EcoReefGuy;1006042 wrote: If this has felt like drama I do apologize. So I will leave this as my final thought.
The 10% was the reason I was interested in joining ( selfish I know) . But even if I had been a member none of the stores I went to it called would even honor the 10% on any items I asked about... Well one did but item was marked at 199.99 instead of 99.99. Even with livestock, I asked if I ordered something would a discount be applied if I were a member. Some said yes, but when they quoted the livestock was extremely high in price compare to places that would not discount on items being ordered. So the 10% is really hit or miss it seems. This hold true for many items live or dry. I'm not sure what meeting you are referring to about, but I'm guessing there a fee to enter for non member which is perfectly understandable there is. This is the first time I have heard of a large annual meeting. My purchaed so far from members have been very nice, I have had no complaints on them or their professionalism in shipping. Paying for something and not attending might not be for me though. I will try my best to make at least one meeting to try to talk to members , it's much more personal that way and the reasoning may sound much better vs text on a screen. I think rdnesldom said donations are made which ties in with the fact that this is non profit. As a member are you allow to see where funds are allocated? If so I would definitely sign up if a large portion is towards conservation. Would I be less of a trouble maker if I asked these questions as a member? Or does it feel like that because I'm asking very selfishly? Again im sorry if I'm coming off as drama, I'm honestly trying to validate things. For those that will meet me at later time, I will admit that my personality can be odd, regardless if it's 30
Or 300, I will sometimes over analyze
Need to shop around. I used to believe that local prices were always highly inflated over online prices. Turns out it's not always the case. As an example, on BF I went out looking to pick up a couple of fish. Both of the stores I went to are, IMO, the top 2 in Atlanta. This isn't meant to disparage any other stores and I haven't been to every single one. One store was $5 more than the same fish on line through LA but it was an inexpensive fish. $25 and then a 15% discount I think. The next store was a fairy wrasse. $70 at the store. Same 15% BF discount. Got home and looked up on LA, same $70 price.
I'm to the point that I don't even always ask for my ARC discount. I appreciate the sponsors that I frequent enough that unless my wife is with me or the discount would save me decent $, say $10 or more, it's not really worth it to me. That being said, I generally make my membership $ back in just 1 or 2 group buys. Or when someone like Jeff orders a bulk order of filter socks and sells the extra for cheap.
Sure, some dry goods are less on amazon but when I look at things like even flake and pellet food the price difference is a few $. Other things, like an MP40, I could have gotten from BRS and not paid sales tax. I like having a local place that I can buy something like an MP40 in an emergency though.
The main reason I joined originally was the help and assistance I received on the site and when I found out that the ARC typically donates a sizable sum to a worthy cause every year or two. This past year's donation was awesome and the donation to the Coral Restoration Foundation was extremely worthy too.
If you really want to get down to selfish reason? I honestly think more people take you seriously as a member. Not saying that that's a fact or that it's right or wrong. Just my opinion.
And, FWIW, when I first started I got multiple corals from members for free because I was starting out. I still have two of them in my tank even!
Ramble over lol!
