BRS acquires Marine Depot? WOW!

shred5

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Yeah, Saltwateraquarium, and aqua cave is on my list next. Thinking about premium aquatics too, never shopped with them but want to give it a try.

Premium and Marine Depot were the first.
Premium has always been my main source for online. Jason always takes care of people.
Lucky for me I also have a decent LFS in Bestfish.
 

GarrettT

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BRS has always felt too corporate to me. The videos they put out on certain topics always lead to selling a particular product, which makes one question the overall results. The company itself makes you feel like you have to spend endless amounts of money in order to be in this hobby.
 

Brew12

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This could be bad for consumers, but it could also be very good for consumers. I'll be interested to see how things pan out.
The downside would be a lack of competition causes customer service at BRS to no longer be a priority. The potential upside is that, now that they have a truly dominant market share, they may now be able to force aquarium related manufacturers to lower their prices and/or allow bigger discounts during national sales events like Cyber Monday.

I'm not a fan of Walmart but they were very good for consumers when they became large enough because they could force price concessions from their suppliers. BRS may not be big enough to pull that off yet, or they may not even want to, but I think it is premature to say if this will be good or bad for hobbyists until we see what changes occur.
 

amazongb

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Lots of misinformation (maybe we should call it speculation) in this thread...

BRS, MD, PA, etc do NOT set prices on the majority of items in this hobby. They are MAP protected by the vendor. Ecotech decides what you sell a pump for. Neptune tells BRS what they can sell their stuff for. If BRS, MD, or anyone else breaks that agreement, no more account. Yes, this happens.

Prices are going up industry wide. BRS acquiring MD doesn't change this fact. I have mentioned this many many times here on R2R. Shipping is KILLING companies right now. Inflation is killing companies. Part shortages are hitting every industry at every level. I am ordering extra cardboard boxes since there is a worldwide shortage on them and it is only getting worse. By the end of summer, I suspsect every major company will be 5-10% higher in cost. Better grab that MP40 you have been eyeing. ;)

BRS didn't get a new warehouse recently. BRS HQ hasn't changed in years. I was jsut there in May and got a full warehouse tour from Randy. They have just updated everything and gotten more warehouse space in the same building as other tenants move out.

People talk about "monopoly" and all that and think this will change things. News flash: BRS is the largest in the world and it isn't even close. They have "owned" the market for quite a while now. I would be SHOCKED if we, the consumers, saw some massive shift in customer service from BRS because of this. It is their number one priority with signs all over the building stating this. I got to see them in person :D

I bet we continue to see great CS. BRS is bringing in brands that only MD carried. Yes, this is confirmed.

A MAP pricing policy does not attempt to control the actual selling prices of those products. In private negotiations with customers, resellers are free to sell a product below the manufacturer's MAP-approved price, as long as its publicly displayed pricing is at or above the MAP level.

It might be cheaper to buy MAP products through and LFS, as they are free to discount in store (just not advertise below MAP).

If manufacturers could actually control the selling price, that would be considered price fixing, which is illegal.

The best way for an LFS to advertise MAP products is with a "Call for Best Price".
 

shred5

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Fact is markets should dictate price and they usually do.
Problem is when a retailer sells lower than the market and/or takes a loss because they can afford too to put someone out of business. This usually leads to much higher prices later as the other retailers fold.
 

Mical

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I'm in the same boat, I shop 95% from BRS but have purchased from MD (mag pumps, AquLifter rebuild kits, etc..) So I hope BRS expands it's product lines to cover these items.
I’m in the same boat. I really like BRS they have good prices and I’ve always had good service with them. Plus they’re local to me, so I can just drive over and pick stuff up the next day, but Marine Depot is good, too. They carry different inventory, and having choices and competition in the market is a good thing.
 

Magic City Reefer

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Every out of state retailer will be doing that by July 1st in Florida. BRS was just getting ahead of it. The law was passed years ago and signed into law April for companies to comply by July 1st.
This is correct, starting July 1st. However, why would any retailer collect taxes from customers when they're not required to (yet)? And if they collected that money, who is it being remitted to if they don't have an obligation (yet) to remit to the state? I always found that kinda shady, not just BRS but a lot of other online retailers too. IDK maybe it's just the accountant in me overthinking.
 

rtparty

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A MAP pricing policy does not attempt to control the actual selling prices of those products. In private negotiations with customers, resellers are free to sell a product below the manufacturer's MAP-approved price, as long as its publicly displayed pricing is at or above the MAP level.

It might be cheaper to buy MAP products through and LFS, as they are free to discount in store (just not advertise below MAP).

If manufacturers could actually control the selling price, that would be considered price fixing, which is illegal.

The best way for an LFS to advertise MAP products is with a "Call for Best Price".
Yes, that is one way to work around it all. I had a LFS near me that back in the day would give me better pricing on a lot of higher end items. Sadly, they aren't around any longer.

BUT it is pretty common knowledge in the industry that if you are caught selling at lower than MAP, your account may be taken away. The vendors can certainly decide to stop selling to someone for any reason they want.

Not saying this is right in any way but to think it doesn't happen would be naive.

The truth is most of these MAP items have terrible margins from a business stand point. Selling for less than MAP only makes sense if the LFS is getting a large livestock order from a customer. As a small business, the last thing any of us want is to make LESS money.
 

Brew12

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A MAP pricing policy does not attempt to control the actual selling prices of those products. In private negotiations with customers, resellers are free to sell a product below the manufacturer's MAP-approved price, as long as its publicly displayed pricing is at or above the MAP level.
You are correct in that there is nothing legally binding to prevent a retailer from selling a product below the MAP. However, it is very common that if a retailer does sell a product below MAP for the manufacturer to end doing business through them.
This is a potential upside of BRS being so large now. It will be very difficult for an aquarium product supplier to cut BRS off if they do sell below MAP. They would lose access to too much of the market.
If manufacturers could actually control the selling price, that would be considered price fixing, which is illegal.
MSRP and MAP pricing are not price fixing since the manufacturer is setting the price. Price fixing would be if two manufacturers worked together to set pricing on similar products, or if 2 retailers worked together to set pricing on a product. As long as no competitors are consulted when setting the MAP it isn't illegal and doesn't meet the definition of price fixing.
 

trmiv

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This is correct, starting July 1st. However, why would any retailer collect taxes from customers when they're not required to (yet)? And if they collected that money, who is it being remitted to if they don't have an obligation (yet) to remit to the state? I always found that kinda shady, not just BRS but a lot of other online retailers too. IDK maybe it's just the accountant in me overthinking.
Because they wanted to have the process in place? The requirement was for all companies to comply by July 1st not that there was no method in place to do so before that. Given they’ve got a rather large-scale of integration coming next week with Marine Depot it makes sense they’d want one less thing to complete by that day.
 

jaxteller007

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I do a lot of ordering online as well but. We really should be supporting our LFS. Sometimes it takes a little longer but they usually can get you whatever you want at a competitive price. I actually picked up a couple kessil a360 for less than Brs sells them at LFS. Eventually the Walmarts, Amazons, microsoft(scary) of the world will take over everything.

Some people live in areas where the LFS are horrible in terms of selection, price and quality.
 

salty150

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I love BRS, for the moment they are entertaining and informative. Are they going to change? Probably, don't care either way in the long run. Nothing stays the same ever.
I also bought from MD And PA all the way back to the early 2000's, sometimes I buy from Amazon. I'm a consumer *****, I'll always do what works best for me, as will any company in a retail space. If I stop buying from any of them will they miss me? Nope, just like I won't get sad when a retailer sells out to a more successful one. So this, while slightly interesting is just so much noise. Meanwhile I'll keep keepin on and do my reefing regardless of the curly shuffle going on out there. It seems also so many like to hate on success. They rock as the little guy, they suck when they're a super star lol. Adapt...
Maybe you don't get it...

No one is "hat[ing] on success" as you put it.

What people hate are monopolies.

Less options and less competition are never a good thing for consumers.
 

Mastering the art of locking and unlocking water pathways: What type of valves do you have on your aquarium plumbing?

  • Ball valves.

    Votes: 41 48.8%
  • Gate valves.

    Votes: 44 52.4%
  • Check valves.

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  • None.

    Votes: 22 26.2%
  • Other.

    Votes: 9 10.7%

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