GRADE THEM! Do they get an A+ or an F- or somewhere in between?

What overall grade would you give to the whole class of online livestock vendors?

  • A+

    Votes: 15 3.3%
  • A

    Votes: 39 8.7%
  • A-

    Votes: 34 7.6%
  • B+

    Votes: 70 15.6%
  • B

    Votes: 104 23.2%
  • B-

    Votes: 46 10.3%
  • C+

    Votes: 33 7.4%
  • C

    Votes: 58 12.9%
  • C-

    Votes: 16 3.6%
  • D+

    Votes: 7 1.6%
  • D

    Votes: 12 2.7%
  • D-

    Votes: 7 1.6%
  • F+

    Votes: 1 0.2%
  • F

    Votes: 2 0.4%
  • F-

    Votes: 4 0.9%

  • Total voters
    448

MnFish1

10K Club member
View Badges
Joined
Dec 28, 2016
Messages
22,559
Reaction score
21,788
Rating - 100%
1   0   0
1. If you were to give a grade to the whole class of online vendors, what would you grade them? - I voted - 'C' - BUT - there are many I would vote 'A' - and many that I would vote 'F'.

2. What kinds of things impact the grades positively and negatively?

A - Quality merchandise, customer support, reasonable prices, friendliness, variety of merchandise.

F - Fraud, shipping dead livestock, poor communication, customer service, poor quality of livestock, unfriendly

3. What has vendors done to get an extra credit grade with you?
Always answering questions (no matter how stupid) - standing by their merchandise - whether alive - or dry goods, Willing to make recommendations - that may be counter to their profit (i.e. no - you dont need a 1000 watt heater for a 20 gallon tank, Quick responses.
 

Weasel1960

Valuable Member
View Badges
Joined
Aug 22, 2020
Messages
2,139
Reaction score
9,995
Location
Monticello, WI
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
At work and will elaborate more later but the grade I determined is based on a few factors:

- Smaller size than shown and I believe many vendors are progressively making frags smaller and smaller while charging market price
- coloration. I understand that photoshop is more common and filters used to sharpen contrasts but by golly, show the customer what they’re getting for their hard earned money. If you’re using certain lights- perhaps mention lights used for photos
- if youre going to put on a sale and offer a discount.....OFFER A DISCOUNT!! We are much smarter than vendors realize when they jack up prices, then offer a discount. We didn’t just fall off a turnip wagon and lost our memory as to how much that same piece was 1-2-3 weeks ago
- stop sending us aptasia, red bugs and plugs with some sort of eggs on them!!
- quit blaming high prices on COVID . We get it that shipping has gone up but to take advantage and add 25-50% ; not my money which none have seen for at least 6 months.
Hit the nail on the head here, haven’t bought anything yet but have seen some pretty small frags on sites I have visited. Actually blaming COVID for shipping is a lame excuse. Shipping like UPS, FEDEX, never stopped, if anything they ramped up during COVID because of people staying home. I also think that created a sellers market which drove prices higher.
 

vetteguy53081

Well known Member and monster tank lover
View Badges
Joined
Aug 11, 2013
Messages
90,836
Reaction score
200,094
Location
Wisconsin -
Rating - 100%
13   0   0
Hit the nail on the head here, haven’t bought anything yet but have seen some pretty small frags on sites I have visited. Actually blaming COVID for shipping is a lame excuse. Shipping like UPS, FEDEX, never stopped, if anything they ramped up during COVID because of people staying home. I also think that created a sellers market which drove prices higher.
I think its safe to say many aquarists were home and upon receiving $1200 stimulus check disregarded pricing and treated themselves on the just increased prices indicating to vendors that these prices are acceptable .
I assure Everyone that when COVID is figured out- PRICES WILL NEVER FALL. It is rather now set in stone
 
Last edited:

Thunderrap

Active Member
View Badges
Joined
Apr 2, 2020
Messages
279
Reaction score
204
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I gave an A, but I've only ordered livestock from 2 different companies: World Wide Corals and Liveaquaria. Both companies were amazing to work with and if I ever had an issue they resolved it quickly. I only had one coral not make it from World Wide Corals and they replaced it super quick, also had no fatalities from Liveaquaria. Would totally order from both again and probably will soon!
 

azbigjohn

Valuable Member
View Badges
Joined
Jul 18, 2015
Messages
1,022
Reaction score
1,113
Location
Las Cruces, NM
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I live in a small city in New Mexico, and my nearest LFS with fish is 50 ish miles away, and I haven't had the greatest experience with them (they know they are the only one, and treat people accordingly.)

I am getting ready to restart my tank, and will be going completely online for it (a Petco mistake purchase wiped my whole tank earlier this year) so I wish there was "naming names" in this thread.

My experiences so far have been mostly positive, but I've consistently used only one vendor, who is slowly deteriorating, so I will be experimenting with others.
 

ForTheLoveOfCoral21

Well-Known Member
View Badges
Joined
Apr 26, 2020
Messages
644
Reaction score
1,232
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I think it depends on who you order from. I have placed many online orders and had no issues but i only order from those who have been in the business for a while and ones who have been rated highly on R2R.

With that being said i would say an A
 

Mical

2500 Club Member
View Badges
Joined
Aug 7, 2017
Messages
3,790
Reaction score
6,404
Location
Montrose
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
This is a tough question.Some vendors are awesome, where as others are mediocre and some are worthless. Then there's shipping, handling practices by both vendor & shipping co that add to the outcome. For the most part I'd give most vendors a "B". But I did have an experience with a vendor (I won't mention) that sold me a fish which came with velvet and wiped out my entire established livestock in one tank in less than a week. Lesson learned, I'm very cautious these days as my livestock are healthy and I'm not willing to go through that again.
 

Richyreefer

Active Member
View Badges
Joined
Mar 6, 2015
Messages
439
Reaction score
288
Location
Denver, CO
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Only consistent A performance i have received is from Cherry and WWC. There is only one F that i would not do business with again. Overall, if you are careful and go slow with new suppliers, it is a great way to buy. I love my LFS, but he does not have the customer base to offer the great selection i can find online.
 

54Dutchman

Community Member
View Badges
Joined
Jan 26, 2019
Messages
71
Reaction score
76
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I have had many bad experiences at the first contact with on line vendors:
1. See adds for fish or coral at good/fair pricing - go to web site and none off the fish/coral in the add are in stock.
What trust could I have to purchase anything from them?
 

mitch91175

2500 Club Member
View Badges
Joined
Mar 23, 2014
Messages
2,831
Reaction score
2,194
Location
Rowlett, TX
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
At work and will elaborate more later but the grade I determined is based on a few factors:

- Smaller size than shown and I believe many vendors are progressively making frags smaller and smaller while charging market price
- coloration. I understand that photoshop is more common and filters used to sharpen contrasts but by golly, show the customer what they’re getting for their hard earned money. If you’re using certain lights- perhaps mention lights used for photos
- if youre going to put on a sale and offer a discount.....OFFER A DISCOUNT!! We are much smarter than vendors realize when they jack up prices, then offer a discount. We didn’t just fall off a turnip wagon and lost our memory as to how much that same piece was 1-2-3 weeks ago
- stop sending us aptasia, red bugs and plugs with some sort of eggs on them!!
- quit blaming high prices on COVID . We get it that shipping has gone up but to take advantage and add 25-50% ; not my money which none have seen for at least 6 months.


So sick of it all I am considering just getting out completely. Sick of the hobbyists and the vendors price gouging and as you mentioned bugger-sized frags (not that I am in need of anything). Everyone has the right to do as they please. But like you they will not get my money due to their practices.

Fish sales are the worst. Every vendor should only ship a fish if it is eating period!!!!! At least at that point we would have a much higher success rate to keep them alive.
 

Indytraveler83

Well-Known Member
View Badges
Joined
Apr 21, 2019
Messages
967
Reaction score
1,465
Location
South Bend, Indiana
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
1. If you were to give a grade to the whole class of online vendors, what would you grade them?

C+ overall to account for some good and some bad experiences

2. What kinds of things impact the grades positively and negatively?

Packaging is one of my biggest "grades.". Some vendors literally throw leaking bags in a foam box and pray. Others will number the bags to the invoice, pack tightly, fill bags with plenty of water and put hot/cold packs in there.

Shipping costs- very random across the board. Some have low prices for free shipping, others won't do it at all. Furthermore, I've been quoted anywhere between $25 and $120 for overnight shipping, plus fees (for similar orders). I get that it's not cheap to ship, but some are more honest than others.

Livestock quality/size- I've received beautiful fish and corals for the most part, including QTed anthias that I could never get through QT myself. But I once got in an RFA that was as small as a pencil eraser and a dwarf angel that was no bigger than a fingernail (neither survived). Vendors need to be transparent about sizes, and note if the livestock comes in sizes dramatically different than one should expect.

3. What has vendors done to get an extra credit grade with you?

Two things that help alot:

1) Prompt customer service by email/messenger/phone. It can help clear up some questions before ordering (see size concerns above).

2) No hassle refunds. A few vendors are very generous about being sure you don't get stuck with losses. It makes them stand above those that make you jump through excessive hurdles.
 

BKLYN651

Active Member
View Badges
Joined
Dec 28, 2019
Messages
165
Reaction score
165
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Never really had any problem. If something arrived dead which was rare I would get refund no questions asked. The problem I did have were mainly due to UPS with late or missed and arrive next day.
 

Acrocrazy725

Community Member
View Badges
Joined
Feb 6, 2020
Messages
58
Reaction score
52
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I Voted A,
I have been very lucky i guess. I had always bought local. Then my first online order was from Jason Fox years several ago. Everything arrived fine and colors were what i thought they would be......... incredible!! I was off and running from then on. After that i have ordered from Live Aquria multiple times (fish), TSA muliple times from web and live sales (corals), ASD coral once and Jason fox both live sales and off website probably 10 times. Have had zero issues!!! There was only one time on an order from Live Aquria that a couple of leopards wrasses died after a couple days and i was more then impressed with how they handled it, so for me it was not a issue, and was turned into a positive with great customer service. Stuff happens it how they handle it that is key!!
I am sure that there have been bad experiences with other venders, but i can't in conscience grade companies with whom I had no experience with. So if anyone is looking for responsible vendors to buy from ( and there is more i just havent had pleasure of dealing with yet) those names are a good start.
 

Photosynthetic

Active Member
View Badges
Joined
Nov 27, 2017
Messages
184
Reaction score
270
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
It doesn't seem fair to group the worst vendors I've had experiences with, which I will refrain to call out by name, with the best vendors. Like unique and world wide
 

DHill6

Valuable Member
View Badges
Joined
Dec 28, 2015
Messages
2,433
Reaction score
1,578
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
At work and will elaborate more later but the grade I determined is based on a few factors:

- Smaller size than shown and I believe many vendors are progressively making frags smaller and smaller while charging market price
- coloration. I understand that photoshop is more common and filters used to sharpen contrasts but by golly, show the customer what they’re getting for their hard earned money. If you’re using certain lights- perhaps mention lights used for photos
- if youre going to put on a sale and offer a discount.....OFFER A DISCOUNT!! We are much smarter than vendors realize when they jack up prices, then offer a discount. We didn’t just fall off a turnip wagon and lost our memory as to how much that same piece was 1-2-3 weeks ago
- stop sending us aptasia, red bugs and plugs with some sort of eggs on them!!
- quit blaming high prices on COVID . We get it that shipping has gone up but to take advantage and add 25-50% ; not my money which none have seen for at least 6 months.
Agreed and you’re on point! Are you listening out there vendors?
 

aalhait

Community Member
View Badges
Joined
May 16, 2020
Messages
92
Reaction score
73
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I’ve been ordering online for more than 25 years. Liveaquaria was my main source and still is the main source. But I’ve added a few vendors over the years. Cherry Corals. WWC TSA caliKid to name a few. I’ve been more than delighted from all of them. I give an A grade because every once in a while I do get DOA but I usually get credit back especially from LiveAquaria which I trust. But in the past year or two they’ve gotten more annoying red-tape in getting credit back

Still better than any local shop here and cheaper.
 

Sherrya62

Active Member
View Badges
Joined
Sep 15, 2019
Messages
103
Reaction score
123
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I’d say a B. I think that frags are def shrinking in size. I’ve received a few frags recently that were tiny compared to the pic. I’ve only had two DOA’s. As for packing the venders that use the specimen cups for corals instead of bags get a huge A.
 

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

  • Ball valves.

    Votes: 42 48.8%
  • Gate valves.

    Votes: 45 52.3%
  • Check valves.

    Votes: 19 22.1%
  • None.

    Votes: 22 25.6%
  • Other.

    Votes: 9 10.5%
Back
Top