Cichlid Aquarium Supplies at 61 Jalan Lekar

[Nomis]

Originally Posted by Kinetics

I would like to share a recent experience at Cichlid Aduarium Supplies with you guys and hope that we can share views on this

Thanks for allowing us to share our views here too.

Was an ex Lfs boss before, sometimes our source of fishes may differ in price for some reason. (Eg wild caught vs captive or season vs non season etc).Hence , Lfs may have their own bench mark to sell their livestock.

It's fortunate that you may find some similar (I hope) fishes elsewhere cheaper, but again.. willing buyer willing seller is still my preferred view point.

Was recently clearing my adult Xb that was thousands of dollar each when young at $200 to $300 each now, does it mean all Lfs n farm must follow this price range to sell?

It's good to highlight to Lfs bosses of prices elsewhere for his own judgement for future entry of stock for sale though, but I guess the tone of approach may be equally sensitive. Hope both sides could read it in a amicable manner too.

Anyway, you have no loss as you didn't pay too high for what you want. somehow.

No offence on my personal views here please ...

Simon

[trueblue82]

Originally Posted by Kinetics

I visited Cichlid Aquarium Supplies (CAS) on 23 June 2015 to look for some altolamprologus compressiceps gold heads. I met a young lad, I assume is the boss, who led me to a tank of alto comps gold head mutondwe of varying sizes. While I was looking at the fishes, he quoted me the price of $249 for each fish. I was extremely shocked by the price quoted as there was no way for me to put in a counter offer.

I shared with him that at other LFS in Singapore, a wild caught alto comp gold head was selling for $58 a piece. His reply was that he did not care and did not want to compare. He even asked me to go to that particular LFS to buy my alto comps.

I informed him that I had already bought some alto comps from that particular LFS and was keen to know what other LFS like his could offer.

I think the main focus here is that bold sentence.

y express it in an aggressive manner?

I'm sure theres a better way of telling your customers right?

[Nomis]

Originally Posted by trueblue82

I think the main focus here is that bold sentence.

y express it in an aggressive manner?

I'm sure theres a better way of telling your customers right?

May not totally agree somehow ,as this is just one side of the story . How was the statement presented to Lfs guy? We never know...

Was perturbed each time when my customer starts comparing prices at times last time during my Lfs days but Bo pian ,gotto keep quiet sometime or even state something similar too.. Hence, it's not wrong to indicate that he doesn't border n care as to who sells at what price , I think.

Simon

[Young Man]

price wise, nothing anyone can say or do anything about.
end of the day, willing buyer, willing seller. many hobbyists have had a taste of his super high pricing. but he still has a steady stream of buyers, that's why he is not bothered.
go to any shop price is right, good for you. otherwise just go elsewhere lo.

another problem encountered recently is their ethics in this trade. incident was that they sold fries with egg sac still attached to a new hobbyist.

when asked about why that was done instead of educating the hobbyist about it and perhaps buying a bigger fish or waiting till the fry is of a more suitable size before purchasing.
his reply was simple "willing buyer willing seller." and "i am a business man, not an educator"

even this, there is nothing anyone can do about it.
because? "willing buyer, willing seller"

dont get too bothered by them and enjoy the hobby

[johannes]

There were many fishes not just Tanganyikans that were priced at interesting prices there, yet quality wise it's not say like you get 10x the quality from other shops that bring in WC or overseas-bred F1s, so decide for yourself. You know, I know can liao. Anyway, they have the right to sell their fishes at any price they like.
On the other hand, having priced these fishes at interesting prices, I would expect the identification/credibility of the fishes to be accurate, but a couple of times I discovered that may not be the case, assuming that they were not intentional, the least they could do is not to mislead buyers.

[sen_jie]

Jus move on bro.

its happy buyer and happy seller situation.

Not happy with their price or service, then do not support them.

Its a open market, i believe there are other shops who can bring in the fishes you are searching so. After all hunting for fish is part and puzzle of the shopping experience rite?

Cheers Mate

[nitingdedao]

Originally Posted by Nomis

May not totally agree somehow ,as this is just one side of the story . How was the statement presented to Lfs guy? We never know...

Was perturbed each time when my customer starts comparing prices at times last time during my Lfs days but Bo pian ,gotto keep quiet sometime or even state something similar too.. Hence, it's not wrong to indicate that he doesn't border n care as to who sells at what price , I think.

Simon

Good point. To judge whos right or wrong always hear both side of the story.

[johannes]

Some people after hearing both side of the stories still dunno head or tail
Like that how leh

[dan]

Originally Posted by johannes

Some people after hearing both side of the stories still dunno head or tail
Like that how leh

Can't win them all.

Thks

[Kinetics]

Thanks for the well thought out replies. I learnt alot from this exchange.

I agree with the principle highlighted by several experienced hobbyists here of "willing buyer and willing seller". Indeed, I have moved on and managed to purchase what I wanted from another LFS. I regard this episode as part of the "fun" of fish hunting.

I also take the point made by some in this thread that at the end of the day, from the perspective of small buyers like myself, we would inevitably ask the question of what justifies the high premium asked by CAS? In other words, what is the value add that they bring that warrants their right to the price that they quote. It cannot be just on freight cost alone. For example, do they feed quality food to their fishes that brings out the striking colors of the fish.

Thanks and have a good day.