Is it worth to buy a previously owned fish (4 times more expensive)?

J

jucario

New member
Somebody is selling me a copperband in around 4 times up the normal price range, he claims that the copperband has been with him for a while, and eats very well frozen brine shrimp and aiptasia (not really important to me cause in my aquarium aiptasias and zoas dont live long anyway).

My question is, do you think is it worth? I wouldn't try one that comes just form the sea, cause I know they are very difficult but a fish that was in captivity is usually easier which makes me think I have a chance, but I dunno if these applies for this particular type of fish.

Please let me know your thoughts
 
Yes and no... it really depends on how well you know the current owner, IMO.
 
The seller says the size is around 5 inches. In my area they are usually available in the range of 26 USD, he asks right now 115, but I was thinking I could offer 70 less (dunno if he will accept).
Unfortunately I dont have many references from the seller but I think I could go and see his tank but to know for sure for how long he has had the fish is not possible.
 
Pass. Buying from an unknown seller is really no different than buying from a LFS.
 
Thnks Peter, I think it is a good advice. I now think that if the price wouldnt be so different from a lfs maybe could be a good option, but what the seller is asking now without the certainty that it was really with him and eating well for some months makes it out of question.
 
They only way the fish MIGHT be worth 4 times would be IF he was healthy, eating pellets AND frozen, AND the seller would give me a 6 month warrenty or returning my purchase price if the fish died.

Not worth it, no matter how long he's had it.

I've bought a Moorish Idol and a Gold Flake Angel from other reefers that had them for years. Didn't pay near LFS prices. Moorish Idol was in my tank for 4 years before my tank crash killed him. Gold flake was almost as long.
 
No, not worth it. Not even if its had a formalin dip and been in a QT and put through hypo for 10 weeks. Even if it eats pellets and flakes. My CBB ate pellets and flakes, mysis and brine and I paid $60.00. Just catching the fish and putting it in a new tank can shock it and stress it out.
 
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ask for proof on how much he has had it.

also ask to see the fish eat pellets, and all frozen foods. and be sure that the fish has a fully belly on ! a well fed fish should not look aneroxic. lol

then ask to see the full system its in, and other fish, to see and make sure the system is disease free.

if all passes fine, 3 times the price is acceptable, for this fish, as the survival rate is not much higher than 40%. some other harder to keep fish, like Idols, might be worth more if they are already eating and show that they are used to life in captivity.

JMO.
 
I would pay double for a copperband that I saw personally eating Pellets or Mysis Shrimp. That's it period though. If it was eating just brine I still wouldn't pay double. 4x the amount though, the guy is scalping people and he Damn well knows it. I'd call him out on it and tell him he's trying to rip honest people off. Like I said though, I would shoot for somewhere around $60 if I personally saw it aggressively eating, and eating solid foods, not just brine shrimp which has zero nutritional value. Outside of that I wouldn't buy a copperband period.
 
115 is no big deal, but I wouldnt buy it out of principle. I dont like hobbyist that tries to make money out of the hobby as if they are running a business.
 
I sent to the guy a message and he says that he paid around 100 when he purchased the fish. I am trying to give him the benefit of the doubt and thinking that maybe just maybe, the fish is really big or is an Australian caught copperband to be that expensive; however as Peter already suggested without knowing the seller really well it is hard to know.

All your other posts make a lot of sense too so I will pass, it is jut that I wanted really bad to have a copperband, but I wouldnt buy one knowing that normally the chances that they will eat or not are like flipping a coin.
 
Heck, my Aussie CBB was eating pellets, flakes, mysis, brine, and squid when I bought it and I only paid $60 US. It's a great fish and doesn't bother coral at all. It is a beautiful fish and really looks great in the reef.
 
He never told me it was an aussie but he said he paid $100 for it. I assumed that someone would pay for a "new" copperband that much only if it was an aussie or a really big specimen. It was just my assumption. Anyway here I never have seen aussie ones offered, and I guess it is hard to tell them appart from others.
 
glad you didnt...
if it was large (5 inches and bigger) and an aussie it would fetch that price...they go for more than that on dd...
like others have mentioned, not wise to purchase from someone you dont know well...
aussies are harder to harvest, nicer looking, and tend to be hardier...
 
vaporized said:
Heck, my Aussie CBB was eating pellets, flakes, mysis, brine, and squid when I bought it and I only paid $60 US. It's a great fish and doesn't bother coral at all. It is a beautiful fish and really looks great in the reef.
Click to expand...

No to derail the thread, but you were extremely fortunate with a CBB that ate pellets. I wouldn't talk about it as if they all should... it will give people the wrong idea about this fish. Honestly, I'm actually surprised to hear it eats pellets...what brand? Any videos?
 
geaux xman said:
115 is no big deal, but I wouldnt buy it out of principle. I dont like hobbyist that tries to make money out of the hobby as if they are running a business.
Click to expand...

That's a pretty rotten attitude to have. I guess if somebody fixes up an old car and turns it into a hotrod you expect them to take a massive loss when they sell it after all the hard work and money they put into it? If the guy isn't lieing, and he's had the fish for a while, he's fed it a lot of $ in food, on top of the value of the fish.

The guy i've been buying live rock from is selling his rock at a profit, but he's selling it at less than half the price of the LFS, and he also frags coral and sells the frags to help pay for salt and other maintenance supplies. All his prices are fair and he leans towards the generous side on every transaction like if i only have 30 dollars, and the bucket of rocks weighs out at 12lbs he'll shrug it off and take my money. The LFS would charge you down to the tenth of a pound. I highly doubt there are a ton of hobbyist reefers out there profiteering and taking advantage of anybody. Most are probably just trying to offset their spending a bit.

What's wrong with turning a hobby into a business anyway? How do you think a lot of shops get started? For fish only stores, a lot of people start out as hobbyists, start breeding fish and selling stuff and next thing you know it becomes a business. People do the same thing with all sorts of hobbies like photography.

You sound like somebody that works in a job they hate and think that nobody should ever make money off anything they enjoy.
 
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