>It is not only A.N.G.F.A auctions. There are auctions all over
>Australia, some of them advertised to the general public, not
just >club members, selling fish for a few cents each.
Yeah, it's good isn't it. As a keeper it gives you the
opportunity to keep fish that you may otherwise pass over due to
price. As a breeder the 'few cents' you get is around what a
tight arsed retailer will give you. I personally would rather
sell or give away fish to fellow keepers than to retailers.
I would assume that the fish that cost the retailer $3.50,
marked up to $22 that I saw recently, is not an aboration (in
this particular shop anyhow). This is what is not good for the
hobby. Why would little Tommy buy a single Rainbow at $22 when
he could get a heap of exotics for that?? If Tommy hasn't got
Rainbows in his tank they can't generate interest, there is no
flow on demand. I'd be suggesting that you 'point the bone' at
the retailers (not meaning to generalise) who mark up your
product above what the market will pay. We tiny scale breeders
are simply supplying a market that the trade have let slip
through their fingers.
>Fish auctions set the market price just as motor auctions and
real >estate auctions set the market price.
Perhaps in QLD they do, but nothing could be further from the
truth down here (ACT). I'd go so far as to say that down here
the auctions have no influence on the market price.
My 'few cents' worth.
Scott Hunt