[Killietalk] Hobby econonmics; was RE: Recent posts; was RE: shows

["Ken" <ken_combs at sbcglobal.net>]

Ken, everyone:
I really think this topic is important enough to get hashed out...
It may be OFT from fish "per se", but on point and pertinent...
So if the collective souls could hone in different perspectives w/o
frightening the kids, that'd be cool (and BTW kids, I realize it's free
exchange of killifish knowledge you seek, but bear with it)

Just some thoughts, expounding on Curts observations in detail (economy of
words escapes me, so delete if you must)

-seems the same 100-300 people form a core for the hobby...it's almost a Ann
Ryan'ish "Atlantis Shrugged" thing <LOL>...where 10% of the people
contribute 90% of the wealth for 90% of the rest 
-within this 10% "Core"; 1/3 seem to provide the bulk of the commodity for
the rest of us and another (10-20 people) have the resources to bring in
fresh commodity (collectors basically)

What we have then is a somewhat loose but obvious hierarchal network of
people that we can further sub-divide by actual production ability and the
ware-with-all to communicate production knowledge to the masses (people who
make video's DVD's & write articles, et)

1st question then is: what is the cost here and what is the expected return?

And those operands create even more questions with regard to this ever
morphing thread:

-Are we inadvertently mixing in "intangible incentives" (i.e. the mundane
joy of raising fish as a hobby) with the reality of "cost" to distribute
commodity and knowledge on a larger scale? 
-Are we confusing supply with demand? Is $7/pr a real cost to raise a pr of
fish, or is $7-$10 an artificial price driven by perception? Is that number
driven by buyer tolerance (what someone is willing to pay) or is it a number
driven by what the seller is willing to part with a pair of for? From here
it gets "complex"; esp. when considering the supply of N&R fish. Are N&R
fish more difficult to produce or is the supply & price driven by breeders
trying to recoup acquisition cost?  

Knowledge transfer has similar open questions, and is key...for w/o
knowledge to produce killies; we are ever relegated to the "chosen few"
skilled breeders (basically for lack of a commercial "mass production"
resource)

-is it that only a few people have the ability to write & produce mass media
or absorb the cost to do so?

-Is the ability for the rest of us to breed & distribute killifish a
function of the economics & availability of killie related media? 

Currently one can't as easily walk into a LFS and pick up a killifish book
as easily as a cichlid book. Granted this is a function of hobbyist numbers
and demand, but IMO currently comprehensive killie related data is somewhat
expensive and our two main "open sources" (KT & forums) are underutilized or
difficult to data mine. 

...seems to be a somewhat younger crowd in the cichlid circles, makes one
wonder what the "hook" or entry point actually is into that segment; So are
goldfish eating Oscars really that much "cooler" than a killifish?

The thing is that while we can question each others dedication & sacrifice
to the hobby, the reality is there are a cost and therefore an "Economy" to
this thing we can't work around. Nor can we easily navigate around the lack
of a "wholesaler" to obtain killifish...the taboo subject of the N&R is a
case in point: like all programs meant for the masses, a governing body
tries to fund it to stimulate production/distribution, but we currently have
no structured means to absorb production & distribution cost equitably. If
we attempt to remove the economics of it, fish distribution starts
defaulting to the "friend & family" network as opposed to the open market.
OTOH; if we slide too far towards the economic end; fish end up clustered
around "deep pockets" and not necessarily towards the "breeders".

...more open questions:
-Are N&R fish are an "absolute" in terms of a real value add or critical
component to this hobby?...(I sincerely don't know)
-Do shows really facilitate in the equitable distribution of fish, if so, at
what volume? 

KC
Msg below kept for context

-----Original Message-----
From: killietalk-bounces at aka_org [mailto:killietalk-bounces at aka_org] On
Behalf Of Ken Simolo
Sent: Monday, September 25, 2006 3:59 PM
To: killifish discussion list
Subject: [Killietalk] Recent posts

Unfortunately, we have had network problems at work since Friday so 
only about 1 out of a 100 messages was getting through and internet 
access was not working.  When they fixed the problem, I was surprised 
to see the large number of KillieTalk posts.

Some posts are getting rather heated.  I would appreciate people 
cooling down and keeping AKA policy, etc. posts on the forums as much 
as possible and keeping KillieTalk more fish related.

Thanks,

Ken
KillieTalk Administrator
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