are LFS's necessary for the hobby, or not???

[zle]

not sure what is the big deal here.
if the price from LFS is too high, simply walk away....
You will never know when things happen to your tank and you would be glad that they are around too.

I do not support any LFS and neither online. I only support myself to save money.

I put it this way, if the same stuffs that you could get online cheaper and they deliver to your door, I would do that. If the LFS is lower and convenience, I will buy from them too.

Just remember that there are times you would be glad that they are around that is all.

 

[dz6t]

As a consumer, I think LFS and online stores should offer different value and service.
I will go to a local store to pickup frozen food instead of order it online. I will buy a fish or coral locally instead of going online. Years ago I did a group order from the largest online vendor for a bunch of fish, despite the great service from the vendor, the survival rate of the fish were low and it took a lot of trouble for us to sort things out with the vendor. I really don't think the lower price worth the trouble.
On the other hand, I will buy dry good online because they are sgnificantly cheaper. Many online vendors are offering free shipping as low as $50 purchase.

 

[djk83]

My first experience of a lfs here in ma was a joke. I seen more disease and parasites then I have in my 10+ years in the hobby. That being said they are always good to have around in a pinch.

 

[delta]

My first experience of a lfs here in ma was a joke. I seen more disease and parasites then I have in my 10+ years in the hobby. That being said they are always good to have around in a pinch.

you have to know where to go. However you are not in the best location being in Kingston. I am not far from you and lived in Kingston for some time. There used to be a few good stores but they are all gone now. You basically have petco, petsmart, "fin,fur&feather" and the occasional new store that never make it.. Outside of a 35+ minute drive there is nothing on the southshore

Underwaterworld, CRA, Seacreatures, Unique Aquaria, are all within a 1hr and decent stores. There is also Lovely pet in Quincy but I haven't been is years, but was decent

 

[dz6t]

+1 for what Delta said.
If you go to the right stores, even Petco has good live stocks.
For example, Petco in Leominster is quite good. The one in Needham off I-95 exit 19 is good as well. They all have knowledgable staffs there and carry ORA fish and coral.

 

[joek99]

As with any hobby, the hobbyist needs to do due diligence in his/her search for the right answers to questions. Just as this thread promotes thoughtful discussion and various opinions on the need for LFSs, hobbyists and LFSs will have different opinions as well. With that said, there are many reputable LFSs out there who are an indispensable resource to us. For example, when your return pump on the DT dies right before your'e going away for the weekend and one call to the LFS who is closed at the time but answers his cell phone says he can hook you up to get you through the weekend. Or when the power goes out and you need somewhere to temporarily house the $100 fairy wrasse you just bought on line last week. I think it very helpful to walk through a store with various tanks set up and see the interaction of livestock first hand before purchasing or considering to purchase. For myself, interacting with a fellow enthusiast, albeit store owner, is much more satisfying than clicking the button "add to cart".

 

[WoodRiverTroutBum]

All good points Joe. I DO like supporting certain stores but sometimes I simply can not afford to. Sure the interaction at the store is great but it is hard to beat the interaction when the UPS driver pulls up haha. I just feel that if I am going to spend good money at a LFS and do my part by giving them my business, it would be nice if they would look out for us and not charge double on dry goods.

 

[joek99]

When the UPS driver walks up the driveway, Max and Dillon, our two 90lb labs, try to grab the packages because they think its a toy for them lol. I would hate to be the fish in the box.:dog:

 

[SteveDola]

personally i think the idea of not having LFS for our hobby is preposterous. there is knowledge first off at the point of sale. you dont have to wait 3-5 days to get that peice of equipment in the mail which could be an eternity if its an emergency. you can SEE what youre actually buying and how they react/eat/appear---not just on a computer screen. many times live stock wont ship well and they eat that cost when the fish dies in 7 days...I dont mind paying 10-20% more if I am getting a healthy fish/coral, theres a trade off. try calling up a website 6 mths from now when your pump dies/ballast blows...see what they do for you and how long it takes...then compare that to some of our LFS that will make sure you get the peice fixed/replaced on the spot/or have a sub in the mean time.

LFS are more expensive but you have to search around and find the good ones with good prices/good info----as terry francona said,"do your homework"

 

[Kungfukid]

Make your own judgement
It is your money, whatever best for you go for it

 

[anthonymit]

I think that LFS need to be price competitive to make any sense. Look at Tropic Isle for example. Their prices are absolutely outrageous. I went there one time asking them to price match a Seaclear aquarium that I could get delivered to my door at a certain price, about 30% less than their price. They told me the best they can do is 10% off their list price. They even confirmed with the wholesaler that I was in touch with that I could get the lower price that was listed.

What the hell is with that? I got so sick of the poor prices and the poorer attitudes (from certain staff). I began to exclusively order online because it just didn't make sense to buy local for dry goods, and I've had bad luck with their live goods.

Occasionally they have livestock that is comparably priced, but whenever you buy it make sure to not transfer ANY of their tank water into yours. They have copper running throughout their large fish tanks devoid of everything but fish.

Bottom line though--price is key. I have wholesale and distributor contacts and I can tell you that it is 100% possible for local stores to match online stores. Livestock is more of a grey area, but dry goods should be at the very least matchable. I think you guys have already covered all the bases for why a LFS can be useful. One thing that was sort of left out was replacement under warranty. Most manufacturers don't require the end user to handle warranty so you can deal with a lot less headaches when you need a RMA.

 

[Bobbofin]

This thread is almost year old, give it a break. I am thankful for my local LFS, especially when I have an emergency at 10:30 Friday night. I appreciate service. I use the 15% rule. If you are within 15% of the cost of a online retailer's price of the item plus shipping you have my business. I think it is unreasonable to expect LFS to match online retailers 100% of time.

 

[Lenovo]

I think there are things that we want to buy online and some other things we want to rather buy from the LFS

Without LFS, I probably would have to pay a ton of money on shipping/delivery fees for my tank

I also rather pay a few extra money to buy fish from the store rather than online. Most of my dry goods are from online and I think most of us buy online because they are cheaper and free delivery

So I think it is necessary to have them and it is good to have them around. Too bad none LFS sells high end coral stuffs