Racso
New member
Friend of mine works at a fish store, and he says that their biggest competition is the Internet. Obviously online stores are going to be cheaper because they don't have the same overhead as stores do. However, he was telling me the other day about the disadvantages of buying online, and the main things would be waiting for the stuff and problem solving. I can understand waiting a few days to save some money, but he really got me when he told me about any problem solving.
He gave two examples, both he said were situations his customers dealt with. First was lighting. He said he had a customer buy a halide system (along with some other stuff) as a gift which wasn't given for a few weeks. They set up the system and a week or so after the system was set up, one of the ballasts had a problem. They brought the ballast back to the store, (the store checked it out and found it to be a manufacturer problem) and they replaced it immediately. He said that this wasn't a big deal as it was a new setup, but he said what would happen if this were for an established reef where they had bought the product online. He said that since it was out of online's stores dates, he would have to go through the manufacturer, and no one likes that.
Second was with a pump. Person's old pond pump went out, so they rushed to the store to get a new one since their koi were started gasping for air. Got a new pump and when they got home, the pump wasn't working right and had to be replaced, which the store did for free that day.
He said both situations could have been bad if the problem was not fixed withen a day or two tops.
Now the second part is something I 100% agree on with my buddy; buying fish online. I think it is the dumbest thing ever. 1) You do not see the fish before you get it, 2) you do not know if it is eating or not. I know some online stores get stuff from fish distributors and if they say they are eating, the online store can figure on it as well. 3) Shipping companies usually do not take care of boxes of fish as they should. Who cares if the online store will guarantee a fish for 14 days, if a shipping company kills a fish, that's a helpless animal MERCELESSLY KILLED for no reason. 4) I don't know about other areas, but online stores tend to cost about the same as a regular store, if not more. My friend loves to tell me how someone will come in his store and say "XYZ fish is cheaper online" then they will come back in a few hours and buy the fish, usually because shipping costs balance it out. 5) I've worked in retail and one of my coworkers used to work for a shipping company, I know shipping companies break deals with companies who do a lot of shipping. When my business sends stuff out that weights WAY MORE than a box with a styro, fish, and other packing supplies, we get a MUCH better deal than online stores charge for, and we probably send out less packages a month than online stores do a DAY.
In short, I can kinda see why ordering stuff online is better, but why do people buy fish online?
He gave two examples, both he said were situations his customers dealt with. First was lighting. He said he had a customer buy a halide system (along with some other stuff) as a gift which wasn't given for a few weeks. They set up the system and a week or so after the system was set up, one of the ballasts had a problem. They brought the ballast back to the store, (the store checked it out and found it to be a manufacturer problem) and they replaced it immediately. He said that this wasn't a big deal as it was a new setup, but he said what would happen if this were for an established reef where they had bought the product online. He said that since it was out of online's stores dates, he would have to go through the manufacturer, and no one likes that.
Second was with a pump. Person's old pond pump went out, so they rushed to the store to get a new one since their koi were started gasping for air. Got a new pump and when they got home, the pump wasn't working right and had to be replaced, which the store did for free that day.
He said both situations could have been bad if the problem was not fixed withen a day or two tops.
Now the second part is something I 100% agree on with my buddy; buying fish online. I think it is the dumbest thing ever. 1) You do not see the fish before you get it, 2) you do not know if it is eating or not. I know some online stores get stuff from fish distributors and if they say they are eating, the online store can figure on it as well. 3) Shipping companies usually do not take care of boxes of fish as they should. Who cares if the online store will guarantee a fish for 14 days, if a shipping company kills a fish, that's a helpless animal MERCELESSLY KILLED for no reason. 4) I don't know about other areas, but online stores tend to cost about the same as a regular store, if not more. My friend loves to tell me how someone will come in his store and say "XYZ fish is cheaper online" then they will come back in a few hours and buy the fish, usually because shipping costs balance it out. 5) I've worked in retail and one of my coworkers used to work for a shipping company, I know shipping companies break deals with companies who do a lot of shipping. When my business sends stuff out that weights WAY MORE than a box with a styro, fish, and other packing supplies, we get a MUCH better deal than online stores charge for, and we probably send out less packages a month than online stores do a DAY.
In short, I can kinda see why ordering stuff online is better, but why do people buy fish online?
). Also, it's discouraging to listen to someone at the LFS trying to sell someone a package deal when it's better to piece things together. 
