Not exactly my place to be saying this....

geekdafied

In Memoriam
Not exactly my place to be saying this but what about the people who are going to the frag swap to shop and see whats there? It looks to me almost everything listed in the other posts has been spoken for. In a way thats not fair to everyone else that is driving several hours to get there. I have heard of people as far away as Indiana is coming to this frag swap. I know if I drove 6+ hours in hopes of buying a lot of frags or some choice frags and when I got there everything was spoken for, I'd be a little ticked off, especially with the price of gas now days.

I understand why people don't wanna frag more then they have to, but the whole point of "swap meet" is bring what you want to sell, either you sell it, or you don't. The prearranged deals can be worked out at anytime, but thats not how you do a frag swap IMO. I was going to go with a car load of people from here, but I am afriad there won't be anything left for us that we don't have already.
 
Different people have different reasons for pre-selling. I know in my case I'm strictly a hobbyist and collector and do not have the facilities or desire to frag corals strictly for the sake of fragging corals to resell. I do it to offer decent-priced corals to others who want corals I have. I always try to be fair and offer what I have for at or less than I paid because they usually do well for me.

If nobody wanted anything, I wouldn't care, and would bring a few pieces nevertheless, but this way I can offer a greater variety to a larger number of people. If I were to frag a bunch of stuff up and came home with the majority of what I arrived with, I would have no way to properly care for the frags and would have to offer them on RC, sell them to a LFS, or other avenues which I would not be as comfortable with and would put me into the realm of a "business". Just my $0.02, others may have other opinions.

Dave
 
I am not going this year but from past experience there should be plenty;)

It would be a good idea to get there early though.....it can be kind of like vultures descending on a fresh kill:lol:

I know people like me that pre sold the first couple of times get tired of all the work preselling entails and will just start bringing whatever they feel like fragging a couple of days before the meet. I would be willing to bet a few like that will show up too.

The last swap was great and judging by the interest in this forum over the last few weeks this one will be too. If you don't want to come that it your choice but you will be the one missing out.

FWIW, Chris
 
IMO Most of the real nice stuff is pre-traded because who would want to take a chance on cutting a Purple monster and then no one show up wanting to pay the going rate and take a chance on loosing it. I personally have no room whatsoever in my tank to bring a ton of extras home and find space for a double,tripple or more of my mother colony also. Make sence? And I was kinda needing a round about # of how much I was going to make as a minimum so I knew how much I could spend, and also make some pre-deals. I ordered about $200 worth of things on my wish list from out of towners I never see but once a year and had to make sure I had the funds to pay them! :) I also am planning on bringing about 15-20 things I didn't even mention just to sell or not as long as I knew I was covered going in on how much I had spent is all I was worried about. I have always had great luck finding nice things with no pre-deals. The pickings are limitless IMO and I am always way late after the good stuff is gone. Also in my past 3 swap experiences lots of people don't even sell out. I brought a lot of stuff home last swap and it was some nice zoas at that. I wouldn't worry about slim pickins :)
 
just a quick reply, but this is my first year selling anything. This topic came up last year. I'm going through a lot of trouble to presell and take a lot to the swap to setup. The more I presell the less bagging I have to do there. I'll see how it goes this year with setting up to see if it's worth the trouble but I'm sure it will be.
 
I think it is good and bad. I have gotten some really nice stuff because of it but sometimes it can be better to actually see the frags beforehand. I have pre-bought a few things and the frag was near death or not what I expected. This year I am mostly going to buy so I don't want to carry around a lot of frags if nobody wants them. Actually I like the tradeing side of it more than the buying/selling.
 
last year, there was alot of pre-selling but there was still alot of people who had stuff for sale. I don't think you will be dissapointed. Last year, i did so much pre-buying i didnt have enough money to actually shop. So, this year, I just bought a few things before and gonna shop around when I get there.

Steve
 
I'm not selling a thing, I'm only trading... As Angela stated, its not worth fragging some fo the rarer more expensive corals, if they're just going to sit there on the table... The average person attending the swap isn't looking for these rarer corals, so long as its pretty and cheap... I'm trading with people in MO and AL as well as fellow Tennesseeans... If you see which clubs are coming it doesn't hurt to ask what all is being brought by those clubs... They don't want to drive out here if they don't think its going to be worth it... So they set up prebuy/trade stuff as well... Personally I don't want to be stuck behind a table the whole swap... I'm there to socialize and network as much as anything else... I know more than a few people who are there to sell a lot of frags to make money... Theres nothing wrong with that either... There is going to be more than enough there to keep everyone satisfied... :D
 
I cut extra frags after preselling to sell at the swap and think most people also do the same. I just didn't want to cut my rarer corals and be sitting at the swap trying to sell a polyp for 30$ and end up bringing everything back home.

I'm getting excited hope to see everyone there.

Brandon
 
Oh yea and the other chatt club member that is sharing a table with me is bringing 40ish frags and didn't presell a one.

Plus I'm bringing 5 to 10 for another member that haven't been presold.

Brandon
 
I do understand geekdafied's post. Everyone is very excited and stimulated at this point. It is like online shopping (auction) for the lowest prices. IMO that is fair game and good for the growers. A known sale/trade is important for them and helpfull to the local communtiy. That is one less thing that they have to think about. The people here are the ones setting up, working, organizing, growing, part of MTRC....etc. etc. etc. And if they want to keep it local; that is magic. I would love getting frags from peeps that I chat with on nearly a daily basis. In a sense; the farmer doesnt eat the same steak he sells to the butcher... okay that was a little exaggerate... I feel it would be the sameway anywhere else....That being said, I dont think people will walk out disappointed. It looks like there is going to be a lot of good stuff there.. But who am I to say something, this is going to be my first. I do understand and appreciate your concern.. looking out for fellow reefers.
 
Well geekdafied, you just have to do what i'm doing. Sit here in the forum 24/7 from now till the swap so you can snag the frags you want. I've got a couple of 2 litre bottles here so I don't even have to get up to go to the bathroom!
 
I have everything that I posted left... I'll have alot of stuff I haven't posted, too (like to keep some surprises). I do understand where you are coming from, though. There will be hundreds upon hundreds (dare I say thousands?) of frags available at the swap, I promise:).
 
My $.02 ... Last year was my first swap. I had a very bare bones tanke at 10 am, and by 2 pm it was really looking full. I prebought about 50% of the stuff I had and ended up going WAY over budget for the rest. I have prebought a good ammount this year as well as I am low on space and really looking for select corals to fill in the gaps. TRUST ME, there will be TONS on goodies just sitting on tables waiting for you to grab them up. I sure did.
 
LMFO@
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9000732#post9000732 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Highside
Well geekdafied, you just have to do what i'm doing. Sit here in the forum 24/7 from now till the swap so you can snag the frags you want. I've got a couple of 2 litre bottles here so I don't even have to get up to go to the bathroom!
 
I looked at the swap as a way to sell/trade a bunch of frags and not have to post pics, keep track of a list, and then find people once I'm at the swap. That's just the way I roll and I think you'll find plenty of stuff once you're there. Last year my head almost exploded.
 
just another random thought...it's very difficult for the people who are setting up to make there way around to purchase from others..
 
NARC (North Alabama Reef Club) will have a table there, and I don't think any of us have pre-sold...not sure though. As was mentioned, there should be hundreds of frags available that haven't been presold.
just another random thought...it's very difficult for the people who are setting up to make there way around to purchase from others..
True that. But that's one of the beauties of going together with reef club friends...someone can babysit your stuff so you can look around. :)
hope to c'ya'll there
Mariner
 
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