LFS vs Well-Respected-Online-Etailers

[ZoWhat]

It's my understanding after talking to a retire LFS Owner....

that when Asian-Pacific/Aussie corals come into California Distributors.....that the corals are graded A, B, C.

Many LFSs dont have the relationships with their own wholesaler to get A-graded corals from a "stock list"

>OR< the LFS doesnt want to invest in an A-grade corals bc fears of it dying or not selling (bc A-Grade corals are super expensive even at the wholesale level).

LFS dont want to tie up CashFlow in A-grade corals that their foot traffic people just look at but never buy.

Super mega online etailers (say WWC for example) can and do get their hands on A & B graded corals. But, You really pay for those A-graded corals reflected in the final sale price.

LFSs on the other hand seeeeem to have in stock mostly plain-Jane B-graded corals..... Some low grade LFS, you only see C-graded corals

even though there is NO SHAME having your tank filled with beautiful B-graded corals... buying thru LFS versus Online, are you alienating yourself from seeing A-graded corals.


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[EMeyer]

Wouldnt surprise me. Some wholesalers do some shady stuff.

One of the wholesalers I deal with regularly puts corals on their online inventory, but after you buy them, they tell you it was not available. When you ask why, they explain that corals come in with one price and are then 're-graded' depending on appearance. In other words, you buy the coral for one price and when they pack it up, if it looks good they "re-grade" it to a higher price and remove it from your order, and relist it at a higher price.

Its a weird part of the industry and would benefit from more transparency.

 

[Westside Guy]

The owner of my LFS is an airline pilot who flies "down under" and had visited his main supplier for many years and has built up a relationship with him. Needless to say, purchasing in person from a supplier in Australia as opposed to ordering from a distributor in California makes a big difference as the corals that he purchases from them are beautiful.