Save money!!! shop at these online sources...

[xahx]

www.bigalsonline.com

www.marinedepot.com

These 2 wholesalers have saved me bundles of money rather than buying retail at the [acronym:9dd51905e4="Local Fish Store"]lfs[/acronym:9dd51905e4]...

So since i saved, i figured i would share so the rest of our community can save too!

Everyone loves to save!

[Ximat]

I have saved quite a bit over my [acronym:48e7ff1e5f="Local Fish Store"]LFS[/acronym:48e7ff1e5f] with some stuff. I still like to buy some stuff from the [acronym:48e7ff1e5f="Local Fish Store"]LFS[/acronym:48e7ff1e5f] to show my support and to pay for their knowledge. My rule of thumb is if i can save more than $10 buying online, i will.

[xahx]

good rule of thumb! Yea if the diference is chump change ill go to my [acronym:3a7e81c7bd="Local Fish Store"]lfs[/acronym:3a7e81c7bd]! i like it there, but Powerheads, filtration, chemicals etc... way over priced!

Example:

Aquaclear 300 @ [acronym:3a7e81c7bd="Local Fish Store"]LFS[/acronym:3a7e81c7bd] = 59.99
Aquaclear 300 @ marinedepot.com=32.99

Ridiculous!!

Someone should open a store that only makes profit off the llivestock, ad wholesale all other goods.

[Ximat]

I just ordered some stuff from BigAl's

SeaClone Skimmer Big Als 59.99 [acronym:6a3149d184="Local Fish Store"]LFS[/acronym:6a3149d184] 99.99
MaxiJet 1200 Big Als 20ish [acronym:6a3149d184="Local Fish Store"]LFS[/acronym:6a3149d184] 34.99
Ebo-Jager 50w Heater Big Als 13.99ish [acronym:6a3149d184="Local Fish Store"]LFS[/acronym:6a3149d184] Comparable 24.99


I hate to take my business elsewhere, but with price differences like that what am i supposed to do?

As for fish, i don't trust online livestock purchases, so i'll go to the [acronym:6a3149d184="Local Fish Store"]lfs[/acronym:6a3149d184] no matter what.

[RMPD109]

Dont forget about the site sponsers here. I just made another order with www.captivereefs.com I am very happy with the service there

[jamal-188]

I"m lucky enough to work at a great [acronym:bcf016e06a="Local Fish Store"]LFS[/acronym:bcf016e06a](not just saying that because I work there ) I travel on a regular basis to other stores in the area and have seen some insane markups....

Maxijet 1200: local store $41
my work $20

Marineland heaters local $35-45
my work $15-20

Poly pads: local $11
my work $6

I realize we get great quanitiy discount when dealing direct from manufactors but I just don't understand when local stores charge twice what we do.....just greed I guess?


Luckly I don't have to pay shipping and I even get a discount Too bad I spend much more $$ working here becasue I get to check out all the fish/inverts/corals before customers get there hands on them!!

[captivereefs]

some [acronym:122278e23a="Local Fish Store"]LFS[/acronym:122278e23a] have overheads that go over 10K a month. Most charge what they have to to survive. Also what the local market will bear.

[jamal-188]

I do understand that overhead and locatoin etc... have a lot to do with pricing....but I know what we pay for items and I know we get it a lot cheaper than most little stores but I just can't see twice the price.

I do know that some places mark stuff up because of location espically some in the big cities if no other stores are around forcing customers to either pay a premium or not buy the item.

I"m not saying this is wrong or right, everybody has their own opinon. I'm just glad I live in a area with a good deal of local fish stores and have a wide selection of places to shop at.

[cmor1701d]

If I remember correctly, you work at TFP, one of the largest on-line/catalog stores. What they sell items for is often less than a small [acronym:b98287a8f7="Local Fish Store"]lfs[/acronym:b98287a8f7] can buy the item for through a distributor. Your company deals directly with the manufacturer for many items while the smaller [acronym:b98287a8f7="Local Fish Store"]lfs[/acronym:b98287a8f7] must buy through a distributor. That adds additonal shipping and a middleman to the picture.

Your employer is located in an area of low property taxes and low rents vs. the city store where the rent is high, the taxes are high, the basic cost of doing business is high. Twice the price at a NCY store? That's just the economics of retail.

I have a [acronym:b98287a8f7="Local Fish Store"]lfs[/acronym:b98287a8f7] that deals in livestock for 90+% of it's business. They have great variety and I've never experienced a loss from them. The other [acronym:b98287a8f7="Local Fish Store"]lfs[/acronym:b98287a8f7]'s are typical of retail locations. They try to sell you more than you need, the prices are high and the livestock is, well, I have not anything survive [acronym:b98287a8f7="quarantine or quart depending on context"]qt[/acronym:b98287a8f7] from these places.

So I go online for dry goods and buy livestock locally (95% of the time).

[jamal-188]

Originally Posted by cmor1701d

If I remember correctly, you work at TFP, one of the largest on-line/catalog stores. What they sell items for is often less than a small [acronym:e76b19472a="Local Fish Store"]lfs[/acronym:e76b19472a] can buy the item for through a distributor. Your company deals directly with the manufacturer for many items while the smaller [acronym:e76b19472a="Local Fish Store"]lfs[/acronym:e76b19472a] must buy through a distributor. That adds additonal shipping and a middleman to the picture.

Your employer is located in an area of low property taxes and low rents vs. the city store where the rent is high, the taxes are high, the basic cost of doing business is high. Twice the price at a NCY store? That's just the economics of retail.

I do understand all of this. I know what we pay for most items and I also know what other smaller stores pay for items. I'm comparing stores nearby not those in NYC where taxes, rent etc... are much much higher. For example there are two stores in allentown, less than 10 minutes apart neather being actually in the city. One sells maxijet [acronym:e76b19472a="power head or Measure of the concentration of hydrogen ions, depending on context"]ph[/acronym:e76b19472a]'s for $40+ the other sells them for $19(comparable to the prices we sell them for). Most of the items are priced like this...... Now maybe the one store takes a wash on dry goods and jus makes money on live stock...but their live stock is priced very reasonalby as well.

I do agree that some stores can, will and/or have to charge more due to many circumstances that the average person does not realize...I just don't understand when certain stores need to charge 2x the price of surronding stores. I would think they would be a bit smarter and try to shop around making prices at least close so they don't loose all their business to surronding stores or online sales.