I have been looking for a coral supplier that would sell to a non store front business. Im looking to doing online sales and local sales from my basement. I will have everything such as license and tax ID, but just cant seem to find a good supplier that will consider. Let me know if anyone can provide me with any leads, thanks.
Coral wholesalers who sell to non store front businesses?
- Thread starter keh9qd
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organism
code monkey
Have you thought through your business plan? A lot of basement vendors start off thinking wholesalers are going to send them all this great stuff, and then they don't know what to do with 3 big boxes full of brown/mediocre crap with 2-3 nice cherry pieces. That's livestock you can't even give away online, and you're going to have tons of it. I hope you like pests too, because those are pretty much a given.
Do you have a way of moving and storing, or even quarantining, a whole lot of not-so-nice and sometimes unhealthy corals?
Do you have a way of moving and storing, or even quarantining, a whole lot of not-so-nice and sometimes unhealthy corals?
dahenley
New member
True....
I have a local guy that is doing what your wanting to do, and most wholesale places have a min $ or box order, and 3 boxes is a lot of stuff.....
not to mention, lots of the cherry stuff goes to those regulars that buy loads at a time, and are regulars. new people will get 1 nice box to start off (usually just a few pieces) and then lots of blaaa.
once you endure this for so long, and they know you will buy enough on a regular basis, then you might start getting a few nice ones for every hand full of garbage... (facts of life)
oh, and watch the corals too, because there is a lot of death due to stress and transfer and like mentioned... bugs..
I have a local guy that is doing what your wanting to do, and most wholesale places have a min $ or box order, and 3 boxes is a lot of stuff.....
not to mention, lots of the cherry stuff goes to those regulars that buy loads at a time, and are regulars. new people will get 1 nice box to start off (usually just a few pieces) and then lots of blaaa.
once you endure this for so long, and they know you will buy enough on a regular basis, then you might start getting a few nice ones for every hand full of garbage... (facts of life)
oh, and watch the corals too, because there is a lot of death due to stress and transfer and like mentioned... bugs..
organism
code monkey
Definitely keep those things in mind before ordering. Also, every wholesaler gets good things in, but the chances of a new, part-time small order account getting them are not good. You're competing for attention with shops who order $2-6k a week, every week.
dahenley
New member
10-20 corals depending on size and type.
Price depends on where you get them and what not..
Pests depends on your seller. All whole sellers buy and sell. No qt, so you get what they get. So pests depends on the shipment .....
When a wholesaler gets 200 green acros and a purple and a red, the red and purple will go to high end return customers and the greens will go to you. So when you order 10 Sps pieces you will get brown's and greens. They may be different shades of green, but still green....
Price depends on where you get them and what not..
Pests depends on your seller. All whole sellers buy and sell. No qt, so you get what they get. So pests depends on the shipment .....
When a wholesaler gets 200 green acros and a purple and a red, the red and purple will go to high end return customers and the greens will go to you. So when you order 10 Sps pieces you will get brown's and greens. They may be different shades of green, but still green....
dahenley
New member
Oh, and don't forget about the 50-100$ air freight that you will pay per 100lbs.
So... after a few loss, and few pests death, plusses 75$per 109lbs shipping weight, you price will be up there. Plus electric, water, medication, plus plus plus,
A 50$ Mari coral will cost you 75$ after shipping, qt, medication, electric, and dead loss, and then you can sell it for that to break even... Jack up the price to make money if people buy it, or spend more money to grow it out for 6 months to a year to have a few frags and a mini colony to keep and frag regularly... so your cheap coral will cost you over 100$ a year after receiving it... that'd a lot of 10-20$ frags to get even and start again.
Thus, things arnt easy or fast.. most everyone goes in the hole at first, but its what happens there determine what lies in the future..
And you have to think business and not hobby.
So... after a few loss, and few pests death, plusses 75$per 109lbs shipping weight, you price will be up there. Plus electric, water, medication, plus plus plus,
A 50$ Mari coral will cost you 75$ after shipping, qt, medication, electric, and dead loss, and then you can sell it for that to break even... Jack up the price to make money if people buy it, or spend more money to grow it out for 6 months to a year to have a few frags and a mini colony to keep and frag regularly... so your cheap coral will cost you over 100$ a year after receiving it... that'd a lot of 10-20$ frags to get even and start again.
Thus, things arnt easy or fast.. most everyone goes in the hole at first, but its what happens there determine what lies in the future..
And you have to think business and not hobby.
organism
code monkey
1. It depends, $150-1500
2. Go to your LFS, see all the stuff they couldn't pay you to put into your tank? That.
3. It depends, 3-15
Wholesalers have minimum order amounts, but the thing is if you stick to the minimum then without good connections it's a 99% certainty you're getting zero consideration past your first order. They can smell basement vendors from a mile away, even with an account your actions and the way you order are going to give you away.
Also, in LA there are a ton of jobbers, online/physical shops, and hobbyists with accounts who are cherry picking everything right out from under shipout orders. So out of all the cherry stuff that comes in maybe 30% gets split between the out of state customers. If any part of the reason you want to have a basement shop is related to making a profit within the next 12 months then just put the brakes on it now and save yourself the cash and aggravation.
2. Go to your LFS, see all the stuff they couldn't pay you to put into your tank? That.
3. It depends, 3-15
Wholesalers have minimum order amounts, but the thing is if you stick to the minimum then without good connections it's a 99% certainty you're getting zero consideration past your first order. They can smell basement vendors from a mile away, even with an account your actions and the way you order are going to give you away.
Also, in LA there are a ton of jobbers, online/physical shops, and hobbyists with accounts who are cherry picking everything right out from under shipout orders. So out of all the cherry stuff that comes in maybe 30% gets split between the out of state customers. If any part of the reason you want to have a basement shop is related to making a profit within the next 12 months then just put the brakes on it now and save yourself the cash and aggravation.
organism
code monkey
Too true, and these days depending on the airline you could be looking at $100-140 for just a couple of boxes!
block head
New member
one of our lfs started out doing lr and cuc in his basement. not to be downer, but i know several great lfs owners who get their butt kicked on a daily basis. it's very rare for anyone to make a profit selling coral and fish from wholesalers.
Ok thanks for the quick responses. Ill give you guys some more info on what I have been thinking. Currently I have an 8 foot 100g frag tank with a 55g sump. I have been doing side jobs for hobbyists that I have met as far as helping them out very reasonably. I also buy systems from people who give up on the hobby, are moving, and/or something else. I use the good equipment to upgrade my systems, sell the nice stuff cheap, and sell the corals at 40-50% LFS value. I have a nice cargo van I use to transfer stuff and move tanks for people. I have a 15-20 person group who buy from me that I have aquired over the past 8 months along with advertizing on Craigslist. In the mean time I am able to hook up local hobbyist I have built relationships with.
I have found that liverock and basic corals are my best sellers. I sell rock for $2/lb and corals cheap. Oddly enough I cant seem to sell the nice pieces like I do the average cheap pieces. I sell anenomes quickly as well. I usually end up selling fish at 30-50% store value unless it is one of the select few wanted fish.
My concerns is that I do not want to step on LFS toes by undercutting them, but my customers/friends are such a small population that I barely dent LFS business. I also make sure to send my new customers to LFS where I most definitely give them more business than I take.
My basement business of selling is part of my maintenance/moving service. My issue has been that I sell more than I can keep in stock. Rock goes in a day and nice corals go quick as well. I also hate the idea of having to find people selling complete systems to keep me rolling. Another downside is that I have tons of leftover aquariums and equipment that doesnt sell even at giveaway prices. What I was hoping from a wholesaler is to buy $500-$1500 worth every 2 weeks and get stuff 1/3 or 1/4 price of LFS to sell at my 40-50% rates. If Im satisified with shipments and turn a decent profit I would gladly expand to a few more systems similar to what I have.
After the great information you all have shared I am not surprised that the wholesale shipments are a gamble. I also was not sure what kind of pieces I would get being a small business. I refuse to sell parasites or dying stuff to people unless I know they are advanced enough to deal with it when I bring the issue to their attention.
So with that said, do you all think that it is not worth my time to attempt to find a wholesaler? I found one (aquatictradingco.com) who would sell to me.
I have found that liverock and basic corals are my best sellers. I sell rock for $2/lb and corals cheap. Oddly enough I cant seem to sell the nice pieces like I do the average cheap pieces. I sell anenomes quickly as well. I usually end up selling fish at 30-50% store value unless it is one of the select few wanted fish.
My concerns is that I do not want to step on LFS toes by undercutting them, but my customers/friends are such a small population that I barely dent LFS business. I also make sure to send my new customers to LFS where I most definitely give them more business than I take.
My basement business of selling is part of my maintenance/moving service. My issue has been that I sell more than I can keep in stock. Rock goes in a day and nice corals go quick as well. I also hate the idea of having to find people selling complete systems to keep me rolling. Another downside is that I have tons of leftover aquariums and equipment that doesnt sell even at giveaway prices. What I was hoping from a wholesaler is to buy $500-$1500 worth every 2 weeks and get stuff 1/3 or 1/4 price of LFS to sell at my 40-50% rates. If Im satisified with shipments and turn a decent profit I would gladly expand to a few more systems similar to what I have.
After the great information you all have shared I am not surprised that the wholesale shipments are a gamble. I also was not sure what kind of pieces I would get being a small business. I refuse to sell parasites or dying stuff to people unless I know they are advanced enough to deal with it when I bring the issue to their attention.
So with that said, do you all think that it is not worth my time to attempt to find a wholesaler? I found one (aquatictradingco.com) who would sell to me.
If this is true, how do local fish stores stay in business? I know it isnt from selling equipment or doing maintenance (they outsource maintenance). I figured all of their profit is from selling corals and some profit from fish and equipment.
I imagine the key for them is to find good local propigation centers to hand pick from and finding good trustworthy wholesalers.
I know they have thousands of overhead each month and they have been in business for years, so they must take in $5-10k a month to keep the business rolling.
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