your email. Can you PM me your email. Kenny

 

[Unarce]

BTW, who grabbed those new montis from FragFarmer? I think that's the first time Eric sold those. The setosa was a huge hit with it's debut during laster BACFM. I understand this new one sold out even faster this year

 

[malate]

I had a great time at the BA farmers market. All of the vendors were extremely nice and infomative. For a rookie like me this was great becuase the farmers market was very educational. I learned a lot about pricing and availabilty of products.

The venue/ballroom was perfectly sized; I never felt crammed or uncormfotable. Everyone seemed to have enough room to walk around. Oh, and it was also nice that there were in-and-out priviledges because I had to go eat lunch with the family and I came back and made good purchases.

Overall, it was a good time and good people. I hope next year is just as fun. Good job to the team that organized the whole thing.

 

[raddogz]

I loved it.

I agree with Mike if would have been a little cooler if there were a few more vendors, but the ones that showed my props to you (no pun intended). There was some really good quality stuff out there.

All the vendors were all too patient. I know I was one of the ones who kept asking what was what, and three minutes later asking how much it was. Sorry. I pretty much bought just about everything I was asking questions on.

A few more acans and micros would have been a bit more fantastic, but I was able to fill my milli desires for a little bit.

 

[DarkXerox]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9992195#post9992195 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Unarce
BTW, who grabbed those new montis from FragFarmer? I think that's the first time Eric sold those. The setosa was a huge hit with it's debut during laster BACFM. I understand this new one sold out even faster this year

whoa which one? I didn't hear anything about that.

 

[brianbigoats]

here is a pic of Mine:

 

[slojmn]

Karl, I thought you got one of those super cool fragfarmer purple montis??!!! yes? no?
Nice picture Brian, looking good .
I'm with you raddogz, I was wishing there were more micros and acans. I saw that Ming had a few but otherwise I didn't see much in that department. I do wish JenDub would have been there, acan and micro queen.
There were definately some deals and saving on shipping for a number of my pieces was well worth it. Talking to the vendors was super cool. I am only regretting passing up one certain coral...otherwise I got super sweet stuff.

 

[Unarce]

I did. I just wanted to keep tabs on the people that have it. Monitor their experience

BTW, how's the Orenji doing?

 

[slojmn]

The Orenji is doing well...growing at a pretty good clip .
I went back and forth on the last frag of that purple encrusting monti but decided to leave it for someone else .

 

[GreshamH]

Yup and I thank you for passing it up (Eric's new monti)

 

[northbay-reefer]

Thanks you guys for all of the great inputs, I will definitely try to go next year. I think the vendors can probably do a better job of promoting it to bring in more customers. I've heard about the Farmers market but havent seen pictures of previous events and dont know what its like. Maybe pictures of all the booths with their corals collections, advertise specials pakage deals, incentives for club members ect. All of these things would be very helpfull for those that are on the fence about going or not. In another word we need eye candies

 

[raddogz]

Yeah, I don't think there were any incentives for club members, since there were so many of that were all over Northern California.

I know places were pre-selling/previewing many of their corals, so people could see them online before purchasing.

I was like a kid in a candy store since there was so much too look at.