Breed vs Import

[glovanator]

Hi all,

I've been thinking about this and why does everyone think it's so much more common to import stingrays vs buy them from breeders? Is it that there are just so few breeders out there or is it still just not economical at BD prices to be breeding stingrays?

 

[Deadliestviper7]

Both have their advantages, import takes less space than a breeding setup, and tend to be more genetically diverse, but captive breeding is still getting more popular as more people keep rays now.

 

[Lepisosteus]

Import is cheaper. If you buy 20+ rays at once you can get pretty much anything for under $1000/pup. We used to bring in p14 and F2 BD for around $500 each when the market was hot around 2014/2015.

 

[Deadliestviper7]

Import is cheaper. If you buy 20+ rays at once you can get pretty much anything for under $1000/pup. We used to bring in p14 and F2 BD for around $500 each when the market was hot around 2014/2015.

Stores often get rays for around $25 dollars each

 

[Lepisosteus]

Stores often get rays for around $25 dollars each

Still depends on what they bring in. Hybrids are easy to get from overseas at $50 each but pure bred p14 are still up around $600 each. Like I said bringing them in back in 2014 at $500 each and selling them at $1500 each is a lot better than it is now where you get these low quality rays for $50 each and struggle to sell them at $500 each

 

[Lepisosteus]

We were one of if not the first in Canada to import black diamond and p14 rays. I can still say that you pay for quality and these $25 rays are not that.

 

[DB junkie]

$600 for quality P14?

Who's taking my money?

 

[Lepisosteus]

$600 for quality P14?

Who's taking my money?

When you buy 15+ rays at once with over 100 bought off the same breeder (stingray biology) it’s different then buying 1 fish

 

[Lepisosteus]

Below is message from Kevin at Stingray Bio regarding an order for 30 rays.

“OK, so I would add 2 more males into the group to make it 7 pairs.
For all 14 pcs I can do a total price of $8000 usd.
This price includes freight and all export charges.
I will not hold any fish until it is paid for.

The p14 price is $650 each. I think 14 or 15 pcs available”.

 

[glovanator]

.... I'm shocked by the markup in Ray's, I guess I always assumed importers were only making like 10%. But I guess they are taking a risk with DOA and potentially carrying costs.

I would also like to point out buying from a breeder would be less likely to come in with parasites and you know what they are eating so there are some Pro's there.