Would you care for a little cheese with your whine?

[JennM]

Did he say what he does about it? According to the website, everyone is on their honour, and they believe you. No pictures, no sending back dead fish...

What if somebody just has incredibly bad luck and a delivery man who likes to drop-kick boxes, and they have several shipments in a row, arrive dead? Does that raise a red flag somewhere?

Can't have it both ways - if it's no questions asked, it's no questions asked, no matter how many DOAs are reported. If there are limits, then there should be an * and a disclaimer someplace but I didn't see one.

Jenn

 

[dizzy]

You know they told me so much stuff I get a little confused. Maybe that person was just complaining on RC and a little research showed that no such order was sent. Something like that. I'm just a little shocked and dazed by learning how this industry really works for some. 8O It's really none of my business anyway. :roll: I'm just a 20-year retailer.

 

[chris&barb]

As the Net gets faster, Block buster and rental stores are history......then the idea of paying for a DVD at target will give way to downloading it on the web for free. (its hard to bank roll 350 million to shoot a flick when you cant recoup it with move ticket sales)

Apples and Oranges, if the movie co. can make there money back maybe they can stop paying the "stars" $30 mill. a flick.

this is my whole grip about your arguments here.

if you don't like what the wholesalers or distributors are doing, find one that does what you like! don't blame your competition, and don't pretend like you know how they run there business because you read there web site. your crying foul and saying "look what there doing" instead of saying "what can i do to stay competitive". its called adaptability folks! you want everyone to change to suit you, it doesnt work that way. Gas prices are killing me, by your thinking i should ask my boss to move his business closer to my house, instead of me car pooling , taking the bus or putting my fat butt on a bike.

i buy at least 90% of my stuff from the LFS, i have about 7 LFS's within a 30min. drive of my house.6 of them are crap and were crap 10 years ago. if i want to go to a great LFS i have to drive 2 1/2 hours and dont mind doing it. and i know that there are alot of other people that do it. we call them "road trips". if your not getting people doing this with your stores they maybe its not the e-tailers that are to blame.

 

[Anonymous]

Do you LFS owners located in major cities believe that your local customers are buying etail and paying shipping charges rather than shopping at your LFS? :?:

If it gets to a point where all the rare unusual fish and coral are spoken for by the etailers then no matter where you live they will be you're only choice. as a hobbyist the thing that bothers me is all the rare colored acro's and odd ball fish aren't available locally most of the time. at best it is a "be there when the shipment comes in" thing and hope something good comes out of the box. i live in the cincy area and there are several stores but good colored corals are pretty rare. the problem isn't damsels and yellow tangs. it is the expensive stuff that will be/is the problem as i see it.

 

[danieldm]

if you don't like what the wholesalers or distributors are doing, find one that does what you like! don't blame your competition, and don't pretend like you know how they run there business because you read there web site.

The problem is that many of then are lieing about whether or not they allow cherry picking, and etailers to come in and pull small orders to fill the days orders. Every wholesaler I have ever dealt with has a customer packet, that includes their policies. Which includes "order minimums". I have to order $500 worth of fish or I get penalized with a charge. The etailer can come in and buy just what they need fp that day, maybe as little as $20 or $30 worth of stuff. They signed the same customer packet that I did, but the wholesaler allows them to do this. When I ask about it, I get the "oh, we don't allow that sort of thing here". One of the biggest wholesale companies just happens to be one of the more active wholesalers on this forum. He swears, even to this day in this foprum that they don't allow these practices. When I was in etail not only did they allow us to cherry pick and pick up small orders, but they even allowed us in the building afterhours to photograph fish for use on our website. What's someone like Jenn to do, all the way across Country when this same wholesaler is swearing to her that he doesn't allow these practices?

 

[Anonymous]

Just because Brick and mortar stores are not yet dropping like flies, Dose not mean retail fish stores are not feeling the pain of the loss of profit due to drop shipping and etailingstealing customers. Most of the brick and mortar stores in Atlanta have changed hands several times or gone belly up over tha past five years. Most fish stores in Jacksonville FLA have disappeared. You might not notice the increase change over in store ownership's, but there is an underlining reason for such events.
What we are in is a transition period.
Right now the hosts can still survive the drain of the parasites.
But it wont last for long.
The web has already killed the record stores and next is going to kill the music industry, no longer will it be possible to sell music ......when it can be found for free. With little profit potential record companies fold. Recording artists will only make big bucks from concert gigs.
Same for the movie industry.As the Net gets faster, Block buster and rental stores are history......then the idea of paying for a DVD at target will give way to downloading it on the web for free. (its hard to bank roll 350 million to shoot a flick when you cant recoup it with move ticket sales)
Even the Airline industry is in a transition. The discount airlines are a lot like mail order fish stores. See they compete only in the most profitable markets. Delta flies to every city in the USA. Air tran only flies to the most popular and profitable routes. Delta is gong broke because they want to be known as a full service airline, flying you anywhere in the USA.
Soon when only the discount airlines are left , there will be no service to fifty percent of America. See these off market destinations are impossible to make a profit flying to. Just like a brick and mortar home town fish store selling brineshrimp and aquariums at cost , it takes profit from somewhere to provide losss leader services like flying a half empty airplane to BFI airport in flyover territory.
The American consumer is about to find him or herself in an ugly reality.
Watch what happens when GM and Ford run out of gas
When the movie industry continues report dwindling ticket sales and can only afford to Blair witch and green screen production.
When the music industry winds down due to napsters. ( sales are down by thirty percent US and sixty percent worldwide thanks to China)
When a balance is stuck between hosts and parasite the bloodletting is sustainable.When something spawns an influx in blood suckers, the hosts fall taking even the parasites with them.
See reef tanks are not the only "systems which can "crash".
Get ready for serious RTN in several main stream US industries.
Some of which your going to find more of an inconvenience then finding someone to shipyou brine shrimp or a 180 gallon aquarium over the net.

heh given what passes for 'music' these days, i'd say that's a good
thing

 

[Robwsup]

Most fish stores in Jacksonville FLA have disappeared.

Most stores Kalk? We have 8 down here that sell marine fish, and several others that sell fresh only. The only ones I know that closed was Atlantis Aquarium, and Arlington Aquarium. Atlantis has reopened.


That said, I don't disagree with your argument.

 

[Anonymous]

Just because Brick and mortar stores are not yet dropping like flies, Dose not mean retail fish stores are not feeling the pain of the loss of profit due to drop shipping and etailingstealing customers. Most of the brick and mortar stores in Atlanta have changed hands several times or gone belly up over tha past five years. Most fish stores in Jacksonville FLA have disappeared. You might not notice the increase change over in store ownership's, but there is an underlining reason for such events.
What we are in is a transition period.
Right now the hosts can still survive the drain of the parasites.
But it wont last for long.
The web has already killed the record stores and next is going to kill the music industry, no longer will it be possible to sell music ......when it can be found for free. With little profit potential record companies fold. Recording artists will only make big bucks from concert gigs.
Same for the movie industry.As the Net gets faster, Block buster and rental stores are history......then the idea of paying for a DVD at target will give way to downloading it on the web for free. (its hard to bank roll 350 million to shoot a flick when you cant recoup it with move ticket sales)
Even the Airline industry is in a transition. The discount airlines are a lot like mail order fish stores. See they compete only in the most profitable markets. Delta flies to every city in the USA. Air tran only flies to the most popular and profitable routes. Delta is gong broke because they want to be known as a full service airline, flying you anywhere in the USA.
Soon when only the discount airlines are left , there will be no service to fifty percent of America. See these off market destinations are impossible to make a profit flying to. Just like a brick and mortar home town fish store selling brineshrimp and aquariums at cost , it takes profit from somewhere to provide losss leader services like flying a half empty airplane to BFI airport in flyover territory.
The American consumer is about to find him or herself in an ugly reality.
Watch what happens when GM and Ford run out of gas
When the movie industry continues report dwindling ticket sales and can only afford to Blair witch and green screen production.
When the music industry winds down due to napsters. ( sales are down by thirty percent US and sixty percent worldwide thanks to China)
When a balance is stuck between hosts and parasite the bloodletting is sustainable.When something spawns an influx in blood suckers, the hosts fall taking even the parasites with them.
See reef tanks are not the only "systems which can "crash".
Get ready for serious RTN in several main stream US industries.
Some of which your going to find more of an inconvenience then finding someone to shipyou brine shrimp or a 180 gallon aquarium over the net.

heh given what passes for 'music' these days, i'd say that's a good
thing

Come one Vitz, Franz Ferdinand ROCKS!

:lol:

 

[Anonymous]

Vitz obviously doesn't listen to Marillion, either.

Peace,

Chip

 

[Anonymous]

or, i obviously have

 

[PeterIMA]

This forum has brought forward a number of problems that face the aquarium trade.

1) We have discussed the collecting practices (cyanide fishing) and the need for net-trainings. However, there are other more pressing problems.

2) The independent retailers (not just AMDA retailers) are faced with unfair competition from etailers and wholesalers and rising costs for drygoods and other hardware.

3) There is also the threat from large chains like PetsMart, PetCo, and Walmart which can undersell the independent retailers on fish and other items.

4) The latest threat that has not been discussed (not much anyway) is rising air freight costs for shipping both freshwater and marine aquarium fishes from overseas. This is a result of the higher fuel costs that the airlines must pay.

Expect to see (if you have not seen it yet) rising air cargo costs for fish (and other items). Until recently Florida fish farms were going broke because they could not compete with cheaper freshwater fishes coming from Southeast Asia (Singapore, Bangkok, Tiawan). Higher air freight costs are affecting costs of imported fishes. I recently heard that some Singapore-based companies are buying up fish farms in Florida. Hence, hobbyists can expect to see increases in the prices of aquarium fishes.

Peter Rubec

 

[Anonymous]

Good IMO. Higher prices may make poeple take more of a responsability for the lifes they "purchase".

Freight increases can also be seen as just an indictor of where the airline industry is at really. None of our carriers are doing that hot, we almost lost NWA ( :lol: they had to go to that acronym :roll: ) and belive me, the industry would have felt that one.

 

[dizzy]

Good IMO. Higher prices may make poeple take more of a responsability for the lifes they "purchase".

Or they might just decide the hobby is getting to expensive to justify the costs. Are the kids of wealthy people really any more likely to take better care of their fish than poor kids? Higher costs don't necessarily equate to better care.
Mitch

 

[Anonymous]

Very true Mitch, very true.

 

[Kalkbreath]

Most fish stores in Jacksonville FLA have disappeared.

Most stores Kalk? We have 8 down here that sell marine fish, and several others that sell fresh only. The only ones I know that closed was Atlantis Aquarium, and Arlington Aquarium. Atlantis has reopened.


That said, I don't disagree with your argument.

I ment "reef stores"(brick and mortar)....... might you be counting the Aquazoos? :roll: One tank of corals does not a reef store make......... and tank maintenace guys selling retail out a storage unit is not quite the "RETAIL" store .
Which stores would you claim as brick and mortar reef stores in Jax?
Bio reef was a real reef store....... but gave up on the brick and mortar gig. I whatched the last five years down ward spin.......whats new in the Bold city Jake built?