WHat happened to the sponsors?

surfn · Apr 16, 2007

fishes2889 said:
I just dont get it. Whatever, if they want to leave, leave. But, i will say one thing i am still a customer of Bryan of PC and will be to come. He's a good guy and i visit him from time to time. Its just straight business. Nothing personal.....IMO

And i havent bought anything else from the others so i wouldnt place judgement on them.

i agree with you, i've heard great things about him. his website is never updated, and he never used his sponsor forum. b/c apparently he had so many orders......there was never any point in updating it.

but obviously, since he wasnt using that forum...i guess he felt it was no longer worth the sponsorship...totally understandable if he'd like to leave based on that.

whats getting on our nerves...is the way larry organized this so called "sponsor union". in which they all had a pact that if one left, they all left.

they think THEY are what made CZ what it is today, but this is FAR from the truth. we can easily survive without them. the CZ members is what made what CZ is today, and will shape CZ in the future.

fishes2889 · Apr 16, 2007

surfn said:
i agree with you, i've heard great things about him. his website is never updated, and he never used his sponsor forum. b/c apparently he had so many orders......there was never any point in updating it.

I think its because he has been busy with some tank accounts and has been trying to grow out his systems a little more. I dunno...

But in any case yes Club-zoa will live on and will continue to grow with its community. There will be other sponserships, but hey its not the end of the world.

Thats all i have to say...

ZooYorkUnderworld · Apr 16, 2007

they all sponsor zoaId.com now ......

Azurel · Apr 16, 2007

True, I also think that you can't blame a website for the lack of business your business drums up.....I am not talking about Bryan in this case, cause I will still do business with him. I am talking about Larry the ring leader of this situation. You can't have all most nothing on your site and blame somebody else because you are not getting business or getting any return on your $20. The last time his site was updated was in Feb, they have the option of putting as much time in their business as they need to, the vendors we have right now all seem to be putting as much time into it as they need to, to get a return on their hard work. In business you get what you put into it, if you do it part time you will get part time back. I think the sponsors we have here right now is a great core sponsorship and all of them need to be used to the fullest that we can as a body of members.

But to say that we should put a $ limit on what people can sell for in total and what they can sell corals for because a particular vendor isn't getting any business and saying it is somebody else's fault is not right either.

There was a comment from one of them that $500 over 2 months should be the limit that a member can sell in total and the corals they sell cannot be at "vendor" pricing is just silly. Also that Mods cannot sell any more because they seen that as an unethical practice is just wrong, Mods here are also members first and foremost. We are trying to make this site as unique as possible in a world of cookie cutter reef and coral sites. This is why we ask our members what they think and to use the feedback forum as much as possible, you don't see that on RC and quite a few other boards. I have been members on many boards and never sen one that is more willing to listen to issues and or ideas then this one. It's not that we as a mod team or Admin are such great guys but more so that is the philosophy that we started this site out with and to tick on it now would trash everything not just US as Mods but you members have worked so hard for over the last year. This philosophy has also made this site a drama-less as we(members) can possibly be and accepting of everybody ideas in what ever forum we are discussing things in.

I just want you guys/gal's to know you are appreciated and it is your memberships that are important to us first and foremost and with out you spending your time here and willing to share ideas and you experiences this site would be nothing and we would ll be dealing with the drama on RC and other boards.

korndogg091 · Apr 16, 2007

I find it funny that when these sponsors were here everyone had great things to say about them, but now that they have left here people want to trash them and say good ridens. 1) Why would anyone want to sponsor here if as soon as you leave or make a decision that some dont like you get slammed. 2) I agree with some of the previous posts, that how can it be worth it to sponsor here when everyone else is selling much cheaper.

I dont know if anything unethical is going on, but I think some of the people on here that have a frag pack every week should pay a sponsor fee. If your tank is getting full and you have some things to frag then cool, but when you are essentually a business on here then you should be charged. Why would a sponsor pay to advertise on the site when everyone else is geting the same benifits for free. Personally, I dont even look at the spinning banners. Id hate to see anymore sponsors leave and I think people should hold off on the bashing of the three that left, you will scare away any new potential sponsors. Just my $.02

Randy · Apr 16, 2007

korndogg091 said:
I find it funny that when these sponsors were here everyone had great things to say about them, but now that they have left here people want to trash them and say good ridens. 1) Why would anyone want to sponsor here if as soon as you leave or make a decision that some dont like you get slammed. 2) I agree with some of the previous posts, that how can it be worth it to sponsor here when everyone else is selling much cheaper.

I dont know if anything unethical is going on, but I think some of the people on here that have a frag pack every week should pay a sponsor fee. If your tank is getting full and you have some things to frag then cool, but when you are essentually a business on here then you should be charged. Why would a sponsor pay to advertise on the site when everyone else is geting the same benifits for free. Personally, I dont even look at the spinning banners. Id hate to see anymore sponsors leave and I think people should hold off on the bashing of the three that left, you will scare away any new potential sponsors. Just my $.02

thanks

I-K@ndY · Apr 16, 2007

Is this an April fools joke again..... Hey you never know lol

weimers75 · Apr 16, 2007

I agree with Korndogg. There should be some type of limit. I frequent Mireefers and they limit selling, but not an exact monetary amount. I think someone on here got banned there for doing it...but I can't remember I could be confused

I do think though that if you want sponsors to pay, then you need to limit selling..otherwise, like people said, what's the point of paying to be a sponsor when you can sell for free?

Azurel · Apr 16, 2007

"I find it funny that when these sponsors were here everyone had great things to say about them, but now that they have left here people want to trash them and say good riddance."

Nobody is trashing them as a person but the stance they took and the comments they made about members here and the way the policies are here as well.

"1) Why would anyone want to sponsor here if as soon as you leave or make a decision that some don't like you get slammed. 2) I agree with some of the previous posts, that how can it be worth it to sponsor here when everyone else is selling much cheaper."

Let's deal with each one....

1. It wasn't the decisions to leave that has everyone mad or upset but the fact that they were trying to get changes made that would in fact prohibit some one like you from selling your corals at a price that you ask for. So let's say that you have some PDs to sell, you want $35 a polyp. Me as a Mod comes in and says 'Hey Korn you can only sell your PDs for $15 because we changed the way the selling forum is and that is the most you can sell it for because some of the sponsors do not like you making that much on a polyp."
What would your response be?

2. How could it not? Your spending $20 for a forum of your own to do as you wish with your banner is guaranteed to be seen. We have 10x more hits over the last 6 months and I can get you stats that shows how and why it would be a good idea to sponsor. But again it is your business and you only get what you put into it. How is selling PDs and some of these frag packs at $200-$300 cheaper? Who is selling anything cheaper? Their argument was that these privet members were getting vendor prices? So if that is the case should everybody sell PPE for $10 because they don't want you to get vendor prices? What is the price of a PPE anyway? Hmmm, the same it has been for 5 years now at on-line sites and selling forums of reef web forums.

"I don't know if anything unethical is going on, but I think some of the people on here that have a frag pack every week should pay a sponsor fee. If your tank is getting full and you have some things to frag then cool, but when you are essentially a business on here then you should be charged."

So me one person that has a frag pack on here every week? There have been people making changes to there tanks and to prove it showing pictures of there tanks as they change and sell off and trade corals away. That don't make you a business, that makes you a hobbyist who is changing you tank around. Like I said show me one person that has a frag pack on here every week. I bet you $100 that if there was we would have talked to him about. One of the guys that left couldn't show us one either and that was one of his arguments.

"Why would a sponsor pay to advertise on the site when everyone else is getting the same benefits for free. Personally, I don't even look at the spinning banners. Id hate to see anymore sponsors leave and I think people should hold off on the bashing of the three that left, you will scare away any new potential sponsors. Just my $.02"

We didn't want to see the ones that left leave, and I don't think it was anybodies intentions of having them leave. But that was a business decision that they had to make. What benefits are those that everyone else is getting for free? The sponsors pay their fee for a Banner and a forum that they can do what they wish with. They can put sales in there, updates what ever they dream of. I don't have a forum just for me......

It's a bad situation on both sides and in the end some of the comments made things hard. But to sabotage a website by intimidating the leadership by telling them this is the rules we want you to put on your members and if you don't do it, we leave! That to me is wrong....

grisha · Apr 16, 2007

i think sale and trade threads pushing this hobby.. i personally just came here because i see that members have the stuff i want to buy trade and hope to sell. I paid top $$$ buck for FR stuff and I only learn about them through boards like this . The fack that that sponsor is an active member made me feel like he is a fellow hobbist .

Azurel · Apr 16, 2007

That is one of the things I liked the most as well.....

msman825 · Apr 16, 2007

grisha said:
i think sale and trade threads pushing this hobby.. i personally just came here because i see that members have the stuff i want to buy trade and hope to sell. I paid top $$$ buck for FR stuff and I only learn about them through boards like this . The fack that that sponsor is an active member made me feel like he is a fellow hobbist .

I AGREE

Zoanuts · Apr 16, 2007

I think everyone needs to keep in mind that the mods and myself are ALWAYS willing to listen to members, sponsors or anyone for that matter. We are always willing to have discussions but at the end of the day we have to do what we think is best for the site over all. This doesn't mean that we disrepect anyone or don't appreciate sponsors. In fact it's quite the opposite, we are trying to grow the site and that will be good for sponsors, current and new.

Well put!!

vetteman · Apr 16, 2007

F them all.........

Zoanuts · Apr 16, 2007

With the growth of the site will be growth for the sponsors. It is simple economics! Success with one means success for all.
I applaud all the mod positive attention!!