LFS fish cheaper than online?

B

boostat4500

Guest
I have found that all the fish I've looked at and brought home were much cheaper at the LFS vs. mail order? Is this normal or have I just gotten lucky. And I'm not even counting the shipping cost when comparing pricing, which makes mail order way more expensive. Equipment is the complete opposite, which I expected. Mail order is the only way to go there. Just curious...
 
jaodissa

jaodissa

Member
opposite for me to an extent. Everything seems very pricey @ my LFS and way cheaper online. The only thing with online is shipping is expensive.
 
meowzer

meowzer

Moderator
Keep in mind....you get what you pay for...
How many fish have you bought from this lfs? Have they all been healthy?
If so...that's great....I have no LFS so I have to buy all my livestock online....I only buy from here though cause their quality is the best and shipping is the cheapest...
 
nina&noah

nina&noah

Member
I think it also depends on which part of the country you are from.
Here in Miami, we get our fish for about the same amount that SWF sells them for. Sometimes a little cheaper.
 
B

boostat4500

Guest
I live in Reno, NV. The only thing in town that has saltwater fish is *****. I bought a couple of fish from there when I first started and they all died. 1 after 2 days, 1 after 2 weeks, and the 3rd made it about 6 weeks. I now go over to Sacramento, CA (about 120 miles each way) for everything. So far, so good. And I bought a few in Sacramento within a week of the ***** fish and they are still going strong, so I don't think it was bad water quality or anything.
 
242bats

242bats

Member
Originally Posted by meowzer
http:///forum/post/3151953
Keep in mind....you get what you pay for...
How many fish have you bought from this lfs? Have they all been healthy?
If so...that's great....I have no LFS so I have to buy all my livestock online....I only buy from here though cause their quality is the best and shipping is the cheapest...
i also do not have lfs well it's about 80mile away it is about the same price as swf before shiping, but the drive, the lunch, the mall, and catching him open is not fun for me or the packet, so i try to make a good order from swf with one or two fish and some other livestock to hit the free shipping. good luck and have fun
 
contraband629

contraband629

Member
In Silicon Valley I'm surrounded by a ton of fish stores. However, I always pay attention to how healthy the whole store is and therefore there are only 3 fish stores within a 20 minute drive that I would buy from. The prices match SWF and is usually cheaper. I've bought a total 6 fish for two separate tanks and only had one fatality. No invert fatalities yet.
 
browniebuck

browniebuck

Active Member
I have found an LFS in Green, Ohio that has VERY reasonable prices, offers a guarantee, and will not allow a fish to leave his store unless it is eating...and he will talk you out of an inappropriate fish for your system...he will also give advice on how to do things (most of which he doesn't even sell, he is strictly a fish store, so it is not an attempt to sell me anything).
I have had good experience from SWF.com, however it is difficult to order online due to shipping costs and trying to add too many fish at once to make the order seem worthwhile...don't get me wrong, I will still order from SWF on occasion, but I have a new go to guy for fish (he will also special order fish for you, keep them until they eat, and make sure that they are healthy before you are allowed to take them out of the shop).
 
flower

flower

Well-Known Member

I have purchased from both...
With the LFS..As soon as you walk out of the store, even if the fish dies in the bag on the way home, you are out the money. Even if they say they guarantee it as long as your water meets the perfect standard for that critter...trust me no tank does..Money is gone.
That does not mean your fish will be sick or die, it is just a very big risk.
At SWF.com put your fish in QT...15 days is plenty of time to find out if the fish will make it. Now that guarantee does not help much with corals..They take months to totally die. The 15 days is still something and if it arrives dead...you can get a refund. You pay a little extra for that peace of mind. If you ever have to cash in on it...You know it is worth every penny.
Me, I buy what I want, sometimes I can't purchase a $100.00 worth of critters to justify buying online. I try and find the healthiest critter and buy just that from the LFS...I take that risk. So far...so good.
 
atggaattctag

atggaattctag

New Member
My biggest thing is the variety offered. I haven't found a lfs nearby that keeps anywhere near the variety that you find here. The ones who I have asked about special ordering a certain type of fish, act put out by the idea and don't want to do it. So I took my business here.
 
skidemon95

skidemon95

Member
Originally Posted by meowzer
http:///forum/post/3151953
Keep in mind....you get what you pay for...
How many fish have you bought from this lfs? Have they all been healthy?
If so...that's great....I have no LFS so I have to buy all my livestock online....I only buy from here though cause their quality is the best and shipping is the cheapest...
so far 5 fish and no problems what so ever
 
aquaknight

aquaknight

Active Member
A lot of it has to do with what 'level' you're shopping at as well. If you're interested in a $20 clownfish, there's just really no way an online retailer can cut the costs much more. But if you start looking at fish or corals over $50, especially items into the three figures and beyond, you'll start noticing a difference more. A $100 Queen angel online is over $200 locally. A $150 Australian Harlequin Tuskfish is over $250 locally, a Clarion or Conspic angel is about $1500-$2500 online, local, you're looking at over $3,000.
 
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