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 [acronym:9d4ab12ab3="Gallon"]gal[/acronym:9d4ab12ab3] of Reef Crystals for $44. Shipping was only $8. I thought that was pretty good since my [acronym:9d4ab12ab3="Local Fish Store"]LFS[/acronym:9d4ab12ab3] 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 [acronym:247ad7ca4d="Gallon"]gal[/acronym:247ad7ca4d] though ane Oceanic is 200. One [acronym:247ad7ca4d="Local Fish Store"]LFS[/acronym:247ad7ca4d] 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 [acronym:f66106836e="power head or Measure of the concentration of hydrogen ions, depending on context"]PH[/acronym:f66106836e]'s in the store here though.

[the21kid]

Not sure if my [acronym:978193b7ec="Local Fish Store"]LFS[/acronym:978193b7ec] 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 [acronym:1116ea6a5b="Local Fish Store"]lfs[/acronym:1116ea6a5b] with anywhere near reasonable prices is 75 miles from me. ( Pet Expo in Mankato) I will NEVER buy another piece of equipment from a [acronym:1116ea6a5b="Local Fish Store"]lfs[/acronym:1116ea6a5b] 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 [acronym:1116ea6a5b="Power compact fluorescent"]pc[/acronym:1116ea6a5b] with 2 55w bulbs for $58. I'd be lucky to get the bulbs for that price around here.