Keeping fish can be expensive, and at first glance it seems that you can save money by purchasing goods through mail-order. Many items can be ordered for less than you might pay at your local shop, but using mail-order is usually a false economy, and paying a little extra can save you money, and much more in the long-run.
Take the time to read this article, and you will learn why it makes more sense to use your local shop, why it will save you money, and why they need you more than you might think.


Why is mail order cheaper?
If your local aquatics store is charging more for their goods, you may think they are making more money, but in fact, they are probably making much less. Like any business, the profit comes from the goods or services you sell, minus the costs for those goods, and the cost of running the business. Mail order companies have relatively low costs because they can keep goods stacked up in cheap warehouses, and because they have lots of space, they can afford to buy goods in large amounts, which allows them to buy at a discounted price. Therefore, a mail order company has lower costs; they buy goods at a cheaper price, and can sell them to you for less.

Why is my local shop more expensive?
Unlike mail order, your local shop has much greater costs to pay, which have to be covered by the goods they sell. A typical shop will have much higher costs for things like rent (because they need a better location), staff wages (more staff, training, and more experience), shop upkeep, and electric and utility costs. In addition to these extra costs, the cost of keeping livestock systems is immense, all those tanks, filters, heaters and lighting systems do not come cheap, and they cost a huge amount to run, as well as the cost of staff needed to maintain them. Most aquarium shops will have annual electric bills in the region of tens of thousands. None of these extra costs apply to companies that supply goods via mail order.

So who is making the money?
As an example, lets say a filter is sold for £25 by your local shop and £20 by a mail order company. At first glance you might think the shop is making an extra £5, but the mail order company might have bought the filter at a much lower price, say, around £15, whilst your shop, unable to purchase hundreds at a time, might have paid £18. So far the shop is making £7, whilst the mail order company is making £5. However, if you take the daily costs of running a shop in comparison to a mail-order company, and divide those costs by the goods they sell in a day, the result is much different. Dividing up all the costs, a single item may cost the mail order company as little as 50p to have in stock, and as much as £4 for the shop, taking into account all the extra daily costs for electric, staff, location and so on. At the end we find that the shop, selling their filter at £25, is making only £3, whilst the mail order company, selling their filter at £20, is making £4.50. Whilst goods may be a little bit more expensive at your local shop, they are in fact making less money per item than a cheaper mail order supplier. In some cases, a mail order supplier will sell items at a price that is actually more than it costs a local shop to buy the item!

Ok, but why should I pay more, just because the shop makes less money?
The 'cost' of an item does not just apply to its purchase price, and if you wish to save money in your hobby, it is sometimes better to pay more for your items at your local shop than buy cheaper goods from mail order. Your local shop gives you a great deal of extra service, which is much more valuable than the extra cost you might pay for your goods. Imagine you need to buy a filter for your aquarium; your local retailer has the expertise to advise you which is the correct model to buy. Buy the wrong model and you might find it is too small, unreliable, doesn't fit your tank, or you might waste money on a more expensive model when a cheaper one will do the job. Using your retailer to help you get the right filter will therefore save you a lot of hassle (and expense) by avoiding an incorrect purchase.

What if I know exactly which products I need, why should I pay more then?
Ok so lets say you know the filter you need, you've bought it through mail order, and its arrived safe in the post, what now? Setting up and maintaining equipment like a filter properly has a huge effect on the well being of your fish, and the instructions provided with most items of equipment are not great, and often only serve to make sure you keep purchasing extras from the manufacturer. If you had bought the filter from your local shop, they could have showed you exactly how to set it up, when you really need to replace the media or parts, and how to maintain it properly. You might save £10 on your purchase, but if you spend an extra hour setting it up, and the next two years buying replacement media every month, which you may not need, or may be more expensive than alternatives, you certainly have not saved any money.

What happens when things go wrong?
Once again, we will assume you have bought your filter from a mail order company, its now a few months down the line, everything is running well and you have a fully stocked tank of healthy fish. Suddenly, for some reason, your filter breaks down and stops working, what do you do now? All electrical goods are guaranteed, so you call the mail order company to get a new filter sent out, unfortunately this will probably require sending the old filter back before a new one is sent out, which means you might be left for a week without a filter. A week without a filter is plenty of time for pollutants to build up in your aquarium, resulting in fish deaths and bad water conditions, which can take months to recover from. If you want to avoid loosing all your livestock, which besides being living creatures, cost you a lot of money, your only option is to head to your local shop as soon as possible and purchase a brand new filter. However, if you had paid a few more pounds in the first place, you would have been able to head to your local shop and get a replacement the day the filter broke down, saving you the cost of a new filter, and avoiding any loss of livestock. Incidentally, the most common cause of filters breaking down is through incorrect maintenance of the impellor, and if you had purchased the filter at your local shop, they would have probably told you how to look after the impellor when your bought the filter.


Paying a little more will save you a lot more in the long run
The above is just an example, but the same principle can be applied to any item of equipment. Paying a little extra for items at your local shop rather than buying cheaper mail order goods will save you money in the long run, you will get the right items, you will know how to use them properly, and you have immediate assistance if anything should go wrong. In addition, whilst you pay a little more for your goods, you are also helping to keep your local shop running, and this has its own invaluable benefits.

Why supporting your local shop will benefit you
Unfortunately, the more people use mail order, the less they use their local shops. As the above shows this is bad for the fish keeper who uses mail order as much as it is for your local shop, and there are many other reasons why you should think about where you spend your money. Aquatic shops do not just supply you with the dry goods you need, they are also a source of invaluable advice and experience, and it is in their interests to keep you as a customer by giving you the right advice, and making sure you are a successful fish keeper with as few problems as possible. This way you will stay in the hobby as long as possible, and the shop gets your business for as long as possible. Your local shop is also your only source of livestock that you can see beforehand and purchase for your aquarium. Because livestock costs so much to maintain, many shops do not actually make any profit on the fish they sell, and they can only stock a quality range of healthy stock if they make enough money from their dry goods sales. If you were to buy all your livestock from your local shop, and all your dry goods from mail order, you are probably costing your local shop money, as well as taking their time with all the free advice they give you. Imagine several customers multiply this situation, and your local shop would soon find staying afloat rather difficult, and before long you might find you have very few places left where you can purchase your fish, and get quality advice at the same time. Less shops means less fish keepers, resulting in a decline of the hobby, and less choice for the fish keeper. If you want to keep the luxury of good, free advice, a wide choice of fish, plants, and corals, as well as instant help and replacements when things go wrong, you need to make sure you think carefully about where you spend your money.

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