Aquabid issue?

[GaryE]

They must be working hard. My jurisdiction problem seems solved, and Canada seems independent of the US for shipping. That's good.

 

[Boundava]

Glad to hear they are up again. Haven't used them in a few years, but always my go to for shrimp in bulk.

 

[GaryE]

They're up, but it isn't looking good. I'll wager we've seen the end of Aquabid. The amount of work required to bring a site that had built a reputation and a following like that almost from scratch is daunting.

 

[TwoTankAmin]

Aquabid has gradually been declining over the years. My first few years I used to buy things there but never sold anything. back then it had a chat rooms which was out of control. I approached Mark about it and the result was he made me the head chat moderator, I reqruited a few more mods and we got the place running really well. The biggest problem was one of the major sellers there who was also an alcoholic. He would come into chat and PM nasty stuff to women members.

This created a lot of friction and and Barnett chose him over the chat and basically destroyed it. At the height one could come into the chat almost 24.7 and get expert help with a related problem. If the people who might help were not there we would give the person with the problem their contact information so they could get the needed help. Many of the mods quit after what Mark did and I was one who walked away from Aquabid completely. About a year ago I gave it another shot and realized it was still not the best place to get decent stock. My club was a far better option.

I will not be re-registering as I have no need to do so. I also do not like the new software from what I saw.

 

[GaryE]

I found it very useful for killifish eggs, the only category I ever checked. There were credible sellers and results were good. Recently, there has been some price gouging appearing, with ludicrous starting points for an egg auction. So much can go wrong in the mail with eggs.

The AKA had pretty well abdicated any egg sales to Aquabid. But they've been pushing to get people to list on Mark's site, as Europeans weren't sending to the US anymore because of the laws. If the AKA can step in and run proper auctions with a code of ethics, it would be good. I wouldn't be able to use the resource, as all the eggs US friends have sent me over the past 5 years have simply vanished, probably snagged by US customs based on the electronic forms. But I would like to see my killiekeepig friends in the US get back to what once made them an important organization in the killieworld.

There are always workarounds for people like me who know the ropes, but for new aquarists interested in some of these fish, it will be harder if Aquabid dies.

Things run by individuals rather than things run by motivated groups are always unstable and vulnerable.