Last week the Trop had cleaner shrimp on sale for $19.99 each, and on there SP list they were $12 but only aloud one at that $
Last week the Trop had cleaner shrimp on sale for $19.99 each, and on there SP list they were $12 but only aloud one at that $
I agree with Bryan, the airlines have gone NUTS on shipping costs. In addition to that, BOX charges kill me.
One recent order I was able to get a particular for fish for $4.13 each, but had to add in the box/cold pack charges that were $73, and the actual shipping from the airline was $113. So for my order that was $600 of actual stock, I had to add $186 in COST, which for that order worked out to almost $4 per FISH! So that fish that was $4.13 on the list actually cost me $8.13, and we sold them for $14.99..... Not a huge margin there huh?
Now take into account a MINIMUM of 10% mortality on livestock purchases, and we are lucky to even break even sometimes.
We also use a Short Supply chain wholesaler, which SHOULD cost less, but it doesn't... it costs MORE per fish, because they are better cared for, we hope, along the chain of custody.
I agree fish and inverts are higher then they have ever been, but most of that has to do with actually getting the stuff in the shop, not the livestock itself.
POSEIDON - I can imagine costs are reflective everywhere. The LFS is surely not becoming Millionaire's.
One funny thing to ponder- 50 medium shrimp are on sale at Meijer's for $4.99 a bag right now. 50 cleaner shrimp in Marine aquariums would cost you roughly $1250.00 if you bought them individually. Pro's /Con's - they both eat crap off the ocean floor, both live similar lives, but wait..... 1 of these has a red stripe on its back, OK... that's where the extra $1245.01 comes into play. makes sense......haha... LOL
LOL! Ya, I get that too. :D I am pretty sure the harvest methods are a little different for those two though.
I hope you didn't find my post defensive, that is not the intention, rather I wanted to provide an example is all.
we were just talking about this in the chatbox the other night.. I see a few shops that frag their own and still charge quite a high price for the frags.. This is the part I don't understand.
I don't take offense to any postings. I just hope someone doesn't turn my thread into a political bashing (Because of President .....thats why fish cost so much...blah blah blah).
Everything I have said in this thread I say with a smile on my face and with a serious/ joking tone. I am still going to buy my $25 bottle of Copepods (which is really worth about $2). Copepods to the Ocean, is equivalent to Mosquito's in Michigan, and we pay top dollar for them, other places people could care less, and there a nuisance . haha
I try to order stuff when i can get a few things at the same time of course. My LFS is pretty cool (changed hands recently though ) I buy things there and support them because they are often flexable with stuff for a reg. customer. Sometimes though i can get some items shipped for cheaper than their prices and we dont have alot of choices up here.
On the other hand he charges top dollar for fish but add shipping to some cheaper ones online and it comes out even. Here i can see the fish first at least.
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There you're dealing with the cost of growing the frags...running a salwtater tank isn't cheap as you already know. To farm corals costs money in electricity, supplies (salt/water/saws/plugs/etc), and labor. And at the end of the day, they have to make a little money too or else it isn't worth it to be in business.I see a few shops that frag their own and still charge quite a high price for the frags.. This is the part I don't understand.
Oh I absolutely agree, especially when you've got a small number of things or a slow grower... It's a little different when you've got 40 frags of something that's a fast grower and are still asking top dollar, I just find it a little silly. But whatever, they need to make their profits to stay in business, and I can simply choose to not buy a specific item, wait for a sale, whatever.
The airlines may have something to do with it but so does the fact that exporters can read too. They know that things like chalice corals, blasto's and scolymia are how items. You know they had to up prices based on the market for these items.
anacroporamademepoora
--Lifetime member of the "No Mud Club".: