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How much do you guys get selling Apisto caucatoides to your LFS?

The Shrimp Pimp

New Member
Messages
3
My LFS is selling pairs of apistos for $85 right now, but he has to import them all. I've got a couple pairs that are getting ready to breed and they said they'd be interested in buying some . I was wondering how much I should charge for them? I know generally it's about 4-5x less than what they sell em for, but 85$ is ridiculous to begin with.
 

dw1305

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Messages
2,755
Location
Wiltshire UK
Hi all,
My LFS is selling pairs of apistos for $85 right now, but he has to import them all. I've got a couple pairs that are getting ready to breed and they said they'd be interested in buying some .
Same as @MacZ, store credit or a maximum of £1.50 ($2.00) a fish. They have to be saleable size and often they don't want too many females. It is really easy to <"flood the market"> locally as well, if you won't post fish (and I won't).

Also the LFS may not want a fish again if it lacks <"sale appeal">.
Wholesale prices are usually much lower than that.
About a third of the retail cost in most stores in the UK, in some big chain LFS even bigger multiples are used.

I'm never going down that particular route again, but if I did want to make some scraps of money from selling fish, I'd choose a <"red morph of one of the "easy to keep" species">.

I still find it pretty galling that the fish (that you've just got a maximum of £2 store credit for) is on sale a couple of days later for £10 or more.

cheers Darrel
 

MacZ

Well-Known Member
Messages
2,958
Location
Germany
It is really easy to <"flood the market"> locally as well,

Which in turn may piss off the LFS so much, they won't accept any fish from private sources.
Happened here last year. Someone bred Corydoras panda and C. aeneus in bulk, sold them to several stores AND offered them on Ebay for a fraction of what the stores asked. Since then I only see that species as fully grown fish at the stores, as they haven't sold any in months. Same with bristlenose plecos, neocaridina shrimp and - of course - livebearers.
End result: Unless it's a rare species in F1 - F3 generation you have to know how to get rid of fry and juveniles before even starting to breed. A reason I advise small-time hobbyists and beginners to rather keep a single fish than breeding A. borellii or A. cacatuoides.
 

yukondog

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Messages
664
Location
N.W. Fl.
I agree with it's easy to flood the market, I've done it here where I live, with kribs and Cacatuides. Now when they want 20 I tell them I have10 or 12. The market here was 3.00 per [apisto] fish [not happy], I have been getting 5-$7.00 and they turn around and sell them for $15..
 

anewbie

Well-Known Member
Messages
1,366
Kribs in my local market is flooded since the shop breeds them and as we all know breeding kribs is about as difficult as feeding guppies. Apistogramma on the other hand are simply not available - the one 'major' shop will occasionally get them from a local breeder (they generally give credit only at 50% of the sell price). Vaguely I think they were selling for 7$ each. They were actually nice looking cockatoo but they only had males (I forget if sex is determine by temp or ph).
 

Bowluvr

Member
Messages
46
Location
North Carolina
My LFS is selling pairs of apistos for $85 right now, but he has to import them all. I've got a couple pairs that are getting ready to breed and they said they'd be interested in buying some . I was wondering how much I should charge for them? I know generally it's about 4-5x less than what they sell em for, but 85$ is ridiculous to begin with.
I would figure out in your mind what you think a reasonable retail price for your fish should be for your area, especially since you feel that $85 is too expensive. I would perhaps talk with your retailer about his/her thoughts, too. Once that price is figured out, then talk to them about pricing to you. On fish like locally-raised Apistos, most retailers will triple-quadruple the price they pay for them (actual wholesale price + cost/fish to "land"/ship them to the store). If your retailer will only offer store credit (which becomes a pain over time if you will be selling to them frequently, as it becomes difficult to spend it all), then no less than 40% of what the retail price will be, with 50% usually being a standard rate. Since it is store credit, they will be more than doubling their money since the items you spend your credit on will be 2-3 times what the store paid for them (the exception being tanks/stands and some larger ticket items). If you can do cash (the best method), then try for 1/3 of retail price, and not less than 25% of retail. Again, the retail price being the figure that you and the owner decided would be fair and also allow the fish to sell well. This presumes that your fish, when sold, will be young adults of decent size and excellent quality, comparable to the fish he is importing currently. Remember that locally-raised fish would be accustomed to the local water chemistry (or close to it), and trained to eat a varied diet, including a quality flake food... because flake is likely to be at least a good part of their diet once they leave your care. This results in healthier, animals, that are will do better in both the shop tanks and in the customer's tanks. Also talk to your shop-owner about exclusivity. If you are supplying fish, and then a customer who buys your fish wants to breed them to sell back to the shop, what will the owner do, and how will it affect your sales? It's something to think about, because it happens.
 

Bowluvr

Member
Messages
46
Location
North Carolina
I would figure out in your mind what you think a reasonable retail price for your fish should be for your area, especially since you feel that $85 is too expensive. I would perhaps talk with your retailer about his/her thoughts, too. Once that price is figured out, then talk to them about pricing to you. On fish like locally-raised Apistos, most retailers will triple-quadruple the price they pay for them (actual wholesale price + cost/fish to "land"/ship them to the store). If your retailer will only offer store credit (which becomes a pain over time if you will be selling to them frequently, as it becomes difficult to spend it all), then no less than 40% of what the retail price will be, with 50% usually being a standard rate. Since it is store credit, they will be more than doubling their money since the items you spend your credit on will be 2-3 times what the store paid for them (the exception being tanks/stands and some larger ticket items). If you can do cash (the best method), then try for 1/3 of retail price, and not less than 25% of retail. Again, the retail price being the figure that you and the owner decided would be fair and also allow the fish to sell well. This presumes that your fish, when sold, will be young adults of decent size and excellent quality, comparable to the fish he is importing currently. Remember that locally-raised fish would be accustomed to the local water chemistry (or close to it), and trained to eat a varied diet, including a quality flake food... because flake is likely to be at least a good part of their diet once they leave your care. This results in healthier, animals, that are will do better in both the shop tanks and in the customer's tanks. Also talk to your shop-owner about exclusivity. If you are supplying fish, and then a customer who buys your fish wants to breed them to sell back to the shop, what will the owner do, and how will it affect your sales? It's something to think about, because it happens.
If your shop isn't interested in giving you a fair price for your fish, then I honestly wouldn't bother. I'm guessing that since you asked, they do have some interest. This is why I suggest having this conversation with them. If they do buy from you, don't under-cut them, or advertise locally for straight sales to you. Do them the courtesy of sending people who ask you for fish to that shop to buy them. What you sell online to ship nationwide shouldn't matter as much... but it may. I've never asked a ton for my fish, but when I was selling to a local shop, I tried not to undercut their sales locally and at regional events. At least not by too much at the events.
 

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