LFS pricing!

[doctawife]

Well, this is probably going to be an old complaint, but I'm gonna whine about it anyway!

I live in Houston, TX and I drove around yesterday afternoon checking ou locally owned fish stores, and then going to Petsmart to comparison shop. I found that some of the equipment at the LFS was 150% (!) as expensive as the same stuff at Petsmart. I would love to support local shops, but I cannot afford the price difference. Of course, the fish are much much better at my locally owned store and I wouldn't touch the plants from Petsmart if you paid me!

I guess I'm just trapped in the same vicious cycle as everyone else, and every other small business.

Ugh.

-Mary

PS Does anyone know any good locally owned fish stores around Houston? I go to Village Tropical all the time for plants and fish, but I buy my hardware from Petsmart. Anyone know any other good spots?

 

[420Loach]

Ugh. i know how you feel. the prices of equipment at an lfs is insane, but the fish are great. yet the fish at Walmart or Pet Disc. are either sick or insanely expensive, but the equipment is priced rather decently.

i dont get it, but i go with what i can afford so i do my shopping at both. fish at the lfs and equipment at Walmart/Pet Disc.

 

[Cankywanky]

we dont even have a petsmart or any chain pet store for that matter. all we have is this family owned business and there prices are throught the roof.

 

[doctawife]

Yikes! Where are you? I hope the internet makes the pain a little easier to bear. Unless, of course, you are like me and 1) hate to wait and 2) hate to pay shipping. Somehow, especially with tank equipment, shipping seems to negate the savings of ebay in particular, and the internet in general.

-Mary

 

[Cankywanky]

most of the time i wait until we go to grande prairie and then i shop at petsmart. only if im in desperate need of something will i go to our local pet store. i always buy my fish at our pet store because they take real good care of their tanks.

 

[Lotus]

Bigalsonline seems to have good prices. If you order things like filters it seems to still work out less than LFS/chain store, even when you include shipping. I think the problem with eBay/Aquabid is that you only order one thing at a time. At some point we will do a big order with Big Al's, I think... get a ton of food, chemicals, supplies, filters etc.

We don't really have an LFS. There are chains, and a couple of LPS that don't have a lot. The nearest LFS is a 45 minute drive away

 

[catfishmike]

yea some lfs' prices are astronomical!i used to work for a lfs and the mark up was triple.while others are only a few dollars over a pet chain store.in the end is you have to shop where you can afford or choose to afford the cost.i love to support my lfs but there is no way i am going to pay triple the mark up on something when i can order it online.

 

[Lou]

I'll pay more...in other thread I said so about my new filter system...but think about it, I could pick their very intelligent brains about how to set up a reverse UGF, and so then I'm going to walk out and save a few bucks at some pet warehouse? No way. If you want those nice fishies and good advice you better at least buy some equipment from them because that is where they can get some profit to keep the lights on. That's how I show support, of course I do buy stuff from bigAls, but that is mostly stuff the LFS doesn't stock.

 

[doctawife]

I do pay for stuff at the LFS. So far, the stuff that I've bought elsewhere has been stuff I've researched here or elsewhere on the 'net and then just bought. The stuff that I've asked about (fish compatibility, plants) I've bought at the LFS. Unfortunately, that is all small ticket stuff. Things that cost more than $10 per item, I've pretty much only bought at chain stores. Then again, they aren't living things.

Trade off? I think so!

-Mary

 

[lightning]

hey i live in houtson too !
i have 3 LFS and a petsmart and petco within 5 miles of my house, the LFS are ok, but sometimes they are bad, i dont know if the owners take weeks off and let the inexperienced help take over or what, its kinda hit or miss deal fortuanlty i am stocked up and dont buy any fish these days, only feeders and live brine, so that keeps me in the stores looking though, i just had a large order from drfosters and smith, they have great prices on food, 1/2 price of what they charge at petsmart, their plastic plants are decently priced as well

 

[wayne]

But what's the markup, profitability of fish - pretty awful. LFS's have to make money somewhere. For sure it's hard for them to explain big markups on hardware, but people (including people who use this site) are determined to pay as little for fish as possible. How much are you prepared to pay for quality and service? Do you want to do everything on the internet - it's possible

 

[AndyL]

Being somewhat on the buisness end of the hobby, I've seen the challenges the LPS's face when competing with the chains, and stores like walmart etc.

Just to give you an example, my COST (wholesale price) for 5g Minibows, is actually higher than walmarts "every day low price". How is a small buisness supposed to compete against that?

I make my money by offering products and services that the LPS/Chains won't or can't offer. Just as an example, the LPS offers Angels at 4.99, I sell depending on the strain, from 15 to 45$. The quality is incomparable, their fish are typical farmed fish - low to 'mid' grade. There are few 'good' fish in their tanks. My fish could all be considered future breeders.

I'm sure I'll soon be on poor terms with the LPS - Until now they've been the 'source' of much of my buisness (through referals). But I'm sure they've started to notice how much buisness they're loosing...

Andy

 

[Lou]

Well there you go...they get it from both ends, from big box stores that are cheap on equipment and from breeders who offer products that they can't get/afford to get. When I see a good store I don't want to fold--not the LFS that gives out bad advice, and has dying fish--I make an effort to buy from them.

But I suppose I try to work against the WalMart in town too by buying from downtown stores if possible. They opened a super store deal--to put our local grocery store out of business (actually we used to have a downtown grocery store that folded when that behemoth came in)--and it was over a year before I stepped inside the new WalMart. That was pretty good. Ok rant over...

 

[AndyL]

LOL - trust me its not that they can't get the quality fish. I know my 2 LPS's owners, I've supplied fish to both of them - They don't want the good fish! One of them, when I was breeding cories, actually tried to get me to sell them what I considered culls (malformed, short gill plates etc). I think they wan't the lower quality fish, not only for the low price, but because they aren't going to have a full life. Thus there's repeat buisness.

BTW - I'm closer to a LPS than a breeder - of the 2000 odd fish under my care right now, less than 10% were bred by myself - and most home-breds are destined to be food. I figure one of these days I'll loose my mind and open a LFS

Andy

 

[Lotus]

We have a guy here who has what I think is a concession in one of the Pet Luvs we have here. He has fish in the store, but also runs a business leasing SW tanks, fully stocked and fully fed/maintained. He seems to be doing a lot more business leasing tanks than selling fish.

But it's always the case that the chains put the small retailers out of business. It's pretty sad

I wish we had a decent LFS to support, instead of chains and a few LPS.

 

[catfishmike]

it's all fine and good to support your lfs and spend a few bucks to help a local buissnessman out.but to what end?i i had only bought my supplys localy i would have a bunch of subpar equipment that i paid way too much for.all the lfs in my area sell about the exact same things and they offer no selection as far as brands and models,most of the items on the shelves of my lfs look like the products of ten years ago.sorry but lack of selection,high price,lack of high quality equipment means lack of sale.period.i can't justify spending my hard earned money on ignorance.if i can get a better product at a better price i owe it to myself and my fish to get the better stuff.i mean suppose you went to the lfs and spent 100 dollars and got a tetratec500,later on you see an emperor 400 for half the cost.your gonna kick yourself in the rear for getting a tetratec because of the cost alone.on top of that you'll feel cheated,and dissatisfied,with the lfs for ripping you off on that crappy filter that they sold you.

 

[ecotank]

I think some of the LFS' get caught buying from thier supply people who don't give them a very good deal. I was talking to the guy that runs the fish/maintance deal at PetLuv and when I told him what I could get a Hot Magnum for from BigAls he flipped cause it was less than he gets from his dealer.

He's selling it for cheaper than the chains, but could make more profit buying from BigAls than his dealer.

Sure I wanna support any LFS that is good, but not if the price isn't competitive or I don't get a tax write-off for donating to charity!

 

[allthingsanimal]

I think we all need to support our lfs. If it wasn't for them most of us would not be in this hobby (lifestyle). If you are not happy with the selection at your lfs ask to talk to the owner/manager. Most managers will be willing to take suggestions pertaining to their inventory. Most managers will accept anything that will help sales. But I do agree they are overpriced on most things. And for big als selling for less than lfs's pay from their distrubitor that is because of the high volume of sales that big als makes. The more you sell the less you have to pay. bottom line.

 

[allthingsanimal]

And I do shop from big als. But only for products that are not avaliable in my area. The only thing I have purchased is a Via-Aqua filter. by the way that is one of the best filters I have ever used.

 

[SoulFish]

I used to buy online from bigals, but now i just get everything used from places, filters and tanks for sale for <5 at garage sales all the time, you just have to be looking, about LFS prices I can understand why they mark them up, they dont have the advantages of a large chain store but all my business goes to my LFS, i dont mind paying the higher price on things, except for test kits as those are priced ridiculously high in the LFS i still buy those online