Borneman's Reefkeeping Magazine article

[dizzy]

Does anyone know if Marine Depot is a walk in retail store too? I couldn't tell from the info below. Here is the postal address:
MarineDepotLive
1300 East Gene Autry Way
Anaheim, CA 92805


About us
MarineDepotLive is the one-stop shop for marine hobbyist. We aim to be your ultimate source for the healthiest aquaria. Our selection includes hundreds of fish, corals, invertebrates, live rock and sand (including rare and hard-to-find species) from all over the world.

We select from the best and healthiest for our customers. Stationed near the Los Angeles International Airport, MarineDepotLive receives stock from all over the world. We select only strong, active and healthy aquaria for our customers. We don't pick out aquaria that are unhealthy, improperly handled or improperly shipped (less travel trauma means increased survivability).

The wide selection at MarineDepotLive allows you to choose from hundreds of species of fish and invertebrates, including rare and hard-to-find aquaria. We are also continually on the lookout for the best livestock.

We believe in uncompromising customer service. It's fundamental to our operating philosophy. We are committed to delivering the highest quality marine life in a timely manner. We also seek to provide you the best information you need to make your marine hobby a fulfilling and successful one. That is why we pack every shipment with acclimation instructions and advice on how to best help your new friend adjust to his or her new home.

When your new pet arrives at your door, you can be assured it's been pre-screened for health and vitality! All fish, inverts, corals and live rock have to pass a rigorous inspection after being selected for shipment. The technician who packs your order carefully screens each potential tank mate for health, color and quality. It's then expertly packed and delivered to you. Also, upon opening your package, you'll find important Acclimation Procedures explaining how to successfully introduce your newest tank mate.

 

[OUinLA]

It's not a walk in store but you can pick stuff up at "will call" if you are local and have ordered before hand. At least that was the practice when I use to buy from there a few months ago.

 

[just dave]

I'm sure a large initial influx will be due to curiousness. Prolonged participation will be another matter. I wish it/you/all well with it.

 

[dizzy]

It's not a walk in store but you can pick stuff up at "will call" if you are local and have ordered before hand. At least that was the practice when I use to buy from there a few months ago.

OU You must have been sucked in tight. I just found this in the frequently asked questions:

Does MarineDepotLive have a retail store? May I come by and pick up my order?
No, our only retail outlet is online. Sorry, we cannot accommodate pickup orders or shopping at our facility. Though we would like to service you this way, our current resources and desire to keep our prices low doesn't allow us to offer this now.

You know I think these guys and others like them may have found the perfect business model for retail. If fact if you were to search my previous posting you would see where I predicted such a model would become the norm. Phone hours 7:30-4 M-F Closed weekends. Even Joe blow in his garage in Indy will have a hard time competeting with this. I wonder how much it costs to rent 200-300sq ft of rundown warehouse space near LAX?

PS
I have seen Eric Borneman run down stores who have to actually tank the animals they sell, if conditions are not perfect. I actually saw one email where he said they should be put in jail. These guys have no way of knowing if the animals are eating or not before they ship. It must be nice not to have to do water changes ,wipe down tanks, feed fish, pay freight, or absorb loses. Or even put up with the public and their bratty kids. I guess I could get used to living in LA. I love the weather there. :wink:
Mitch

 

[danieldm]

Mr Kirda-

Regarding my hybrid comment that you quoted. I agree that I did misstate my point...I meant to say electric vehicles which are by far reliant upon recharging stations. The hybrids with the charging/brake are actually pretty cool. My apologies for spreading inaccuracies.

To all-
As far as Marine Depot goes, in my opinion they are nothing more than an very large, glamorized garage operation. I have never been in Marine Depot, but I have been inside of Marine Depot Live. They have very limited live tank space, and most of what they do have tanked is the stuff in their "Oddities & Rarities" and "Exotic Treasures" pages. For the bulk of their other items, they send out people every day to hit the various wholesalers searching for the items to fill their orders.

In regards to RC...there seems to be some confusion. Whenever someome questions RC in regards to their profits, or motives, what you always hear is that the "experts" receive very little money, and that all of the MODs are volunteers, and that it takes a lot of money to run the board. They currently have 110000+ members listed, and 63 sponsors.
Figure that a paltry 2% of those members are "paying" members at $24 annually they would be receiving $52800 a year in membership.

63 Sponsors at $500 (price I was quoted a few motnhs ago) is $378000 annually.

A total annual take of approx. $430800, or $35900 per month. It takes no where near $35900 to run that site each month. From what I could see, this money all appears to go into the pocket of one or two individuals. Even figuring expenses at 50%, that's still $17950 a month. I could live on that.

For anyone to even hint at, to even suggest that RC has become anything other than a business, with for profit motives, is fooling themselves.

Marc

 

[danieldm]

As a quick side note, the $500 sponsorship fee that I was quoted is the starting sponsorship level. They go up from there, so the $378000 annually that I used could actually be quite a bit higher.

Marc

 

[Anonymous]

dizzy, as someone who works at MD, i can only say that 99% of all of your conjecture is (so far as usual) at the best, off base-but you seem to always be one to more jump the gun, and arrive at (often sensationalistic) conclusions loooong before you know what the facts actually are

 

[Anonymous]

Mr Kirda-

Regarding my hybrid comment that you quoted. I agree that I did misstate my point...I meant to say electric vehicles which are by far reliant upon recharging stations. The hybrids with the charging/brake are actually pretty cool. My apologies for spreading inaccuracies.

To all-
As far as Marine Depot goes, in my opinion they are nothing more than an very large, glamorized garage operation. I have never been in Marine Depot, but I have been inside of Marine Depot Live. They have very limited live tank space, and most of what they do have tanked is the stuff in their "Oddities & Rarities" and "Exotic Treasures" pages. For the bulk of their other items, they send out people every day to hit the various wholesalers searching for the items to fill their orders.

In regards to RC...there seems to be some confusion. Whenever someome questions RC in regards to their profits, or motives, what you always hear is that the "experts" receive very little money, and that all of the MODs are volunteers, and that it takes a lot of money to run the board. They currently have 110000+ members listed, and 63 sponsors.
Figure that a paltry 2% of those members are "paying" members at $24 annually they would be receiving $52800 a year in membership.

63 Sponsors at $500 (price I was quoted a few motnhs ago) is $378000 annually.

A total annual take of approx. $430800, or $35900 per month. It takes no where near $35900 to run that site each month. From what I could see, this money all appears to go into the pocket of one or two individuals. Even figuring expenses at 50%, that's still $17950 a month. I could live on that.

For anyone to even hint at, to even suggest that RC has become anything other than a business, with for profit motives, is fooling themselves.

Marc

ROFLMAO!!!


we happen to have some of the more knowledgable hobbyists around helping our customers, are nothing like a 'garage operation', and the recurring feedback we get most often from the customers we help seems to be what crappy and often totally bogus advice they get from b&m stores

you couldn't have been 'inside' MDL without passing through MD, btw, and you have no knowledge as to how our livestock is actually held and obtained

now go join the 'dizzy club'

 

[Anonymous]

nothing more entertaining than an industry forum where so many in the industry post as much mistaken/assumed/incorrect info as is posted here daily :lol:

 

[danieldm]

vitz-

Granted that the last time I was in MDLive was 1.5 years ago. But when I was there you had an employee named Eric that was doing the daily running around filling orders, unfortunately you had to let him go because he was a Mexican national with questionable credentials for working in the US. I can even draw you a diagram of the building you were in. I spoke to Eric on numerous occasions, and when I was in there I spoke to the guy that used to be at ffexpress, white guy, long blond hair, but I can't remember his name.

I had no idea you were connected with MD. Is Lech (spelling may be off) still your owner? I still rememebr all the rumors about him being connected to the Asian mafia.

 

[JT]

often totally bogus advice they get from b&m stores

So is Jenn Ms. Bogus and am I Mr. Crappy or is Mitch Mr. Bogus AND Crappy? We just need to be sure of who we are dealing with here. :lol:

I'm sure MD has never, ever, given out ANY bad or contradictory advice before. No one is perfect, not even you. :wink:

Perfect example of etailers mis-information. Panther Grouper, a commonly sold internet fish that usually gets sold online to only end up traded to an LFS when it grows too big. Happens here quite often.

Quoted from MDL's site:
"Maximum Size: the Cromileptes altivelis grows up to 11 inches."

I'm looking at our 1000 gallon tank right now and the 2' Panther named Hercules. :wink: According to Scott Michael, this beauty grows to 27.6 inches (pg. 98 ) in the pocket guide.

Also on MDL's site, the Pterosynchiropus splendidus page is filled with contradictory information. First stating that they will, with patience, adapt to flake food but then warning at the end that "Sadly, this fish normally dies as it is often purchased and kept in under established tanks without enough food to consume". Cryptic, contradictory, descriptions like this confuse newbies usually to the point where they feel they can risk the purchase because it says it's possible to eat flake food with "patience". Patient newbies, yeah right. In 20 years, I have never seen a mandarin eat flake. Lastly, someone needs to tell MDL that a Green Mandarin is NOT a goby.

Now, what were you saying about Bogus vitz?

I've ordered livestock via the internet several times before. Never once has any one asked me about my tank, if I even had one, before completing my transaction. We give customers the third degree here before they walk out with a fish, even the freshies.

- Uncle Ballbuster

 

[JT]

Also vitz, PLEASE have someone fix all the typos on MDL's site. I've counted at least 20 in the 50 seconds it took to find those "bogus" statistics. :wink:

- Uncle Fawker

 

[danieldm]

I am sure that JT dealt with the online daily order pickers, like Eric from MDL, while he was at SDC.

 

[JT]

I am sure that JT dealt with the online daily order pickers, like Eric from MDL, while he was at SDC.

Most, wisely, chose to avoid me. :wink:

- Uncle Cherry Picker

 

[danieldm]

JT-

Do you remember the guys name from ffexpress, white guy, long blond hair sort of like a rocker/biker look?

 

[JT]

I don't recall many faces from FFE, they were pretty much "assimilated" around the same time I joined SDC I think (or shortly there after).

There is actually one jobber I do respect because he always respected, quite professionally, the limits we had to impose on cherries and took his share of Bread & Butter as well. Nothing worse than a jobber coming into a wholesaler and trying to buy all the rare fairy wrasses, for example, and nothing else. You get kicked out pretty fast for that, but I won't mention any names. :wink:

- Uncle Fester

 

[dizzy]

Yeah vitz if you work there then tell us who owns it. I think Mary M used to work for that guy Lech. When it was called Aquatic Depot. Is it the same place? Is he still the owner?
Mitch

 

[JT]

I think you guys are confusing Lek, owner of Aquatic Depot, with Ken Wong, owner of Marine Depot. Both are different companies.

Lec is out of the wholesale biz, he still has a retail store near LAX though.

- Uncle Cracker

 

[danieldm]

JT's right, Lec is the other guy.

 

[JT]

Lek's retail store is named Aquatic Outlet and they are on S. Hindry Ave.

http://aquaticoutlet.com/

- JT