Any coupons or upcoming sales?

[DarthSimon]

All about saving money!!! I own a retail establishment.
Many of my suppliers have MAP pricing. I advertise certain prices on shelf. Face to face with a regular client is different story.

Bulk Reef Supply who seems to be the biggest in the industry probably has great relashiohips with these suppliers and wants to maintain that. If your looking to save money buy used.

 

[ReefJesus]

Interesting post. This discussion just substantiates that everything is designed around control. In other words, it’s all about getting the most money from the hobbyist. Retailers and manufactures are obviously in bed with each other since they are so concerned about their vendor to vendor relationships around the handling of MAP pricing. In many ways even Reef fourms does the same thing protecting their sponsors from hobbyist critism. Unforuntatley, hobbyists see this as a hobby, but it’s big $ business when talking about sales and sponsor support. It’s not surprising how the hobbyist has so little voice influencing sales on map products.

 

[Bulk Reef Supply]

Interesting post. This discussion just substantiates that everything is designed around control. In other words, it’s all about getting the most money from the hobbyist. Retailers and manufactures are obviously in bed with each other since they are so concerned about their vendor to vendor relationships around the handling of MAP pricing. In many ways even Reef fourms does the same thing protecting their sponsors from hobbyist critism. Unforuntatley, hobbyists see this as a hobby, but it’s big $ business when talking about sales and sponsor support. It’s not surprising how the hobbyist has so little voice influencing sales on map products.

I'm not going to deny that that likely exists across many transactional relationships. To be honest though, we have many times turned away suppliers who we feel are over charging for a product. We've also shared feedback with suppliers when this happens to encourage them to re-evaluate. We evaluate every single product we onboard based on its value at the price point, unique features, etc.,. I would say the reason we want to help our suppliers maintain pricing is because no one can stay in business once it becomes a race to the bottom. Amazon JUST became profitable in recent years. Wayfair is still not profitable. They are big enough where they can carry the weight of that for some time, hobby stores/websites are not.

Also, we have a commitment to educating the community. Is there benefit for us in there? Heck yeah! The longer you're successful in the hobby, the longer you need salt (which kinda benefits all stores in the hobby). But also, the longer you're successful in the hobby, the more you enjoy the hobby. Right? But here's something to consider; it costs a lot to produce a video, run lab-grade tests, buy lab-grade equipment. We could absolutely discontinue BRStv and probably drop some prices on various things, but frankly, that just doesn't align with our values.

 

[DarthSimon]

Great Post BRS!!
By manufacturers setting pricing, and retailers holding that pricing, we ensure our retailers staying in business. The retailer has costs to maintain their business as well.
Bulk Reef Supply usually has plenty of stock of what we are looking for as hobbyists. We all like to save money, but I am happy to pay the price if this means selection and inventory is always maintained.

I'm not going to deny that that likely exists across many transactional relationships. To be honest though, we have many times turned away suppliers who we feel are over charging for a product. We've also shared feedback with suppliers when this happens to encourage them to re-evaluate. We evaluate every single product we onboard based on its value at the price point, unique features, etc.,. I would say the reason we want to help our suppliers maintain pricing is because no one can stay in business once it becomes a race to the bottom. Amazon JUST became profitable in recent years. Wayfair is still not profitable. They are big enough where they can carry the weight of that for some time, hobby stores/websites are not.

Also, we have a commitment to educating the community. Is there benefit for us in there? Heck yeah! The longer you're successful in the hobby, the longer you need salt (which kinda benefits all stores in the hobby). But also, the longer you're successful in the hobby, the more you enjoy the hobby. Right? But here's something to consider; it costs a lot to produce a video, run lab-grade tests, buy lab-grade equipment. We could absolutely discontinue BRStv and probably drop some prices on various things, but frankly, that just doesn't align with our values.

 

[DarthSimon]

Also to add, take look at bulk reef supplies own products. They have developed and designed their own products and sell us these products at reduced rates compared to other manufacturers. They also put these house branded products on sale and give us reward dollars back on purchases.

Very smart business of BRS manufacturing their own goods. They are in the manufacturing game, as well as retail to us....

 

[Bulk Reef Supply]

Also to add, take look at bulk reef supplies own products. They have developed and designed their own products and sell us these products at reduced rates compared to other manufacturers. They also put these house branded products on sale and give us reward dollars back on purchases.

Very smart business of BRS manufacturing their own goods. They are in the manufacturing game, as well as retail to us....

Thank you for pointing that out, this is very true. We also work with industry professionals such as chemists and perform in-depth testing before launching a product to ensure you'll be successful. We kind of have a crush on costco and their business model of "more, better, less." It's just the right way to do business!

(Insider info: we actually have internal "Kirkland Raffles" once in awhile. It's like a meat raffle but instead of meat you can win Kirkland brand toilet paper, steaks, wine, etc., lol - it's a blast! )

 

[bobyboy]

MaP and MRP is some times the cost of doing business.

I made my purchase already so I don’t see any reason for this to stay open!