I love free dollars in this hobby!

[livinlifeinBKK]

Sorry to hear that. International shipping is always going to be more expensive unfortunately at every online store. Most of us are in the U.S. where it’s free over $49 or a flat $1.99-$8.99 which isn’t bad.

Can't really say you guys have better access to products though since most are made in China or Germany! The same product is cheaper (especially in Asia) before being exported across the world as well. It depends on what you're buying but even Amazon offers $5.99 flat rate shipping to Asia now.

 

[davidcalgary29]

Can't really say you guys have better access to products though since most are made in China or Germany! The same product is cheaper (especially in Asia) before being exported across the world as well. It depends on what you're buying but even Amazon offers $5.99 flat rate shipping to Asia now.

I did take a look at Alibaba when I wanted a reasonably-priced protein skimmer for one of my nano tanks, and I did find a number of clones of highly reputable model. But that attractive $10 item price turned into...nearly $100 with surprise shipping and handling costs to Canada, which was pretty much the price of the original model (which I bought). They catch you coming or going, one way or another.

 

[livinlifeinBKK]

I did take a look at Alibaba when I wanted a reasonably-priced protein skimmer for one of my nano tanks, and I did find a number of clones of highly reputable model. But that attractive $10 item price turned into...nearly $100 with surprise shipping and handling costs to Canada, which was pretty much the price of the original model (which I bought). They catch you coming or going, one way or another.

Haha yeah, I was more talking for the people here in Asia though

 

[TangerineSpeedo]

I'd actually shop at BRS if shipping prices weren't so exorbitant. $35 USD for a tropic marin glass hydrometer (and BRS is one of the few places that keeps this in stock)...and $55 USD (that's over $70 CAD) to ship it. Inother words, $130 CAD total (with tax) for a fifty dollar item. I'd sure need a lot of Mr. Chili plushes to make me feel better after that bill...

Est. delivered by Wednesday, Sep 14 UPS Standard

$54.05

What ever happened to NAFTA? LOL... Minnesota to LA 2000 miles free shipping... Minnesota to Calgary 1000 miles $55 bucks...
Oh wait! Free Trade Agreement, "does not include free shipping"...

 

[trevorhiller]

Saltwateraquarium.com actually has a better deal I think. You can get free items with large purchases and points. Plus they give me 5% off for being in healthcare. Not too mention they are also located in PA so my items come quick without expedited shipping.

Im not loyal to any one retailer or brand though, I try to spread the love around because the more options, the more competition, the better it is for us.

saltwateraquarium, BRS and premium aquatics are my go to “big” retailers.

I’ve ordered from aquarium specialty too, mainly because they had a sale on some ultra reef gear I wanted, but they gave me incorrect information about a product, then I told them I would take whatever model reactor they have even though it wasn’t the one I originally wanted. The guy called me back to apologize for the mistake/confusion to which I said no big deal then asked me for my credit card # to charge me an extra $10 because there was a small price difference even though the website had the wrong information . I wasn’t too impressed with that and decided to take my business elsewhere after that transaction. It seemed pretty cheap when they made a mistake and I accepted a different product that I didn’t originally want…

I couldn’t imagine doing the same as a business owner when I gave wrong information and then confirmed the wrong information with the customer. The least the could have done was just do an even product swap since I already sent them $500.

…I’ll get off my little soap box now.

No LFSs near me or I would support them first.

 

[AydenLincoln]

Saltwateraquarium.com actually has a better deal I think. You can get free items with large purchases and points. Plus they give me 5% off for being in healthcare. Not too mention they are also located in PA so my items come quick without expedited shipping.

Im not loyal to any one retailer or brand though, I try to spread the love around because the more options, the more competition, the better it is for us.

saltwateraquarium, BRS and premium aquatics are my go to “big” retailers.

I’ve ordered from aquarium specialty too, mainly because they had a sale on some ultra reef gear I wanted, but they gave me incorrect information about a product, then I told them I would take whatever model reactor they have even though it wasn’t the one I originally wanted. The guy called me back to apologize for the mistake/confusion to which I said no big deal then asked me for my credit card # to charge me an extra $10 because there was a small price difference even though the website had the wrong information . I wasn’t too impressed with that and decided to take my business elsewhere after that transaction. It seemed pretty cheap when they made a mistake and I accepted a different product that I didn’t originally want…

I couldn’t imagine doing the same as a business owner when I gave wrong information and then confirmed the wrong information with the customer. The least the could have done was just do an even product swap since I already sent them $500.

…I’ll get off my little soap box now.

No LFSs near me or I would support them first.

I’ve had great experience with BRS plus I love their social media guy and their customer service. But I didn’t realize saltwateraquarium.com was located in PA. I’m signing up for an account now. I’ve spent way too much money at my lfs and I do really love them but it’s expensive and it’s hard for me to not just get everything I see haha. But I really do love my lfs. And I just realized the point value is the same on both sites and that saltwateraquarium.com sells livestock.

 

[TangerineSpeedo]

Also other things to consider... Map pricing. If you own the brand, you control the price. And the "Conglomerate" is buying up the popular brands we use. Take for instance the Neptune ATO I just bought. Google search $224.95 across the board. Well if you are going to get points from a retailer, might as well stick with one. Kinda like airline miles... Wait... hmmn... wonder were they got that idea?
Luckily my LFS will match BRS and I would rather give the money to him...

 

[TangerineSpeedo]

I didn’t realize they had a warehouse in PA. I’ve had great experience with BRS plus I love their social media guy. But I didn’t realize saltwateraquarium.com was located in PA. I’ve spent way too much money at my lfs I do really love them but it’s expensive and it’s hard for me to not just get everything I see haha. But I really do love my lfs.

Maybe ask them like I do if they will match BRS?

 

[AydenLincoln]

Also other things to consider... Map pricing. If you own the brand, you control the price. And the "Conglomerate" is buying up the popular brands we use. Take for instance the Neptune ATO I just bought. Google search $224.95 across the board. Well if you are going to get points from a retailer, might as well stick with one. Kinda like airline miles... Wait... hmmn... wonder were they got that idea?
Luckily my LFS will match BRS and I would rather give the money to him...

Mine won’t however all the dry goods for the most part are the same price at my lfs and across the board at least what I want. And I do support my lfs and have bought a majority of my things their but there’s things they don’t have and their hours are really bad lol and I find myself working when they are open during the week. They are only open five days a week from 12-7 and 10-5 on weekends.

 

[TangerineSpeedo]

saving money for Disney right now.

You know that's like a 30g AIO with stand or Disney... Priorities, Girl....

 

[AydenLincoln]

You know that's like a 30g AIO with stand or Disney... Priorities, Girl....

LOL! I know Disney is expensive lol and I stopped the temptation of going weekly mainly to get my water tested.

 

[TangerineSpeedo]

Mine won’t however all the dry goods for the most part are the same price at my lfs and across the board at least what I want. And I do support my lfs and have bought a majority of my things their but there’s things they don’t have and their hours are really bad lol and I find myself working when they are open during the week. They are only open five days a week from 12-7 and 10-5 on weekends.

Oh, those are "Stoner" hours...
It's really simple, Since they are supposedly business ppl. Just take your invoices to them and say these X amount of dollars could have been yours... Literally... I am not made of money, but I want to support you, but you need to help me do it. If they say no after that, they do not value you as a customer. Then loyalties are questioned on both sides.
But I saying this with a West Coast attitude, some East Coast retailers will die on the sword.

 

[AydenLincoln]

Why does saltwateraquarium.com sell TVs?

 

[AydenLincoln]

And all the fish stores near me both freshwater and saltwater (along with some other small businesses) have terrible hours. And they are losing my business by only being open a few days a week or on the weekends.

 

[trevorhiller]

Why does saltwateraquarium.com sell TVs?

That’s one of their freebies lol I was equally confused!

huge controller screen?

 

[TangerineSpeedo]

And all the fish stores near me both freshwater and saltwater (along with some other small businesses) have terrible hours. You are losing my business by only being open a few days a week or on the weekends.

You live in a town of "Stoners"?
P.S. Not passing judgment on those who "partake" Yes I am...
Get up off the couch and do a water change... this is why you have GHA two years in...

 

[LeftyReefer]

Mine won’t however all the dry goods for the most part are the same price at my lfs and across the board at least what I want. And I do support my lfs and have bought a majority of my things their but there’s things they don’t have and their hours are really bad lol and I find myself working when they are open during the week. They are only open five days a week from 12-7 and 10-5 on weekends.

Consider yourself lucky then. My LFS isn't even open on Sunday at all.
They are only open M-F and saturday. closed on sundays.

I have to think that the weekends would be some of the busiest times for a pet shop, no??

 

[AydenLincoln]

Consider yourself lucky then. My LFS isn't even open on Sunday at all.
They are only open M-F and saturday. closed on sundays.

I have to think that the weekends would be some of the busiest times for a pet shop, no??

They are for most businesses!! But being closed on Sunday I understand. There’s several big businesses that are. Mine is closed on Monday and Tuesday. I don’t like that it’s back to back lol.

 

[LeftyReefer]

They are for most businesses!! But being closed on Sunday I understand. There’s several big businesses that are. Mine is closed on Monday and Tuesday. I don’t like that it’s back to back lol.

I would rather my LFS close down on one of the weekdays, if necessary, rather than be closed part of the weekend. Which is when I'm most likely to want to go to the LFS.

Just seems like a strange business decision for a LFS to make considering the business they are potentially turning away.

My LFS has a sign on the door that they will price match any online retailer for supplies, including BRS and Amazon.

Sounds good, but its just not convenient in practice.

The issue is that they just don't stock much, so they have nothing to pricematch when you need it. They are happy to order it for you, but they don't have it today. It will take an extra week or two. So to buy it from them, costs you the same as the online vendor but takes twice as long as amazon or BRS because the LFS has to order it in for you and then they just charge whatever amazon or BRS was charging and then you have to go back and pick it up. You save no money and it takes longer to get, so I rarely buy supplies or dry goods there. So price matching isn't all that great if you can't really take advantage of it. I'd rather my LFS charge a dollar or two more per item if it meant they could stock more variety of items.

My LFS only stocks brightwell products. They have every single supplement or additive made by brightwell, it's quite impressive. But absolutely nothing else... if it isn't made by brightwell, they don't have it and will have to order it for you. They have a few hanna checkers in stock, but no reagents whatsoever. For salt, they stock brightwell, of course, and TMP at over $100/bucket. nothing else. not even a single bag of IO/RC on the shelf.

price matching sounds nice, but not easy to take advantage of unless your LFS stocks a bunch of stuff, and mine doesn't.

 

[AydenLincoln]

I would rather my LFS close down on one of the weekdays, if necessary, rather than be closed part of the weekend. Which is when I'm most likely to want to go to the LFS.

Just seems like a strange business decision for a LFS to make considering the business they are potentially turning away.

My LFS has a sign on the door that they will price match any online retailer for supplies, including BRS and Amazon.

Sounds good, but its just not convenient in practice.

The issue is that they just don't stock much, so they have nothing to pricematch when you need it. They are happy to order it for you, but they don't have it today. It will take an extra week or two. So to buy it from them, costs you the same as the online vendor but takes twice as long as amazon or BRS because the LFS has to order it in for you and then they just charge whatever amazon or BRS was charging and then you have to go back and pick it up. You save no money and it takes longer to get, so I rarely buy supplies or dry goods there. So price matching isn't all that great if you can't really take advantage of it. I'd rather my LFS charge a dollar or two more per item if it meant they could stock more variety of items.

My LFS only stocks brightwell products. They have every single supplement or additive made by brightwell, it's quite impressive. But absolutely nothing else... if it isn't made by brightwell, they don't have it and will have to order it for you. They have a few hanna checkers in stock, but no reagents whatsoever. For salt, they stock brightwell, of course, and TMP at over $100/bucket. nothing else. not even a single bag of IO/RC on the shelf.

price matching sounds nice, but not easy to take advantage of unless your LFS stocks a bunch of stuff, and mine doesn't.

Vs mine is really big and has a large selection of livestock and dry goods but doesn’t price match!