Prices up

[Andyroo]

Quick question:
I was on a US wholesaler's website helping a local importer, and the prices seemed way (WAY) up. Is that just me or is it a general thing? Is that the tariffs kicking-in, as it seemed comfortably north of that 10%

Stock-list was also quite sparse, though I do appreciate that there's seasonalities.
The conservation-oriented suppliers had nothing at all, so I wonder if they were just priced-out (of the US market?) entirely.

Side-note: are there any Canadian wholesalers on this list? Find me directly

 

[amazontank]

I noticed higher prices also on plecos from South America. I was thinking the same thing.
Looking forward to some more post on this from the more experienced.

 

[jake37]

I was told from one seller that tarrifs are really kicking in for both asian imports and south america imports though it depends specifically which country. I noticed prices up for fish i purchased from 10% to 30%.

 

[A201]

Except for the Loaches, all my fish are likely from hatcheries here in the USA, and not subject to tariffs.

Locally, in the past 2 years, prices of common fish such as Tiger Barbs and Rosy Barbs have gone up from $1.99 a piece to $5.00.

The traditionally expensive fish, such as a $19 Denison Barb, the price has remained the same.

I guess the retailers are aware that a $50 Denison Barb probably wouldn't sell. Jacking up the prices on so called cheap fish, likely would be more tolerable.

The hatcheries and retailers are obviously trying to avoid losses, or maybe they are simply price gouging, who knows? but I'm not convinced tariffs are the sole reason.

At least locally, prices on certain fish have more than doubled. This happened before any USA imposed tariffs were ever imposed.

 

[Fallen_Leaves16]

There has been some local price-gouging for a while, especially since COVID; but that mostly applies to domestic farms/wholesalers and supplied retail.
Certain chain stores, such as Petco and Petsmart, have been rather notorious for almost doubling prices on many of their sold vertebrates, despite no switch in supplier.

For direct importers, they are most definitely starting to be hit by tariffs; four guys have told me they've got no choice but to start raising prices to keep up, as they'd be eating too much of the cost to earn a profit otherwise. A few companies, like PlecoCeramics, have also issued public statements on the matter.
Most sellers have said they'd start having to raise prices starting early August, if they haven't already.
It is country-and-fish/product-dependent, though. And most that I know/asked have said it won't be much more than anywhere from a 5-35% increase.
Higher-end fishing tackle from overseas has also gotten markedly more expensive, on a somewhat unrelated note.

Looking to see if nearby wholesale facilities are also going to be forced to raise prices to a similar magnitude; kind of curious to see if they'd be any better since they're likely a larger operation able to take more of a financial loss.

At the moment, the tariffs haven't fully enveloped the applicable aspects of the US's ornamental fish industry yet, from what I have seen. But I expect that will change as the months go by.

Perhaps we will see a minor increase in the number of domestic breeders/sellers, or a shift towards domestically-produced fishes. But I doubt there will be any major changes to available stock in stores, though there is certainly less incentive for companies to import now.