whats a good price for salt, delivered?

[The Grim Reefer]

just the traffic alone will get peoples attention ,however i do wish you the best of luck with that .

Oh I am not too worried about traffic. A few people a week would probably be all I would see. I would have to see what I can get in that is expensive to ship otherwise. Salt would probably be a losing proposition because I would have to compete with Petco at 44 a bucket. Sand maybe. I just need to look into the costs.

 

[LPS_Blasto]

LPS_Blasto said"Aquamart is overpriced on pretty much everything - including their corals. Went there once to buy some 24W T5 bulbs - took ME over an HOUR of searching the back room BY MYSELF to find 6 bulbs that would work. They couldn't even be bothered to help me find the right color bulbs - and when I FINALLY found what I wanted - the boxes so old they had 10yrs of dust on them - there was no discount - but the price tags had been stickered over and over. When I got home I pulled the layers of stickers off. Seams they retag everything occasionally - because I found a sticker on a 460nm 24W bulb that read $12.95 - but the price I paid on the most recent sticker was $25."

Not sure when you visited, but the bulbs I have seen are in the main store and are priced with any of the stores. Online is less, but shipping, convience and breakage is part of that cost. Coral frags starting at $10 seemed reasonable. The large corals also seemed fair. Dry goods seem fair also.
Working in retail I understand that they have to pay for the location, help, overhead that includes spoilage and loss of stock. I also like to be able to ask them for help, where the online people are not there for that. I will support AM as much as I can.
We all have our opinion.
As a member of MASC I also try to support those businesses that sponsor the club events etc.

Does it matter when I visited? I was told the 24w T5 bulbs were in this back room and to "Help yourself. Just bring the ones you want to buy up to the register." They weren't on any shelf or rack in the main part of the store - the selection was poor at best. I ended up buying a hodge podge of lights to get my fixture going. Geissman, UVL, Coralife ....... but it's all they had.

Guess it's a good thing I'm not a member of the club. Met a few of the people - a few board members - not impressed. Seams commercialized. They want money IMO.

Doesn't matter anywho. I made up my mind about the club and the LFS in this area a long time ago. None of them have changed much in the last 5yrs. The names have changed here and there, but the BS is all the same.

I'll continue to shop online. It's just easier and less hassle. Get what I want delivered to my door for a good price. Don't have to deal with rude or ignorant sales people. Don't have to deal with overpriced corals. Don't have to deal with overpriced dry goods. Don't have to pay sales tax. Don't have to make 2 trips because you know the LFS rarely has it in stock - but "we can order that for you" :fun2: ...................

All that stuff gets my blood pressure elevated. Don't need it. :hammer:

 

[The Grim Reefer]

Just as a heads up I understand Aquamart has a new manager so perhaps episodes like blasto experienced will be a thing of the past there.

 

[jasper1]

there is a guy on the masc forum getting seachem buckets for $50 local.

said in a post that he is doing a salt buy on monday

 

[dv3]

Does it matter when I visited? I was told the 24w T5 bulbs were in this back room and to "Help yourself. Just bring the ones you want to buy up to the register." They weren't on any shelf or rack in the main part of the store - the selection was poor at best. I ended up buying a hodge podge of lights to get my fixture going. Geissman, UVL, Coralife ....... but it's all they had.

Guess it's a good thing I'm not a member of the club. Met a few of the people - a few board members - not impressed. Seams commercialized. They want money IMO.

Doesn't matter anywho. I made up my mind about the club and the LFS in this area a long time ago. None of them have changed much in the last 5yrs. The names have changed here and there, but the BS is all the same.

I'll continue to shop online. It's just easier and less hassle. Get what I want delivered to my door for a good price. Don't have to deal with rude or ignorant sales people. Don't have to deal with overpriced corals. Don't have to deal with overpriced dry goods. Don't have to pay sales tax. Don't have to make 2 trips because you know the LFS rarely has it in stock - but "we can order that for you" :fun2: ...................

All that stuff gets my blood pressure elevated. Don't need it. :hammer:

so because they didn't take you by the hand and pick out your bulbs now you don't want to shop there?:lolspin:

 

[gh0st]

I wonder why unemployment is so high and the economy so bad?

Could it have anything to do with not supporting local shops of any type?

Nah, couldn't be... I'm sure Online retailers send plenty of money back into the local markets, and pay plenty of local peoples salaries. But I'm sure it's worth it to save a few bucks in the short term.

 

[iamwrasseman]

we have done unrepariable damage to the economy and we will pay dearly for it in the future .good point in keeping it in the community but the majority simply will not comply .

 

[Kieth71]

Just because you dont want to pay the rediculous prices SOME of the lfs charge for the dry goods they sell doesnt mean you wont buy livestock.Blind loyalty of a customer only takes you so far.You need to make the customer feel as though it is worth it for you to pay the extra money and not make it so much extra they feel they are getting ripped off if they happend to know how much that product sells for online.I would say most people dont mind spending a few dollars more for products locally but as i mentioned above when you start trying to charge twice as much as online then you are just trying to catch someone that doesnt know any better.

 

[iamwrasseman]

more for less ............the american way ! i hear ya

 

[The Grim Reefer]

LOL buying on the internet is the reason for high unemployment???

I guess if you are ordering from overseas dealers it would make a difference. And I guess Aquamedics, ADHI, Lifereef, South Broadway Tropicals and Aquamart aren't selling anything online either. The net giveth, the net taketh away.

 

[LPS_Blasto]

so because they didn't take you by the hand and pick out your bulbs now you don't want to shop there?:lolspin:

Thats a huge over simplification of it. You weren't there so don't front like you know what the hell you're talking about.

I could have gone into all the gory details, but felt it wasn't necessary.

Just for you DV3:
The T5 bulbs were all thrown into about a dozen boxes on the floor in a back room. No order to them at all. Hundreds of different bulbs in all sizes and wattage just randomly thrown into big boxes. Bulbs all busted up, some probably 10yrs old or more. Dirty and dusty from many many years of sitting around. Spiders in the boxes. I was asked if I needed any help. I told them I was there to buy (6) T5 24w bulbs. The guy showed me to the back room and said - there they are. Help yourself and bring the ones you want up to the register.

Yeah, I thought it was rude and unprofessional. I already had a bad taste in my mouth for the LFS's in this area - and this was just another example of poor customer service and high prices.

You feel better now dv3 -- now that you know the details? Probably not. You strike me as a narcissist who thinks he's smarter than everybody else when he's behind the keyboard. Typical internet user. Typical RC user. Pompous and quick to judge without basis or experience.

 

[rmougey]

The Internet is changing the world of retail. It's always been a tough business, but local market's were somewhat protected and wholesale costs were carefully guarded. MAP was strongly enforced by the vendors. That traditional 3 tier distribution scheme required markups along the way for everyone to make money. It's costs the Manufacturer $5 to make, they sell 1000 of them to the distributor at $10. The distributor has to pay their warehouse rent and cover transportation, so they sell 20 of them to the retailer at $16. The retailer has to pay higher rent, stay open longer hours and employ staff to serve one customer at a time, they sell the item for $32.

It costs more to sell one item to a single person at the retail level than it does to sell 10 items at the wholesale level. You can walk into any retail store and spend $2 on a portion of brine. The retailer has lost money on that transaction if that is all you buy. The wholesaler or distributor on the other hand requires a minimum order, say $500-$1000 from the retailer. They don't just sell one item.

If the retailer wants to save money, they can approach the vendor directly for distributor pricing. If I spend $5000 with Brightwell or Seachem in a single transaction, I could buy at very low pricing. That's a hard pill to swallow for a retailer, they have a small market space. But if I have a website and a warehouse, I can sell the same items for less money than than the retailer, but make a higher margin on the individual sales! The market flattens and the wholesalers and retail stores loose business.

There are many instances of the Internet price being lower than the local wholesale price the retailer must pay for the same item. Makes it hard to earn a living.

A retail store can not stay in business competing with Internet pricing. They stay in business by providing service and convenience that offsets the Internet experience. Or, as my Economics professor used to point out, it's all based on opportunity costs.

Without a healthy margin, a business can not succeed. And in the world of retail, that means lots of small transactions, requiring time on the part of the shop owner or staff. That translates into needing to markup goods 2-3x their cost to continue to keep the doors open. Some items such as tanks have a very low margin, other items such as food may have a high margin. Then of course, we have inventory that dies........

-Rob

 

[The Grim Reefer]

WHat I might do is start grabbing deals, when salt was 32 a bucket delivered buying a bunch and undercutting petsmart 5 a bucket would make sense if you don't have to cover overhead. Unfortunately I didn't have an empty basement at that point in time. Then again I would have to figure out how to get them down there that didn't involve letting them roll down the stairs

 

[dv3]

Thats a huge over simplification of it. You weren't there so don't front like you know what the hell you're talking about.
sorry didnt mean to be frontin ...:hmm1:
I could have gone into all the gory details, but felt it wasn't necessary.
Just for you DV3:
The T5 bulbs were all thrown into about a dozen boxes on the floor in a back room. No order to them at all. Hundreds of different bulbs in all sizes and wattage just randomly thrown into big boxes. Bulbs all busted up, some probably 10yrs old or more. Dirty and dusty from many many years of sitting around. Spiders in the boxes. I was asked if I needed any help. I told them I was there to buy (6) T5 24w bulbs. The guy showed me to the back room and said - there they are. Help yourself and bring the ones you want up to the register.
wow your right that was "gory" they had spiders and everything ...i see your point now
Yeah, I thought it was rude and unprofessional. I already had a bad taste in my mouth for the LFS's in this area - and this was just another example of poor customer service and high prices.
So because you "had a bad taste in you mouth" for LFS's you expected them to pick your bulbs out for you or hurry up and organize them to your liking? If you went to the grocery store and they treated you with poor customer service and had high prices would you start buying your groceries online because of some bad experiences?
You feel better now dv3 -- now that you know the details? Probably not. You strike me as a narcissist who thinks he's smarter than everybody else when he's behind the keyboard. Typical internet user. Typical RC user. Pompous and quick to judge without basis or experience.
Yes I do feel better you have proved yet again that you are exactly the type of person are accusing me of being ...just as you have done in several posts in the last few days:celeb1::celeb1::celeb1:

If you don't like the local reef clubs (as you said in an earlier post) or RC users than why are you here?
IMO the LFS's and the local reef clubs will do just fine without people like you

 

[iamwrasseman]

this is getting personal and we are on a site that exchanges information for the good of the hobby . this isn't good for the hobby in my opinion ,cant we all get along ?this is piddly sixth grade antics ,grow up please . what was the subject ?

 

[The Grim Reefer]

this is getting personal and we are on a site that exchanges information for the good of the hobby . this isn't good for the hobby in my opinion ,cant we all get along ?this is piddly sixth grade antics ,grow up please . what was the subject ?

Was their a subject? Oh, yeah Salt.

I should report I order Salt, sand and some other stuff from fosters and smith last Tuesday (before New years). The salt and sand arrived on Saturday, nice BUT.

The had no record of the other part of my order all of which was charged to my card when it shipped. Last Tuesday "the rest" of my order showed up. Another Call to the Doctors and the Rest, rest of my order showed up yesterday. Instead of the pond clarifier I order and was invoiced for I got a Kent .05 micron water filter cartrage and still short a couple more items. ANOTHER CALL. They are sending out the clarifier and told me the aquatic plant basket and planting media where shipped together and I'd see them in a day or two. So today the basket shows up and with it in the box is.... You guessed it, a Fluval filter insert. Good God!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[iamwrasseman]

lol, that is one of the pitfalls of ordering online . at least you can see what you are paying for at your LFS .

 

[LPS_Blasto]

If you don't like the local reef clubs (as you said in an earlier post) or RC users than why are you here?
IMO the LFS's and the local reef clubs will do just fine without people like you

You don't know me. You don't know diddley. So don't play your games with me.

You assume a lot and you know very little. You are not worth my time. Good day.

 

[Zooid]

I'm all for supporting the LFS but I'm not for giving charity money to the LFS. If they are a little high price on something, I'll hold my breath and buy it. If I can buy the same thing for 50% less DELIVERED, then my money will go to the internet operation. If the LFS wants to stay competitive, they have to EARN the business. Here's an idea, the LFS could actually organize a group buy and make a small marginal profit on let's say salt. If there is enough interest, the LFS could buy the salt at distributor pricing and make an even bigger profit without increasing the price to the consumer.

 

[Sisterlimonpot]

I'm all for supporting the LFS but I'm not for giving charity money to the LFS. If they are a little high price on something, I'll hold my breath and buy it. If I can buy the same thing for 50% less DELIVERED, then my money will go to the internet operation. If the LFS wants to stay competitive, they have to EARN the business. Here's an idea, the LFS could actually organize a group buy and make a small marginal profit on let's say salt. If there is enough interest, the LFS could buy the salt at distributor pricing and make an even bigger profit without increasing the price to the consumer.

That's exactly how I feel about it as well, I don't mind spending a little more, but when I feel that they are trying to get rich off just my purchase than it's time to take my business somewhere else.