LFS vs. Online discussion split from FosterSmith Poll
- Thread starter Matt L.
- Start date
RichConley
Attack of the Killer Cute
Damn Al Gore and his creating the intarweb.
marco67
Smart is.. a box of rocks
Yes not too useful....but at least he gave us Gore-Tex
dz6t
Acro Garden, BRS Sponsor
Yes not too useful....but at least he gave us Gore-Tex
Not he did not. That is not the right Gore.
probably going to get my head chewed off here but i'm going to say it anyway
I often avoid things made in the USA purely because a lot of it is junk,price does'nt always come into it.
Obviously this is not a blanket statement but it is definitely something i consider on certain products.
coming from a Brit it doesnt surprise me
as far as the other post they are book reports and dont have intention or the attention span to read them
Liam
letting it grow
coming from a Brit it doesnt surprise me
as far as the other post they are book reports and dont have intention or the attention span to read them
nothing personal, i would'nt buy half the crap made in GB either
dz6t
Acro Garden, BRS Sponsor
nothing personal, i would'nt buy half the crap made in GB either
You mean Land Rover Over?
OP
OP
Matt L.
Non-member
Yeah, what's up with that? I hear the quality of Jaguars has been lousy for years now, not that I would ever be in the market for one any time soonnothing personal, i would'nt buy half the crap made in GB either
Matt
Liam
letting it grow
Yeah, what's up with that? I hear the quality of Jaguars has been lousy for years now, not that I would ever be in the market for one any time soon
Matt
HA HA ,yes since Ford bought them
fanaglethebagle
Not-so-old Sea Dog
Yeah, what's up with that? I hear the quality of Jaguars has been lousy for years now, not that I would ever be in the market for one any time soon
Matt
Speaking of that, I saw 3 jaguars at school the other day. OWNED BY STUDENTS!!!
smcnally
Tankless
Well, you do live in Dover.
fanaglethebagle
Not-so-old Sea Dog
Wow, this thread got long.....
If many of you had even a clue as to what the costs are involved in running an LFS in the northeast, this thread would go a whole different direction. It can not be compared at all to the likes of a LA/Dr.Fosters. Not even on the same ballfield. It truly is just not possible to stock items and compete with online pricing (on some things)
Just to clear a few things up. (about AG only)
Prices as well as arrival date and origin (if known) of all fish are listed on the tanks. Unless the fish just came in that week. We do not put these up until the next week for a couple of reaons. 1. we really don't want to sell fish that just came in that week. 2.if they die or sell in the first week there was no point in printing the label. Believe it or not those little white labels are not cheap, and do take abit of time to make. So this is purely trying to save a litle bit of overhead.
Prices are not listed for corals for several reasons
I hate the look of prices on my tanks. But I am starting to break here. Mainly because we are so busy, and I do understand this will speed things up for people.
The main reason is several times I know that (at other shops, and twice here) Corals were marked. A coral was moved to catch a fish, not put back. Now in front of another price, and sold for $$$ much less than it should have. In turn losing the small profit margin there is on livestock. (when you actually take into consideration of the overhead -- death/loss, electricity, water, salt food, additives, media, rent, staff salary) We cannot afford to lose over $100 dollars because something is in the wrong place.
And NOBODY should be pulling prices out of there butt. If this is happeneing I would hope that someone would let me know. Several of us know most of the prices of everything in there, and if not we are supposed to check the invoice for what we paid then use our multiplier.
Honestly, you could ask me the price of 90% of the corals in the shop (even right here while I am sitting at home) and I can tell you the price. THere are also price lists, that anyone can see, of stuff that recently came in (these are usually on the fish cart in the fish room.)
I know for a fact that many many times I recieve phone calls on my cell phone when someone is unshure of the price of something.
And when possible which is very often we mach or beat most online prices (again when we can)
Also remember that As of January, this is my store and we are moving in a different direction than when we started a year ago. As someone mentioned we are a work in progress, and there is a whole lot going on for 4 of us to keep up with, but we are trying to accomodate, where we can. And constantly changing to better serve our customers. Remember nothing good happens fast, just like in our reefs.
As for Livestock Gaurantee, that is a real tough one for an LFS. Our posted policy is NO gaurantee on Livestock. BUT, if we know your tank, your equipment, and especially if a water sample is brought in before purchasing a fish, and you lose it we are usually willing to do what we can. Many times replacing the fish. But there are more times when it is not an educated hobbyist, that does not have good husbandry skills, or a mature enough tank, that is coming in because of a dead fish. To have a blanket replacement or gaurantee, would kill an LFS. We can not afford to refund $150 because someone bought a Queen angel in December and then went shopping before bringing the fish home. It dies 2-3 days later from stress related issues, the water is fine but the treatment was not. How do you handle these situations. Remember, LFS can not ever reach a fraction of the volume of sales LA can. That makes a HUGE difference in their ability to have this policy. Trust me do not think this is a dead issue (at least with us) My investors and I are brainstorming as to how AG can address this issue. This has been an issue I have been discussing with them for months way before this thread was started.
As for the $350 Mystery Wrasse, if you must know the truth, that is a particular situation.
First of all, it is a Five bar from Vanuatu, hence the amazing coloration, not to mention the size. ( it would probably go for $500 at TMC.com) It was origanally sold to a customer for $250. (which is the going price for them) He had it for a few months, and needed to get it out while he did some work to his tank. We offered to hold it for him, with the condition if it sold for crazy money it would sell and we would get him a new one. IE: we really did not want to sell it. But everything in a retail store should have a price. I can't stand the "sorry that is not for sale" So if someone wanted it that bad they could have had it. It actually went back home today, so I know many parties that will be happy.(including the fish, he was here for over 3 months) Now some people can stop fighting over it lol.
as a matter of fact we have had several in the shop lately for $180-$200 lower than I have seen tham at some online. (actually we have 2 in right now --cheap plug--
This debate will be never ending.
I always tell people if you are going to order something online, call a local sponsor and see if they can come close to a price of what you are willing to pay, or what it is going for online. I know in our case if it is a special order, and it is not in stock, or you don't mind waiting to get one shipped in (same as online) we will gladly try and match the price. If we can't then I will be the first to tell you to grab that great deal cause I can't touch it. No hard feeling especially if the effort was made to see if an LFS can compete.
But a lot of what is going on on the boards is a slap in the face, in the eyes of many LFS. But what can you do??? AS said before and I agree. Everyone has a personal preference and something that works for them, and no one should try and change that. You should do what works best for you. Because that is what really matters in the end.
"You will never be able to please Everyone"
-B-
sorry for the soapbox, but the LFS vs. Online is obviuosly a very personal thing for me
If any one would like to talk in depth about it I would be more than glad to do so in person. I really hate typing and it takes way too much time for me to write a book like this one , or even longer. lol
If many of you had even a clue as to what the costs are involved in running an LFS in the northeast, this thread would go a whole different direction. It can not be compared at all to the likes of a LA/Dr.Fosters. Not even on the same ballfield. It truly is just not possible to stock items and compete with online pricing (on some things)
Just to clear a few things up. (about AG only)
Prices as well as arrival date and origin (if known) of all fish are listed on the tanks. Unless the fish just came in that week. We do not put these up until the next week for a couple of reaons. 1. we really don't want to sell fish that just came in that week. 2.if they die or sell in the first week there was no point in printing the label. Believe it or not those little white labels are not cheap, and do take abit of time to make. So this is purely trying to save a litle bit of overhead.
Prices are not listed for corals for several reasons
I hate the look of prices on my tanks. But I am starting to break here. Mainly because we are so busy, and I do understand this will speed things up for people.
The main reason is several times I know that (at other shops, and twice here) Corals were marked. A coral was moved to catch a fish, not put back. Now in front of another price, and sold for $$$ much less than it should have. In turn losing the small profit margin there is on livestock. (when you actually take into consideration of the overhead -- death/loss, electricity, water, salt food, additives, media, rent, staff salary) We cannot afford to lose over $100 dollars because something is in the wrong place.
And NOBODY should be pulling prices out of there butt. If this is happeneing I would hope that someone would let me know. Several of us know most of the prices of everything in there, and if not we are supposed to check the invoice for what we paid then use our multiplier.
Honestly, you could ask me the price of 90% of the corals in the shop (even right here while I am sitting at home) and I can tell you the price. THere are also price lists, that anyone can see, of stuff that recently came in (these are usually on the fish cart in the fish room.)
I know for a fact that many many times I recieve phone calls on my cell phone when someone is unshure of the price of something.
And when possible which is very often we mach or beat most online prices (again when we can)
Also remember that As of January, this is my store and we are moving in a different direction than when we started a year ago. As someone mentioned we are a work in progress, and there is a whole lot going on for 4 of us to keep up with, but we are trying to accomodate, where we can. And constantly changing to better serve our customers. Remember nothing good happens fast, just like in our reefs.
As for Livestock Gaurantee, that is a real tough one for an LFS. Our posted policy is NO gaurantee on Livestock. BUT, if we know your tank, your equipment, and especially if a water sample is brought in before purchasing a fish, and you lose it we are usually willing to do what we can. Many times replacing the fish. But there are more times when it is not an educated hobbyist, that does not have good husbandry skills, or a mature enough tank, that is coming in because of a dead fish. To have a blanket replacement or gaurantee, would kill an LFS. We can not afford to refund $150 because someone bought a Queen angel in December and then went shopping before bringing the fish home. It dies 2-3 days later from stress related issues, the water is fine but the treatment was not. How do you handle these situations. Remember, LFS can not ever reach a fraction of the volume of sales LA can. That makes a HUGE difference in their ability to have this policy. Trust me do not think this is a dead issue (at least with us) My investors and I are brainstorming as to how AG can address this issue. This has been an issue I have been discussing with them for months way before this thread was started.
As for the $350 Mystery Wrasse, if you must know the truth, that is a particular situation.
First of all, it is a Five bar from Vanuatu, hence the amazing coloration, not to mention the size. ( it would probably go for $500 at TMC.com) It was origanally sold to a customer for $250. (which is the going price for them) He had it for a few months, and needed to get it out while he did some work to his tank. We offered to hold it for him, with the condition if it sold for crazy money it would sell and we would get him a new one. IE: we really did not want to sell it. But everything in a retail store should have a price. I can't stand the "sorry that is not for sale" So if someone wanted it that bad they could have had it. It actually went back home today, so I know many parties that will be happy.(including the fish, he was here for over 3 months) Now some people can stop fighting over it
lol.as a matter of fact we have had several in the shop lately for $180-$200 lower than I have seen tham at some online. (actually we have 2 in right now --cheap plug--
This debate will be never ending.
I always tell people if you are going to order something online, call a local sponsor and see if they can come close to a price of what you are willing to pay, or what it is going for online. I know in our case if it is a special order, and it is not in stock, or you don't mind waiting to get one shipped in (same as online) we will gladly try and match the price. If we can't then I will be the first to tell you to grab that great deal cause I can't touch it. No hard feeling especially if the effort was made to see if an LFS can compete.
But a lot of what is going on on the boards is a slap in the face, in the eyes of many LFS. But what can you do??? AS said before and I agree. Everyone has a personal preference and something that works for them, and no one should try and change that. You should do what works best for you. Because that is what really matters in the end.
"You will never be able to please Everyone"
-B-
sorry for the soapbox, but the LFS vs. Online is obviuosly a very personal thing for me
If any one would like to talk in depth about it I would be more than glad to do so in person. I really hate typing and it takes way too much time for me to write a book like this one , or even longer. lol
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