Marine Society Group Buy on Salt

H

huskerreef

New member
The society has worked out a deal with Petworld to do a group purchase on salt. Bill has offered us a price of 39.99 for a bucket of Instant Ocean that will mix 160 gallons. This offer is for OMS members only, so if you see this and you are not a member please join us and take advantage of this offer. This offer has only one catch, we need to buy 20 buckets. Anyone interested will need to contact me by June 24th. I see people wanting to do group buys via the internet so why not support our LFS and keep the money local.

Thanks Bill for stepping up and supporting our club.


Jim

OMS/President
 
drs is cheaper than that...
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/Product/Prod_Display.cfm?pcatid=4856

i live in LA so i get good prices on everything but if you can get a good group together you can contact the mfg and get it at wholesale.. that should be around $30 a bucket...

i contacted seachem and got the local vendors cell number and he sold me seachem reef for cost to help out my local club

just trying to help as i have done tone of group buys for my club.

good luck
 
It is a good thought Huskerreef, but as Kau_cinta_ku pointed out, Petsmart is hard to beat for salt. I've been buying my salt there using the Internet price since I started.
 
Here is the deal when was the last time you went to Petsmart and picked up a CORAL or a nice fish?????? if we do not support our local stores they will not have the $$$ to put back into there inventory and yet I hear everyone complaining that our stores have no inventory. Its simple economics.
 
You are correct. It is simple economics... A better deal for me would be to go to Petsmart and buy my salt and stop by Petworld and hand them a $5 bill to go towards improving their cash flow and I still save $4.

I know I am not the only one in Omaha that has spent (literally) thousands of $$ in the local fish stores over the period of a month and consecutive months at that (because I was told by an owner exactly that). I've made a huge contribution to their cash flow already.

Nothing against Petworld or any other LFS, but if they have what I want/need at a competitive price, I will buy it (and I usually buy locally before I do on the Internet). I have always bought bulbs from local stores and frankly, I have seen bulbs selling in Petworld for $85 that I found in a different stores (two other stores actually) for $45. Something is out of whack there I think. They need to look at their suppliers and their mark up maybe if they want to be more competitive.
 
its better economics to have a store keep and sell quality fish and dry good supplies at a competative price than to simply say " support the local fish stores." with online suppliers selling items up to 40% cheaper than lfs and then they offer free shipping why would i support the little guy who is price gouging? i know its hard but that is economics.... even in LA its all the same...
 
I do not understand how you think the little guy is gouging on prices when it is obvious that a major chain store gets a better price on dry goods because of the volume they buy. I know for a fact that some of the suppliers to the LFS sell the same product via the net for only a few $$ more than they sell to the LFS. And Bebo77 in omaha we only have 4 stores to chose from that sell corals etc... so we do not have the luxury you have in LA. I still believe that in the long run supporting the local guys even if it means spending literally a few bucks more will benefit us as consumers. I have been to stores all over the country and have seen some impressive inventories and livestock, stores where you can buy a Black Tang and a Deltec skimmer right off the shelf. I want that type of store here in Omaha. But as a small business owner I also know what it costs to run a business and pay employees and you need to sell a lot of stuff to keep the doors open each day. Supporting the stores that provide us with corals, liverock and fish is in my opinion more beneficial to us as hobbyist in the long term. One of the stores here will step up and give us what we want: good $$$ and great selection. But I still believe that buying from one of these 4 versus the big chains will get us closer to the Black Tangs and the more rare corals. When was the last time you asked petsmart for advice on your LPS or SPS? I am in know way affiliated with any LFS or related business, I just want our market to grow into what I have seen elsewhere. Bebo77, with all those stores in LA i wouldn't be able to work because it would be full time job checking out the new shipments:)
 
it is true about the price of dry goods, my friend owns a lfs and he does not sell me dry goods as he can not beat the price of Marine Depot, also a lfs to me( about 30 min away).


there are a couple of lfs that do group buys for us when we want to get lights, salt, food etc. and in exchange they get a lot of publicity her on RC.


i am lucky since my friend owns a store he frequently takes me with him to the wholesellers and i get the fish/ corals at cost. even then i still visit reefermadness and frag farmer again LFS.


If you really want a good group-buy on corals call chris at reefer madness.. he gives awesome deals on corals and for group buys he realy goes out of his way giving away tone of freebies..
 
I just got off the phone with my distributor and the best price that is available is not on the instant ocean buckets. I can get Instant Ocean for16.5 cents per gallons worth of mix. Do the math and that is much better than petsmart (who is at 20 cents per gallons worth of salt mix. Take that a step farther and for the equivalent 160 gallons in the bucket it would be $26.40.
the only drawback is that you have to get 200 gallons worth and you dont get a bucket with it (4 individual 50gal. bags). The total cost would be 32.99 plus tax for the 200 gallons worth.

I hope that will work out for everyone.

And also, which bulbs are you talking about? Because, before I took over the department we did have power compacts that were really expencive but we now have 65watt bulbs for 23.99 and 96watt bulbs for 39.99. Those come in 10k, actinic, or 50/50 in either straight or square pin. If those are not the bulbs you were talking about please let me know because we are still working on fixing our inventory after our move and new computer.

Just let me know what you all think about the salt. I need 20 boxes commited to and the store and myself will order the rest to get the price down to what i have quoted.

Thanks again
Bill
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7563247#post7563247 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by huskerreef
Hey Bill thanks for coming to my rescue and stepping up to the plate for the society
Click to expand...

lol

now thats a better group buy price...:D
 
If your saying we could get a 50 gal bag for 8.25, or the full 200 gallons for 32.99, I would definitely go in on a group buy. Unfortunately, I have a fairly full bucket right now, so it's going to be several months before I'm ready to buy. Maybe if this one works out, I'll get in on the next one, if we can make it a regular type of event. I don't know what kind of demand there is, but maybe we could do it every month or two months, or something like that. Set up an actual regular schedule (open to OMS members only of course)

On a side note, a bit of excitement for me, my clownfish spawned! Either today or yesterday, they are tending to the eggs now! I know there is minimal chance of the young surviving, but it still really cool!

Anyway, sorry for the off-topic!
 
I think all the points made here are deffinetly valid. It's hard for LFS's to compete with the bigger chains who get really low prices. One thing that I've taken into consideration is the service I get. I have a LFS who is the best, honest, and helpful person I've ever met, and this takes me straight to him for nearly everything I do concerning my tank. He may be a few dollars higher then others, but the honest opinions and help are worth far more. I've never been to any fish store in Omaha, but totally understand where you're coming from in helping out the local places. My guy quarantines at least 2 weeks on almost everything he sells unless it's a special item. Show me a large vendor who does this, and I'll start taking the lower prices...
 
All I can say is great job Jim and thanks to Bill at Pet World for stepping up to the plate. Let's try and keep the big picture in mind. Support the local stores and they in return help the club. The stores pay membership dues like the rest of us plus, sponser events and seminars as well as give advice when needed. It's a win-win situation when you shop locally.
 
Great News Bill!!
Yes, they were pc lights and it sounds like you have that straightened out now, thanks!

I hope my reply didn't come across as harsh, because I do try to buy everything that I require from a local saltwater fish store. It is simply that I go through a lot of salt over a months time and the extra $$ adds up over time. I use to buy salt at Petworld, but the extra took away from buying livestock from them... The same can be said about purchasing RO water and many other things. I could buy the water and pay more, but having my own RO system has freed up cash that allows me to buy other aquarium related items. The money still gets spent at the LFS either way.

I've bought sumps/pumps/etc locally and paid extra (compared to online) simply because Bill and the others have offered their advice and helped try to ensure my success in the hobby....
 
I agree with Huskerreef, I would rather support one of our local stores that provides extra services like proper care information, etc, etc, then a big chain store that doesn't offer anything else other then some dry goods. I am in for at least one bucket, but I might get two (I take care of my parents tank as well). Let me know if everything is a go.
 
Finally some positive responses and I hope that people will understand where I'm coming from at what I am trying to do here. And as you can see it will work. I know that Bill is basically selling this to us at cost in an effort to support our club so lets do our part and order some salt. Please let me know if you are interested and how much you want.
 
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