Pricing rant.

[easyian]

I recently moved to medium town Canada(100 000 people) from a large metropolis area. I must say I am very disappointed with the pricing of marine supplies here. I ran out of salt last night doing a water change and set out this morning to find some. I was dumbfounded when, at a major petstore chain, I found a bucket of IO salt for a mere $118.00 before taxes. I was floored. So to the next place. All they had were 7lb bags of Kent salt for the low low price of $27.00. I couldn't believe it. In Van I would cruise over to J&L Aquatics and buy the same bucket of IO for $39.95. So I went online to my old faithful and ordered a bucket of IO and a Maxi jet 1200 for less that a bucket of salt here including the shipping.

AHHH Now I feel better.

 

[jenpc]

It's cheaper to order it online here too. I am not near a big city either. It is very aggravating. I can't even go out and buy fish or most supplies anywhere within 80 miles from here. I have had some luck with www.liveaquaria.com . If anyone knows of other reliable places to order online, let me know.
Thanks!

 

[JohnS]

We had a lot of luck with JustAquatics.com. Salt price was comparable to other online sites, but shipping was MUCH cheaper. I got 160 gal of Reef Crystals for $44. Shipping was only $8. I thought that was pretty good since my LFS charges $80 for the same thing. Most of the other sites I checked had a standard ~$8 shipping charge PLUS some additional fee in the order of $15-$25.

I'm not sure what other products they carry, but for salt they are pretty good.

 

[fishfreek]

A bucket of IO will run ya $70US here at the local stores. Online you can get it for $30something plus about $15 shipping per bucket.

 

[ellisz]

In IN/KY, a bucket of IO is $45. I switched to Oceanic when it became availabe here it it cost $70. IO is 145 gal though ane Oceanic is 200. One LFS here puts it onsale for 20% off sometimes.

What I hate is other equipment. A maxijet 1200 can be $30 before 6% tax. Online they can be had for $19 or so.

 

[cmor1701d]

Jen,

There are lots of places to buy drygoods livestock online. There should be a thread on one of the fora about that topic. If not, maybe it's time to start a new thread.

 

[fishman]

Easy
An idea...I dont know if you have a Petsmart in your area but in my area, I can take a print out out the online price ($9.99) and they will match it in the store. The in store price is $19.99....BIG savings!

 

[ellisz]

I did the Petsmart.com price match on a heater. Very good idea if you need certain things. They don't sell maxijet PH's in the store here though.

 

[the21kid]

Not sure if my LFS is supposed to but they sell me a box of IO for around $50...I think it has 4 50 gallon bags....I am assuming this a a relatively good price

 

[arowanaman420]

I am also outraged at the prices around here(S. MN) A bucket of IO goes for $85 here. A Seaclone 100 skimmer sells for $150 to $175. Online they're $50. A maxijet 900 is $35. I got mine for $15. The only lfs with anywhere near reasonable prices is 75 miles from me. ( Pet Expo in Mankato) I will NEVER buy another piece of equipment from a lfs again. Sounds like I'd even be better off buying salt online and paying shipping. Superfishstore.com has good prices/customer service. I got a jebo 24" 110w pc with 2 55w bulbs for $58. I'd be lucky to get the bulbs for that price around here.

 

[the21kid]

Overhead folks....LFS's have overhead and then a profit that they need to have as well. In most cases this is why prices are more. A LFS will not continue to overcharge if no one buys the product. They will drop the price and/or remove it totally. I am not saying that all LFS's are the same...nor are all online places....keep in mind that in most situations..you get what you pay for. When spending a lot of money on something it doesn't hurt to ask for a deal....

 

[easyian]

I understand the overhead issue. BUT A major petstore like petsmart or petcetera has the advantage of buying in large volumes so theoretically their pricing should be cheaper than the little guy on the corner. This may work on paper but infact it is never true. If you check out pricing on www.jlaquatics.com the price you pay online is the price you pay walking into their store. The only problem for me is they are 4 hours away now. The same bucket of IO salt that is $118.00 plus tax, at the major chain, I paid $72.00 inc tax and shipping through J&L.