20,000$ in 4 fish
- Thread starter Been_There8
- Start date
Captain obvious
New member
Wow its like they thinck money grows on trees
greenmonkey51
New member
No LFS are paying 30 cents for a clown or 2$ for a blue hippo.That's maybe what collectors get paid. The rules on rare fish are different than everyday fish. Most places will not do there usual markup, they'll try to keep it reasonable since they can still make a decent profit and have a better chance of moving it. I have seen the wholesale lists with gem tangs on it and they were anywhere around 2k-2.5k.
These are deep water fish from an area that not many exports come out of. Chances are they aren't close to the coast so it maybe a good boat ride out to where they are. They are also a solitary fish so finding them can be tough. I don't know why there is such a negative attitude about these. They are a cool fish and if I had the cash I would try to get one.
It's probably not unrealistic to assume it actually is much different for rare fish. If you think of it as a matter of supply and demand I doubt a LFS maintains the same inflated profit margins they do on more commonly available fish. Since the demand for rare fish is always relatively high, and the supply is always limited and erratic, collectors/suppliers can easily end up charging more and cut into the potential profit a LFS makes off the fish. Assuming there is a ceiling on what the LFS can reasonably assume to charge for the fish and still expect it to be sold. But yah I highly doubt any LFS is regularly paying 2.5k or whatever wholesale because there's no way they'd assume such a high risk for minimal gain. If they are paying a premium, it's likely for a reason other than a perceived high profit margin on the fish.
addicted2reefin
New member
ok, in lfs your cost is not of the fish. yes blue hippos are 2 bucks, but u can only get a few med blue hippos in a box and the freight on that box can be from 300-600 a box. africa and australia are the most expensive freight destination. the lfs i work for got a africa order in. the fish bill was 2000 the freight was 6000
ok if a gem tang is 500 bucks in africa, its probably gonna be the only fish packed in the box. by the time it gets to the lfs he probably paid 1500.
and it all depends if they buy direct, having a import/export license, or go through a wholesaler.
over in the uk, they are so cheap cuz the freight from africa to u is much less than from africa to me
ok if a gem tang is 500 bucks in africa, its probably gonna be the only fish packed in the box. by the time it gets to the lfs he probably paid 1500.
and it all depends if they buy direct, having a import/export license, or go through a wholesaler.
over in the uk, they are so cheap cuz the freight from africa to u is much less than from africa to me
Yurivd
New member
why a gem tang cost so mutch
Mauritius is the only legal place to get them from and thy are rare there
I have paid $540 for a ilegal gem tang
You can get a permet to colect fish in south africa for $10.80 to take out fish but you are not alow to sale them you can only give them away for free and you may not export live fish from south africa
(thy are rare her as well i have only seen 2 in my live
i have been looking for one for a year befor i got one
This yaer the diver i know had a good yaer and taken out 4 so thy are rare)
Mauritius is the only legal place to get them from and thy are rare there
I have paid $540 for a ilegal gem tang
You can get a permet to colect fish in south africa for $10.80 to take out fish but you are not alow to sale them you can only give them away for free and you may not export live fish from south africa
(thy are rare her as well i have only seen 2 in my live
i have been looking for one for a year befor i got one
This yaer the diver i know had a good yaer and taken out 4 so thy are rare)
Luiz Rocha
Salty Dog
If you think $20k for 4 fish is expensive, a pair of these two sold for $30k in Japan recently:
Genicanthus personatus
Genicanthus personatus
Amoore311
New member
Here's an idea:
If the fish wasn't "worth" that much, it wouldn't sell for that much. Period point blank. It is that simple. There is a difference between the fish not actually being worth the price it sells at, and you just not being able to afford it.
If it's for a dentist's office, it is more than likely a business expense anyways.
The kind of people who buy these types of expensive fish are either ridiculously wealthy, and just buy the fish because it's expensive. Or some people actually enjoy the story that is behind these fish. They don't buy them because they are just black fish with white spots...
If the fish wasn't "worth" that much, it wouldn't sell for that much. Period point blank. It is that simple. There is a difference between the fish not actually being worth the price it sells at, and you just not being able to afford it.
If it's for a dentist's office, it is more than likely a business expense anyways.
The kind of people who buy these types of expensive fish are either ridiculously wealthy, and just buy the fish because it's expensive. Or some people actually enjoy the story that is behind these fish. They don't buy them because they are just black fish with white spots...
solitude127
Proud user of IO Salt!
If you think $20k for 4 fish is expensive, a pair of these two sold for $30k in Japan recently:
Genicanthus personatus
and just think, there's starving kids in Africa.
Servillius
New member
Why, do they eat angelfish?
Dtronic
New member
lol
solitude127
Proud user of IO Salt!
I'm sure they'd eat anything
If you think $20k for 4 fish is expensive, a pair of these two sold for $30k in Japan recently:
Genicanthus personatus
From what I understand $30K was the asking price and actual sale price was lower, but that is still a LOT of money.
IME markup at LFS's tends to be between 100%-200%. This may sound like a lot but say a store buys 10 fish for $6 and sells them for $18 that's $120 "profit" but once you start factoring the expenses they have like rent, staff and electricity the margins get a lot small. This doesn't even take into account losses from shipping which for the most part the retailer has to eat.
