Why do you prefer buying online to LFS?

[TVV]

I buy from all three single owner LFS in my town (not the petco), all of which I can get to in 10 minutes. One reason is to do my part in keeping small niche businesses in business. They are all great places to visit, shop and get valuable information on just about everything. One owner even has a masters degree in marine biology and is very passionate about his efforts. All three have extremely knowledgeable and friendly staff. Just lucky to be in Lafayette I guess.

However, I do the majority of coral shopping on-line due to the variety of the more high end or exotic stock available. All three LFS in town seem primarily interested in selling fish with huge variety and great prices. They all do carry corals and welcome buying (store credit) corals from locals that want to get rid of some for resale., however, they are limited in high end coral livestock. I would love it if I lived next door to some of the coral vendors so I can see in person prior to purchase. The photo enhancement and super lighting that online vendors use make it hard to replicate the online purchase vibrance sometimes.

 

[Dragon52]

They are not close to me but I order from them they are great people

Yep, I've only been by there once, it adds an extra 20-30 minutes to my drive but worth it.

 

[jacksin]

For those who are fortunate enough to have a good LFS, please support them. It really sucks when you have to order even the most basic supplies. God forbid you have some type of disease or emergency pop up and you have to wait a couple days for your order to arrive.
15 yrs ago there were 2-3 options when looking for live brine shrimp, today none.

 

[vanisher187]

I do online. Only reason is my lfs is 3 1/2 hours away. For me the travel expenses of gas and what not is much more expensive than shipping. However every time i go somewhere with a reef store i usually pick up something. Even if its carbon or replacement cleaner crew. I wish my small town had a reef store, my lfs in town only does fresh water, and its limited at best.

 

[Andrew Schubert]

Simple....Online store offer way better guarantees. All the fish stores around me have 2 day guarantees. You cannot beat the 14 days with LiveAquaria, and 30 days with many online coral shops.

 

[freshy&salty]

I still havent been able to convince myself buying livestock online is worth it but supplies for sure. Im super lucky as we have 6 LFS's that are all really high quality, 1 coral only, within a 20 min drive of our house and then theres 3 Petcos and 2 Petsmart's also if its an emergency, then theres a smattering of smaller "indie" shops that can be hit or miss quality.
My goto LFS manager is a super cool guy and has the same tastes in more exotic fishes, like me, so it works out and if he doesnt have it he can order it with his next bulk order and I dont have to cover any shipping at all. Im super spoiled.
But any supplies I need, definitely all come from the interwebs.
I almost bought this guy there today. A Warty Orange Angler. So cool.

 

[exasperatus2002]

To those who like to buy stuff online better, why?

For me personally, I save gas (my LFS is 23 miles away), wear on my car, time, and maybe healthier specimens, though shipping fee can be a lot if below $150. My nearest LFS has so few selections that I keep seeing the same specimens every time I visit. That being said driving to LFS and seeing fish in person are so fun.

I am new to the hobby and currently setting up my 1st reef tank. There are reputable companies like WWC have a good selection of cheap frags on ebay so I can get a decent selection at minimum cost so it's not such a loss if I screw up & kill stuff. My closest stores are big box stores and their stuff is either brown & blah to look at or they're on the way out. There's one saltwater store thats out of the way to me. Last I looked in one tank, I saw a cool orange sponge. Then some Big bristle worm crawled out of a hole in it and crawled into another hole. So Im not a fan of that store as for corals. They had good supplies and fish. But shudder at the thought of whats in their live rock!

 

[valval]

I love both but have to say when you make a find like this at your lfs for only 30$ you feel like you have won the lotto

 

[valval]

can't beat it

 

[ImNemo]

My lfs only offers guarantees on freshwater fish. So I stopped supporting him when my last two died the day after I received them and both times I've had him order me fish they died before I even picked them up from the store.

 

[valval]

not all stores are good that's really terrible but if your lucky like us and 5 storeswithin 30 min drive you should definitely support them they are the back bones of the hobby

 

[valval]

the good ones that is if they do bussiness they won't be in bussiness for long anyway

 

[valval]

if they do bad bussiness like that they won't last long anyway