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shocking elk

Just soft launched this yesterday ... eBay doesn't allow animals to be auctioned so saw a need.

http://www.dartauction.com/auction/

Let me know what you think.
Good job on the construction of the website. kristy Big Grin
how are you to control what the dart hobbyists are trying to do....like rich said quality over quantity?
its a touchy thing shocking eld to bid darts to the highest bidder. I have been searching through your discussion on dendro and wonder how it is you are going to control what the hobbists are tring to do in this hobby? The construction of the site looks nice...but like on dendro...reminds me of ebay and ebay has a lot of strict policies on selling animals and probably for a good reason?
Unfortunately, one of the things that is very important about this hobby is that not everyone should be buying and working with any given frog available. Some people are not ready for some morphs and never will be. So, the "it goes to the highest bidder" goes against what many of us are trying to ensure in this hobby. Quality over quantity.

Rich
i agree with you rich......wish there was a way to make it quality. Not quantity. i have been thinking this in my head all day....if a dart gos to highest bidder...how to ensure this? I respect shocking elk's attempts to make a bidding site, but perhaps it should only be for dry goods and even so, how would upkeep of the site balance for him in the end? kristy :?: Dendroboard already had a good classifieds section and you can search through posts as well as dart den. I wonder...did he waste his time and effort doing this and how to ensure that "the highest bidder" is one who knows how to properly care for these amazing creatures?

kinipela

I am going to have to disagree with Kristy. Just because its the highest bidder does'nt mean they know anymore or any less on taking care of the darts. I was sold a dart and was told all the incorrect ways to take care of it. I would however be weary of buying darts unless i knew the seller selling them on the auction just due to the fact that someone might just breed them to sell like puppy mills. Does'nt mean there wont be repable breeders on there.
Very simply, reputable dealers don't sell to the highest bidder. Yes , those that need to rely on getting their darts via auction most likely don't know enough to keep them. And being wary should run both ways.

You were sold a dart and were not ready to keep one. Pet stores are very good at this. Some people will always sell to anyone. And some people will always buy before they are ready. There is no room , nor the need for auctions in our hobby.
yes i was trying to clear that up. i agree with both of you....an auction site can not possibly help the hobby nor can it monitor who the darts are coming from(reputable breeders) nor who the darts will be going to) people who are unfit to care for these amazing creatures? I think the auction site will be a downfall for the dart hobby and community. unfortunately i have to agree to this even though i know shocking elk personally......( a fact is a fact however) but i think he wasted his time, money, and effort putting it up without first putting more thought into it. I wouldn't be auctioning any of my darts on the site for this reason. I really care about them and only buy from reputable breeders/reputable bloodlines. Guess i misquoted up there and my opinion was mis understood. Both you and Rich are correct in this matter. I'd like for him to either shut it down or become a reputable breeder/vendor and have a site like that because this auction site is going to go nowhere and nobody in the respected hobby who cares about this dart hobby as rich does and many others of us do....will likely support it at all.

dendromom

I posted this solution in detail on dendroboard, and I will post the summarized solution here---shocking elk is aware of this solution and thinks it would be good to implement it, but I advise no one to use the site until this solution is publicly identified, not just woven into one of those incredibly long and tiresome-to-read user agreements. It must be ensured that it is read, so it needs to be on the home page or something very obvious.

NO ONE should use the site if guidelines for 'highest bid' are not clearly specified----that is, the 'highest bid' is not considered the 'winning bid' if certain criteria are not met by the buyer, to be judged by the seller---and there must be a submission form that can be used by the buyer to be submitted to the seller for approval that shows that they are aware of the care and breeding requirements.

Shocking elk, I further submit that registration ONLY be open to users who, through their comments evident on these boards, can be shown to be knowledgeable, responsible and accountable to the dart frog hobby as an asset and not a hazard. If we open it to the general public, we introduce a factor that could ruin the hobby forever.

Without strict regulations, this auction site could easily become the UNDOING of the dart frog hobby as we know it by making frogs easily affordable, accessible and cheap through indiscriminate breeding practices by greedy or unknowledgable individuals, resulting in hybridization, a breakdown of bloodlines and a loss of certain species to the hobby forever.

So, please be careful all who read this. The hobby is in your hands...
good post susan and i saw your thread on dendro which was also very good. i see the huge problem with it. Rich has pointed it out clearly and so has another member of this board. I just see it doing more harm to the hobby. kristy
If anyone can tell me the up-side to this auction in any form, please do so. There should be work done to find good breeders. There should be work done before, before, before, you actually purchase a dart. There are plenty of ways to find the dart you want. A want ad for instance. Asking around. Reading "for sale" ads and such. They are not that hard to find until you go looking for a frog that is extremely rare, and most likely not to be auctioned any way, or you have not made the right connections and "paid your dues". In this "I want it all, and I want it yesterday" world, we need to slow down and concentrate on quality. Period.

Rich
I have been in this hobby for approx. 7 years but have been out for approx. the last 2 years now. As I consider coming back into it, now that I am not traveling as much with work, I have noticed that a lot has changed. Everyone seems to say that they are worried about the frogs getting into the hands of a novice and not being well cared for. From what I have read this is already the case, people are just more straight forward with the price on other sites as opposed to bidding them out. I am not saying that I agree with the bidding but I do see a side to this that is not available on other boards. There is a listing for "everything else" (not frogs) that you can put up for bidding. This being the case, If I wanted to trade one hobby for another (my drum set for frogs) I could possible list them here and see what kind of offers I got (frogs or cash). Just a different perspective on how we could use this site in a positive manner. As far as the bidding goes, anyone can get any frog if they are willing to pay for it. There is always someone willing to sell it. I don't mean this offensively, but it is the truth.

TonyT
Big Grin Know of anybody you can buy one of these from Tony? Big Grin
If there happens to be an ugly red x where my pic of a juvi Robalo pum should be, it was a pic of a juvi Robalo pum...
yeah thats what happened rich. just an x....lol... but in any sense i dont see any upsides to a auction site as i accidentally posted a new topic above this topic about this....i agree with rich on this. and i have never even heard of that kind of pum...so rich made his point exactlySmilekristy
too bad that pic didnt show up...i'd love to see it. kristy Big Grin
The only way I could see to prevent the problem of poor care that everyone seems to worry about is to do a home check and a vet check before sale, as many rescue groups do before adopting out dogs or cats. True, an auction site doesn't do this, but niether does a site that simply offers the darts for sale. I am excited about this site because it gives a student like myself a hope of finding the darts I love at a price I can afford after building the tank I am working on!

Like I said, just my 2 cents worth!
Hey Rich, no pic like they stated but I am sure there are many that we can't get "legally" here in the states that would rock. I agree that bidding will only be for monetary gain with no concern for the frogs care. I totally agree with everyone on this. But this does not mean the entire site is evil. Rare frogs being accessible to newbies is still possible. i.e. When I first got into this hobby I only had about 5 months experience when I found an ad for a pair of Bri Bri pums which I bought (not cheap 6 years ago). This was on a populer board (only board back then). I would also point out that they were not a pair, it was 2 females. I only say this to say that we can get them if we look hard enough, but we put ourselves at risk on what we are actually getting in return. I think a trading section for things other than frogs might be cool. Just an opinion. Thats what I liked about the site more than anything.

P.S. Let me know if you find those Pum's

froglet94

I think the idea of the site is great!!!!

Nice job