Selling Zebras

If it's about fish in general, or it's a little bit random, then this is the place to post it.
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Rob
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Post by Rob »

Dave

I understand where you are coming from but I feel we have to have a little faith. I will be the first to hold up my hand and say that I sell my zebras. Despite offers, over and above, my fish are sold for between £70 - £90 no more no less. My reasoning is quite simple. I need to recoup costs, whilst making sure that I am selling at a price that is realistic within the market, yet I refuse to give in to the commercialism out there. Out of all of the fish I breed I would say approximately 50% are sold, others are swapped, donated and "Loaned".

The only way we will create an "ethical environment" to sell these fish is by making the high asking pricess less attractive. That said we cannot criticise the seller who does get the high end of the scale because he found someone to pay it. I may not agree with it, which is why I am doing what I do, but I cannot judge the person that does as I do not know their situation.

The fact of the matter is that this site is about increasings peoples awareness of the fish and its requirements. We will never remove commercialism, and if it assists in ensuring the captive zebras popularity and hence success then it has its place.

The site is not big enough to financially affect the selling price, but if we all sell for what we see as ethically acceptable, then this will eventually drive the price down.

From a cynical point of view, if the price of the zebra was to drop to £25 per fish I believe their "attractiveness" would reduce and therefore their chances of being successfully sustained in captivity would be drastically affected.

Rob
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dave
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Hi Rob

Post by dave »

Hi Rob

I agree whole heartedly with what you say.

The sales were posted and one is about to be posted, and I have not criticised at all, and will not.

In a thread which I started in general terms, a couple of prospective vendors posted justification.

In my opinion, these posts should have been deleted.

My reasoning being while we are not allowed to criticise sales, fair enough, promoting sales with posts, or giving reasons without being allowed to comment paints a picture that this is normal practice.

Your post is very welcome as it shows there are people, and I know of others doing the same who are avoiding the commercial aspects of this fish.

I will emphasise again, I have no problem with what people charge, that is for the sellers and purchasers to decide.

If they start giving reasons, which are incorrect, derogatory to people I have sold to (Other people will sell them on at a profit, they haven't).

Surely we should be able to comment.

Justification is in my mind is a campaign that will lead to higher prices, and as the majority who are ignoring the commercial aspects do not advertise the fact, this may lead to a one sided view.

On a lighter note Rob I think your Zebs are a bit expensive.

My fish sell in the price range Zero to £65.

Perhaps if other ethical vendors announced what they let their fish go it might have an impact.

Take care

Dave
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John
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Post by John »

I think first of all it has to be clear at what age or size the young zebs are beeing sold, then we can compare prices, otherwise imo comparing prices is useless.
I've seen "cheap" fry on the market, i checked them out and they were 6-8 weeks old, i think this is a perfect example of unethical trade!!
I know in the german L46-scene fry has to be a certain minimum size, otherwise trade is considered to be unethical, i would like to see this discussion here along with the discussion about prices.
Greetings,
John
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Post by McEve »

John wrote:I know in the german L46-scene fry has to be a certain minimum size, otherwise trade is considered to be unethical, i would like to see this discussion here along with the discussion about prices.
There is a thread about this: http://www.zebrapleco.com/forum/viewtop ... highlight=
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Post by John »

Missed that one McEve :oops:
But i think this discussion can be repeated (new members) even if it comes out to the same conclusions :wink:
Greetings,
John
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Rob
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Post by Rob »

Hi Dave

Yes I tend to agree that my fish are a little expensive, but as I only sell half of them that reduces their cost down to an average of £35 per fish ;-) . Plus I dont sell fish less that 18 months to 2 years old... That said This is not a justification exercise, it is an intersting and debatable topic.

One fo the reasons that the rules concernig commenting on sales was introduced was becasue of this exact subject. There will always be disagreements which result in the site having to make a descision on the ethical or unethical comments made. This proved to cause bad feeling ont ehs ite and to be honest made people nervous about posting anything in the section for fear of gettgin flames. When you look through "autotrader", you do not see comments from previous buyers stating that "he sold me a lemon" or "my distributor fell off". :wink: I reaslise this is an extreme, but whilst we do not have a system in place to manage that side of the forum we had to put in place some stringent rules to make sure that the forums tone remained in place. As much as I would love to ensure that every Zebra was sold ethically and to an individual with the fish's best interest at heart, this is quite simply not possible. Therefore the stand we make is to ensure that suitable information is available, and hopefully make people aware of a reality of breeding and caring for these fish.

With the ingenious help and skills from Mr Kingfisher, we are hoping to put in place a more controlled Environment, but this will take time. Until then we will just have to abide by the rules. ;-)

Rob
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Hi again

Post by dave »

Hi Rob

My point is, and accepting the rules of the site, advertise the fish at whatever price somebody wants to.

Criticism, is not acceptable.

The whole of the Xingu, the Amazon Basin is in trouble, and these problems are reflected with fish species around the world.

We are very fortunate in the UK to have access to so many fish, now if people treated them the same as cats or dogs, where a fish is for life, L46 is not the only fish in the river.

I wasn't criticising the price you charge, but keeping Zebs has become trendy.

I have seen adverts from people I know, selling other fish, stating I paid so much for them, they have grown so I expect a bit more. I wash my hands of these.

And this is just a suggestion why not expand the site to the Xingu fish as a whole.

Take care

Dave
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