Fish Size = Huge Price Increase

[eatingleg4peanut]

This is mainly to people that sell fish (fishstore owners or marketplace peeps) but I was curious if there is a general consensus of size to price ratio, mainly in cichlids.

I ask because I notice fish like Jacks and RD are really cheap in the 1"-3" ranges but skyrocket up to $20 at 4". I was wondering if there is some predetermined (unspoken) scale of price ratio to size that is generally used, like 1-3" $, 4-5" $$$, 6"+ $$$$$.

Is it as simple as 4"+ fish are more in demand or are you accommodating for the cost of the growout or something else?

I also saw a monster 14" + RD once at a LFS being kept in a 10gallon (tank size, of course it shared water with the rest of the tanks) the thing barely fit lengthwise and it was just as tall as the tank. It has a $80 price tag, this fish was there from the time I discovered the store until the day they went out of business (about 6 months later). At what point do you cut your loses and decide you just need to get rid of the fish, i.e., lower the price of the fish.

If you had a big beautiful uber healthy 8"+ Male jack, what would that sell for in yours shop?

Mainly just wanted to know if there is a general rule in size ratio/price at LFS's.

 

[Jayzao]

Larger fish can be generally more hardy.

 

[komodo182]

in my neck of the woods, a lot of larger cichlids go cheaper than smaller ones since there are no pet stores with large tanks.Once he fish reach a certain size, they go down in price really.
EX:

7 green terror cichlids originally 7.99 each. Once they got say 4 inches, the price was 4 bucks each.

 

[krichardson]

If you had a big beautiful uber healthy 8"+ Male jack, what would that sell for in yours shop?


Mainly just wanted to know if there is a general rule in size ratio/price at LFS's.

I don't think there is a general rule as far as price/size.The stores seem to be of the opinion that they can get more money for a bigger fish,showier fish and they try to do so.I used to work in a pet store and I've seen the large managuense,red devils and so forth go for thirty to fifty bucks......If I were to bring an 8 inch jack to one of the few shops that still accepts fish from customers here,I'd be lucky to get ten bucks(credit not cash) for it but they would try and sell it for over twenty dollars.

 

[Big Jay]

in my neck of the woods, a lot of larger cichlids go cheaper than smaller ones since there are no pet stores with large tanks.Once he fish reach a certain size, they go down in price really.
EX:

7 green terror cichlids originally 7.99 each. Once they got say 4 inches, the price was 4 bucks each.

Bingo. There's a bell curve from cheap to expensive to cheaper.

Small = Cheaper

Medium Sized = Expensive

Large = Less expensive

Jumbo = Sometimes very cheap.

The obvious exceptions being rarities or popular fish in general.

I'll give you a few examples. When I was younger i picked up a beautiful 12" Red/Black Vieja and a big Red Devil (also 12") for $35. Store couldn't move them. Meanwhile, 2 tanks down the ones in the 3-4" range were going for $20.

There's a BIG silver Aro in the LFS, easily 24", marked for $100. Little case of drop eye. Also in the store are 6" ones marked for $50.

 

[inssane]

Gotta figure that to an extent someone has to house and feed and clean tanks of growing fish versus hatching fry, growing them to an inch. Ultimately it costs a little more and passed on to us.

 

[krichardson]

Gotta figure that to an extent someone has to house and feed and clean tanks of growing fish versus hatching fry, growing them to an inch. Ultimately it costs a little more and passed on to us.

That's right but ideally the stores want to move and get rid of the fish as soon as they can.

 

[andyjs]

For cichlids, which are usually pretty fast growers, it's sometimes hard to even give away really big ones. Other very slow growing fish like clown loaches really go up in value as they grow to the point where one over a foot could cost like $150-200

 

[eatingleg4peanut]

but given the rarity in my neck of the woods, of larger adult fish found in stores, I would have to assume the majority of them are from trade ins, not being grown in the store, or them paying full price from their dealer for an adult fish. The only full adult(over 8") fish I have seen was the RD I mentioned, a 16" giant gourami ($120), a 18+" Black Aro ($300), 10" Red Texas ($100), 10-12" Dovii pair ($120 for pair), these are obviously all more rare fish and not the common species but all their smaller counterparts are ALOT cheaper.

Komodo: I wish I lived near you, 1-2.5" Greens Terrors Around here are $6-$7, and saw a 4" one last weekend for $25.

Krichardson: I know I would get barely anything for if I traded it to a pet store, thats not my question. My question is if I was a petstore how much would I sell it for to customers, being as I see barely 4" ones sell for $20, An adult good condition (I've seen alot of adult Jacks lately looking deformed and stunted) and colorful would have to be sold for more than $20.

andyjs: other than Oscars, I have to say I've seen quite the opposite. Around me Oscar are always being given away on craigslist, but I have never seen any other cichlids, or I would have snatched it up.

 

[krichardson]

Krichardson: I know I would get barely anything for if I traded it to a pet store, thats not my question. My question is if I was a petstore how much would I sell it for to customers, being as I see barely 4" ones sell for $20, An adult good condition (I've seen alot of adult Jacks lately looking deformed and stunted) and colorful would have to be sold for more than $20.

Well since you put it that way,and I did overlook and miss that part in your opening post,in my shop and with the way things are around here I would be happy and lucky to get twenty dollars for a JD that size.