Retail prices for marine aquarium fish, inverts and corals?

[bjamin1]

Is anyone aware of a comprehensive list of retail prices for marine aquarium fish, invertebrates and corals? Which would include species name, price and retail company. Thanks.

 

[melosu58]

Aquarium Fish: Tropical Freshwater Fish and Saltwater Fish for Home Aquariums

 

[CaptainAhab]

Retail is by definition competitive pricing. Your not going to find a comprehensive list by product/species that lists the retail price across retailers. There are online search engines that will let you compare retail prices across specific products (at any given point in time)

 

[bjamin1]

I was hoping that, by chance, someone has compiled such a list, or knows of a list that exists, that captures retail prices at a specific point in time. I know that prices fluctuate, but by having a "snap shot" list I could get an idea of retail prices by species, for many species, without looking them up one by one on the internet.

 

[Brad.Sedore]

i have found with this hobby moreso than my others (reptiles) prices off animals are WAY to unstable across the board to make any such list. for example live aquaria prices a dwarf fuzzy lionfish at about 20 bucks... here i see them at prices anywhere from 60-100 bucks. another example is at my local big als they had a tire track eel priced at 20 bucks... a week later its at 30... you really cant get an idea for what things will cost at what places..

but to answer your question i look at live aquaria when i get a species in mind and take the prices very loosely expecting anywhere from 10-300 dollars in fluctuations .. sorry if i couldent be more of a help

-Brad

 

[Innovator]

It would be very impractical to create a stocklist based on retail pricing due to fluctuating livestock availabilities and the different mark-up percentages per each retail venue taking into account the availability of the animal (extent of capture: location and depth), popularity of any given animal, and the volume on hand. If anything, you would be better off trying to compose a list including several stores, comparing/contrasting, and understanding that at any given week the rate could change.

 

[bjamin1]

Thanks everyone for your input on my questions. If it isn't obvious, I don't have an aquarium myself. I'm a university graduate student working on a project looking into the global marine aquarium trade. Part of my contribution to this project includes attempting to quantify the value of the trade throughout the value chain (collector, middleman, exporter, importer, retail) and examining the trade's socio-economics. I thought that I would step outside some of the traditional means of gathering data and information, and give this aquarium forum a try. I imagine that this forum contains a collective knowledge that could contribute to my research. If anyone has information or experience to share, you can reply to this thread, or contact me directly at bjamin1@hotmail.com. Thanks again.

 

[CaptainAhab]

Try wetwebmedia, they have a section on the business-side of the hobby. You may find some insight there