personally , when it comes to shipping I only do AP to AP, if the vendor doesn't offer it , I'm buying from someone else.....also remember that you are getting what you're paying for, never heard anyone complaining about Jeff (Shark Aquarium being another excellent vendor/ shipper)
Shipping at Rapps
- Thread starter Kyel
- Start date
He charges "actual" shipping rates, alot of larger online fish companies cap their shipping rates or maybe even have a deal with UPS/Fedex as they ship so much to reduce costs. I live in VA which isnt that far away my last order for 3 fish was $65 shipping. I have no doubt that was the actual cost of shipping...and I feel that the specimines I received will grow into show quality fish so the price of shipping is worth it to me. Some venders are also willing to ship their fish a slightly slower method where you get your fish in 2 days instead of next day to cut costs, which for obvious reasons isnt an option with the rarer wild caught fish dominating TUIC's stocklist.
dogofwar;4790822; said:
Do you not think I have already been through the actual cost of shipping verification? I am not a noob. Get the chip off of your shoulder and realize that we are both saying basically the same thing. Any vendor with any sense will try to pass his overhead onto the customer.....that's business. Jeff does not collect wild fish of a good quality and spend time boxing them up for free... That's life, pay for it or don't. Some of you people forget that businesses are created to make money.
Piscine;4791008; said:
That pretty much sums it up. No sense in complaining about it. If you don't like the price, move along.
Piscine;4791008; said:
Everything you buy is sold at a profit. These people aren't running charities. If you aren't making money, you're doing something wrong. Our company sells one specific item for over $100k when the actual cost to manufacture (including every bit of overhead you could imagine) hovers above $16k. That's quite a profit margin. That's why it's called a business.
Piscine;4791008; said:
You seem to be the one with the chip on your shoulder...or maybe your Aunt Flow is visiting you. Either way, if youre both saying the same thing, why keep on with it?
I swear sometimes I wish there was a litmus test to be able to post here.
Yeah I spoke with the guy on the phone and he is a really nice guy and knows alot. I was just wondering if you guys thought that the price was fair. I will probably get with driftwood and do a group buy and split the shipping price. Because I really do like the guys fish. And I can't find much in colorado right now.
There's a really easy way to figure this out.
Go to UPS.com, enter the dimensions of a box and the approximate weight, plus the ZIP code from Jeff's facility to your house, and there's an estimated shipping quote.
Priority Overnight service is insanely expensive whether you use UPS or FedEx. I am a hobbyist breeder and have shipped out many fish over the last few years via FedEx Overnight. Adult discus and medium cichlids average about 12 - 15 pounds per box. The last time I shipped overnight from Florida to Connecticut was $120.
There are a lot of vendors who will ship cheaper than that, but I suspect they have negotiated lower rates with FedEx because of the volume of shipments they have. Because I only ship out maybe a dozen boxes a year, this would not apply to me and I have never looked into it.
Remember that your shipping doesn't just depend on the location, but also the size and weight of the order. If you're getting larger fish or fish that require larger bags, that means a larger box, which means UPS/FedEx charge you more. Couple that with the fact that you live almost all the way across the country and $100+ doesn't sound out of the ordinary at all.
Go to UPS.com, enter the dimensions of a box and the approximate weight, plus the ZIP code from Jeff's facility to your house, and there's an estimated shipping quote.
Priority Overnight service is insanely expensive whether you use UPS or FedEx. I am a hobbyist breeder and have shipped out many fish over the last few years via FedEx Overnight. Adult discus and medium cichlids average about 12 - 15 pounds per box. The last time I shipped overnight from Florida to Connecticut was $120.
There are a lot of vendors who will ship cheaper than that, but I suspect they have negotiated lower rates with FedEx because of the volume of shipments they have. Because I only ship out maybe a dozen boxes a year, this would not apply to me and I have never looked into it.
Remember that your shipping doesn't just depend on the location, but also the size and weight of the order. If you're getting larger fish or fish that require larger bags, that means a larger box, which means UPS/FedEx charge you more. Couple that with the fact that you live almost all the way across the country and $100+ doesn't sound out of the ordinary at all.
As mentioned, a group buy would be your best bet here. Jeff has an excellent reputation of high quality fish and I feel it's worth it.
