Why buy live inhabitants online?

[jeff howard]

you biggest problem is that everyone now days is farming and fragging corals. with all the basement and garage things going on people can buy 5 and 10 dollar frags all day long, and a legit store, paying taxes and absorbing losses just cannot survive like that. There was a time where a person could have done it. That time has passed. Even a local store gets caught up in the effects. The quality of fish coming in has declined because it has become a matter of passing the fish down the chain before you lose it. Even if you really love this stuff there just isn't enough money there to justify all the effort involved. If you do open you will learn so much, but there is a learning curve. you have to figure out a system for treating problems of all sorts. pests, illness, bad shipping, damaged products, it all adds up to one huge ordeal.

 

[Jenna Bearden]

World wide corals, Pacific east aquaculture are my favorites, and live aquaria.

 

[GHsaltie]

Just out of curiosity, which online vendors do you use?

@WWC World wide corals, @Omega Coral, @Joe Knows Reefs, @CherryCorals

 

[KingJason]

I buy online for a few reasons:

For Coral: It's just fun. I enjoy the live sales, auctions, etc. It's a fun way to buy coral for me. I buy things locally as well when I'm there in person.

Two main reasons for fish:

1. A few of the online vendors do a better QT than many LFS. Some even do prazipro, TTM and condition the fish which cuts down QT time for me.
2. Hard to find fish.

 

[Pmj]

I live in S. Florida, which has a ton of LFSes. None I have been too have a great selection of every single thing you would want. Some are good for cheap starter frags, some are good for fish, some for great deals on inverts, I really haven't seen many that have a great selection of SPS frags like WWC or BC. I honestly get better SPS frags from other reefers locally than from any LFS I've been too. I use different places (in store or online) for different things.

Also, it's easier to sit on the couch and shop for corals, and I'm guessing most people save up a bit and reach the limit for free shipping.

 

[Bunnee911]

Two and a half hours one way to a fish store. That ain't local.

 

[BantyRooster97]

I too buy most of my stuff online, but a little info on Live Aquaria, they QT but do not treat all of their fish. I recently bought a pyramid butterfly from them. I gave it a quick fresh water dip before QT & it had flukes. I QT'ed it for weeks after I got. I called and asked about their QT & they Qt & observe. If there are no visible issues, no treatment is given. So be careful.

 

[thinktank]

Two and a half hours one way to a fish store. That ain't local.

Never said it was, lol, other than using the term "LFS", which can mean a number of distances to a lot of different people, depending on your geographic location. I interpret LFS as simply a public fish store that is local to someone - may not be me.

I choose Vivid because it is very well known and they also do online selling, with a 15-day guarantee. I have another LFS only 15 miles from me, but he is terrible. His shop is a mess, you have to squeeze between tanks to get to what you want to look at, he overcharges higher than any place I've ever seen ($40 for a 2 inch yellow tang - bought one at another store for $15), and I've caught him telling some whoppers to get me to buy something (told me that building my own sump will cost me far more than purchasing one from him ---- BWAAHAHAHAHAHA!).

OK, so anyhow... 2.5 hours may not be local, but for some, it's worth it.

 

[DH-Reef]

I cannot justify buying a $30 fish or coral and spending the additional $30-50 in overnight shipping when I can drive 2-3 hours and go to an LFS and get it for roughly the same price, plus $10-15 in gas, maybe less.

When comparing online vs LFS, I'm not sure that this is the most common/fair way to do so. I have used LiveAquaria and Vivid for fish and corals. I've also used my LFS, but I'd say that 80+ percent of my purchases are online. All of my LiveRock, 150lbs of pukani, came from Tampa Bay Saltwater. I didn't want to deal with months of phospate leaching and algae battling from dead rock and there isn't a product like the one that I got from TBS in ANY LFS. So, I paid a little extra in that situation, but I got 10x better product.

When it comes to fish and coral though, I don't order one fish or one frag at a time and pay twice as much for it with shipping. I plan out what I want to add to my tank and buy 3-4 items at a time. Free overnight shipping (arriving before 1030am) is usually standard with orders of $149 or more. LiveAquaria will even honor that, even if items are shipped from both their California site and their Wisconsin site. Recently, they've had a special going where free shipping is on orders of $99 or more.

I can understand folks wanting to support their LFS vs Online, or feeling better about walking in and seeing the product before they buy. If those are the reasons that someone prefers LFS over Online, I can respect and appreciate that. Shipping? That doesn't seem to be a legitimate reason not to buy online...unless you are going way out of your way to make it factor, it's too easy for shipping to be free.

 

[Bronx19]

You buy online because the LFS doesn't/won't stock a certain animal or because it only ships to airport. Someone people don't enjoy the LFS experience or the person running it also.

 

[revhtree]

There is nothing local to me at a store that can even begin to compare with what I can get online. That being said I try to support local when I can as well as buy online.

 

[fishbox]

Basically because my car is a point of sale and I don't wanna travel with it [emoji23] but also because of time management. I work FT, I'm a FT student, I have to care for my tank, I kinda have a little social life, etc.....

 

[jlagee]

I'm blessed to have Pacific East within a 60-70 minute drive of home! Otherwise I would absolutely have to order online :-( my closest LFS has nothing I'd want - mostly softies. Check them out - they often have shipping deals for only $100 order!
Www.pacificeastaquaculture.com

 

[Earl Coleman]

If I have a good LFS to buy from I will, but it's slim pickens around these parts. To be honest, it's hard to NOT order something from liveaquaria when they have $99 free shipping and I have a 20% off discount code.

 

[Sheltered Reef AC]

So, with a decent number of reputable and well-known OFS, I'm wondering how a start-up would ever even gain ground to begin with? No one is ever going to buy livestock online from a start-up...and competing against them seems like a pipe-dream.

It would be fun to set up shop in my garage and breed fish and grow coral for sale online, but until there's a reputable retailer like Amazon who brings all the sellers of livestock into one system that you order from, and each seller gains reputation through reviews like on Amazon, I'm not sure how this would be doable anymore...

This is a very good question and one that we're living as a brand new (only 7 months in existence and a month selling online) online coral seller. First it is very difficult to establish a reputation, and just as hard to keep it in tact. But it is not impossible to get customers to give you a try, but it takes some exceptional specials and discounts to "earn" the opportunity to show people what your company is about. We have sold to > 30 customers online since launching a month ago. I think a pretty respectable number in the first 30 days, but we have a long way to go. We started this company with the mission to provide high quality and predominantly if not entirely aquaculture corals with second to none customer service. We provide a high degree of transparency to our customers, and we'll do everything it takes to make sure the experience is outstanding for them, and will not compromise on our core beliefs. We firmly believe that over time we will be recognized as the best customer service for an online coral seller above all the rest. Well, that's the bar we've set for ourselves anyway.
I think if you want to raise fish and grow coral in your garage and sell them online, then do it! Don't let me or any other company online intimidate you. All it takes is dedication, a little bit of money, and the will to never quit until you achieve your goal. Believe me, we have had more downs than ups, but we aren't going anywhere but up.

 

[Greaps]

Buying online for the better selection and prices. Shipping is typically free when I purchase things.

 

[Fishninja]

Just purchased 9 zoa frags from a fellow reefer on R2R... can't get 9 rare zoa frags from any LFS near me.

 

[Bruce Burnett]

well I buy from both but the closest LFS is 3 hours away and not what I would call a great one. Now southern California has a number of good ones that I used when I lived there. Will also use them when visiting but a special trip will be 5-6 hours driving one way so for me that would mean staying the night and 5 meals eating out.

 

[ciscomania]

I think ppl that buy one $30 coral or fish online and pay shipping are probably slim to none. And they probably shop online for rare items that lfs just don't carry and since it's rare, cost a lot more than $30. If you are buying $30 coral online, there's a good chance your lfs also have it in stock

 

[joro]

I usually buy online for the convenience (saves me a trip to LFS despite having multiple close by) and selection. That said, I totally see the value in buying locally where you can view the fish/coral and certainly that would be preferred if (a) they have it in stock and (b) are comparably priced. It's worth mentioning that I've purchased an untold amount of coral/fish from LA DD over the years and just recently was burned when one fish came in with Velvet, forcing me to also spend a few hundred bones to setup a hospital tank. So, as with everything in this hobby, YMMV.