Hubbynz Posted February 17, 2009 Share Posted February 17, 2009 Just a quick question if I was to look to supply some fish to a LFS what price would I expect if they were to sell the fish for say $20? I know alot of shops might only do store credit but I just want to get a gage of figures to see if it is more economic to sell direct or through a LFS. I don't see the point exchanging fish for low credit to exchange for goods that they already have a massive market up on. For example I exchange $20 fish for $5 each for $100 of credit which I use to by somethng for $100 which may of only of cost them say $40. Then they proced to sell the fish for $20 giving them a massive profit margin. I will probably look to sell most fish privately anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kilroy Posted February 17, 2009 Share Posted February 17, 2009 Not wanting to get into the whole LFS argument, but I think you will find that your LFS has quite significant running costs. eg staff, electricity, rent, water, insurance and all the rest of the hidden extras along the way. They also have to cop any losses of livestock along the way. So if you are selling them a fish for $5 and they are selling it for $20, they aren't making $15 profit. I've heard that they double what they pay for fish and then double that again, which sounds about right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josh Posted February 17, 2009 Share Posted February 17, 2009 Many fish stores also mark their fish up different ways. A fish that sells well may cost them $3 and they sell for $20, but a fish that is a bit off an oddity or something they keep because its interesting might cost them $12 and they sell it for $20. Ask around your LFS's and see what they do. Josh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishmick Posted February 17, 2009 Share Posted February 17, 2009 Different shops sell the same fish for different amounts also depending on availability and needs by customers, some fish popular in say Parramatta might not be as popular in say Manly and they price accordingly. What fish do you have to sell? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SydneyMike Posted February 17, 2009 Share Posted February 17, 2009 Bottom line is that you should expect to sell your fish to someone else for more than the LFS will pay you for it, but less than they would sell it for. But it all depends. Give all your fish to the LFS at once, big plus, no selling in dribs and drabs. Talk of why fish prices vary is hard to pin down. Basically, it's an extremely inefficient market, so prices don't get smoothed out. I whinged about this once before, one shop sells 'common' fish, that is ones that are popular and readily available and cheap, for more than new fish that were still sought after and relatively pricey, while other shops in the area is the reverse. People told me that prices are dictated by demand and not hobbyists determinations of worth. No, the shop's customers don't know enough info to go to the better price, and probably neither did the staff. So do shop around LFSs when you're looking at how they price, as has been suggested. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
petshopdude Posted February 17, 2009 Share Posted February 17, 2009 you also have to remember that LFS can get pretty much what ever you will be able supply from a wholesaler, so they are not going to pay more then what they can get from a wholesaler, if you get really good a breeding fish you can also sell to wholesalers, however you will get less money again. if you have a good LFS they will not be trying to rip you off, they will genrally value you as a customer more becasue of the fish you supply them with, and thats when negoitions on stock can become easy. also remember it is a hobby for most people but for the shop owners it puts bread on the table Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chorrylan Posted February 17, 2009 Share Posted February 17, 2009 for bread and butter species I generally expect an LFS to mark up by a multiple of 3 or 4 times what I charge them or in the original example a fish on the shelf at $20 I would sell to them for $5. Specialty (aka more expensive) items like L-number catties tend to get marked up to 2 or 2.5 times their buy price otherwise they end up as too expensive for most LFS clientelle. Tropheus tend to sit somewhere between. If I was getting store credit I'd expect more or I'd expect significant discounts on anything I purchased. In practice though unless I have something specific I want then and there as part of the trade I'd expect money rather than store-credit and have never had an LFS object. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CThompson Posted February 17, 2009 Share Posted February 17, 2009 I agree with Laurie, to simplify; The old rule of thumb is, cash - 1/3 retail price stock - 1/2 retail price There is give and take as a relationship is formed between breeder and shop, however, many...more and more shops don't give a breeder a fair go as there are plenty of to undermine the above generalisation. Bottom line, the shops got to stay open , but equally a fair deal has to be paid to the breeder. By breeder I'm referring to individuals who maintain a species in the country (remembering that many are illegal imports), not necessarily a hobbyist who breeds low or spasmodic numbers. And many legally imported fish have significant on-costs such as shipping (airfreight) quarantine and losses due to both of these. It is due to the position of decision/power that shops are in, they can artificially lower prices to the point that bread and butter fish today, tomorrow people ask , “what ever happened to…there used to be thousands…” as consistent breeders stop supporting the species as the prices to shops drop to low. While I can fully understand why a shop wishes to pay as little as possible, I am a hobbyist first and I want to see the species available today to be available tomorrow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YAL05T Posted February 19, 2009 Share Posted February 19, 2009 My lfs pays me the same as he gets them from the wholesalers, he figures fish bred in local water and transported for 15-20 minutes are better than ones shipped overnight (sometimes longer) and from who knows what water conditions. Keeps me happy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CThompson Posted February 20, 2009 Share Posted February 20, 2009 My lfs pays me the same as he gets them from the wholesalers, he figures fish bred in local water and transported for 15-20 minutes are better than ones shipped overnight (sometimes longer) and from who knows what water conditions. Keeps me happy. That's very decent of them. There are many advantages to shops and their customers to puchase locally bred fish - no tranport costs, don't have to pay for boxes, same/similar water (as you mentioned), less, if not no losses. Shops can still want to pay less than the wholesale price, and then when you bring fish in say; "I can get them for less from such and such..." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hubbynz Posted February 22, 2009 Author Share Posted February 22, 2009 Cheers for your feedback guys. I think I will try selling them privately first and then offering the remaining to the LFS maybee in a part trade for a new grow out tank. Oh and for the record they are Double Red apistogramma cacatouides from German breed stock. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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