ChicagoDiscus.com     Golden State Discus

Page 1 of 4 123 ... LastLast
Results 1 to 15 of 46

Thread: Discus.com anyone?

  1. #1
    Registered Member
    Join Date
    May 2012
    Location
    Maple Plain, MN
    Posts
    28

    Default Discus.com anyone?

    Anyone order from Michael at discus.com lately? I did last year and got some stunning wilds from him and am looking to order a few more. I know he seems to have a bad rep and know he doesn’t actually sell his own personal discus and are just discus from other suppliers he gets them from but just wondering what you all think.

  2. #2
    Administrator and MVP Dec.2015 Second Hand Pat's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2010
    Location
    Central Florida
    Posts
    31,726
    Real Name
    Pat

    Default Re: Discus.com anyone?

    Hi Dicsus34, Please read this thread from Kenny of Kenny's discus and judge for yourself http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showth...t-doesn-t-have.
    Pat
    Last edited by Second Hand Pat; 02-20-2019 at 06:27 PM.
    Your discus are talking to you....are you listening


  3. #3
    Registered Member + MVP danotaylor's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2018
    Location
    Aussie living in Cincy
    Posts
    3,219
    Real Name
    Daniel

    Default Re: Discus.com anyone?

    If he knew anything about discus he would not have sold you stunted discus...if he didn't know they were stunted how could you have confidence in anything he would sell? If he did know, he is unscrupulous. Either way it's a big BUYER BEWARE!

  4. #4
    Registered Member samurai.cichlid's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2019
    Location
    North Carolina
    Posts
    20

    Default Re: Discus.com anyone?

    it seems as though they're running a drop shipping business? i.e. customer places order, then owner of discus.com goes to say kenny or whoever, places an order with them with the shipping address to be their customer's address rather than their own. no overheads other than website maintenance and marketing.

    that would explain why--skim reading the other thread--that when people buy the fish, they arrived with the packaging of the ACTUAL initial seller and not any identifying packaging or branding from discus.com itself.

    drop shipping like that is pretty common in ecommerce. i'd be really surprised if people were doing it successfully with live fish, but the more i think about it then i think... why not? when i say "why not" i mean from a business model perspective. the supplier of the fish makes money, the middleman drop shipper makes money, but sadly the customer pays over the odds. so yeah, i'm not condoning it, just very curious about what they're up to lol.

    drop shippers defend their practice by comparing themselves to other middlemen involved in the free market--walmart, target, amazon, whoever. they all make tidy profits. it looks like discus.com curates and collates and then drop ships from a wiiiiiide array of suppliers, they probably do email marketing, advertising, and of course pay for their hosting and domain costs. so, if they wanted to defend making a profit by marking up the fish, that's how they'd do it.

    anyway, just wanted to end on reiterating that i'm not condoning this, but i always try to see a situation from everybody's perspective. the limits of my imagination prevent total understanding lol, but i try to strive for that. with this guy running discus.com, i don't know what his motivations or justifications are, but most of us would do what we could to feed our families and get ahead in life.

  5. #5
    Registered Member ericatdallas's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2010
    Location
    Dayton, OH --- for now...
    Posts
    2,995

    Default Re: Discus.com anyone?

    Quote Originally Posted by Dicsus34 View Post
    Anyone order from Michael at discus.com lately? I did last year and got some stunning wilds from him and am looking to order a few more. I know he seems to have a bad rep and know he doesn’t actually sell his own personal discus and are just discus from other suppliers he gets them from but just wondering what you all think.
    I have no experience but don't have a problem with him reselling fish.. I mean, that's what pet stores do... But yeah, his integrity is in question when he steals pictures and misrepresents them.

    He could have just easily advertised, "We source our fish from reputable sellers, negotiate in quantities with our suppliers to provide you the most quality and affordable discus."

    I remember seeing the FB post by Kenny a while back and checked it out myself. If he's willing to misrepresent this what else is he not telling his customers.

    Not to mention, why not just go to the sources... now that you know?
    Eric

  6. #6
    Registered Member Discluv's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2017
    Posts
    312

    Default Re: Discus.com anyone?

    Quote Originally Posted by danotaylor View Post
    If he knew anything about discus he would not have sold you stunted discus...if he didn't know they were stunted how could you have confidence in anything he would sell? If he did know, he is unscrupulous. Either way it's a big BUYER BEWARE!
    The Op said the discus received were "stunning" not "stunted".

  7. #7
    Registered Member + MVP danotaylor's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2018
    Location
    Aussie living in Cincy
    Posts
    3,219
    Real Name
    Daniel

    Default Re: Discus.com anyone?

    Quote Originally Posted by Discluv View Post
    The Op said the discus received were "stunning" not "stunted".
    Lol, my bad to miss that detail...there has been nothing but negative reviews since I joined the forum...I was reading with conditioned vision...still 1 good out of how many bad reviews...still each buyer to his own, it's a freecountry, well, nothing is free really, is it?

  8. #8
    Administrator jeep's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2002
    Location
    O.P. KS
    Posts
    6,607
    Real Name
    Brian

    Default Re: Discus.com anyone?

    Quote Originally Posted by samurai.cichlid View Post
    it seems as though they're running a drop shipping business? i.e. customer places order, then owner of discus.com goes to say kenny or whoever, places an order with them with the shipping address to be their customer's address rather than their own. no overheads other than website maintenance and marketing.

    that would explain why--skim reading the other thread--that when people buy the fish, they arrived with the packaging of the ACTUAL initial seller and not any identifying packaging or branding from discus.com itself.

    drop shipping like that is pretty common in ecommerce. i'd be really surprised if people were doing it successfully with live fish, but the more i think about it then i think... why not? when i say "why not" i mean from a business model perspective. the supplier of the fish makes money, the middleman drop shipper makes money, but sadly the customer pays over the odds. so yeah, i'm not condoning it, just very curious about what they're up to lol.

    drop shippers defend their practice by comparing themselves to other middlemen involved in the free market--walmart, target, amazon, whoever. they all make tidy profits. it looks like discus.com curates and collates and then drop ships from a wiiiiiide array of suppliers, they probably do email marketing, advertising, and of course pay for their hosting and domain costs. so, if they wanted to defend making a profit by marking up the fish, that's how they'd do it.

    anyway, just wanted to end on reiterating that i'm not condoning this, but i always try to see a situation from everybody's perspective. the limits of my imagination prevent total understanding lol, but i try to strive for that. with this guy running discus.com, i don't know what his motivations or justifications are, but most of us would do what we could to feed our families and get ahead in life.
    There's a huge difference here. When someone drop-ships from Walmart, Target or Amazon, they are purchasing a product that is manufactured to meet a certain criteria and is identical to every other item the advertising represents. You are purchasing exactly what you want to purchase.

    When you drop ship fish, or any other live animal, you see a photo of a basic representation, that can originate in any given location, may or may not be what is advertised, and can quite possibly contain diseases or pathogens that can not only contaminate your existing stock, but there is the potential to be a human health hazard. Pack that on to the fact that someone can say "these fish came from so-and-so" when it is not flat out not true is deceptive, false advertising and a bold faced lie...

    Reputable sellers are proud to disclose their entire operation, not hide it...

  9. #9
    Registered Member warblad79's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2010
    Location
    San Jose, CA
    Posts
    1,879

    Default Re: Discus.com anyone?

    Quote Originally Posted by Dicsus34 View Post
    Anyone order from Michael at discus.com lately? I did last year and got some stunning wilds from him and am looking to order a few more. I know he seems to have a bad rep and know he doesn’t actually sell his own personal discus and are just discus from other suppliers he gets them from but just wondering what you all think.
    It's so wrong in every way and you'll becoming part of the problem every time you buy fish from him because you're supporting his business to grow and expand that's based on lies and deception. So therefore, he would continue to deceive and lie to people because he knows that people don't care even if he hurt other people's business. So think about it

  10. #10
    Registered Member Discluv's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2017
    Posts
    312

    Default Re: Discus.com anyone?

    I have no problem with a business arrangement where a central broker has contracts with various companies to give the customer choice all in one easily accessible space.
    That is a business model that is becoming more and more economically sound as we move from brick and mortar stores to internet buying.

    The problem in this case is that Kenny has no contract with this broker and he is using his photos to sell fish.
    I would think this would be illegal, but those photos appear to be still on this brokers site.
    Why are they still there?

    All I can say is this: if the photos are still there because the broker has been found to have a legal right to use them, it doesn't mitigate the fact that it poses an unethical practice.

    That alone would make me pause to buy from this person.

  11. #11
    Registered Member samurai.cichlid's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2019
    Location
    North Carolina
    Posts
    20

    Default Re: Discus.com anyone?

    Quote Originally Posted by warblad79 View Post
    hurt other people's business
    if he's drop shipping then he's actually helping the people he drop ships from sell fish. he's marking up as a middleman of course, which hurts the buyer, but it's no skin off the initial vendor's nose.

    however, i do 100% agree with everything jeep says about why it's problematic. it's not for me, and it's not a business i'd want to get involved in running because it would leave me feeling greasy as heck.

    getting back to the op's question, do i think anybody on simply discus should order from him? absolutely not, because we have direct access to quality discus vendors.

    but for the uninitiated who just do a google search "where to buy discus online" if they end up on this guy's site, order some fish, and the fish arrive happy and healthy then who are we to judge?

    (of course, that's a big if with a drop shipping business as jeep said)

    when it comes to getting consumers to part with their cash, businesses use all kinds of shady tactics to rip us off. this guy doesn't even register when you look at the practices of some corporations (without wanting to spark anything too political). so while i acknowledge that two wrongs don't make a right, i also feel it's a bit harsh to vilify the guy who runs that site.

    without wanting to sound like a broken record, i'm not defending the guy at all, i'm not saying we should buy from him. i'm just saying sometimes it's hard to get ahead in life, and if that guy's model is putting food on his table and a roof over his head then so be it.

  12. #12
    Registered Member warblad79's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2010
    Location
    San Jose, CA
    Posts
    1,879

    Default Re: Discus.com anyone?

    Quote Originally Posted by samurai.cichlid View Post
    if he's drop shipping then he's actually helping the people he drop ships from sell fish. he's marking up as a middleman of course, which hurts the buyer, but it's no skin off the initial vendor's nose.

    however, i do 100% agree with everything jeep says about why it's problematic. it's not for me, and it's not a business i'd want to get involved in running because it would leave me feeling greasy as heck.

    getting back to the op's question, do i think anybody on simply discus should order from him? absolutely not, because we have direct access to quality discus vendors.

    but for the uninitiated who just do a google search "where to buy discus online" if they end up on this guy's site, order some fish, and the fish arrive happy and healthy then who are we to judge?

    (of course, that's a big if with a drop shipping business as jeep said)

    when it comes to getting consumers to part with their cash, businesses use all kinds of shady tactics to rip us off. this guy doesn't even register when you look at the practices of some corporations (without wanting to spark anything too political). so while i acknowledge that two wrongs don't make a right, i also feel it's a bit harsh to vilify the guy who runs that site.

    without wanting to sound like a broken record, i'm not defending the guy at all, i'm not saying we should buy from him. i'm just saying sometimes it's hard to get ahead in life, and if that guy's model is putting food on his table and a roof over his head then so be it.
    Seriously? He stole pictures from Kenny, Uncle Sam Discus, and Myrtle beach discus. he's not hurting their business?

  13. #13
    Registered Member samurai.cichlid's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2019
    Location
    North Carolina
    Posts
    20

    Default Re: Discus.com anyone?

    Quote Originally Posted by warblad79 View Post
    he's not hurting their business?
    exactly right, yes. he's not hurting their business because he's buying their products and shipping them to his customers.

    a drop shipping business works by offering for sale another vendor's products on a website. they then get sales by running ads to their site, they optimize their site for search engines, work on social media, etc--they do whatever they can to drive traffic to their site.

    then, once they sell a product, they go to the vendor's website and place an order for that product and have it shipped directly to their customer. they make a little profit, and they never see the product they've sold. it's all an exercise in marketing and being an effective webmaster.

    if you have a look at the other thread about this guy, you'll see that people who ordered from him had boxes arrive with names of other vendors on them.

    i do wonder though if he mixes and matches vendors for a particular strain though, in which case you could argue he's impacting business. but even then, not really, because he'd probably only do that in a case where his original vendor was out of stock.

    again, not defending the guy in the slightest, nor am i promoting him, but not because he's damaging anybody's business because i don't believe that he is. my problem is that he's overcharging the buyer.

  14. #14
    Administrator brewmaster15's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2002
    Location
    Northford,CT,USA
    Posts
    26,830

    Default Re: Discus.com anyone?

    I would suggest anyone interested in this Talk to the vendors in question and see if they are being compensated for this in anyway or if they have an agreement with the "dropshipper". Theres an awful lot of speculation going on here about what the relationship of the "dropshipper" is to the import /sellers. Talking to these sellers should clarify the situation.

    Al
    AquaticSuppliers.com Freeze Dried BlackWorms and other foods your Discus will Love!!!


    >>>>>I am a science guy.. show me the science minus the BS

    Al Sabetta
    Simplydiscus LLC Owner
    Aquaticsuppliers.com


    I take Pics.. click here for my Flickr images

  15. #15
    Registered Member warblad79's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2010
    Location
    San Jose, CA
    Posts
    1,879

    Default Re: Discus.com anyone?

    Quote Originally Posted by samurai.cichlid View Post
    exactly right, yes. he's not hurting their business because he's buying their products and shipping them to his customers.

    a drop shipping business works by offering for sale another vendor's products on a website. they then get sales by running ads to their site, they optimize their site for search engines, work on social media, etc--they do whatever they can to drive traffic to their site.

    then, once they sell a product, they go to the vendor's website and place an order for that product and have it shipped directly to their customer. they make a little profit, and they never see the product they've sold. it's all an exercise in marketing and being an effective webmaster.

    if you have a look at the other thread about this guy, you'll see that people who ordered from him had boxes arrive with names of other vendors on them.

    i do wonder though if he mixes and matches vendors for a particular strain though, in which case you could argue he's impacting business. but even then, not really, because he'd probably only do that in a case where his original vendor was out of stock.

    again, not defending the guy in the slightest, nor am i promoting him, but not because he's damaging anybody's business because i don't believe that he is. my problem is that he's overcharging the buyer.
    Wow! Michael Li is getting fish from Gabe Posada of Jack Wattley discus. are you sure you know what you're talking about? Those fish are not directly coming from Kenny or any other vendor. He stole pictures from them but lies about the source. So if you see kenny's pictures and purchase it then you're getting fish from Gabe. So tell me how does he not hurting their business?

Page 1 of 4 123 ... LastLast

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  

Cafepress