Anyone else hitting the spring club auction this weekend? Ours is doing the usual 10am bag check, bidding starts at noon. Club takes 20%, which honestly beats the 30% the club two hours north charges.
Vendor list went up last night and it's rough. 14 sellers. Last year we had 30+. Two of the big breeders that always show up dropped out, and one of them flat out said he's done with auctions and just doing online sales now because he's tired of bagging 200 fish to walk away with $60.
That's the part I don't get. Yeah you'll move way more volume on Aquabid, but you can't inspect anything. I picked up a pair of koi bettas at last spring's auction, sat there and watched them swim for 20 minutes before I bid. Try doing that from a photo. Half my current stocking came from people I met at these things, not from a shipping box.
So is this a local problem or are club auctions just dying everywhere? If your club is still pulling big numbers, what are you doing differently? Curious about the cut too, because I've heard some clubs run 10% and I want to know how they keep the lights on.