Petco fish...works for me. - Page 3

physicslord · 07/18/2006, 09:26 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by jgb23
I had an issue similar. I went to a local LFS about getting some new fixtures and sockets for my MH system. He told me he could order them. I asked him how much and we was kind of taken back. He then says "How much do you want to pay, 30-40?" What kind of an answer is that? I told him that I found them (both the socket and fixture) online for 9.95. I told him that I would pay as high as 15.00
He got all bent out of shape because I did my research to find out what they would cost and said "You cant have a conversation with someone on the internet about lighting and such like we are!" was his reply.
I told him I dont mind him making a profit off of me, but he is not going to take advantage of me.
He said if he could get me the pieces for that price he would. I contact him a couple of days later and he says "Yeah, I got your sockets and they were 15." "Sockets? I asked for the sockets and fixtures." Thats not what you told me, he says. I saw you write down what I asked for, I replied. I told him to keep it and he will never get my business again.
I am in the process of setting up a new tank and at that point, I still needed to buy a skimmer, sump, return pump, etc. I would NEVER EVER go to that LFS ever again. I would drive 50 miles out of my way to go somewhere else.
I had a similar incident at another LFS where the fish guy (who really knew nothing) wanted to sell me a 20 gallon tank (just the tank) for 60 bucks! I told him he was crazy.
I have been to Petsmart, Petco, PetLand and have asked questions. If they did not know the answer, they would at least tell me.
I am also tired of the mom/pop story of the big box stores putting them out of business. Many mom and pops have thrived in the big box environment. Why? They change thier strategy. Have more informed employees, offer more services, etc.

Just my .02

I hate to say it but you are kinda being nitpicky.

You can't stick an online price in the face of an LFS and then expect them to make you a deal. They mark things up a lot to pay for retail space rent.
Also I mean, 60 bucks for a good 20 gallon tank isn't that crazy. The nanocube cost me that much and it's a ten gallon.

Also you said you'de offer him 15 bucks. I mean, that's what you would have paid in shipping from the online retailer anyway.

You are just hard bargaining and an LFS isn't a flea market. It sounds like he was trying to make you a deal. Just go online if you want something cheap.

You wouln't go to Target and try to bargain at checkout. But you would go to an LFS and berate the guy for not hard bargaining with you.

I'm cheap too, but I live in the real world.

GROSSR · 07/18/2006, 09:43 PM

that is why I read here, and buy on line. I never ever buy drygoods from a LFS. I just plan my purchases. Now livestock is different. I do like to see what a fish looks like.

rich

physicslord · 07/18/2006, 09:48 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by GROSSR
that is why I read here, and buy on line. I never ever buy drygoods from a LFS. I just plan my purchases. Now livestock is different. I do like to see what a fish looks like.

rich

Yeah, I mean, if you want some cheap dry goods and can wait a few days it just makes sense to buy online.

If you want livestock that you can check out first to make sure it's healthy, or if you need something like a heater in a pinch, then go to the LFS.

archie1709 · 07/19/2006, 04:54 PM

Amen. I buy my dry goods on these places online:

www.aquariumguys.com
www.petsmart.com
www.marinedepot.com
www.drfostersmith.com

I just plan my purchases even before I look for which one of the above is the cheapest.

BTW, sometimes I find cheap stuff through www.amazon.com as well.

wds21921 · 07/19/2006, 07:03 PM

Great resources listed there Archie, I've used 3 of them myself and have muxh respect for them. I'd like to also list:

www.thatpetplace.com -dry goods
www.pacificeastaquaculture.com -inverts

I've been going there for 24 years (That Pet Place) when it was only an old diner lol.

They have 6 Marine Biologists working in there fish department also if you need and tough questions answered.

Like most have already said though I prefer the small mom & pop stores or people in our own club when it comes to buying livestock. I do appreciate the extent at which some online sellers have gone to in posting WYSIWYG photos but I too want to make sure of the animals health before I purchase it.

And Amazon.com is tough to beat on prices for good books and DVDs, especially used

.

bureau13 · 07/19/2006, 08:00 PM

Well, its one thing for an LFS to charge a markup if they have what I want when I want it....but if they're just going to order it anyway, forget about it. Not that I would expect them to meet the price, I just wouldn't buy it from them in that scenario. A guy at one of the local places here offered to order me a RO membrane for $120. When I told him I would just get it online for $70 or so, he said I hope you don't order everything online....to which I told him if he had it in stock I would have paid the markup. There are times when I will pay extra, but I have to get something extra too, like the merchandise RIGHT NOW.

jds

Quote:

Originally posted by physicslord
I hate to say it but you are kinda being nitpicky.

You can't stick an online price in the face of an LFS and then expect them to make you a deal. They mark things up a lot to pay for retail space rent.
Also I mean, 60 bucks for a good 20 gallon tank isn't that crazy. The nanocube cost me that much and it's a ten gallon.

Also you said you'de offer him 15 bucks. I mean, that's what you would have paid in shipping from the online retailer anyway.

You are just hard bargaining and an LFS isn't a flea market. It sounds like he was trying to make you a deal. Just go online if you want something cheap.

You wouln't go to Target and try to bargain at checkout. But you would go to an LFS and berate the guy for not hard bargaining with you.

I'm cheap too, but I live in the real world.

D-Rod · 07/19/2006, 10:49 PM

It's all good "Archie" if anything good happens out of this we exchange online suppliers where we can get good deals at and save $.
ie: i buy my IO salt at petsmart for 31.99 just make sure you print the online pricing and bring it in. Pestmart honors there all online pricing as long as you bring the printed online pricing to the stores.
compared to my local LFS they sell a bucket of IO for 87.99
99% of my purchases for dry goods are on line because first off i'm not rich and luckly i have not had an emergency and needed something right away.

RichConley · 07/20/2006, 07:49 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by physicslord
I hate to say it but you are kinda being nitpicky.

You can't stick an online price in the face of an LFS and then expect them to make you a deal. They mark things up a lot to pay for retail space rent.
Also I mean, 60 bucks for a good 20 gallon tank isn't that crazy. The nanocube cost me that much and it's a ten gallon.

Also you said you'de offer him 15 bucks. I mean, that's what you would have paid in shipping from the online retailer anyway.

You are just hard bargaining and an LFS isn't a flea market. It sounds like he was trying to make you a deal. Just go online if you want something cheap.

60 bucks for an AGA 20H is crazy. Theyre like $28 bucks at petco. My LFS charges $35. Thats reasonable. The LFS near work sells them for $55. I'm sorry, but I'm not going to waste my money because that LFS doesnt know how to manage things. Petco has to pay rent too.

The LFS down the street sells Mag5s for $149. THeres no reason for that other than trying to take advantage of people.

My LFS CAN beat internet prices a lot of the time, we just need to get 10 or 15 people together to buy at the same time.

I'm not going to, and theres no reason he should, support a place thats trying to price gouge him, and at $60 for a 20H, or $100+ for a $10 light fixture, they are trying to take advantage of him.

RichConley · 07/20/2006, 07:50 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by bureau13
Well, its one thing for an LFS to charge a markup if they have what I want when I want it....but if they're just going to order it anyway, forget about it. Not that I would expect them to meet the price, I just wouldn't buy it from them in that scenario. A guy at one of the local places here offered to order me a RO membrane for $120. When I told him I would just get it online for $70 or so, he said I hope you don't order everything online....to which I told him if he had it in stock I would have paid the markup. There are times when I will pay extra, but I have to get something extra too, like the merchandise RIGHT NOW.

jds

Check PurelyH20 (a sponsor). They have Dow Filmtec 75gpd membranes for $38. If hes trying to charge you 120, hes trying to rip you off. Period.

geckofrog · 07/20/2006, 07:57 AM

$120 for a membrane? thats ridiculous!

DannyXL · 08/01/2006, 01:42 AM

Wow, this seems to hit a nerve with a lot of people. Well, I see no problem with buying from where you chose as long as it's an intelligent choice. Sure if you can save a lot on buying a fish at Petco (and they are healthy and the store is run properly), why not? Same with ordering online, or at the privately owned LFS.

I think we all buy different things from different stores. I myself would never buy a fish anywhere but one particular store in my area, but have no problem buying any other food/supplies from any of the local stores including petsmart. If my local Petsmart kept good healthy fish, yes, I'd buy them. But since they don't, I won't.

As far as those of you who run LFS, my advice would be not to crack on the customer who made a mistake by going to petco or petsmart and received the wrong advice. This is your chance to show why they should come to you. Find them a solution to their problem and you'll gain a new customer for life. If you **** them off and they just walk outta your store, that is never a good thing. Why? They ain't ever comming back. I used to run an Import video game store, years and years ago. I can tell you one bad tase in a customer's mouth spreads faster than 10 good things. Just the way it is. Educate your customer, give them your expertise and they will be back not only for advice, but to buy.

my .02

JmLee · 08/01/2006, 02:28 AM

i bought two baby clarkii clown fish from there, they are doing great.

Taikimoto · 08/01/2006, 05:38 AM

Quote:

my only concern would be that they may die after the stress of shipping etc.. and there is no guarantee @ petco

As opposed to the stress of being shipped and given to your LFS instead of petco? Most of the fish come off the same truck, just go to different places.

And of course there is no guarantee @ petco for SW fish, how many LFS's even have a reasonable quarantee on SW fish that you know of?

Its so funny that I see threads one week bashing big business such as Petco, Petsmart, and Walmart. Then the next week the bandwagon shifts to LFS's, then the next week it shifts to internet stores, then repeats.

No one MAKES you buy anything from any of these stores, its your choice. If you want to buy from a LFS, or a big business thats your choice.

There are plenty of LFS that are just as bad or worse than some petco's, and there are also some petco's that are better than some LFS's. Putting a label on the entire business as a whole is rather stupid, because if you do then you might as well group ALL LFS's together and rate them as a collective entity as you do with petco, petsmart and walmart.

liquidlunch · 08/01/2006, 06:47 AM

I had a paradigm shift. I used to scoff at buying livestock at Petco but I have found myself buying exclusively from them now. It may also be that my LFS's suck. I bought a Purple tang for $59 and a Derasa clam for $30 last week.

RichConley · 08/01/2006, 07:54 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by liquidlunch
I had a paradigm shift. I used to scoff at buying livestock at Petco but I have found myself buying exclusively from them now. It may also be that my LFS's suck. I bought a Purple tang for $59 and a Derasa clam for $30 last week.

Yeah, I've had much better luck buying fairy wrasses from Petco than anywhere else.

As to people complaining about Petco not having any guarantee, I think like 5% of the LFS I've seen actually have a guarantee on Saltwater livestock, and its usually just 7 days.

If it dies in the first 7 days, it wasnt healthy to start with, and you shouldnt have bought it.

flameangel88 · 08/01/2006, 08:24 AM

liquidlunch:

which location had the purple tang for $59?

thanks.

Quote:

Originally posted by liquidlunch
I had a paradigm shift. I used to scoff at buying livestock at Petco but I have found myself buying exclusively from them now. It may also be that my LFS's suck. I bought a Purple tang for $59 and a Derasa clam for $30 last week.

D-Rod · 08/01/2006, 10:55 AM

Don't forget some Petco's are willing to special order any livestock you want, and some don't

fishboyy · 08/01/2006, 05:03 PM

i would much rather buy at petco than at a few lfs's near me i think its wrong how people generalize them as being awuful stores the one near me has healthy fish and good prices. at one of my lfs they dont acclimate the fish they open the bag with a razor and they plunge about 3 feet down on a net over a trah can and they pour like 10 fish out doing this and some are out of the water on the net for over 5 mins easy then he grabs them and literly throws them into the tank.

i cant tell you the amount of fish that die when they go in the tank its horrible. the other day i saw it and the yellow tang twitched in the tank for a min then layed in the sand and died

also when this store cleaned the tank the girl suked up 2 clown gobys and says to me these fish are so stupid they should move when i clean the tank. i will never go back to there again. at my petco they acclimate there stuff for 2 and a half hours the guy said and i went in saw them acclimating went to lunch and stopped back in and they were still acclimating

soooooooooooo my point is that every petco is different and some are MUCH better than lfs's

D-Rod · 08/01/2006, 05:24 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by fishboyy
i would much rather buy at petco than at a few lfs's near me i think its wrong how people generalize them as being awuful stores the one near me has healthy fish and good prices. at one of my lfs they dont acclimate the fish they open the bag with a razor and they plunge about 3 feet down on a net over a trah can and they pour like 10 fish out doing this and some are out of the water on the net for over 5 mins easy then he grabs them and literly throws them into the tank. i cant tell you the amount of fish that die when they go in the tank its horrible. the other day i saw it and the yellow tang twitched in the tank for a min then layed in the sand and died also when this store cleaned the tank the girl suked up 2 clown gobys and says to me these fish are so stupid they should move when i clean the tank. i will never go back to there again.

For the Southern Cal reefers i saw this happen at TONGS in fountian valley the last time i was down in the area. they also throw all there corals in a big trash can with wheels and roll it from tank to tank, the employee who was doing this would get plastics bags of corals and cut it open and just dump it into the trash can than take a big net and scoop them out and plop it into tanks. there were times when she scooped up too many and at time they would fall on the floor, the water in the can was dark brown after she dumped all the bags in.

Horrible!!

I happen to get there just as she was opening the first package

justin1977justi · 08/03/2006, 08:19 AM

It all depends on what Petco you go to and when you go to it. There are 2 that are near me that usually have very nice tanks. I bought a med. yellow Tang for $15 and it has been in my tank for about a year. I have several other fish that I got for less than half the price of the LFS in my area. If you find out when there shipments come in you can get some nice fish for very cheap. There is onlt one out of about 6 LFS in my are that has better fish and tanks than my petco's.

07/19/2006, 10:49 PM	#57
D-Rod Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Paso Robles, Ca Posts: 1,020	It's all good "Archie" if anything good happens out of this we exchange online suppliers where we can get good deals at and save $. ie: i buy my IO salt at petsmart for 31.99 just make sure you print the online pricing and bring it in. Pestmart honors there all online pricing as long as you bring the printed online pricing to the stores. compared to my local LFS they sell a bucket of IO for 87.99 99% of my purchases for dry goods are on line because first off i'm not rich and luckly i have not had an emergency and needed something right away. __________________ The Vino Man - I Trade With Wine...Just Ask! Current Tank Info: Small Tank, Lights, Fish; Tangs a whole bunch, 4 False Perculas, 6 rose anemones Mixed Reef.

07/20/2006, 07:57 AM	#60
geckofrog Registered Member. Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Texas Posts: 505	$120 for a membrane? thats ridiculous! __________________ Ryan Current Tank Info: 75G,

08/01/2006, 10:55 AM	#67
D-Rod Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Paso Robles, Ca Posts: 1,020	Don't forget some Petco's are willing to special order any livestock you want, and some don't __________________ The Vino Man - I Trade With Wine...Just Ask! Current Tank Info: Small Tank, Lights, Fish; Tangs a whole bunch, 4 False Perculas, 6 rose anemones Mixed Reef.

07/18/2006, 09:43 PM	#52
GROSSR Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2001 Location: Aberdeen NJ Posts: 1,853	that is why I read here, and buy on line. I never ever buy drygoods from a LFS. I just plan my purchases. Now livestock is different. I do like to see what a fish looks like. rich

07/19/2006, 04:54 PM	#54
archie1709 Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2004 Posts: 401	Amen. I buy my dry goods on these places online: www.aquariumguys.com www.petsmart.com www.marinedepot.com www.drfostersmith.com I just plan my purchases even before I look for which one of the above is the cheapest. BTW, sometimes I find cheap stuff through www.amazon.com as well.

07/19/2006, 07:03 PM	#55
wds21921 Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Elkton, MD Posts: 1,442	Great resources listed there Archie, I've used 3 of them myself and have muxh respect for them. I'd like to also list: www.thatpetplace.com -dry goods www.pacificeastaquaculture.com -inverts I've been going there for 24 years (That Pet Place) when it was only an old diner lol. They have 6 Marine Biologists working in there fish department also if you need and tough questions answered. Like most have already said though I prefer the small mom & pop stores or people in our own club when it comes to buying livestock. I do appreciate the extent at which some online sellers have gone to in posting WYSIWYG photos but I too want to make sure of the animals health before I purchase it. And Amazon.com is tough to beat on prices for good books and DVDs, especially used .

08/01/2006, 01:42 AM	#61
DannyXL Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2006 Posts: 31	Wow, this seems to hit a nerve with a lot of people. Well, I see no problem with buying from where you chose as long as it's an intelligent choice. Sure if you can save a lot on buying a fish at Petco (and they are healthy and the store is run properly), why not? Same with ordering online, or at the privately owned LFS. I think we all buy different things from different stores. I myself would never buy a fish anywhere but one particular store in my area, but have no problem buying any other food/supplies from any of the local stores including petsmart. If my local Petsmart kept good healthy fish, yes, I'd buy them. But since they don't, I won't. As far as those of you who run LFS, my advice would be not to crack on the customer who made a mistake by going to petco or petsmart and received the wrong advice. This is your chance to show why they should come to you. Find them a solution to their problem and you'll gain a new customer for life. If you **** them off and they just walk outta your store, that is never a good thing. Why? They ain't ever comming back. I used to run an Import video game store, years and years ago. I can tell you one bad tase in a customer's mouth spreads faster than 10 good things. Just the way it is. Educate your customer, give them your expertise and they will be back not only for advice, but to buy. my .02

08/01/2006, 02:28 AM	#62
JmLee Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Hohensfels, Germany Posts: 1,545	i bought two baby clarkii clown fish from there, they are doing great.

08/01/2006, 06:47 AM	#64
liquidlunch Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Neptune, NJ Posts: 503	I had a paradigm shift. I used to scoff at buying livestock at Petco but I have found myself buying exclusively from them now. It may also be that my LFS's suck. I bought a Purple tang for $59 and a Derasa clam for $30 last week.

08/01/2006, 05:03 PM	#68
fishboyy Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Fl Posts: 150	i would much rather buy at petco than at a few lfs's near me i think its wrong how people generalize them as being awuful stores the one near me has healthy fish and good prices. at one of my lfs they dont acclimate the fish they open the bag with a razor and they plunge about 3 feet down on a net over a trah can and they pour like 10 fish out doing this and some are out of the water on the net for over 5 mins easy then he grabs them and literly throws them into the tank. i cant tell you the amount of fish that die when they go in the tank its horrible. the other day i saw it and the yellow tang twitched in the tank for a min then layed in the sand and died also when this store cleaned the tank the girl suked up 2 clown gobys and says to me these fish are so stupid they should move when i clean the tank. i will never go back to there again. at my petco they acclimate there stuff for 2 and a half hours the guy said and i went in saw them acclimating went to lunch and stopped back in and they were still acclimating soooooooooooo my point is that every petco is different and some are MUCH better than lfs's

08/03/2006, 08:19 AM	#70
justin1977justi Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: GA Posts: 119	It all depends on what Petco you go to and when you go to it. There are 2 that are near me that usually have very nice tanks. I bought a med. yellow Tang for $15 and it has been in my tank for about a year. I have several other fish that I got for less than half the price of the LFS in my area. If you find out when there shipments come in you can get some nice fish for very cheap. There is onlt one out of about 6 LFS in my are that has better fish and tanks than my petco's.