How does live aquaria do it?

[Chameleon]

So Sunday I purchased 2 fish a clam and a leather from liveaquaria. My total for $140 qualified for free shipping as it was over 99. Then I come to find that the two fish come from California,the clam from Florida, and the leather from Wisconsin. How can they do this? How can the ship from 3 locations overnight and still make a profit on a 140 dollar order? When I found out the shipping situation I kind of felt a little like I was stealing as I can't imagine live aquaria is making money and may be in fact losing money on my order?

 

[duromega]

You can always donate an extra $100, there is a section on their website.

 

[Waters]

So Sunday I purchased 2 fish a clam and a leather from liveaquaria. My total for $140 qualified for free shipping as it was over 99. Then I come to find that the two fish come from California,the clam from Florida, and the leather from Wisconsin. How can they do this? How can the ship from 3 locations overnight and still make a profit on a 140 dollar order? When I found out the shipping situation I kind of felt a little like I was stealing as I can't imagine live aquaria is making money and may be in fact losing money on my order?

I wouldn't worry about it lol....they are a huge business....believe me they are making money somehow :)

 

[OnPointCorals Verified Sponsor]

Haha, I have gotten similar orders from LA and not to mention the packing material, huge insulated boxes, heat packs etc. Got the order and scratch my head, how do they do that. Two of the shipping costs alone had to be over the $105 I spent. I understand they get big shipping discounts but still...

 

[Oldreefer44]

They are owned by Petco so I wouldn't lose sleep over it.

 

[OhDumb]

They have a contract with the shipping company.

 

[Mykesocalreef]

Imagine the mark up on the livestock, I am sure that helps.

 

[Ryan Kouns]

Coming from a large corporation that supplies to auto parts store and we have flat rate shipping of $9.95.. as long as it can ship UPS. We get a rebate back from the carrier that off sets that cost substantially. Since we use UPS for every single order we get nearly half the cost back in rebates. Then its also a tax write off at the end of the year for doing business. They still make money lol Im sure they dont a make a ton, but they are keeping the business for those online shoppers which hurts the LFS.

looking at it on the supplier side. Say they didnt cover shipping and you had to pay over night fees average around $40 as an example so if they said you had to pad $40 for each of those shipments.... you wouldn't purchase the product, at least I wouldn't... Therefor you would go someplace else, and chances are wouldn't return back to their site.

 

[Mattrg02]

They ship adults that are near end of life, that’s how. I only have TWO fish still from them of 10 that I’ve bought over the past year. All fish, except these two, have died. Some died a few days after receiving, others a few months. All were eating and swimming before sudden death.

 

[albano]

They ship adults that are near end of life, that’s how.

they offer different sizes from juvi to adult... but besides that, it's not easy to tell how old a wild caught fish actually is

I only have TWO fish still from them of 10 that I’ve bought over the past year. All fish, except these two, have died. Some died a few days after receiving, others a few months. All were eating and swimming before sudden death.

Many people including myself do not have that problem. If they have something I'm looking for, I'll probably order it.

 

[Mattrg02]

they offer different sizes from juvi to adult... but besides that, it's not easy to tell how old a wild caught fish actually is


Many people including myself do not have that problem. If they have something I'm looking for, I'll probably order it.

Yea, I order them juvenile sized yet receive them adult sized. Just lost a Midas Blenny that I have had for 3 months. I ordered a 2in fish and got a 5-6in, old man, fish. I notice the all fish I order as the weekly special have come on adult sized. The two that I still have were regular price and came small.

 

[OnPointCorals Verified Sponsor]

If you contact them their customer service has been quite impressive in my experience. I have gotten what I have ordered and had very good luck with their livestock.

 

[albano]

Yea, I order them juvenile sized yet receive them adult sized. Just lost a Midas Blenny that I have had for 3 months. I ordered a 2in fish and got a 5-6in, old man, fish. I notice the all fish I order as the weekly special have come on adult sized. The two that I still have were regular price and came small.

Not sure why you have this problem... I usually get the 'correct' size (give or take)... Also there are some people/places that do not include the length of the tail, in the fish measurement. Regardless, I've had a good success rate with most of their fish, probably very similar to the fish that I've got from LFSs, that I personally picked out!
For the most part, I'd rather get them from LFS... Get to see them, and usually much less $, but somethings don't show up that often at LFS, so LA is my go to place.

 

[Mattrg02]

Not sure why you have this problem... I usually get the 'correct' size (give or take)... Also there are some people/places that do not include the length of the tail, in the fish measurement. Regardless, I've had a good success rate with most of their fish, probably very similar to the fish that I've got from LFSs, that I personally picked out!
For the most part, I'd rather get them from LFS... Get to see them, and usually much less $, but somethings don't show up that often at LFS, so LA is my go to place.

It would seem that the replacements they send were always adult size. The first orders usually were small to medium. My first Midas blenny was ordered as small and I got a 2in dude. He died a few days later. The replacement was 5-6in, he died a few days ago, having been fine for 2-3months.

 

[Hitch08]

Had a bit of a frustrating experience with LA recently, which started out similar to the OP's. Ordered three fish, a 5 pack of corals and then two other corals. They shipped from three different places. I had the same thought as OP about packaging and shipping costs. Once coral was $23.99 minus 20% = $19.19. It was shipped alone. It also arrived quite cold. It was under the packing peanuts and the heat pack was on the very top. I'm hoping it makes it.

The box with the three fish arrived OK. Put them in QT last night. I was a bit surprised by how small one fish is. Certainly at the lowest end of the range, at best. However, it was interested in food last night, which was good to see.

The six other corals.....didn't arrive. The third box received had 6 clowns in it, not 6 corals. I called LA and they said don't ship them back - they won't survive. Since I already have a pair of clowns in my tank, I didn't want to risk it. Was able to contact a LFS before he closed and took the clowns there. He seemed like he didn't really want them, but I was glad to get them somewhere. He just took them. No credit.

When the other corals arrive on Thursday, I'll have to go through the whole coral dipping process again.