Buying Online

Christople

Hi all, I am wondering if everybody who orders their fish online, do you really pay the ridiculous shipping price or is there a place with 'okay prices' for shipping. My lfs has all of the species I want but not all of them are the cheapest and some don't look the best.

Byron

I've never purchased fish online, but I will offer some thoughts. I would always prefer buying fish from a local store/importer. If they should die, most stores will give some form of credit. Online, this may be difficult or bothersome. And I like seeing the fish before I buy it. Fish often arrive in transit severely stressed and prone to ich, and I would prefer the store deals with this rather than me. Many fish arrive dead, or near death, and the store has to bear this loss but again, I would rather they do than me.

From my info on the Wet Spot, I can't imagine any online retailer bettering them.

ladayen

We've made 2 orders so far from a smaller breeder. The first one went great, the second one had numerous issues and the breeder is now giving us the silent treatment.

A couple of things to be aware of is to make sure you request heat/cold packs as necessary and make sure they are positioned around the box so they are actually doing the job. The reason shipping is so much is that generally it must be shipped same day/overnight by air. Even a single fish must have a decent size bag/box. We have 10 tanks running right now and were able to order $200+ worth of fish each time so paying $40 shipping wasn't so bad.


Sorry gotta run out for a bit, I'll try to remember to finish this later.

Geoffrey

I just ordered online and its been a week so far with no problems. I requested pictures of the order before it shipped but did not receive. At least the fish were healthy.

Things to keep in mind are the weather conditions between you and the shipper. The shipper should package according to the weather and you should set the shipping date according to good weather.

Most decent companies allow you to request pictures of the order before shipping. Take advantage of that, altho mine didnt work out.

I've usually seen a minimum order to get a flat rate shipping price. If you're stocking up an empty tank with lots of fish than this isnt so bad. But if you're just wanting one or two $6 fish then shipping price will be high compared to the order.

I did try all of my local stores before ordering online. Nobody carries what I want.

ladayen

Ok..

Most places have a Live on Arrival guarentee but you have only about 1 hour from delivery/pickup to send a photo of the dead fish still in bag. Due to the necessitie to acclimate fish properly rarely is any sort of guarentee offereed beyond that.

You can ask the wet spot if they can special order fish for you. Even my tiny store here has a fairly extensive list that they can order but generally dont for various reasons. As you can see though there is a reason some of the fish are not cheap. It's transportation costs for the most part. Sometimes it's simple supply and demand.

Christople

The reason I wanted to order online also is to find better prices on the fish. The wetspot has them but are really pricy IMO, even if that's what the fish sells for at my of lfs as well. I decided I am going to Just get two pairs of P. Taeniatus in a 75 gallon and one in my 38 gallon. So it looks like that's 120 dollars but oh well.