| Fast Aquatics | Reef2Reef classifieds | |
|---|---|---|
| Cost to buy | Item price + shipping | Item price + shipping (no fees to buyer) |
| Cost to sell | 7-12% platform fee + monthly tier | $0 (free forum classified) |
| Payment method | Multi-payee PayPal (atomic split) | PayPal G&S (Goods & Services) |
| DOA arbitration | Carrier + weather + photos | None - direct seller-buyer |
| Buyer protection | Platform-funded | PayPal G&S only ($1,000 cap on disputes) |
| Vendor reputation | Public Trust Score 0-100, daily-updated | Forum post count + private feedback thread |
| Reputation portability | Yes - shows on every listing across the platform | No - locked to forum context |
| State legality enforcement | 52-rule database at checkout | Buyer + seller responsible |
| Tax handling (state sales tax) | Vendor-side handled per nexus | Buyer / seller informal |
| Refund options on DOA | Cash, store credit, replacement | Whatever buyer + seller agree on |
| Inventory size | 50-state vendor network | Active forum traders (~hundreds) |
| Forum community | Hosted comments + reviews per listing | 20+ years of community history |
| Best for | $50+ orders, unknown sellers, named cultivars | Small trades, forum-known sellers, frag swaps |
Reef2Reef has been the saltwater hobby's social hub since 2007. The classifieds section runs on community trust: buyers know who has 5,000 posts and a clean feedback thread. For a frag of zoanthids from a username you've followed for 3 years, Reef2Reef is the right channel. There's no platform fee, no friction, and the forum context gives both parties social pressure to behave. Frag swap meets, local pickup arrangements, and reef club trades all happen there.
Reef2Reef post count tells you someone has been on the forum, not that they pack well, ship on time, or honor DOA. Our Trust Score is calculated from real DOA performance, ship speed, claim response time, and customer satisfaction across actual orders - and it's updated every 24 hours. New buyers get the same protection as forum veterans because the algorithm doesn't care about your forum tenure.
PayPal G&S buyer protection caps at $1,000 per dispute and the resolution is binary (full refund vs no refund). On a $400 hammer coral that bleaches mid-flight due to FedEx mishandling, PayPal will side with one party and the loser eats the loss. Fast Aquatics' DOA arbitration uses carrier tracking + weather data + photo evidence, and approved partial-loss claims pay proportional refunds (a $400 colony with 2 of 5 heads dead can refund 40%, not all-or-nothing).
Reef2Reef classifieds vanish from the feed after 30 days. Photos, agreements, and resolution discussions live across DMs. Fast Aquatics keeps every order, every claim, every photo, every email in your account history forever. If a vendor's vendor-of-the-year piece dies 6 months later, you can prove what was promised.
Most aquarium hobbyists don't know that piranha is illegal to ship to 38 US states, that snakeheads are federally banned (Lacey Act), and that Hawaii requires permits for most non-native saltwater species. Reef2Reef sellers occasionally ship illegal species across state lines without checking - and federal agents have prosecuted these cases. Fast Aquatics enforces 52 species-by-state rules at checkout; the order can't complete if it would violate state law.
Reef2Reef classifieds reach Reef2Reef users. Fast Aquatics reaches anyone searching Google for that species, anyone asking ChatGPT about that cultivar, anyone in 327 metro markets where we have local SEO. Mirror your Reef2Reef listings on Fast Aquatics and you keep the forum community while compounding our SEO + AI search reach.
Most active buyers and sellers do. Reef2Reef remains the community + frag-swap layer. Fast Aquatics is the commercial layer with arbitration. Vendors who post on both report Fast Aquatics handles 80% of order volume + ~95% of order value once their Trust Score crosses 75; Reef2Reef remains for community presence, smaller trades, and members-only drops.
Vendors paste their R2R profile during onboarding; Trust Score gives tenure credit so you don't start at 0.