Zebra Cost Debate (Moved Froms Sales & Wants)

gtp · Post by **gtp** » Tue Nov 15, 2005 9:26 pm

I have two very probable females stay together whilst male is at the other end of the tank. Not selling though unless one day someone offered me a very high price (£250+!!!) almost 2.5".

Plastic Mac · Post by **Plastic Mac** » Wed Nov 16, 2005 9:38 am

You can't demand that much money on a 'probably female'. If your gonna ask for that much then you need to be definite on which sex it is.

nice to see your not in it for the money then

Plastic mac

gtp · Post by **gtp** » Wed Nov 16, 2005 10:30 am

Ah perhaps I did not make the statement clear enough, 'Not for sale'. I thought using exclamation marks you would see it as a rubbish joke.

Plastic Mac · Post by **Plastic Mac** » Wed Nov 16, 2005 12:15 pm

This wouldn't be you selling this one then?

http://www.aquarist-classifieds.co.uk/p ... _31492.php

Plastic Mac

gtp · Post by **gtp** » Wed Nov 16, 2005 2:19 pm

The link isn't working but I think I know the site your on about. That is me but what is wrong with it?

carlwhybrow230480 · Post by **carlwhybrow230480** » Wed Nov 16, 2005 2:20 pm

£250 for a 'probably female' i over the top mate

Plastic Mac · Post by **Plastic Mac** » Wed Nov 16, 2005 2:21 pm

there's nothing wrong with it....

...I was just enquiring. I take it it's probably a male then.
Shame there's no photos.

gtp · Post by **gtp** » Wed Nov 16, 2005 3:38 pm

My female zebr aplec is not for sale. But the one on aquarist classified is, I don't know if it is a male or female. I am not asking £250 for it, something around the £130-£140 mark. I have seen one back along on aquarist classified go for £195 and even £250.

Plastic Mac · Post by **Plastic Mac** » Wed Nov 16, 2005 3:50 pm

As far as I'm concerned anything above £150 is a rip off and only sold by people who have no interest in the species except to make money...and very sad it is too.

I'm not ccomplaining about your sale in particular but I think if people want £140-£150 for a single 2" fish the least people can do is provide pictures...after all 150 quid is a lot of money to expect people to pay wihtout even seeing the goods.

If you did have pictures I'd be much more inclined to purchase it, as it might be a female...which i really really need. Since there are no pics...well, I'll leave it to someone else. Hope you sell it, whatever sex it is.

hamish99 · Post by **hamish99** » Thu Nov 17, 2005 1:17 am

Plastic Mac,
so if you bought a house that was say 40k and in a year later it was worth 100k you would sell it for te 40k you bought it for.... i dont think so

NetsuaiAngel · Post by **NetsuaiAngel** » Thu Nov 17, 2005 4:10 am

hamish99 wrote:Plastic Mac,
so if you bought a house that was say 40k and in a year later it was worth 100k you would sell it for te 40k you bought it for.... i dont think so

What??

Where are you trying to go with this discussion? A home has equity that can build or fall depending on many factors, such as: local economy, local community, location, size and demand.

A zebra pleco does not give you equity, atleast not like how a house does, no matter how long you keep it. A zebra pleco is sold by demand and those who are spawning them are in control of the prices that they want to sell them at. Fortunately the majority of spawners have been very considerate in keeping their prices reasonable, that way those who are looking to buy are aware that they are able to purchase a zebra pleco at a reasonable price if they're willing to wait. For example, on AquaBid.com there is a seller asking for $1,000 for a mated pair of zebra plecos. Is this reasonable?

Anyways, I'm off topic. What Plastic Mac is asking is if you're hoping to sell something for a certain price, especially zebra plecos, it does help to see a picture of the zebra in order to give those interested a chance to give their own opinion to purchase at that given price. Basically, pictures help make the selling easier.

Back on topic:
I'm not aware of anyone selling any female zebras, it's been very difficult to be definate in sexing the zebras until you actually witness them in courting and they produce a definate spawn.

Plastic Mac · Post by **Plastic Mac** » Thu Nov 17, 2005 9:35 am

hamish99 wrote:Plastic Mac,
so if you bought a house that was say 40k and in a year later it was worth 100k you would sell it for te 40k you bought it for.... i dont think so

You covered pretty much what I would have said has I seen this post first, thanks NetsuaiAngel.

Hamish99. Personally I can make a distinction between items like a house and endangered animals. If you can make money on your house, great..it's not like they're in short supply. If I can help breed an endangered animal which will hopefully be for the benefit of everbody I don't see that as an opportunity to rip people off and make large sums of money out of it.
Personally if and when I manage to breed them it won't be just a price thing I'd actually be quite specific about who they were sold to, ie other breeders would have the opportunity to purchase them first, followed by forum users who have expressed a strong interest in breeding them. In the interests of helping the project I wouldn't demand full price but a fair one, and I consider £200 to be a very unfair price.
At the end of the day you are more than welcome to try and sell yours for a grand each if you wish, it's your choice so do what you like....I'm just sorry that when you look at a zeb all you see are dollar signs.

Plastic Mac

gtp · Post by **gtp** » Thu Nov 17, 2005 9:10 pm

I don't know where £200 comes into it. I was not asking that price.

Plastic Mac · Post by **Plastic Mac** » Fri Nov 18, 2005 9:27 am

No-one said you did mention £200....it was just an example amount used to help provide an opinion.

INXS · Post by **INXS** » Fri Nov 18, 2005 1:23 pm

It's supply and demand - nothing else here when it comes to sales.

Anyone can list a zebra for $ 1 dollar or $5000 dollars - if they don't get sold then the price is obviously wrong but if they do then that is what the market will bear.

People who make a living in the aquarium business have to pay bills and eat, that is why they are in business (and to supply us with fish and stuff).
They pretty much dictate the price by their cost ,including all shipping, losses , permits , quarantine, etc in addition to their cost of doing business.
When bringing in a fish that costs them $100 they have to account for the possibility of one or two dying and them taking a loss so they have to mark up the fish to cover that possibility and put the fish at a level that the consumer is willing to pay.

If a lot of people are constantly asking for zebra plecos and there are none to be had then the price will obviously be driven up. This is why it is pretty normal to see them for sale at $200 or around there now if one ever sees them.

As hobbyists we spend a lot of money on food, tanks , equipment, fish , fish to replace the fish that didn't make it , tanks , electricity and much more - to actually be successful enough to be able to sell a few fish and recoup a bit of that expense is not something that you should be ashamed of - if I had to depend on my fish to survive I wouldn't make it till the end of the week. People that think they are going to get rich off the hobby will find out sooner or later anyway.

Generally the last confirmed paid price is the going rate - I think it was Neo that advertised further down on the sales page about wanting a female zebra for 250-300 pounds - if that was the price then that is what the going rate for a fullgrown female zebra is.
Of course Plastic mac is right about wanting it confirmed as it doesn't mean that a 1" unsexed fry is going to go for that much.

This is a buy and sell and it is a free economy and society - you can ask anything you want and as buyers you can decide to buy or not.

I find it kindof rude of people to openly haggle and tell someone that their fish isn't worth as much as they are asking or that they are greedy for asking too much just as much as people asking outrageous prices - but they can quietly be avoided and ignored so the person will hopefully get the message.
The same is true for people looking for outrageous bargains like "I want zebras but can only pay $25 a piece" - usually those posts go unanswered.

If you are selling - you should be free to name your price and if you are in the market for them you are free to post how much you are willing to pay. That's buy and sell, no gripes, bullying or namecalling.

If you are into preserving the species , breeding them or taking care of them there are many other appropriate topics to post under.

Sorry for the rant but I am getting tired of seeing the same haggling and nonsence going on in too many for sale posts.