Yesterday I was in my LFS, they got a fish in I've been keeping an eye out for, but didn't buy it because it just arrived. I figured I would give it a day or two to settle in before I get it into QT. Anyway, I went back today to see how it was going to get priced etc., and it had died. (lucky I didn't purchase it yesterday when I arrived, cause it looked pretty healthy).
I got to talking with the owner for a while about the state of affairs with being a LFS today and how hard it is. This fish cost him $40-50 bucks typically and he sells it around $75. Now he'll be selling the next one at $75-80 at a cost of $80-100 for dead one and then replacement.
He also mentioned he has about 50% of the sales volume he had before COVID and how razor thin the margins are on dry goods.
Anyway, just a reminder to go visit your LFS first when you need something. If they don’t have it, they can most likely order it and have it in hand in a few days. Another example, I recently bought a tank from him that had a bad seam. Long story short, to avoid shipping costs etc with warranty replacements, he just swapped it out for me at the store and sent the bad one back to the vendor himself. Try that with an online retailer.
I can go on and on with reasons to support your LFS, but I'll leave it at that. PLEASE make your LFS your first stop when it comes to livestock and dry goods. The internet is great, easy, convenient and whatever, but this hobby will be in a bad way when the LFS's die off. Mine is my only option inside an hour travel time from my house.
That's all I got!
I got to talking with the owner for a while about the state of affairs with being a LFS today and how hard it is. This fish cost him $40-50 bucks typically and he sells it around $75. Now he'll be selling the next one at $75-80 at a cost of $80-100 for dead one and then replacement.
He also mentioned he has about 50% of the sales volume he had before COVID and how razor thin the margins are on dry goods.
Anyway, just a reminder to go visit your LFS first when you need something. If they don’t have it, they can most likely order it and have it in hand in a few days. Another example, I recently bought a tank from him that had a bad seam. Long story short, to avoid shipping costs etc with warranty replacements, he just swapped it out for me at the store and sent the bad one back to the vendor himself. Try that with an online retailer.
I can go on and on with reasons to support your LFS, but I'll leave it at that. PLEASE make your LFS your first stop when it comes to livestock and dry goods. The internet is great, easy, convenient and whatever, but this hobby will be in a bad way when the LFS's die off. Mine is my only option inside an hour travel time from my house.
That's all I got!
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