Selling trident for a profit - okay or not?

[GK3]

A manufacturer can absolutely legally force retailers to sell their products at specific prices. That isn't price fixing. Price fixing would be if Neptune and all their competitors all agreed to sell their automated Alkalinity testing machines for the same price.

You absolutely cannot directly force a retailer to sell a product at a specific price. Here is the FTC reference to this:

https://www.ftc.gov/tips-advice/com...ws/dealings-supply-chain/manufacturer-imposed

As a manufacturer you can set a MSRP and you can select who you do and do not distribute through. But you can not legally force them to sell at a specific price. Your only recourse if they don’t follow your MSRP is to drop them if you see fit.

 

[HB AL]

Can’t believe we’re still talking about this.....guys. The housing market is HOT! Last year we sold our home in 2 days at 10k over asking price and guess what....we didn’t feel bad at all! Many wanted it that bad! What’s the difference? There’s only one of my home and we had 15 offers....[emoji2369]

I don’t see it.

Funny you mentioned the house market, just got mine appraised just to get an idea and wholly smokes, couldn't believe I had $800,000 in equity. But living in HB in Socal is nice especially with all the lfs's around. Couldn't imagine not being able to launch my boat and go fishing if I sold the house and moved out of state to cash in.

 

[HB AL]

You absolutely cannot directly force a retailer to sell a product at a specific price. Here is the FTC reference to this:

https://www.ftc.gov/tips-advice/com...ws/dealings-supply-chain/manufacturer-imposed

As a manufacturer you can set a MSRP and you can select who you do and do not distribute through. But you can not legally force them to sell at a specific price. Your only recourse if they don’t follow your MSRP is to drop them if you see fit.

Exactly what Shimano does with there fishing reels, they set the price and vendors dictate if they want to carry the product. Perfectly fine in my book, luckily I have friends sponsored by them so I get them for less but there stuff is top notch.

 

[GK3]

A manufacturer can absolutely legally force retailers to sell their products at specific prices. That isn't price fixing. Price fixing would be if Neptune and all their competitors all agreed to sell their automated Alkalinity testing machines for the same price.

And corals are unique individual art forms! They are all different. Health and growth are important! The source is important! I do woodworking as a side hobby, and take commissions from time to time. If somebody wants me to make them a fancy coffee table, I might charge $5000 for it. Another person might charge $500 for the same type of table. By choosing me, they are going to be (from my perspective) guaranteed a high level of service, craftsmanship and support. Maybe the other person charging $500 isn't as skilled. Maybe she is. Maybe that table is a much much better deal than mine. That doesn't mean I'm wrong to charge $5000. I'm offering a unique product and service for $5000 that a potential buyer can evaluate themselves.

Selling a Trident isn't a unique service. In fact it is so not-unique that the manufacturer has authorized a group of retailers to do the selling for them as long as they agree to the rules which standardize the process!

The reason the coral comparison doesn't make sense is that because every coral is different and every seller is different, so you can't arbitrarily say one deal is good and one isn't. Maybe I value getting a pest-free coral so much that I'll pay double or triple the price of another person. That is my decision as a consumer. Maybe to you every aussie gold torch is the same. Maybe you are right! You buy the cheaper one and save a bunch of money! Everybody is happy with their decisions.

For the Trident situation, we are *always* comparing the reseller experience to the intended default experience. IE buying the product from an authorized retailer at retail price. There is no situation in which the consumer would rather buy a product with a voided warranty at above retail prices from an unauthorized reseller than just go with the manufacturer intended sales experience.

Now obviously we can see there are a lot of people who prefer to buy Tridents at higher than retail prices from unauthorized sellers rather than not get one at all. This fact doesn't do anything to change the underlying fact that buying a Trident to resell it is both a) bad for the hobby as a whole and b) isn't nice. These facts would be true if there were 1 Trident, 30 Tridents or 300,000.

So artists who make and craft unique things can charge whatever they want.

People who have a product where there are 100’s of identical ones must adhere to an MSRP regardless of demand. If they don’t it’s mean and bad for the hobby.

That is effectively what I just read. Sounds like communism with a loop hole clause for painters, sculptors, 1 off wood workers, musicians, mimes, etc.

I’ve literally not heard of one tank crashing or one person leaving the hobby over the increased price of the Triton. And in 6 months when the supply catches up to the demand, I’ll guarantee all of these threads are dead and the hobby is totally fine.

 

[EmptyWallet]

It's disappointing to hear that people are trying to 'profiteer' on Tridents, aren't we supposed to be a reefing community, to help each other etc.

Yes it happens everywhere and in walks of life, yes no one has a gun to their head and so on...

 

[russell13]

I don’t see a Problem with it. If people want to pay that let them pay. This happens with cars all the time. The market dictates the price.

 

[danoo]

So artists who make and craft unique things can charge whatever they want.

People who have a product where there are 100’s of identical ones must adhere to an MSRP regardless of demand. If they don’t it’s mean and bad for the hobby.

That is effectively what I just read. Sounds like communism with a loop hole clause for painters, sculptors, 1 off wood workers, musicians, mimes, etc.

I’ve literally not heard of one tank crashing or one person leaving the hobby over the increased price of the Triton. And in 6 months when the supply catches up to the demand, I’ll guarantee all of these threads are dead and the hobby is totally fine.

Yes, people who *create* objects from nothing can charge whatever they want and still fall under the category of "nice" and "good." They created it! There was nothing and then they made it. That certainly is not a loophole, and a creator picking a price for their goods based on the expected market and their judgement is certainly not communism.

In this instance we are talking about people who are buying Tridents with the sole purpose to resell them. They didn't make the Trident. The people they are selling to would rather buy from the authorized retailer, but are unable to because the reseller got there first. Again, perfectly legal. Just not nice.

Also it is not relevant whether reselling Tridents actually has any macro impact on the hobby. The answer is almost certainly no. Just because something doesn't have any impact on the macro scale doesn't mean it still isn't "nice" to do it on the micro scale. I could litter every piece of trash I ever accumulate over my entire life and it would hardly make any noticeable impact, but if every single person did the same we'd all be living in a giant pile of trash. On the micro scale, a person who would have been able to buy this product, with a valid warranty, from an authorized retailer, who instead needs to unnecessarily wait or choose to purchase one from an unauthorized individual at an increased price with a voided warranty has had their hobby experience diminished.

And that's fine! The resellers just need to own the behavior. It is a (slight) detriment to the hobby as a whole. It isn't nice to your fellow hobbyist. There is money to be made and they made it. Pocket the money and unsubscribe from this thread!

 

[lakai]

How long are you gonna sit there and keep letting Neptune honey smack you

 

[Forsaken77]

People that buy this thing for over retail should make sure the seller also provides the receipt. Because as we've learned with new products, they usually break prematurely and need warranty support. There's always a second revision to the item to improve the initial shortcomings.

It doesn't pay to be an early adopter anymore (which I used to be for 2 decades). Because most things are Chinese junk and not made well. Basically anything electronic falls into this category.

 

[JAMSOURY]

Just as long as we each buy 4 each and resell, we can pay for a full one!

Someone I know has already bought 9 of them. We’re using auto check out Google Chrome Code that is similar to placing auto orders when Jordan’s go on sale. So if you’re familiar with this stuff, it’s the way to go! It has worked twice for me so far.

 

[TVV]

Try to find a Ford GT for what it sold for retail. Doesn't happen.

Any items for sale will only sell for what someone is willing to pay for it based on their personal needs and financial situation.

With the ease of shopping on the internet, those looking for comfort in pricing just have to log on. Simple.

 

[Entz]

How long are you gonna sit there and keep letting Neptune honey dick you

Till the ION Director comes out and people realize this is a total waste of time

 

[naterealbig]

Yes, personal needs, financial, situation, supply/demand, blah blah.

I agree, if you can't afford it, don't complain - find a different solution. This goes for corals, cars, Triton. I am the guy that would pay $12k for an anemone, but my funds won't allow it... I'm not mad about the price - I'm motivated to do what I need to do to afford it one day.

My issue with this is not that people are reselling the equipment for a higher price. It is with the fact that for every time someone does this, they are taking something away from a person who could only afford the unit at MSRP .

It is simply ill-spirited, and goes against the culture r2r and/or the hobby is (or should be) trying to nurture. In all the threads/comments I have read, not a single person is willing to own this.... No surprise I guess.

 

[DocPaulo]

My issue with this is not that people are reselling the equipment for a higher price. It is with the fact that for every time someone does this, they are taking something away from a person who could only afford the unit at MSRP .

It is simply ill-spirited, and goes against the culture r2r and/or the hobby is (or should be) trying to nurture. In all the threads/comments I have read, not a single person is willing to own this.... No surprise I guess.

Sold mine because i wasn't impressed with quality control... put it on ebay no reserve and people paid what they wanted... did I steal it from a guy who couldve bought it for msrp. no.. he can still buy it at msrp when its available... nobody needs it, its a want... if you want to pay msrp, buy it when its available at msrp... why is waiting suddenly intolerable... and not waiting in line a right?

Nobody forced anyone to bid on my auction.. ebay made more money than i did and at my hourly rate lost money packing and driving to fedex

 

[danoo]

Sold mine because i wasn't impressed with quality control... put it on ebay no reserve and people paid what they wanted... did I steal it from a guy who couldve bought it for msrp. no.. he can still buy it at msrp when its available... nobody needs it, its a want... if you want to pay msrp, buy it when its available at msrp... why is waiting suddenly intolerable... and not waiting in line a right?

Nobody forced anyone to bid on my auction.. ebay made more money than i did and at my hourly rate lost money packing and driving to fedex

FYI this is completely different philosophically from somebody who purchased one with the sole intent to re-sell it. You bought it attempting to use it, then after deciding you don't like it you did the only reasonable thing which was re-sell it at the market rate. At no point in time did you do something that was not "nice" to your fellow hobbyists.

The issue for people who are buying them with the sole intent to re-sell is that the "nice" thing to do would be not buy one at all. You avoided that pit-fall. Congrats, you can sleep easy.

 

[DocPaulo]

FYI this is completely different philosophically from somebody who purchased one with the sole intent to re-sell it. You bought it attempting to use it, then after deciding you don't like it you did the only reasonable thing which was re-sell it at the market rate. At no point in time did you do something that was not "nice" to your fellow hobbyists.

The issue for people who are buying them with the sole intent to re-sell is that the "nice" thing to do would be not buy one at all. You avoided that pit-fall. Congrats, you can sleep easy.

Got it... but believe me people still called me names on our local fb groups like I stole it from them... too many righteous people in this world.. everyone wants to tell others how to live their lives and at same time dont want to be told what to do..

This thread is all about being righteous and being the superior human being... whatever happened to live and let live..

Funny thing is the most vocal were those that didnt even have a 2016 apex

 

[Silver14SS]

I don't think it's "nice" to criticize the choices others make. I think it would be "nice" if we didn't assume we know the motivations of people choosing to resell these. It would be "nice" if we didn't have threads complaining about prices every single week.

But the nicest thing of all would be some transparency about Trident availability from either Neptune or retailers. There probably wouldn't be such a secondary market if people were informed.

 

[danoo]

I don't think it's "nice" to criticize the choices others make. I think it would be "nice" if we didn't assume we know the motivations of people choosing to resell these. It would be "nice" if we didn't have threads complaining about prices every single week.

But the nicest thing of all would be some transparency about Trident availability from either Neptune or retailers. There probably wouldn't be such a secondary market if people were informed.

I'm not criticizing anybody, I'm just trying to explain the effects of certain behaviors as they related to the community as a whole. The more people that purchase Tridents with the sole intent resell them, the worse it is for the overall hobby. The truth sometimes doesn't make everybody feel good, but it doesn't mean the person sharing that truth is wrong to do so. And as I've said it's fine. It's a tiny little issue. Certainly not worthy of this long a thread. But I'm a sucker for the underlying philosophical argument.

 

[Eve]

Aquaman says; "You only got $200 over retail? Bahahahah."

Momoa sexiest man alive!! I know out of topic lol

 

[jose hernandez]

I’ve seen them go 4 more than double one member was sellin one at reefapalooza ny for $1,200 told him I don’t need it that bad