I'd like HELP from a knowing reefer please! - Page 3

JennM · 07-08-2007, 09:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Reef-Keeper

No, they mark up 125% of the actual cost. so a $100 coral to them would be $225 for us (unless you were me and got them at cost), but they stopped selling SW so i dont get those deals anymore.

I think you missed my point

The wholesale cost of the creature, and the *actual* cost are very different.

The wholesale cost is but a *fraction* of what the true cost to the store is.

That $100 coral came with an extra $4 worth of air freight, an extra $1 in box charges, $X worth of water $x worth of salt, $x worth of electricity to tank and feed it.... $x of wages to care for it...

The *actual* cost of the creature is much more than you realize.

It's not like a bag of salt on a shelf. That just takes up space and a body to put it on the shelf. Livestock takes a lot more $$.

Jenn

Tasher80 · 07-08-2007, 09:50 PM

Jenn,
From what you are saying, me bringing in my corals to the LFS I am actually saving them money then. They don't have to pay shipping, taxes, or anything else. I know for a fact everything I brought them would sell rather quickly since I used to visit often.

Junkzoo · 07-08-2007, 10:18 PM

FWIW, I can vouch for Tony's dealings with said LFS.
I also have taken stuff i had (fragged/got too big etc.) to shops in the area, for shop credit. A lot of times these shops will ask me if /when i will be bringing more stuff in, since they move it quickly.
Since i used to be on the same side of the LFS counter you are on Jenn, I agree 110% in what you are saying about "true" costs of livestock.
Utilities and other costs in keeping livestock healthy til it is sold add a good deal to the cost of even the smallest of sales.

I still to this day "foster raise" a Hippo Tang or two , get them from my ex-partner as teeny fish, care for them and in a few years take them back , and start over again. I get to have the fish, keep them fat n sassy,grow em up a bit, and return them for two lil ones so my buddy can sell "tank -raised" (so to speak) larger Hippos to customers that will prob have lots better luck keeping these than getting one that size a week after the airplane box.

I've dealt w/ airlines messing up shipments, taken home soggy boxes of livestock, hoping most will survive, and even have Customs hold a shipment til they decided all is well.

. I was in the trade back when LR was legal to collect (that's a long time ago ,LOL)
I miss it , to a point, but don't envy a lot of shop owners now, having to deal with all the crud they might have to deal with.I'm on great terms w/ all the shops that were in business when i was burning the candle at both ends, even today. A lot has changed, but alot have also stayed the same.

Like you said, imagine the lessened costs of opening your doors , when all you had to sell has drygoods. No special lights/temps/care n feeding of the livestock.

When we opened the first shop, my partner told me he was gonna grab a chair after he locked the doors for the evening, pop a beer,and just sit and watch the stuff in the tanks for a while.(That was close to 18-20 yrs ago, He ain't done it yet! )

JennM · 07-09-2007, 03:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tasher80

Jenn,
From what you are saying, me bringing in my corals to the LFS I am actually saving them money then. They don't have to pay shipping, taxes, or anything else. I know for a fact everything I brought them would sell rather quickly since I used to visit often.

Perhaps. There's no tax on wholesale...

For myself - I usually give ~$10-15 for something that would have a wholesale sticker price of $8. It's not an exact science - and I'm more apt to give a bit more for something that I think will flip more quickly, than something I'm going to be stuck with. And all that is an individual thing, at the discretion of the store trading in.

Jenn

JennM · 07-09-2007, 03:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Junkzoo

When we opened the first shop, my partner told me he was gonna grab a chair after he locked the doors for the evening, pop a beer,and just sit and watch the stuff in the tanks for a while.(That was close to 18-20 yrs ago, He ain't done it yet! )

I have!!!! I've got a couple of nice comfy couches in the shop.

Jenn

Hop · 07-09-2007, 04:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JennM

I have!!!! I've got a couple of nice comfy couches in the shop.

Jenn

Are you hiring

Orient Master · 07-09-2007, 04:25 AM

My LFS has people bring in lots of different things. I've seen one guy bring in a Mantis shrimp in asking what it was because it was a hitchhicker on some rock that he had bought from another store and it took him about 3 days to catch this thing. he left the store empty handed. just gave it to the LFS. dont know if he got money for it just know the mantis shrimp is in a little nano tank on display. not for sale just display. I have been told they will take back Damsels but wont buy them back. just take them back. They would rather take the fish back instead of the fish being killed or flushed.

They told me they rent Damsels out to help people cycle their tanks and when the tank is up and running they get the damsels back. they have two full grown damsels hitting around two inches big. in their rock tanks. they have one big tank seperated by plexiglass sheets. one compartment has a domnio, and the other has a really dark blue damsel. i wish i could have the blue one. just if it want so mean. he looks great though.

JennM · 07-09-2007, 04:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hop

Are you hiring

LOL nope!

And "we" don't sit on the couch when we should be working - that's deadly!

Jenn

Hop · 07-09-2007, 04:35 AM

Darn... so close to my dream job, minus the six figure income

JennM · 07-09-2007, 04:38 AM

MINUS is the key word when referring to LFS "income"

Jenn

talon4x4 · 07-09-2007, 09:03 AM

The few times I've traded fish in at the LFS I've always called first to make sure the SW manager was in and to let them know what I have. This way I don't make a wasted trip to find they don't want it or the manager isn't in. This place always gives you 50%, store credit, of what they are selling it for.

Gilraen Took · 07-10-2007, 06:02 PM

Quote:

I don't sell Oscars or Pacu (I know these are freshwater examples) - and I've had people dump emaciated Mandarin Dragonets (which I don't stock), they've brought in dying Goniopora (which I don't stock)... hoping I can "save" them, or hoping for some store credit for something that's half dead that I might be able to resurrect.

Ah, but my stuff was in good health, that's the key

Aaaannnnnndddd to add to it, Monty was supposedly showing Ben the other day what I'd taken in. He showed him a couple of frags, nothing more. I went in today to see(he said on the phone yesterday that Monty had shown him where he put my stuff) what they'd found and he was musing aloud to himself about where Monty'd put the frags. So I asked about the 15# of LR, or the 4 LPS or the couple colonies of zoas. He hadn't the foggiest. I figure I'll save the "I paid over $300 for all of this" bit until Monty once again says that he doesn't know. I also told him that the ONLY piece that was doing poorly was the fox. Which is the truth. So I guess I'll see where it goes from here. Yet again.

JennM · 07-10-2007, 07:11 PM

Kinda makes you wonder if somebody brought all that stuff home with them

Jenn

Gilraen Took · 07-10-2007, 09:33 PM

Kinda my thought in the first place. That or he just sold it to whoever made an offer and is not wanting to say that to Ben for fear of Ben reporting it to the boss and him getting into massive troubles for it. . .

hng · 07-10-2007, 09:54 PM

Sounds like you should take it up with the owner. Sometimes a polite conversation with the big guy voicing your problem is all it takes to resolve the issue. You have given the other guys plenty of time to fix the problem or to come up with a compromise.