Alternative Vendors to BRS!

[rtparty]

BRS for 99% of my reefing needs. For halides, I go to Premium Aquatics.

I find it funny that BRS is "too big" and yet, they didn't even buy or acquire Ecotech lol. Nothing has changed but some will never believe that. That's okay though. We all have our own quirks. I shop at Amazon all the time but won't step foot in Walmart. Not even a "real" reason to avoid Walmart. I just can't stand the store.

 

[HeyLookItsCaps]

Big brs fan here, if I can’t find something there I’ll go to the others mentioned or places like fishofhex for a 3D print

 

[Opus]

I've been using Premium Aquatics since the 90's when I would have to order over the phone using their ad from FAMA. Now how many here know what FAMA is/was? I've never been a big BRS user but for no real reason. It has gotten to where they are the only place to find some things in stock!
Just a FYI on Premium. They have a 10 to 15% off everything not map on almost every holiday.

 

[RBZ]

Just for my own curiosity, why is everyone concerned about buying from BRS? I get that they're growing and made some acquisitions, but I don't see that as a reason not to purchase unless there is other, shady stuff happening. Ya'll don't buy from Amazon or Walmart either? Maybe I'm just out of the loop?

When they purchased Marine Depot, they took away Next Day Delivery for me.
Now, if I want to setup a weekend project, I must order on Monday to get it by Friday at BRS.
Where MD I could schedule projects on Thursday for the weekend.
I have been going with Saltwater for the two days and if I need more, I go to Premium.
I wanted MarineandReef to take my business but they seem not to care to add more product because every time I go looking for something, they don't have it.
BRS lost my business because they took away my options and I don't trust them when doing investigations, because they now have product in the game.(Not really business smart if you ask me) MD, Saltwater had warehouse locations placed across the country to get deliveries to you faster. Saltwater does 2 day, why can't BRS? The answer is they don't care anymore and are in for the profits no longer the people I trust when showing product anymore there objectivity now is in question. Ryan can't have it both ways as being the person we trust to investigate and have partners in the game he is investigating.

 

[JaimeAdams]

You could also use coralvue depending on what you are looking to purchase.

I don't understand what all the hate on BRS is. The only thing that I see is people are scared that at some point in the future BRS/Neptune/ETM will go down hill in product quality.

When they purchased Marine Depot, they took away Next Day Delivery for me.
Now, if I want to setup a weekend project, I must order on Monday to get it by Friday at BRS.
Where MD I could schedule projects on Thursday for the weekend.
I have been going with Saltwater for the two days and if I need more, I go to Premium.
I wanted MarineandReef to take my business but they seem not to care to add more product because every time I go looking for something, they don't have it.
BRS lost my business because they took away my options and I don't trust them when doing investigations, because they now have product in the game.(Not really business smart if you ask me) MD, Saltwater had warehouse locations placed across the country to get deliveries to you faster. Saltwater does 2 day, why can't BRS? The answer is they don't care anymore and are in for the profits no longer the people I trust when showing product anymore there objectivity now is in question. Ryan can't have it both ways as being the person we trust to investigate and have partners in the game he is investigating.

I think that BRS has done and will continue to do terrific videos. I do have news for you though; it was never unbiased. All along they only review or compare products that they sell or products that are the majority leader in the category. That being said the videos help thousands and thousands of people. Sure you can say that they only make the videos to build brand recognition and that probably has truth. BRS is and always was a for profit business. That doesn't mean that they can't and won't continue to help thousands of hobbyists through their video series.

 

[HeyLookItsCaps]

You could also use coralvue depending on what you are looking to purchase.

I don't understand what all the hate on BRS is. The only thing that I see is people are scared that at some point in the future BRS/Neptune/ETM will go down hill in product quality.


I think that BRS has done and will continue to do terrific videos. I do have news for you though; it was never unbiased. All along they only review or compare products that they sell or products that are the majority leader in the category. That being said the videos help thousands and thousands of people. Sure you can say that they only make the videos to build brand recognition and that probably has truth. BRS is and always was a for profit business. That doesn't mean that they can't and won't continue to help thousands of hobbyists through their video series.

And to jump on the second piece there, why not build up growing companies so they can continue to innovate.

I don’t get it either.

 

[GarrettT]

Marine and Reef - (my favorite)
Premium Aquatics - (close 2nd)

 

[GarrettT]

I don't understand what all the hate on BRS is. The only thing that I see is people are scared that at some point in the future BRS/Neptune/ETM will go down hill in product quality.

Or get to a point to where they can..... Thats what happens when you monopolize a market.

 

[SDK]

I buy where I get the best deal on the item(s) I am looking for. To their credit, that is very often BRS....

 

[JaimeAdams]

And to jump on the second piece there, why not build up growing companies so they can continue to innovate.

I don’t get it either.

A lot of the posts regarding these mergers are based on "the sky is falling" mentality. The reality is that none of us know what the end goal is. Sure, it could be bad, or it could be good. The way I see it is that they merged the #1 online retailer, the #1 lighting and arguably pump manufacturer and the #1 controller company. This doesn't seem like merging some failing companies to hit them. This seems like merging top companies to integrate them together in a synergistic way to increase innovation. Pump some funds into them and by sharing their technology create some awesome new products.

 

[PeterC99]

Smart companies communicate with their customers when big changes happen. They broadcast their strategies and let the customer know the benefits.

Has BRS done this?

 

[MarshallB]

I buy where I get the best deal on the item(s) I am looking for. To their credit, that is very often BRS....

Same here.

I don't get all the judgement and decisions here based on something they have yet to do. If they end up jacking up prices and lowering quality then sure, that would be the time to avoid them.

 

[mdb_talon]

And to jump on the second piece there, why not build up growing companies so they can continue to innovate.

I don’t get it either.

BRS for 99% of my reefing needs. For halides, I go to Premium Aquatics.

I find it funny that BRS is "too big" and yet, they didn't even buy or acquire Ecotech lol. Nothing has changed but some will never believe that. That's okay though. We all have our own quirks. I shop at Amazon all the time but won't step foot in Walmart. Not even a "real" reason to avoid Walmart. I just can't stand the store.

I think you guys are arguing against points that are not being made. The concerns I have (and most of the concerns I have seen) do not revolve around BRS becoming "too big" or growing. The concerns are more often about being taken over by a private equity firm that is also buying up other companies in the industry and eliminating competition. I mean I understand if people still want to use BRS more power to you, but some of us do not like what is going on and wont support them and that is just fine also.

Just to be clear though when a company buys a competitor and closes them down this is never done to benefit the consumer.

 

[mdb_talon]

A lot of the posts regarding these mergers are based on "the sky is falling" mentality. The reality is that none of us know what the end goal is. Sure, it could be bad, or it could be good. The way I see it is that they merged the #1 online retailer, the #1 lighting and arguably pump manufacturer and the #1 controller company. This doesn't seem like merging some failing companies to hit them. This seems like merging top companies to integrate them together in a synergistic way to increase innovation. Pump some funds into them and by sharing their technology create some awesome new products.

We all know what the end goal is... profits. That in itself is not a bad thing and what all for-profit businesses strive for. However many of us are familiar with private equity firms and how they normally go about obtaining those profits. For me this has nothing to do with BRS in itself, but everything to do with private equity firms and their track record. The reefing industry is relatively a very small industry which makes it easy for big money to come in and control it. The purchase/shutdown of MD itself took out one of top few options that reefers had.

 

[tharbin]

I like the idea of a thread of online vendors, maybe I can find a few I didn't know that can earn by business. But... I don't see a reason to not use BRS just because they are growing. Marine Depot was going away anyway. Would you hate Saltwateraquarium.com if they had bought it? I miss MD as they got stuff to me usually in one or two days, BRS, a lot longer, usually over a week. Still, when I started the main vendors were That Fish Place and Dr. Foster and Smith, via catalog and mail order so even a week is pretty good.

That said I always try other vendors before BRS, not because of their size or any grievance about MD but because they ship from Minnesota only, you pay shipping on orders under $49.00 and they seem to intentionally delay orders that don't pay the $1.99 shipping fee on the "free" delivery. Newegg.com tried that same tactic and lost me as a customer as well.

Right now, my needs are minimal, I try to let my LFS get the product for me if he can. If he can't I use Saltwateraquarium.com for most orders and BRS if I can't find it elsewhere. So far there has been nothing I needed that I couldn't get at saltwateaqurium.com that I could find at any of the other well known online vendors. I do zero business with Amazon for anything. Don't care for the company at all.

 

[jft]

Premium Aquatics doing Business with them for 15 plus years, Get my orders in 1 or 2 days , Great people and service, Would not buy from BRS I disdain monoplies,

 

[mdb_talon]

I like the idea of a thread of online vendors, maybe I can find a few I didn't know that can earn by business. But... I don't see a reason to not use BRS just because they are growing. Marine Depot was going away anyway. Would you hate Saltwateraquarium.com if they had bought it? I miss MD as they got stuff to me usually in one or two days, BRS, a lot longer, usually over a week. Still, when I started the main vendors were That Fish Place and Dr. Foster and Smith, via catalog and mail order so even a week is pretty good.

That said I always try other vendors before BRS, not because of their size or any grievance about MD but because they ship from Minnesota only, you pay shipping on orders under $49.00 and they seem to intentionally delay orders that don't pay the $1.99 shipping fee on the "free" delivery. Newegg.com tried that same tactic and lost me as a customer as well.

Right now, my needs are minimal, I try to let my LFS get the product for me if he can. If he can't I use Saltwateraquarium.com for most orders and BRS if I can't find it elsewhere. So far there has been nothing I needed that I couldn't get at saltwateaqurium.com that I could find at any of the other well know online vendors. I do zero business with Amazon for anything. Don't care for the company at all.

To be honest I would not hate BRS if they bought MD. I hate that private equity has effectively bought both of them.

Funny you bring up Dr Fosters and Smith. Used to be one of the best options. Then they got bought out by big money corporate interests, were given minimal investment, bled the brand of any profit/value/customers.... and then left to die. In that case it was not private equity, but that is often the playbook for PE.

 

[rtparty]

Smart companies communicate with their customers when big changes happen. They broadcast their strategies and let the customer know the benefits.

Has BRS done this?

Multiple lives have been about this. If people have missed that, that is on them

I think you guys are arguing against points that are not being made. The concerns I have (and most of the concerns I have seen) do not revolve around BRS becoming "too big" or growing. The concerns are more often about being taken over by a private equity firm that is also buying up other companies in the industry and eliminating competition. I mean I understand if people still want to use BRS more power to you, but some of us do not like what is going on and wont support them and that is just fine also.

Just to be clear though when a company buys a competitor and closes them down this is never done to benefit the consumer.

Who would you rather have bought MD? I keep seeing this theme brought up and not one person can answer it.

MD was selling. The owner was done. The company was stagnant and not growing. Would it be better if Chewy bought them? Or PetsMart? Maybe Petco could ruin them too? Honest question...what should have been done here? MD was 100% selling. It wasn't even the original owner that everyone thinks. He sold it off to his brother a decade ago. They were going nowehere and when the whole industry was booming, they barely grew. Not a good sign.

 

[dhanking]

What happened to BRS?????
I'm out of the loop or something

 

[reefiniteasy]

I use SWA, Premium Aquatics and CoralVue. I only order from BRS when it’s an item no one else has which is mostly plumbing. I don’t think what they did was good for the hobby and I think their videos are designed to push products they want to sell, which some people don’t understand. And unfortunately, now that they have a stake in the products they test, they cannot be trusted. It’s a major conflict of interest. Also, I despise what they did with their Reef Pack. Pushing product through “influencers” that many didn’t use previously, it is just shady. But that’s just my 2 cents that no one should care about.