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Hey everybody I was wondering about was to sell fish to achieve maximum profit $$$.

I have finally succeeded in breeding my Protomelas similis and the fry are actually surviving!!! This is the 4th time they have bred, the previous attempts ending with disaster! I think my mistakes cost the lives of 150+ fry anyway with that unpleasantness behind us I am happy to report that I have 50+ 7-8 week old fry at 1-1.5 cm see this link for a pic of what their 8-10cm dad looks like!

http://www.aquahobby.com/gallery/e_similis.php

What I want to know is at what size do they become marketable and the best methods with which to sell them for max profit. I live in Melbourne Australia and bought the parents for AU$15 each at 3-4 cm not yet coloured. I have noticed on aqua bid the red empress which is similar to these guys at a decent size goes for $US20+ is that a good way to sell? What is involved in selling on the net? (i.e. Packing shipping etc?) id probably prefer to seel another less hassling way?


Last edited by african_man at 02-Nov-2005 21:54

the only way i see you making a good amount of money selling fish is some high dollar ones because the cost of shipping tends to turn people away from the less exspensive ones. your best bet is to find some lfs and trade the fish for food and equipment.


chris

You can only ship via Fastway and AAE in Australia as far as I know. Nobody else will accept live fish.

You do lose out on shipping as a buyer, but shipping is a small price to pay if you cannot get the fish in your area.

Do cichlids ship well? Without sounding awful, you should do a few dummy runs before you try selling to other people.

Get O2, it makes life easier.

Get square-based bags, they should stay upright even if you stuff the bagging technique.

Consider selling younger. they often travel better and you don't spend time and money growing them up

Go the the LFS after a shipment and get the styro boxes to ship in. you can get the standard ones or the bloodworm ones. The shops are glad to be rid of them, so they are usually free.

Contact AussieBettas re: 40hour heatpacks. These are essential if you are shipping tropical fish to remote areas or cold areas, or in winter. If you find another supplier, let us know, its just the only one i know of. There are a few in the US, but its a hassle to post.


You won't make money on it.
unless you are breeding large scale, or in scary conditions where you put in no time or money, the best you can hope for is break-even IMO.
But hey, thats not something to dwell on get the fishies out there!





Last edited by Callatya at 02-Nov-2005 22:34

Last edited by Callatya at 02-Nov-2005 22:35

For animals, the entire universe has been neatly divided into things to (a) mate with, (b) eat, (c) run away from, and (d) rocks. - Terry Pratchett

quite the contary calla, i'm quite a responsible pet owner, don't want to be cruel, but by the same token im breeding about 50-150 fish every 3 months. so break even would be good. any other suggestions on good easy ways to sell em? there reasonably rare, i dont see em in every aquarium. then again i supose their not that sought after, supply and demand i guess?

I have bred many fish, some very rare (still), and others I was the first. Out of 124 aquariums and over 300 different species of fish, I can say that making a true profit I did not. I more than broke even, but as a hobbyist and not a buisness, I had to sell my fish on word of mouth, or to people that know me. So, I frequent all the fish gatherings, such as the conventions and such. Drink some beer, sell some fish, drink some more beer, see all the speakers, drink some beer, rub elbows with all the big wigs lol, and did I mention the beer drinking? LOL. Anyway, unless you have a good running buisness, you will never make enough money to call it a living. As for breaking even, that is very much accomplishable. Get to know any lfs around your area, and trade with them. Trade your fry for new fish, or even fish food, lights, filters, etc.

Basically in the end, I broke even. I took fish with me to all the conventions and sold them out of my room. This usually only paid for the trip. Although several of my fish have brought me quite a high price in the selling, it never lasts. Even if you get a new fish in, after you sell a few they will be breeding them everywhere.

Good luck in your venture, and try to keep it more of a hobby. If you try to make money off of it, you will just get aggrivated and bored. Keeping it a hobby will keep your interest.

_____________________________________________________________

There is always a bigger fish...

Hey there,
I think your best bet at a least hassling job
of selling these young fish is two ways.
First, if you have some type of newpaper where
you can advertise fish in (we have one here called the
buy sell and trade), a lot of people may be interested.
I have had good luck selling fish this way, not for
big dollars (they are guppies/platies though), but for a decent amount (about 2.50 per fish of 3 months of age)
Another option is contact all your local fish stores,
and ask what they would give you for the fish.
Perhaps arrange to bring in a trial group of maybe a dozen young ones, sold to them at a reasonable entry price, and see how they sell them. If they find they sell reasonably well, you will find they will quickly become interested in your stock, and at this point you can talk a little more money for the fish, and arrange a constant aggreement with them, say 150 young fish every 4 months, or something like this.
Good Luck.


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i've thought about doing that with my silver dollars but i happened to get pictus catfish , and they've enjoyed the buffet of fry , so i i call it even too.. lol in away

90g- anguilla rostrata,6 silver dollars,2 pictus catfish 60 g- anguilla rostrata 29g-4 blk skirt&4 serpia tetras, 6 harliquin resbora, 3kuhli loach 20g- 2 mountian minnows, 2 zebra danio& dojo loach , a corn snake and 2 monster dogs

hey whodini,

how did you get your silver dollars to breed?
conditions? age? enviroment,
i have a school of 5 in my tank, that arnt even a year old, i;d love to see some fry before the angels get to big..

whats the secret ?

AfricaMan, what area were you in again? SA or VIC?

Any auctions near you?

I didn't mean to imply that you were anything but a responsible fishkeeper, and I am sorry if it came across that way, it is just very hard to raise large amounts of fish and sell them for equally large amounts of money (assuming you are selling about 1/2 wholesale or swapping) without having to become economical in your ways.

Some I know have managed (large tanks and racking, bulk yabbie pellets, getting chummy with a particular large LFS etc) and others produce fish in conditions that I'd not keep live food in (altthough, the fish are pretty good, I have no idea how the nitrate must be sky high!) and the rest try and try, but that middle area just cannot seem to get out of the red. By the sounds of it you'd fit in the yabbie-pellet category, alls that is left is to chummy up to a ritzy LFS

For animals, the entire universe has been neatly divided into things to (a) mate with, (b) eat, (c) run away from, and (d) rocks. - Terry Pratchett

i know that wasnt the implication calla, im in VIC, auction might be good? how can i find out about em?

Last edited by african_man at 03-Nov-2005 16:01

African_man
Do a search on the net for the victorian cichlid society. Join up and go to their auctions. They just had one, I think, and I am not sure if they have one or two a year.
Also cichlids do ship quite easily. AAE and virgin will do interstate shipping. You just ned to get them to an major airport.