Re: [Killietalk] Box sales

["RW Pierce" <rwpierce at att_net>]

I have encountered 2 types of box sale formats:

At the AKA convention, you price your fish as you want and drop them off in
the box sale room.  When the sale starts, people are let in by a number
assigned by the order in which they registered for the convention.  This
encourages and rewards people for registering early, which helps the hosting
club with their plans.  The first time through the room you get to buy one
pair of fish.  The second time through you get to buy 2 pairs of fish.
After the 3rd time you get to buy as many as you like.  The hosting club
takes a percentage cut, and does all the paperwork.  They also pay the
sellers in cash before the auction.  This is typically where the hosting
club makes their money and any profit. Fish which don't sell may be taken
back by the seller or donated to the auction.

The AKA auction typically includes all the fish in the show, plus any "new &
rare" fish that the AKA brings in for the convention.  At the AKA show all
fish entered in the show are donated to the AKA for the auction.  It is a
measure of the committment of AKA members to the hobby that generally
hundreds of pairs of fish are entered in the show knowing that these are
donations to the AKA.  I am unsure if the host club gets a percentage of the
auction or if the AKA keeps all the money, as this is the primary revenue
stream for the AKA.

At smaller conventions, like the Northeast Weekend put on by UNYKA each
fall, sellers place their fish on their table in the room where the speakers
also speak.  The seller is totally responsible for their fish and is usually
around to talk with prospective buyers.  Buying and selling usually goes on
before and in between talks.  Most of the selling is done by lunch time.  I
like this format because I get to talk to the people buying my fish, and get
to talk to the people whose fish I buy.  The only difficulty is that I also
want to look at other sellers fish, but the room is small enough that I can
keep an eye on my fish while talking to another seller.  Another advantage
is that you may have a chance to purchase fish that the seller deems too
valuable to risk in an auction.  UNYKA has always asked for $1 for each bag
sold, and this is on the honor system.  Since I an usually selling bags of
fish for $10 and higher, this is quite a reasonable request.  If bags don't
sell I can put them in the auction or bring them home.  UNYKA has done this
for several years and I don't believe that it affects the auction.  Some
people come to the convention only on Saturday for the talks and buy and
sell in the box sale.  Others only come on Sunday to buy and sell in the
auction.  As I mentioned in my earlier message, earnings in the box sale are
often spent in the auction, allowing me to spend more on a pair of fish than
I might normally be comfortable with.

I have seen people leave their fish unattended, even with a box in which to
place your money for the fish.  But this is a small convention, and most
people know each other.  I prefer to have the opportunity to speak with
people about the fish.

And, of course, friends who are there on Friday night may get a preview of
the fish and first choice before the sale actually starts, thus we are back
to the advantages of networking!

Rich Pierce
N. Attleboro, MA

-----Original Message-----
From: killietalk-bounces at aka_org [mailto:killietalk-bounces at aka_org]On
Behalf Of Michael Gray
Sent: Sunday, March 29, 2009 9:16 AM
To: killifish discussion list
Subject: Re: [Killietalk] Box sales


This discussion is very interesting for at least one of us who does not
reside on the same continent, and at the same time heart breaking, thinking
of what we don't have here. And I can't go and say that the shoe is on the
other foot when it comes to rainbows and blue eyes, since Europe and the
Americas often have better access than us to PNG stuff. -Grr-
Even tho it won't change anything, could someone indulge me and explain the
difference between the 'AKA convention fish sales room' and a 'box sale'? I
had imagined that they were the same type of format, just with slightly
different pricing structures or something.

Thanks,

Michael
Sydney, Australia
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