'Selling' coral frags for LFS credit

[FishyFishFish]

I know this will likely depend on the actual LFS but I'm interested in reefer's experiences with 'selling' frags to your LFS for store credit.

Do they tend to take frags from anyone or just those that they have a 'relationship' with? Do they tend to take quick growing coral frags, such as GSP, or just frags that are less common and/or take longer to grow?

I have a star polyp frag that was tiny when it arrived but has already filled its plug within a couple of weeks. If things carry on as they are then it is possible that I could have several full plugs within a couple of months. However, with this being so easy to grow, would the LFS already be inundated with people trying to get rid of their excess, or is there always a demand for it?

Also, with these easy and quick growing corals, would the LFS grow their own colonies to frag or do they still rely on buying them in?

I'm not really worried about the money, more about the fact that I would hate to have to dispose of things that could potentially be valuable to someone else. I am not aware of any reefers near to me that I could give anything to or trade with, and I'm not sure I would want the hassle and stress of shipping anything.

 

[dvgyfresh]

I think they generally take anything but expect it to be like GameStop , frag of GSP for like 2$ store credit

 

[DeniseAndy]

As you said, depends on the store and the owners. I have sold to one of our stores and they were fair and accepting. Many are not for a number of reasons.
Build a relationship with one you trust and it should be possible. Good luck!

 

[elysics]

If it's run of the mill corals that everyone has, don't expect to get more than a token amount, more for the purpose of not insulting you than actually buying it. Unless their tanks are already full of it, then they might actually say no.

If its a coral store with propagation tanks instead of a general purpose LFS, and you have something that they don't, you have much more leeway, not quite retail value either, but a good portion of it, especially if you go for a direct trade instead of credit. These ones usually wonn't take GSP and similar stuff though.

 

[Azedenkae]

I know this will likely depend on the actual LFS but I'm interested in reefer's experiences with 'selling' frags to your LFS for store credit.

Do they tend to take frags from anyone or just those that they have a 'relationship' with? Do they tend to take quick growing coral frags, such as GSP, or just frags that are less common and/or take longer to grow?

I have a star polyp frag that was tiny when it arrived but has already filled its plug within a couple of weeks. If things carry on as they are then it is possible that I could have several full plugs within a couple of months. However, with this being so easy to grow, would the LFS already be inundated with people trying to get rid of their excess, or is there always a demand for it?

Also, with these easy and quick growing corals, would the LFS grow their own colonies to frag or do they still rely on buying them in?

I'm not really worried about the money, more about the fact that I would hate to have to dispose of things that could potentially be valuable to someone else. I am not aware of any reefers near to me that I could give anything to or trade with, and I'm not sure I would want the hassle and stress of shipping anything.

It really depends on the LFS, but don't be surprised that a LFS won't take a few frags, even if you are offering them for free.

Unless you are selling quite a few, generally it is not worth the LFS' hassle to go through quarantining frags or anything else anyone brings in.

As for pricing, expect it to maybe be around a quarter at most of the price they would normally sell the frag at.

I never understood any of this until I started working at a LFS, and then realized how much effort it is. A single frag carrying disease can wipe out everything. We can also get diseased live stock from suppliers, but there are guarantees and stuff that covers it. It is also why we can offer the same guarantees to customers, as if anything happens we could just claim from the supplier. Of course, some suppliers just have really bad quality stock and guarantee or otherwise, we do have to make the decision of ending trading with them. Never a fun affair.

We do also set up tanks that has their own plumbing and so on where we can chuck live stock offered up by customers into, and essentially let them be bought by other customers for cheap, with a very clear 'buy at your own risk, we do not guarantee anything with these live stock' warning communicated to customers. For some, if they cannot give us their live stock, then they would just toss the live stock out (yes, including live fish), so this is like the best compromise we could offer.

If you can develop a good relationship with the LFS for whatever reason, including selling them a large number of frags that turned out to be in good conditions, then they may eventually start buying heavily from you.

That's just one possibility. Some LFSes may have exclusive contracts with suppliers to generally prevent them from buying from anyone else but can receive 'donations'. Other are 100% into culturing their own. Etc.

 

[ReefBeta]

It really depends on the quality of frags you produce. There are several reefers in my area are continuing to produce quality frags regularly that the LFS refer them as local aquaculture shipments.

 

[FishyFishFish]

Thanks for all the info.

That all pretty much agrees with what I was thinking. If I owned a LFS I think I would be very cautious about buying frags from reefers, unless they were well know to me and I was very confident of the quality. There is just too much risk to the reputation of the store if things go wrong.

I would prefer to swap with local reefers anyway, if that was possible. I've seen GSP frags being sold for upwards of $25 online, which seems a bit excessive for newcomers and I would have loved to have been able to get some cheap frags, locally, a couple of months back. If I ever do end up a few spare frags then I will probably advertise them on the trading forum and see if anyone appears nearby to me.

The main reason for asking this question was that, often on threads with people asking what to do with their excess growth the answer comes back that they should trade it with their LFS. As suspected, it sounds like this isn't always that easy.

What will probably occur is that I will just keep growing them until I end up with a star polyp jungle!

 

[fachatga]

The store near me generally will give 1/3 of what they will retail it for. Pretty fair to me. I expected more of a rip off. Some places I won’t even bring it up because I know them too well. It’s hit or miss.

 

[mdb_talon]

It really depends on the LFS, but don't be surprised that a LFS won't take a few frags, even if you are offering them for free.

Unless you are selling quite a few, generally it is not worth the LFS' hassle to go through quarantining frags or anything else anyone brings in.

As for pricing, expect it to maybe be around a quarter at most of the price they would normally sell the frag at.

I never understood any of this until I started working at a LFS, and then realized how much effort it is. A single frag carrying disease can wipe out everything. We can also get diseased live stock from suppliers, but there are guarantees and stuff that covers it. It is also why we can offer the same guarantees to customers, as if anything happens we could just claim from the supplier. Of course, some suppliers just have really bad quality stock and guarantee or otherwise, we do have to make the decision of ending trading with them. Never a fun affair.

We do also set up tanks that has their own plumbing and so on where we can chuck live stock offered up by customers into, and essentially let them be bought by other customers for cheap, with a very clear 'buy at your own risk, we do not guarantee anything with these live stock' warning communicated to customers. For some, if they cannot give us their live stock, then they would just toss the live stock out (yes, including live fish), so this is like the best compromise we could offer.

If you can develop a good relationship with the LFS for whatever reason, including selling them a large number of frags that turned out to be in good conditions, then they may eventually start buying heavily from you.

That's just one possibility. Some LFSes may have exclusive contracts with suppliers to generally prevent them from buying from anyone else but can receive 'donations'. Other are 100% into culturing their own. Etc.

Very good insight

 

[Swackro]

My Lfs usually does half of retail credit which tbh is not that good but if they do not have something such as gsp it will sell fast as beginners love the stuff so I would see no problem with them taking it for some credit or if you have a couple plugs possibly a trade

 

[monkeyCmonkeyDo]

If you are starting out. Prob not as you are not a trusted source. If they already have a good coral source. Local. Low price. Good variety ect.
After some time. Somr coral. You will be the old timer with excess corals.
Hths
D

 

[NeonRabbit221B]

My "Local" fish store gives you 1/3 what they can sell it for for most livestock outside of sensitive inverts. When it comes to frags they will generally not accept the top growing softies like GSP, leathers nd xenia. I would recommend giving it away or swapping with other reefers. This hobby is pricey and rough enough. Relationships and connections mean more to me than $5 so just give it away to a new reefer, make a friend and save someone $20 down the road.

 

[PNWoffroader]

Recently I was offered a 25% credit of what they sell the product for whether it be corals or Fish. They had a ton of corals in their store recently and are over crowded.