Poor purchasing etiquette

[Aquattro]

Originally Posted by Pirates_Gold

CANREEF has a "Sponsoring Vendors Rating Forum", so why not a "Members Rating Forum"? How can other members be warned about these losers? Is there a list posted somewhere? On the other hand, perhaps there are preferred members to buy from or sell to, but how do we know? Will we only find out too late? Perhaps the mods can provide some insight here.

Unfortunately that leads to more trouble than good. We have no way of knowing what really happened, and as always, there are three sides to every story. In the end, be a member here, participate in discussions, and you get to know the good members. If you just come here to shop, it's the same as any other online garage sale, you have to use common sense and feel out who you're dealing with. Most of the time you can tell by a person's post to your ad. If it's abrupt, the typical "hey, yo, call me, I want it, for real d00d" then I'd be skeptical Alternatively, if someone asks legitimate questions and deals with you politely and maturely, it's less likely to be a troublesome transaction. not always, but a good indicator of the type of person you're dealing with.

[Slick Fork]

My favourite is when you're trying to sell and someone says "What's the lowest you'll take?".... I always have to stifle the urge to snap back with "What's the most you'll pay "

[truperc]

I have always found it best just to pay what the person is asking if the price is fair. I have always found sellers here on Canreef very generous if you are willing to pay the asking price. More than once I have been given freebees. I like buying from fellow reefers, you are guaranteed to get healthy stock as it has multiplied or survived for some time in their tank.

[marcingo]

Originally Posted by truperc

I have always found it best just to pay what the person is asking if the price is fair. I have always found sellers here on Canreef very generous if you are willing to pay the asking price. More than once I have been given freebees. I like buying from fellow reefers, you are guaranteed to get healthy stock as it has multiplied or survived for some time in their tank.

Like me. I even offered to throw in some salt(free) with the price he agreed to and he still took advantage.

Oh well.

[Vitaminz]

That really sucks, but you get that with anything you sell on line. Seems like with everything you try and help people out, there are those that take advantage. But I find there are more positive transactions than negative ones. I really appreciate all the experiences that I have experienced in this hobby, and all the great people that are here on Canreef.

Jeff

[marcingo]

I agree. This is my first negative transaction in 10 years.

[Coleus]

Sorry to hear you ran into bad people on canreef. I also deal with lots of canreef member over the years that i am in this hobby. There are lots of good ppl at beginning and lately it is getting worse as canreef forum grows.

Very frustrating sometimes.

[kien]

ya no kidding..

A couple of years ago I went to purchase a Regal Angel from a local canreefer that was shutting down her tank. There were a bunch of canreefers there at the time that I knew and that knew her. Plus she ran Big Als fish room at the time so I figured she was somewhat reputable. Anyway, long story longer, I gave her the money and she told me she'd net the Angel that night and drive it over to my place the next day. The Angel ended up spending the night in one of Big Al's tanks I was told, which was fine with me. Well, days passed but no Angel was delivered Repeated PMs, eMails and phone calls went into the ether. Eventually she disconnected her phone and moved..LOL. I laugh because I guess she really needed that money really bad to high tail it out of town. Just as well I guess. I do enjoy donating to charity from time to time.

Another sad story.. so 10 years ago I lent this guy my fish trap. For the sake of keeping his identity private I shall call him, "Levi". He told me countless times that he'd return my fish trap. To this day I am still without a fish trap..

[AJ_77]

It's imposible to know this many people well enough to trust them. Our first "organized" Calgary reefers meeting in 2002 had six people. We became buds, easy enough. I was given as much stuff as I bought from that group, which grew to about 20 or so. We thought that was pretty cool.

Now I know there are many excellent hobbyists in Calgary that I haven't even met. I see their constructive/witty/helpful posts and it makes me glad the community is doing well. There's a ton of positive interaction. There are also douchebags, but what are ya gonna do? Just be careful out there...

I find helpful the posts where a member requests information on doing business with a certain party, and by PM they receive all KINDS of advice, from those with experience.

[fishoholic]

I'm not sure I should say anything but I'm finding I can't help myself. While I don't agree with low ballets etc I have to say karma sucks eh?

When I first got into this hobby and I didn't know much of anything marcingo (the OP) sold me a 30g cube tank and stand and a MH light. I was told it was all in good condition only to show up and see the tank had lots of scratches in it and the stand was also in rough shape not horrible but not "good" either. The MH light was awful I was under the impression that it was a store bought light and in good working condition. It was a DIY light that looked like a total fire hazard it had wires hanging out all over the place and was the worst MH light I have ever seen to this day in this hobby. I had agreed to the deal over pm's and felt like I couldn't back out since we had already made a deal and I did want the tank and stand however I was told it was a package deal and I had to buy it all or nothing. I honestly have never felt so ripped off and so bitter about a sale in this hobby as I felt with that sale. I ended up having to re-wire the whole MH light just for it to be safe to use