alternatives to LFS's, shipping costs

Lately, I see so many LFS's closing down ( and I didn't have alot to choose from to begin with!) due to current economic conditions. So I have started looking at online stores, but the shipping costs are insane.

Example; I wanted to try a different salt, the price of the salt was about 18.00 shipping was 9.00.

And when I look at the shipping charges for "live" stuff I'm just shocked.


Have you found any alternatives or ways to keep the shipping costs down?

Thanks

 

Best thing I have found is try to order a bunch of stuff at the same time. So don't just order salt...wait until you need to order filter pads, salt, additives, etc. and order all at once. That way the shipping costs are spread across multiple items and makes the over all impact of shipping less. $10 for for 10 things is not too bad...$10 for 1 stinks. ON live goods, the same thing sort of applies. A lot of places discount, or better yet eliminate shipping fees if you spend over a certain amount. for example, I ordered a clean up crew the other day from reeftopia.com. There was no cost for the shipping as I spent over $100.

If you plan correctly, you can really save a lot of money buying on line...often time 50-60% on dry goods. So even if you pay shipping, you probably are better off then buying at the LFS.

Granted this is a purely economic way of looking at it...if you do have a nice LFS, and they provide you info, etc. you should try to support them as much as practicle. Where I live in Atlanta there are no LFS's within about 35 minutes of me that are any good - so I am stuck with on-line shopping mostly.

 

I've actually started to turn towards online stores as well mainly because my lfs have a decent selection but their coral tank is covered with hair algae. I do buy my fish there. As APC said, I wait until I have to order a bunch of things that way the shipping is actually relatively cheap. Order in bulk too, instead of getting a 50gal. salt mix, get a big bucket of it. Vividaquariums.com has one of the best deals on livestock, if you order over $225 worth of livestock, shipping is free. Even if not, they only charge $30 to ship. I wait until I have the money to get a bunch of things. Other places discount shipping if you order over a certain amount.

 

Dito, Just remember if you have a local fish store and don't support it, it may not be there when you want or need them. I buy online as lfs is 90 miles away. No one said it is a inexpensive hobby.

 

I have supported my LFS's as much as I can, often after a purchase I have figured out I probably paid the LFS as much as I would if I had ordered it. On several items (my Coralife RO/DI unit, Remora AquaC) I know I paid more than listed retail price but did so to help support the store. I have no qualms with this.

The only things I have ordered are Salifert test kits (nothing other than Hagen available locally) and salt.

 

I buy as much as I can from my LFS, but in some cases of high / outrageous markup, I would buy online and use the money I save to buy livestock locally, to support the LFS.

I understand everyone has to have markup, but also when it comes down to it - this is business, folks, and business can sometimes be ruthless. I'll do whats smart for my wallet. There is one local LFS here in particular that is family owned and I do everything I can to purchase all my stuff through them. But, I won't pay $300 for a pump I can get for $100-150 online (no joke).

If you want to buy online, I agree with what was said before - order many items at one time, and spread shipping costs across the entire order, or buy large amounts of livestock at once and get free shipping.

Keep in mind if you don't support the online stores, maybe one day they won't be there either, when you need the savings the most

 

I have only bought a few aquarium items online both from Fosters and Smith and 1 thing from Marine Depot. They are both bigger stores than some of these mom and pop online stores and you get butter customer support with a better return policy. LFS do not make much money on livestock they make most of their money on dry goods. Captain Nemos by me has increased their livestock prices especially for corals. Its still safer though to get your fish locally though even if you pay a little more.

 

APC- I live in ATL and there are some great stores here. Not sure where you live but there is one in Buckhead (kindof expensive) and another one on Johnson Ferry in Marietta.

 

Yeah the one in Marietta on Johnsons Ferry is on the opposite side of the town from me. I live right by Kennesaw Mountain Nat'l park. On a bright note though, Optimum Aquarium, which is one of the better stores in ATL is about to move into my neck of the woods. They are closing the shop over on shallowford and sandy plains and moving to Barrett Parkway - which is like 10 minutes from where I live. Supposed to happen by the end of the month. I am pretty excited about that!

 

I'd check out the Ebay stores... Piece-of-the-reef, Oceans Garden Inc., those sort of things, I know Oceans Garden Inc offers a 24.99 flat shipping rate for live stuff, but i'd go to a major store for the salt, you can usually find shipping discount promotion codes online, just google it . I just started a new thread, "Pros and Cons of online buying".