Lessons I'm learning on buying from hobby breeders

I am quickly coming to the realization that there are a number of reasons most aquarium shops buy mostly from commercial breeders even though there are always many local breeders around.

This isn't a rant or anything like that although it is long enough it may look like one

I just thought this might make an interesting topic written from the perspective of a retailer, albeit a small part time semi hobbyist one that isn't even running yet

I'll start by saying that I had hoped that I would be able to buy some, if not much, of my stock from local breeders but I am quickly learning that might not be the case.

I've been contacted by a couple of hobby breeders between Oshawa and Ktown (and have contacted a few) and in some cases there has been a little tension felt.

1st - the tension we have experienced.
That tension is not experienced when dealing with professionals. Pro's don't take it personal that someone thinks the prices or fish are not what the you are looking for. Pro's also don't go around bad mouthing you because their feelings got hurt. Who needs that extra level of stress?

2nd - retailers are not in the biz of growing out fish.
Consumers, for the most part, do not come to retailers looking for small fish, they simply do not sell. Small juvies have VERY little value, often none, to a retail shop. Wholesalers sell juvies for pennies in many cases and they still aren't worth it to most retailers. So far my experience is that hobby breeders think their juvies are worth WAYYYYYYYYY more then they are which brings us to price.

3rd - Price
When dealing with a product that not only often dies while in inventory, but requires significant maintenance, the margin has to be great enough to absorb those costs. In this that means the retail markup has to be many times the original price and the younger the fish the greater that markup has to be.

It is simple math. As an example if I only make 33% then every time a fish dies it wipes out the profit from 3 previous sales plus the loss of the money paid for the fish that died. Even my hobby store would be bankrupt in mere months ... maybe weeks :shock:

4th - Competition
Hobby breeders often sell the same product to consumers for around the same price they charge the retail store. Not only does that mean the retailer has someone under cutting them drastically with in their own market, but the store is essentially supporting them in that practice which is obviously bad business from the retailers perspective.

It can also means that a fish that might be quite rare in Canada is actually quite common within the retailers regional market place. That being the case that otherwise rare fish is worth a substantially less in that region then it otherwise would be.

5th - confidentiality
Wholesalers don't run around telling their friends and fellow hobbyists what they sold the fish to you for.

6th - convenience
It is simply easier most time to order from a wholesaler. The retailer can pickup the phone or send an email anytime during normal biz hours and can expect the product to show up a few days later during normal biz hours. That is a big deal for someone that is busy.

So what I expected coming into this was that the fish had to be of comparable quality, size and delivered price of a true wholesaler in order for a retail store to even begin to consider them.

But I what I am learning is that when you factor in the politics, convenience, general lack of confidentiality and potential for it to turn into a negative situation (with the resultant bad mouthing of the retailer) then the price really has to be quite a bit better then wholesale. Even then it is only worth getting involved in it if the retailer believes the seller is a decent person with little chance of it going sour.

So this isn't aimed at anyone in particular but is just my thoughts on my experiences so far and I thought it might make for a good discussion.

So for those of you that actually managed to read all that what do you think?