Local raised or imported

[daisymac]

Re: Local raised or imported

The ethics question is a good one. I would think that if you hung a sign outside your hatchery and opened it to the public that would be very wrong. But considering the mark-up they are getting and the cost of gas, time and effort going into the LFS, it would be acceptable to sell some to a few select clients. Now if someone want to buy in mass, then I would draw the line.

In my business I do work with middlemen. They find the clients, then they farm the work out to me. It is understood that I will not solicit any ohter work from their clients. Which I would never do anyway. I have been put in situations where their clients have come to me and wanted to drop the middleman altogether (although I am usually very anonymous) and they know the work is being farmed out. They usually figure that they will get the work done cheaper, but there are retail and wholesale and I would charge them retail, so no break there. Also it depends on the reasoning in switching. Maybe the middleman has been unreliable, or has gotten sloppy or even sick. So I have to take all of this into account. Lots of time I say no.

Good luck in figuring this out.

[twofronts]

Re: Local raised or imported

well in my opinion it just depends what you plan on doing with them. In the case of keeping frontosa, I prefer to only keep Wild caught for breeding purposes and coloration on the Wild species is more vibrant and richer in certain species. But agian i do repeat it depends on what you are keep the fish for. Also fish with WC (Wild caught ) parents are worth more then fish that the parents are raised in an tank.

Now whether they are Wild or not that would depend on what importer you get them from. I always check around before purchasing WC species as the price is no joke but well worth it you get what you want. I have kept fronts close to 2 years and would only buy WC but seldom get babies of WC, but for breeding purpose i keep WC.

Just my opinion and we are all entitled to them so pls. stop throwing garbage and tomatoes at me, lol.

[villa1973]

Re: Local raised or imported

i think one the great advantages of having local raised fish ,its  this fish dont have to be in stress because they are breed and raised in local water.
so they have all the same fauna, in terms of bacteria and any other bugs .

[guppymax]

Re: Local raised or imported

Speaking of getting to be reliable, why are the fish farms in Florida and not so much Texas? Do they have a lot of warm ground water to heat the fish with in winter? I guess it is a little warmer? Houston does have a third world airport in that it is not a designated port of entry. Dallas is a designated port of entry but it is colder. The University of Florida is certainly a great fishy resource. The water is soft in Florida. Any ideas?

max

[Mark]

Re: Local raised or imported

No, but I've wondered the same thing there seem to be alot in Florda and Asia. But none here.

[eklikewhoa]

Re: Local raised or imported

maybe cause they are closer to the coast so shipping overseas would probably be easier/cheaper/faster.


obed, not quite sure i follow you but im gonna go by what i think you are saying. you sell to lfs(business of yours) to back door and sell to fellow locals that are close by the lfs in which you sell to would confilct each other and take away from another. if thats the case then it would be a problem wether you sell one or hundred fish to the local cause that could have been made at the lfs which is your main source of business.

i wouldnt know what to do cause a customer is a customer regardless of where it takes place, good question.

[jklntx]

Re: Local raised or imported

Obed,

As a project manager of an ecommerce host, allow me to offer my experiences selling online. Consider your costs in time using ecommerce webservices support, marketing, email communications, shipping, returns (where applicable)  and supplies before you decide using online as opposed to lfs. Also, will your e-market insure the volume sales to make it worth your while?

You may have already examined this and accurately measured your expenses to determine whether your margin will be as good or better than selling to lfs.


If so, good luck and happy selling. :)

[jklntx]

Re: Local raised or imported

Obed,

Oh and one very important  thing...also consider the costs of online payment processing. (Unless, you will accept mailed checks only) These hidden costs can be surprisingly high and takes many an emerchant by surprise.

[szidlon]

Re: Local raised or imported

Something else to consider whether opening up more sales to local individuals or internet sales is the State Sales Tax issue.  If you deliver retail to someone who resides in Texas, and you have a resale tax number you are supposed to collect Texas sales tax and remit it to the State. Then, if you have a tax number for resale they are going to want to charge you taxes on your inventory at year end as well.  Of course, this would not apply if you were only participating in a hobby and not a business.  I'm just waiting for Ebay and other auction sites to start requiring you SSN to sell on their sites.  PayPal already does require it to set up an account.

[Mzungu]

Re: Local raised or imported

Well, Southern Florida is as close to tropical as you can get in the US, at least as a whole. I know for a fact that up in the northern parts and the panhandle the water is known as "liquid rock," but not sure about the southern portions. But yes, the winter temps are nothing to worry about.

Like what eklikewhoa said, I would think it stemmed from the accessibility, being that the state juts out into the ocean, one side being the gulf and the other the atlantic. The climate probably helped, as well. So, fish farming for the tropical fish hobby would be lower maintenance compared to anywhere else. That's what I think.  :)