Have to rant....

[GatorRock]

Okay-

I just have to get this off my chest-

Went to the HAS Fish Auction- and I did enjoy it- got some neat stuff, great prices, and met a few people- but two things really bothered me and I know those who paid attention heard me say this out loud many times.

1st:
A live auction is NOT Ebay!  If you are going to bid- just frigging bid- if you bid at the last second the auctioneer is going to keep the bidding open and the price is going to keep going up- just because something is going for $8 and you want to wait until the auctioneer is about to say sold to bid- does not mean you get it over everyone else if you "sneak" your bid in.  No, they are then going to keep pushing the bidding then and see if it will go higher.  There is NO TIME LIMIT to any item!  I can't tell you how many times this happened.  Yes I got outbid this way few times and that pissed me off- of course no one likes to lose something or have to pay more...  but it drove me just as nuts when I didn't give two hoots about the item that was being bid on.    This is especially true if it was an item that had come up so many times before and would obviously be coming up again!

Which brings me to my 2nd problem:

How many frigging “copies” of the same item does 1 person need?  This applies to a few people at the auction.  At some point you can’t possibly need that many 1 gallon bags of hornwort, do you ?  Or java fern?  I’m not talking about the sellers, but the buyers!  1 guy bought 6 bags of hornwort- and I’m talking about 1 gallon bags filled to the top of hornwort! (reason I know is I was finally able to buy the last one!)  There was enough in those 6 bags to plant a massive pond and then some.  Another couple bought I would say over 120 plants of java fern- now by the end they stopped buying which finally allowed some others to buy some- but I really think some people just get obsessed with winning auctions.  

My biggest case in point was one woman who bought 60 female guppies! That’s 6 different auctions of 10 female guppies all EXACTLY the same color!  And she made sure to outbid me every time!  And then at the end said I should have outbid her on any of them.  I’m sorry I had no idea you needed a friggin’ army of yellow females!  I understand needing a few (20 or even 30) but 60?!  

Yes it was my own fault that I didn’t get on of the previous bags of 10 guppies- I thought I would get on the trios or multiple trios, but people seemed some people were set on  spending $10 or more on everyone of those near the end- and I couldn't keep any in my price range.  My own fault I admit, but I figured with 6 bags of females left I’d get one for the going price of $3!  (yes I succeeded in getting 4 males guppies, but alas will have to go out and find some females to breed them with).

Okay so that’s my rant.  

Basically people have been using ebay/aquabid too much to know how to act at a live auction- and people need to learn that winning auctions are good only if you need that item.  Mind you we all appreciated Dave who bought the coral rock that no one wanted...

I can tell that some were there to make a profit later elsewhere, others were getting things for themselves, and others were there just to support the club.  

All kinds are needed in this world- just wish there were less of the first!

Peace!

[eklikewhoa]

Re: Have to rant....

Sounds normal to me.

It's an auction and you got out bid.....

[Brownsnoutuk]

Re: Have to rant....

Okay-

1st:
A live auction is NOT Ebay!  If you are going to bid- just frigging bid- if you bid at the last second the auctioneer is going to keep the bidding open and the price is going to keep going up- just because something is going for $8 and you want to wait until the auctioneer is about to say sold to bid- does not mean you get it over everyone else if you "sneak" your bid in.

That would tick me off too.

As for the guppies, consider yourself lucky, 60 females will have several thousand babies very quickly.

[Tiapan]

Re: Have to rant....

yeah and i dont understand who could possibly use 6 gallons of Hornwort, i mean one bag planted right would produce 3 times what the 6 bags would hold in like 2 weeks.

[szidlon]

Re: Have to rant....

Any live auction I've been to, whether it be for antiques, vintage radios or fish, whether it's club run or run by an auction house, functions just the way the HAS auction does.  Everyone has their own style of bidding.  Some like to start the bidding and others choose to ponder their bid till the very end.  I prefer to start bidding in the middle and may stop for a while to decide if I really want to spend that much or more before I resume bidding.  No,  there's not a time limit on bidding, it's an auction, not a sale.  If someone is consulting with a partner on an item it may just be that they decided at the end to try and get the item, not that they are trying to "sneak" in a bid and cut someone else off.  Or, they may have been busy doing something else, outside for a minute or otherwise distracted and just caught the end of the auction.  Just because there are multiples of the same type of item does not mean they are all the same and have the same value to a person.  As in some of the plants, yes there were a lot of the Amazon Swords at the end, but some had better root systems than others and some had better top foliage giving them a different value to different bidders.

How may "friggin" copies a person needs of one thing is that individuals decision.  There have been times I tried to get every piece of a particular type of item because I wanted to redecorate my tank and didn't know which piece would look best.  Some of the people there have thousands of gallons of tanks and or ponds and may well need every bag of hornwort that is there.

Whether the bidders are there for their own personal use, in support of the club, or to bid on items to later make a profit is immaterial.  They have the same right to bid as anyone else.  

And if you confronted the lady who outbid you on the guppies, shame on you, she paid what she was willing to pay and got her guppies!  (BTW it wasn't me, I don't have guppies)

What makes you think people were bidding on things they didn't want or need?  Do you personally know what their wants or needs were?

I'm sorry you were unhappy with some of the aspects of the auction, but chances are, the next auction will be exactly the same.

Peace

[Tiapan]

Re: Have to rant....

and to what ek said. yeah he did get out bid, but they could have bid with ,how should i say this, more manners, it seems like some people really were kinda greedy, and considering HAS doesnt seem to do many events it seems that it a small group that only keeps to itself, i dont see a great many people on here saying that they are members except for the auctions. I dont see much about their meetings posted here and i couldn't find much about them on their site either (it could use an update) So by having people acting that way at the auction it would turn me off completely to those auctions, it takes the fun out of the fish. who need 60 female guppies at one time except to try and turn a profit, they could have bought half and had some patience. anyway yes its an auction, and getting out bid happens, but if you monopilize the purchases like that it means you block out any newcomers, who may not have as much capital, to even get a few items just to expand their collection. and it means that you wont get another member to HAS. it seems to me tat the fish industry has room to grow in our city, especially as different fish are becoming more commonly available and the like an organization like HAS has room to grow, but they dont seem to want to reach out and gain new members. just keep its older ones. im not saying they do nothing(obviously because they had the auction) but they certanly dont really advertise much, i would prefer something more like a reptile expo. the people who have somthing to sell (because some have lots to sell) could rent tables, and then maybe do the auction the next day for those who only had a few things to sell. that way you could look around and meet the people who raised the fish or plants and see what they did that made them succesfull, so you can become a better tank keeper. just my 50 cents

[kyalib]

Re: Have to rant....

I'll be the first to admit that I was only irritated by all of the plants and rocks because I am impatient and wanted to get to the next fish I liked!  But I'm sure that's how the person waiting for plants and rocks felt about my fish  :?  

Anyway,  I would also bring to mind that some of the time, people were waiting to see what they were bidding on.  One fish in particular that I bid on, I was waiting to see what kind of shape he was in before I bid, as I  overlooked him on the tables.

I've been to a few HAS auctions and this one seemed to be pretty standard, so I'm with szidlon on this, the next one will likely be the same.


On another note, It's been well over a year since my last HAS auction and did Frontosas become wildly unpopular or what???  I thought it was crazy that I didn't see any, I remember some heated bidding for fronts - but maybe I've been out of the loop too long....

[eklikewhoa]

Re: Have to rant....

I still don't see much problem in what happened....


It's an auction and the people bidded on what they wanted, the guys who bid last maybe wanted to get a feel for how bad the other bidders wanted the stuff so he waited to bid at the end.... that wouldn't bother me as much as though who do that on egay.

Buying a whole lotta one thing....who know maybe they built a monster of a pond and need to fill it or have friends that need their ponds filled as well.... if you wanted it that bad I am sure anyone could have outbid for it. 6-1g bags isn't really that much if you have a 1,000+gallon tank that you plan to heavily plant and on the same note 60 guppies don't look like a lot in that size tank either.


If auctions became just a simple sale type thing and the next person couldnt outbid the other it wouldn't be fun or called an auction now would it?


I know I wouldn't enjoy an auction if the rules were changed so that there was no bidding all because someone didn't get what they wanted.

[PhishPhreek]

Re: Have to rant....

I am one of the guilty.   I purchased a bag of 2 pr of guppies and 2 bags of 10 females.....   I plan on having live food all summer long.
I also purchased 2 bags of 4 black & gold angels.  total of 8 gives me a better chance of getting 3 pair.   And I purchased 2 bags of val... takes a lot of val to plant a large angel tank.  

And I hate to bid when it is going bac and forth at half what I'm willing to pay so I wait untill the bidding slows down.

But the one thing that did bother me was that when I was at the back of the room and something came up that I might be interested in, more that once, it was sold before I could even look at it. (so I moved up to the front.)

[Tiapan]

Re: Have to rant....

i didnt say no auction i sad have an expo and an auction, we still like going to fish stores to see what they have so an expo is always good because you can get cheaper then retail.  straight from breeder.  im gonna hold my opinion on an auction until i finally get to go myself. but i still think HAS can do more for the fish people community. even if its only their cards at a few stores so people can learn more about the organization and join if they want.

[szidlon]

Re: Have to rant....

Most of the sellers (breeders) at the auction are more than happy to share their secrets with you.  I've never had anyone at the HAS auctions not be willing to talk (brag) about the items they brought.  Tiapan, I hope you can make it to the next auction and see for yourself the great bargains that are there.  In most cases you will be able to win a bid for less than you could have purchased it for directly from the breeder.  I think swaps are good also and one of these times I'm going to make it the LHA swap.  But I've been saying that since they started and have always had other plans in the way.  If I remember correctly, when the FishBox first started some folks took cards to the LFS's only to discover on their next visit that the cards weren't being displayed.

[fishysue]

Re: Have to rant....

This is probably my 10th or 11th HAS auction and I have worked most of them.  This auction was great!!!  It had plenty of variety and items but the auctions can only sell what the sellers bring in.  We had lots of donations as well and that helped.
 
As to membership,  we encourage it.  3 free auctions in a year for the price of a year's membership plus a newsletter and meetings as well as outings and a Christmas party.  We encourage people to join and get active.  Volunteer to work the auctions and help out with the club, get involved.  You can participate and change things.  HAS consists of volunteers, no one gets paid for putting in the hours it takes to make these events happen.
 
These auctions are a lot of work, folks!  They have to be planned out, information posted, locations arranged for.  The auction has to have enough workers to put it on.  Then sellers need to be paid.  It doesn't just happen.  

Charles did most of the auctioneering and did go pretty fast, but he had a lot of ground to cover.  This was a long auction!!!  Which means we had lots of items to offer.  Personally I want to thank everyone who volunteered and helped out.  I enjoyed it, was also a seller and a buyer, was outbid at times, and plan to attend many many more of the HAS auctions in the future.

[Cameo]

Re: Have to rant....

Tiapan,

You are so misguided! The folks at any of the fish clubs’ auctions that buy the most are ones who’ve never been to one before and get really caught up in the excitement and the good prices to be had. An example is the group you’re referring to – first time to an HAS auction. I think it’s fun to see others getting “the bug”! As for the small group that “only keeps to itself” – those were the workers. You’ll see them toiling at every event. And believe me, they didn’t have time to keep to themselves since they were so busy trying to help everyone out. HAS sends out hundreds of postcards for each auction – to members and non-members. Any ideas you have for more HAS events and promotions would be very appreciated. They’ve had some really great events; but guess what, out of over 100+ active members, only a handful show up – despite everyone “dying” to do things outside of auctions. Plant collecting trips, store tours, behind-the-scene zoo tour, Christmas and Spring parties, aquatic park trips. Always, emails and postcards are sent out. Also, we are fortunate to be able to attend thrice-yearly auctions; other fish clubs have two.
Also, as an fyi, flyers are put out at many of the fish stores – the ones who’ll let you. But guess what, when you go back in the next day, the flyers are all gone! When pressed, the employees tell you that the “management” doesn’t want to take away from their sales. Go figure. Not all stores, just enough to discourage you. How did you hear about this auction?  Read any newspapers lately? Gone to any fish websites? Checked your mail?
HAS loves new members and meeting new “fish” folks – so, please, give them your great thoughts on how to attract, entertain, and keep more.
Sorry the items you wanted were not worth more to you than the price they went for.

[cichlidsooner]

Re: Have to rant....

Auction: how bad do you want it?? If I want it, I am buying it!! If people would quit crying, I guess you didn't want it as bad as the next person. Who cares if they bought 100 guppies.  If I get out bidded, they just wanted it more than me. I am cool with that and I hope they enjoy it!  I don't care if they bought every item I wanted, means they had more $ to spend or I was being to cheap. (which in the case for most people). Is there a big difference between buying a freaking guppy for 7 bucks instead of bidding 8 yourself? If you jack up the bid yourself, the person bidding againist you know your serious and most of they time they back off and wait till the next 100 bags of guppies or plants to come through. If I want it, I have a price in my mind and I bid that at the start and that lets everyone know I am serious, instead of wasting everyones time 7,8,9 ,10 and so on. One rock, I just bid 30 bucks and no else bidded, I knew it would get there and that just took the cheapo's out of it and saved everyone a little time. I understand everyone wants to get a good deal, but I am almost for sure that everything sold yesterday was still under the asking price by a lfs, and is there really anything that was auctioned that won't be at the next auction? Is it killing right now not to have what you bid on? If so, there must be many,many funerals up coming. It is numbers game, how many do you really want and how muchare you willing to you spend? If they willing to pay for it and your not, who fault is it? Sometimes you got to take of the cheapscake hat at the door and pay the freaking extra buck or even maybe two. It is still a better deal most of the time than going to the store. I got some good deals along with the people who bought my fish, I am happy! I will be at the next one as well as the after that, just because I know that I can get good deals on fish and food. And as for HAS, they do a pretty bang up job to put together a place and event for people like my brother and I to sell fish, not to bad for a bunch of volunteers! Props to y'all and thanks for the chance to sell my fish and not to get screwed by a local store owner!! At least they put it together, who else is doing? In the past few years, no one! Even if it is a good ol'boy club, I don't care because I get to sell my fish and I will get $ and not credit!! I am not a member but they treat me good everytime! It is not that I would not want to be a memeber, it is just I don't have the time to attend meets and parties and to be honest, I don't want to attend meets and so on. I gladly pay my 5 bucks at each auction and then give my 25% up for them to keep giving me another avenue to sell off some my stock! To those who want to put a knock on them, join the club, go to meetings and make the difference and implement your ideas instead of being a hater! Everyone of the board members I have chatted with seem to be rather cool and appear to open to new fresh ideas!

[szidlon]

Re: Have to rant....

There were some items I bid on yesterday but did not take the ride home with me. I'm probably quilty of being "one of those bidders" myself.  If I truly want and think I cannot live without a particular item I generally am the winner.  If, on occasion I'm not, I can assure you someone else paid dearly for the honor of outbidding me  :evil: