Lfs Prices Horrible!!

pappa d

pappa d

Member
When I went to my LFS, which is actually around 45-55 minutes away from my house making it not so local, i saw a few beautiful blue spotted jawfish. i couldn't believe the coloration of these fish....then i looked at the price. these little guys were going for $299.99 each!!! is that rediculious or is it just me?!?!?! everything that comes from this pet store is healthy/well fed/has its full coloration but i think thats just pushing it. i almost dont even want to go back there due to the prices of their stock. it is a great place to look at something if your debating about purchasing it but unless you have plenty of cash to spend its not the best to buy from.
you may not care about this little story at all but i was just wondering if anyone else thought that the price they were selling a blue spotted jawfish was really high....
 
reefer545

reefer545

Member
That is quite high, but here in Chicagoland, that is competitive. Also, It is not all BAD. High prices discourage people not to buy animals they cant care for, which are also probably wild caught. Plus, how much does your tank cost to keep? Imagine a store of them, plus electricity, overhead, etc. While I think it is definitely a high price, I find if kind of expected. Look elsewhere,a dn you will find what you want for the price you want. Good luck
R545
 
viper_930

viper_930

Active Member
That's definitely a high price, twice the highest cost I've seen in the past. Usually I would expect them to be no more than $100 or so.
 
lesleybird

lesleybird

Active Member
Well you have overhead....store footage costs, labor costs, fish loss costs, shipping costs, set up costs, electricity costs, labor costs, and the store owner deserves to have a profit for his efforts and risks and his own family costs. Get it? We pay for convenience of having the fish right there to look at vs. ordering the unknown online. Get over it! I did.
You don't have to buy there if you don't want to so give the owner a break and stop feeling so indignant. Lesley
 
pappa d

pappa d

Member
This thread wasn't intended to offend anyone lesley, I posted this due to a somewhat disbelief. To me I thought that was a very high price and I wanted to see what others thought. I have nothing bad to say about the store owners or anyone who supports stock prices that high. So with that said, please don't come at me like I'm attacking someone. Your entitled to disagree with me, but watch how you say things. thanks-
 
puffer32

puffer32

Active Member
Thats way overpriced. I have seen them here for 150/200. Totally overpriced. Then they wonder why people buy online
 
reefkprz

reefkprz

Active Member
stores operate with an overhead yes but a 600% markup is ridiculous, 200 to 250% is normal markup for marine fish around here. 100$ to 150$ tops IMO higher prices also usually indicate tank reared...... Somehow I doubt that species was tank reared. maybe you could call and ask if it was an aquacultured fish.
 
murph

murph

Active Member
Retail prices in my area are pretty ridiculous in general. Common mark up for small businesses starts at 100 percent and it seems they would rather let items sit on the shelve unless they find some sucker to buy at this mark up

I actually have had an LFS say to me "I had to raise prices business was bad".
. I wonder how these people get business loans.
At any rate I drove past the LFS I mentioned a few days ago to see that my area had one fewer place to shop for aquarium products. Of course now the property manager will take this opportunity to raise the rent an his logic will be. "I had to raise rents I have to many retail spots sitting empty".
 
zanoshanox

zanoshanox

Active Member
If the owner is smart, he sets up a cheap but efficient system to keep his livestock and pays it off qucikly. We only do 2x markup on pretty much everything, and many items its a lot less, some a lil more. As long as you do everything right when you set the place up, it should eventually pay for itself. (with good management). No need to jack the prices up, they're just looking for more personal profit.
 
murph

murph

Active Member
If the owner(s) was smart he would loss lead the aquarium. Then offer a superior product at a lower price than his competitor and eventually all the business would be his.
Start up capitol would have to be sufficient to assume a red ink operation for the first six months but it is unlikely it would have to operate at a loss that long.
This would also force other stores to follow suite and the consumer would be virtually guaranteed a quality product at a reasonable price. This is called capitalism but unfortunately we no longer live in a capitalist country.
Unfortunelly the current business concept, especially large corporations, is to either destroy, buy, or collude with there competition. When this is achieved and in most cases it is, they are then free to offer a sub standard product at whatever price they think the market will bare.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top