Do you support aquarium supply companies over places like Amazon and should you?

[Back where it all began]

I split my purchases between my lfs and amazon. My lfs is exceptional, not cheap and not competitive, but great people doing a great job in caring for their livestock. I use amazon for all of the dry goods. Chemicals,test kits, supplies. I feel this makes my dollar go a far as it can.

 

[sg88]

Ran into a post on the BRS #AskBRSTV FB page where someone had stated that Amazon was showing aquarium supplies not delivering until April 23rd! Almost a month from now. Granted some people were saying that they were still getting items a couple days after they ordered. I thought about this and thought that it would make a great topic today.

Let me step on my soapbox for a moment if you will. (hmm also it just occurred to me that R2R is kinda in the same boat with competition like FB)

THIS is exactly the reason we need to support companies like Bulk Reef Supply, Aquarium Specialty, Marine Depot, Premium Aquatics, Champion Lighting Supply, SaltwaterAquarium (all R2R sponsors) and our local fish stores more than places like Amazon! I understand why Amazon is doing this but it doesn't mean that hobbyists still don't need their supplies quicker. Supporting companies within our industry will help ensure that we will always be able to get the aquarium supplies we need when we need them.

Do you think it's important to support (to be a customer of) aquarium specific businesses within our industry first? If not then why not?

First of all, most all people need to make a living (granted there are some very wealthy who have either already made enough or inherited enough) and support of this sort of blog provides a living for those who create and moderate the blog.

However, there have now been two posts within the past two weeks that make me seriously question the motivations and hence the information available here.

First, the moderator, for whatever his or her reason, chose to place a policy that the COVID-19 outbreak was to be left out of the forum, and then shortly thereafter posed a daily question as to whether there would be financial hardships for this industry due to the pandemic, which was later retracted and closed for comments.

And now, a daily question, posed by the administrator as to whether the members favor their sponsors or Amazon...really?

In the medical community, where I earn the money to buy aquarium equipment, we have the "Sunshine Act" where any individual can look up exactly how much money and from which source I, or any other physician, may have been supported by the pharmaceutical and medical device industry. That way a patient may look up any physician and determine whether they are getting suggestions from a doctor on the payroll of a drug company, or maybe one with ownership of a surgical device company to help them with their decisions. It does not suggest one way or the other as to the effect of this support on the physician's decision making, although numerous studies show that industry support has immense influence on physician decision making regarding treatment choices for patients.

So, to answer the question of the day, I like to support the mom and pop shops but often sheer economics prevents this. Likewise, I appreciate the effort put into education and testing put into the hobby by groups such as Bulk Reef Supply and Marine Depot. Thus, I would prefer to buy from such an organization to help support their efforts. Again, economics plays a role. Marine Depot, for example, will simply not ship many items to my home in Hawaii, while Bulk Reef Supply will, albeit for a fairly hefty shipping and handling fee. On the other hand, Amazon realizes that Hawaii is actually a part of America and has figured out how to ship in a cost effective manner as a part of their Prime membership at no extra charge to me. I actually called Marine Depot at one point and pled with them to interact with Amazon to allow their inventory to be subject to the free "Prime" shipping policy and was told that they were too small of an organization to do this. However, I also get bicycle parts off of Amazon and several small cycle shops use Amazon as their fulfillment house. I expect that the on-line aquarium business that opts to link up with Amazon will become the industry leader.

My suggestion to the moderators is to make your personal support from your industry partners transparent, but more importantly to stick to the fabulous work that you do in all areas of this hobby with the exception of business promotion...and that is all from my soapbox!

 

[Butcher333]

My wife shops for lots of things on Amazon. Groceries etc. Handy for “Many” things you’d waste a day searching for in stores. No bad feelings toward Amazon.
It’s funny revhtree asked this question today, because I was shocked earlier this week when I clicked a link and was taken to Amazon. I had an instantaneous feeling that it didn’t belong there. It seemed out of place. Then I went to BRS and bought it. Amazon hasn’t made any contributions to me. Amazon hasn’t taught me anything. I haven’t spent hours and hours (thousands) learning anything from Amazon. I’m a loyal
Husband and reefer. I ordered a bunch of stuff the last couple of months and was shocked how fast I got my stuff. I ordered a skimmer that was processed this Monday and received it this Wednesday at 1:00. I ordered 100 items 2 weeks ago and something was broken (heater) I emailed them and got a new heater. I knew who I was emailing and he knew who he was emailing. BRS, Marine Depot, Premium etc. etc. It’s their business to get my business. NOT Amazon. They don’t even have tanks in their offices.
I tried to do the Facebook thing but hang out here because I can’t research stuff in Facebook. A decade ago RC was where I spent most my time but now R2R (thank god) is still active like old days forums. I don’t want things to change. Forums is where it’s at. I wouldn’t/couldn’t imagine a world without forums. It would be a missing component to my hobby and favorite pastime.
Heck. I’m even loyal to specific local shops. Same reasoning.

 

[Mikeltee]

LFS usually have better prices than Amazon and prices not too far off from the cheapest you can find online which anyone will gladly take getting it on your hands now vs paying a little less and having to wait. If your LFS does not follow this model than it will soon be closing its doors. 10 years ago this was opposite. Over the past decade brick and mortars have had to streamline costs to compete with online retailers or be out of business. They have adapted well and I will dang sure support them as they dont make as much money off the sale as the online retailer. Nothing is more disrespectful as going to a brick and mortar to get your hands on an item and then going online to buy it for a few pennies less. Not paying tax used to be a good excuse but now most states require stores to tax no matter what state they are in. I dont even go to ebay anymore and the only time I go to amazon is if I need it in my hands tomorrow and I dont have the time to get it locally which does not apply to any of my hobbies.

 

[Vette67]

I support my wallet. I feel no altruistic need to give more money than necessary to any company. If you want my business, price your product better than your competition. I shop around, and find the best price, and then buy. Sometimes that’s Amazon, sometimes that is the supporting vendors, and sometimes that's eBay.

 

[BurgerFish]

In amazon.ca aquatic things are always more expensive, sometimes 2-3x...

 

[Butcher333]

First of all, most all people need to make a living (granted there are some very wealthy who have either already made enough or inherited enough) and support of this sort of blog provides a living for those who create and moderate the blog.

However, there have now been two posts within the past two weeks that make me seriously question the motivations and hence the information available here.

First, the moderator, for whatever his or her reason, chose to place a policy that the COVID-19 outbreak was to be left out of the forum, and then shortly thereafter posed a daily question as to whether there would be financial hardships for this industry due to the pandemic, which was later retracted and closed for comments.

And now, a daily question, posed by the administrator as to whether the members favor their sponsors or Amazon...really?

In the medical community, where I earn the money to buy aquarium equipment, we have the "Sunshine Act" where any individual can look up exactly how much money and from which source I, or any other physician, may have been supported by the pharmaceutical and medical device industry. That way a patient may look up any physician and determine whether they are getting suggestions from a doctor on the payroll of a drug company, or maybe one with ownership of a surgical device company to help them with their decisions. It does not suggest one way or the other as to the effect of this support on the physician's decision making, although numerous studies show that industry support has immense influence on physician decision making regarding treatment choices for patients.

So, to answer the question of the day, I like to support the mom and pop shops but often sheer economics prevents this. Likewise, I appreciate the effort put into education and testing put into the hobby by groups such as Bulk Reef Supply and Marine Depot. Thus, I would prefer to buy from such an organization to help support their efforts. Again, economics plays a role. Marine Depot, for example, will simply not ship many items to my home in Hawaii, while Bulk Reef Supply will, albeit for a fairly hefty shipping and handling fee. On the other hand, Amazon realizes that Hawaii is actually a part of America and has figured out how to ship in a cost effective manner as a part of their Prime membership at no extra charge to me. I actually called Marine Depot at one point and pled with them to interact with Amazon to allow their inventory to be subject to the free "Prime" shipping policy and was told that they were too small of an organization to do this. However, I also get bicycle parts off of Amazon and several small cycle shops use Amazon as their fulfillment house. I expect that the on-line aquarium business that opts to link up with Amazon will become the industry leader.

My suggestion to the moderators is to make your personal support from your industry partners transparent, but more importantly to stick to the fabulous work that you do in all areas of this hobby with the exception of business promotion...and that is all from my soapbox!

1) I can understand the request to leave the topic consuming our lives now out of the forums. It could easily take over the forums. Some of, if not all of us have come here to get away from it and would leave if it was all that was talked about here. Not that a simple slip up about something of that aspect actually being mentioned then deleted. Oh the hypocritical horror! Come on!
2) “make your personal support from your industry partners transparent” What? It‘s Literally not a secret and benefits everybody. Even me! LoL. Just a member. Bah ha He he. Too funny.
3) The ”Sunshine Act”. That shtuff ain’t working and doesn’t relate to anything here. I see the doctors a lot and could write a book on how unethical doctors are. A series of books actually and “all” provable and amazing. There is no oversight. It would be more amazing to find an ethical one which I think I’ve found 1. But this is reef2reef. And the question was relatable to all here.

 

[ksanfranfan]

If Amazon owns all the retail stores they will raise prices to keep their investors happy. Where will we get our fish, coral, and dogfood when Amazon acquires Petco?

Thanks https://www.reef2reef.com/categories/sponsors.5/

I’m not trying to be argumentative but if Amazon bought out Petco it wouldn’t bother me at all. Seeing how Petco bought out Drs. Foster and Smith and did nothing with the acquisition but eliminated the competition, didn’t sit well with me. DFS had very competitive and fair pricing on many items not just aquarium related.
I had an issue with an item that I purchased from DFS and Petco couldn’t resolve the issue. Their customer service is lousy.
Also, it was just silly how you could buy salt for half the price at DFS vs buying it at Petco after the acquisition. It wasn’t just salt but just about any item aquarium related.
If Amazon acquired Petco it would probably be to the benefit of the consumer. There’s still Petsmart , Petland and other places for most pet needs other than aquarium related products.
As for the matter of this thread, I purchase from most of the retailers mentioned. I don’t have just one place that I’m loyal to but at the same time there are things I like and don’t like about each one. Each one does certain things better or worse than the other as well as carrying things that I need that the others don’t. That includes Amazon and EBay occasionally.

 

[squampton]

I buy from my local stores first, if they don't have what I want or can't get it, then I go where I can get it, sometimes its Amazon or wherever I can get it, but I do my best to buy from my local stores whenever possible. I'd support BRS more but the exchange rate to the US dollar sucks for the Canadian dollar, so its simply not financially viable anymore to buy from BRS.

For expensive items, I only buy local, its nice having local support if there is a warranty issue, Amazon certainly isn't going to help with warranty support 6 months down the road, but my local store will gladly help.

But Amazon sucks in Canada for fish supplies so really they are mostly useless.

 

[tbaity1401]

Amazon doesnt provide me YouTube videos to watch at 2am!

On a serious note, I try to buy from the LFS, BRS, or used on this forum. I've also ordered items from marinedepot. I typically do use Amazon for a price sanity check but have only made purchases if it's cheap items I need asap.

I just went through a tank build and 99% of my implementations were from BRS videos or recommendations on this forum. I value the contributions to the hobby more than I used too.

 

[tastyfish]

LFS, like all retail shops can and should take advantage of sites like Amazon, to scale and serve their customers where it makes sense for them. Third party sellers account for over 50% of sales on Amazon.

I'll always support my LFS. Sometimes I need things really fast, so I'll order from a mail order LFS or from Amazon on Prime if I need them super fast.

I don't actually price check on Amazon for the above reasons, I'd rather support my LFS and don't buy on price, but I'd love to see more Aquarium specialist sellers on Amazon and taking advantage of their infrastructure and service to grow.

 

[Birddog61]

Try contacting an amazon vendor and asking what you need to do to help your coral or fish.
" Just saying "

 

[Doctorgori]

My LFS has 8-9 LOCAL employees...they help our local economy and I support that ...but only to point... overcharge me and I’m gone

 

[fish farmer]

One I tried buying shoes directly from a large retailer website. My order didn't make it through somehow. It was past the sale date so they wouldn't honor the sale price. The next day they had a similar sale, I sent them a nasty message.

I really like the shoes so I went to a small vendor on Ebay and found them for a great price. Timberland still got my money but not directly. I bought a Reef Octopus skimmer off Amazon. It was a returned item, I'm sure reef octopus got their money unless it was a stolen item.

I started reefing before internet shopping from big reef stores was a thing. Some of the companies I did business with don't even exist anymore.

I tend to load my cart at several places depending on my needs.

 

[James Emory]

I personally buy as much as possible on amazon. Where I live we get some items same day. I have been a prime member for years. Amazon’s return policy is amazing
If I buy something and it doesn’t work out it can just send it back. I been able to buy salt/sand/rocks/power heads/lights/food very cheap and delivered to my home.

My local LFS only sells ecotech lights and eco tech pumps/ those lights and pumps are too expensive for my taste.

Ran into a post on the BRS #AskBRSTV FB page where someone had stated that Amazon was showing aquarium supplies not delivering until April 23rd! Almost a month from now. Granted some people were saying that they were still getting items a couple days after they ordered. I thought about this and thought that it would make a great topic today.

Let me step on my soapbox for a moment if you will. (hmm also it just occurred to me that R2R is kinda in the same boat with competition like FB)

THIS is exactly the reason we need to support companies like Bulk Reef Supply, Aquarium Specialty, Marine Depot, Premium Aquatics, Champion Lighting Supply, SaltwaterAquarium (all R2R sponsors) and our local fish stores more than places like Amazon! I understand why Amazon is doing this but it doesn't mean that hobbyists still don't need their supplies quicker. Supporting companies within our industry will help ensure that we will always be able to get the aquarium supplies we need when we need them.

Do you think it's important to support (to be a customer of) aquarium specific businesses within our industry first? If not then why not?

I buy most if not all my products from Premium Aquatics and if they are out of stock I buy from BRS. Amazon has enough money.

 

[James Emory]

I buy most if not all my supplies from Premium Aquatics. Very fast service and super helpful. We have no LFS's around here so I cannot honor them. The one we had was very high price on anything which would make the hobby unaffordable for me. I bought all livestock from them.

 

[Gareth elliott]

I use a mixture tbh, buy my livestock local, have three shops i use most all within 100 miles of me. Cheaper and faster shipping. I order from saltwateraquarium.com when i can mainly because of shipping speed to my area. Use amazon for things i need more quickly, dry goods at most lfs in my area can be hit or miss, small selection sometimes higher prices on non map items. As a small business owner myself, small businesses themselves need to find a reason why i would shop there as opposed to a larger store or online operator. Example would be the single store front natural food markets. Decades of encroachment by super markets they still maintain a 37% market share and 3% sales growth for the last 5 years straight. They have created service that many of their customers would not shop their corporate competition. Its the small business that must create this motivation, not the customer. Economic realities have changed, if the business is stuck doing what worked 30 years ago they will likely fail.

 

[Jimmyneptune]

As a consumer I weigh my purchase on quality, time, and final cost.

In this hobby price is always a factor. It really depends on the type of person you are. I may by something from Amazon if the prices cheaper but that is rare. Another other instance to use amazon to purchase Is free shipping. Finally, If I need it right away I look to Amazon. Now that they say almost a month to ship; I will not use Amazon.

If a typically use online vendors in our hobby, they usually have the best deals and a very helpful with customer service and fairly fast. BRS can get me something for free, $29 dollar purchase, in 4-6 days. If I buy less then I’ll throw on an item to get to the free shipping.

I will plan in my big purchases for when things go on sale. The vendors in our industry have been periodically.

As far as livestock goes, it’s truly a bartering system balancing price and quality of the fish or Coral you are buying and also aligning the seller’s attributes and offers with your own views. For instance, if you look at five different online ventures for livestock you could see a price difference easily of 25% or more. Then you have to look at the quality of livestock they would have. In addition, they may say you have a 14 day guarantee for 7 guarantee and pay more for the livestock, but isn’t really a good deal? I have credit with an online vendor that is probably 10 years old for $120 but I still can’t buy from them because I’d have to pay $40.00 for shipping and have no guarantee on the items they sent me, no guarantee on credit items, or purchase $100 of livestock plus to get free shipping and then if $120 of livestock to avoid the $40.00 shipping. It becomes a question as playing that game payoff?

On the other hand I looked at the site to see you quality vendors are, even if they don’t offer a guarantee, and hope getting it right the-right the first time to avoid the situation trying to keep something alive for a week only to watch it expire and seek a refund or credit.

I am typically loyal to vendors and sellers at frag shows if they give me a quality product at a fair price.



In the end it is always a balance of quality, time, and final cost. Typically, people in our hobby get the job done better than Amazon.

 

[vangvace]

Right now, my reef related purchases have been trending more local, then reef stores selling through Amazon, then BRS or other online vendor.

 

[sarcophytonIndy]

If the price in the same range (20%), I always go for the local/little guy