Have you considered that they may be sourcing their animals from high quality wholesalers whom use high quality collectors thus offering high quality animals?
Of course prices are of a huge concern to hobbyists, but we need to make sure that people aren't going down the street for a $40 yellow tang that's nearly on it's way out. There's no comparison to a hand caught, well handled fish compared to many collectors and wholesalers whom toss fish around and move them out as fast as possible to make a buck. These are the companies that will end our hobby, not if, but when... and it's truly up to us to purchase the higher quality fish which not only offers us an incredibly higher chance of survival, but will keep the 'good' collectors and wholesalers in business and will extend the life of our hobby.
Marking up prices before a sale to make "sale prices" match general
market value is indeed shady, and this store should perhaps be avoided for
that reason. However we cannot make purchases purely on price. I see wholesale lists everyday and there's no doubt that you'll see "Fish X" available from "Wholesaler 1" for $10, and the same "Fish X" is available from "Wholesaler 2" for $40. Know which one I'll order from? "Wholesaler 2"
all day long... not because
I want to pay more for a fish, but the collection, care and handling of fish is [generally] directly correlated to pricing. There are of course exceptions to places that just mark prices up for no particular reason, but they'll weed themselves out in due time.
Please note that I have never heard of the store you mentioned and have zero affiliation with them, or Columbus for that matter. I'm born and raised in Ann Arbor, I have no qualms with sticking them ;)
