Great Prices On Salt

[Madreefer]

So went to Totalpet today for a bucket of salt. $114.98+tax. Manager tells me that price went up a little bit. I tell him the average price is $40 and he says that it can't be possible and everyone else is losing money selling it at that price. What is everyone else paying? This is for Instant Ocean.

[saltynuts]

i am thinking you should make a trip to edmonton.

[xtreme]

Ya regular price is around $40. I got 10 buckets on boxing day for $30 each. $115 for IO is insane...

[Madreefer]

I phoned Toatlpet head office in Kelowna and they tell me that the supplier sets the prices. It's too bad that they are the only LFS in this town that "tries" to deal in SW. Last month they had a small yellow tang on sale for $90.

[saltynuts]

you can still order from j&l and have 2 pails for that.

[Ron99]

It would be cheaper to just order from J&L and pay shipping. Looks like total with shipping to PG would be $78 for a bucket. The only way to change price gouging is to vote with your wallet. Don't buy salt from them and make it clear why you won't shop there. That price is outrageous. If their supplier is setting those prices then they are getting gouged by their supplier and should find another source.

[OceanicCorals-Ian-]

it would be cheaper to just order from j&l and pay shipping. Looks like total with shipping to pg would be $78 for a bucket. The only way to change price gouging is to vote with your wallet. Don't buy salt from them and make it clear why you won't shop there. That price is outrageous. If their supplier is setting those prices then they are getting gouged by their supplier and should find another source.

+1 holy crap!

[TJSlayer]

Yeah even way over here in the middle we are paying $50-65 tops for Instant Ocean...

Wow

[Kevotron]

Must be $ 200+ for Reefers Best
if they ever get that in :neutral:

[BlueWorldAquatic]

WOW!!!

I could make money on it if I charged those prices.

$39.99 - $89.99 for our salts here

Ken - BWA

[e46er]

no way id pay 115 bux

[freezetyle]

WOW!!!

I could make money on it if I charged those prices.

$39.99 - $89.99 for our salts here

Ken - BWA


Do retailers really take that much of a hit on salt sales?

[Kryptic4L]

sure it was not a bucket of salinity...

[sphelps]

Do retailers really take that much of a hit on salt sales?
Typically it's not a high margin product and if one were to try and make some money on it people would just go elsewhere which is the last thing a retailer wants.

[Aquatic Addictions]

margins on salts are next to nil. The price is kept to a minimum to no profit to keep people comng back in. In some cases vendors are able to buy in quantity so there for they get a better deal and can advertise the salt much cheaper than others like say petland who do not buy great quantities. They do not specialize in the SW so unlike stores that do they do not get the same deals unless there are trade show deals. Any retailer you see selling salt for what you are used to now is making pennies. Remember that when you ask if they can give you a deal on it or other things they have...they dont make great margins off 50-60 percent of their store unless they have bulk buying power.

think of it this way...if you went to superstore and asked for a deal when you brought groceries up...do you think they would give you one?

[Kryptic4L]

they dont make great margins off 50-60 percent of their store unless they have bulk buying power.

think of it this way...if you went to superstore and asked for a deal when you brought groceries up...do you think they would give you one?

Huh? Superstore has bulk buying power.... If I took a coupon from a competitor and raised an issue the answer is yes.

What I dont understand is this, larger chain fish store's charging more then that of the little guy.

lets take Chain fish store for instance, for a 28 gallon JBJ it was roughly around $1050 in my area. However litte guy X quoted me 750 for it. Little Guy Y was quoting me around 650.

I would expect things to be quite the opposite.

[Madreefer]

The same store also prices a yellow tang for $99 and I've seen cleaner shrimp for as much as $40. So I would think they take a course in marketing.

[lockrookie]

your paying for the conveniance of haveing to go a few blocks to get it rather than wait for it from out of town.. or if you run in a bind basically you are gettting screwed over in a friendly manner. i would find all the reefers in town you can and do a group order and split the shipping stock up and let that guy sit on his pot of gold at the end of his rainbow.. (had to add some st patty spirit) i get my instant ocean from petsmart 49 buck sometimes 46 on sale.

[Ron99]

Typically it's not a high margin product and if one were to try and make some money on it people would just go elsewhere which is the last thing a retailer wants.

At $115 for a bucket of IO I'd guess the margins are pretty good :biggrin:

margins on salts are next to nil. The price is kept to a minimum to no profit to keep people comng back in. In some cases vendors are able to buy in quantity so there for they get a better deal and can advertise the salt much cheaper than others like say petland who do not buy great quantities. They do not specialize in the SW so unlike stores that do they do not get the same deals unless there are trade show deals. Any retailer you see selling salt for what you are used to now is making pennies. Remember that when you ask if they can give you a deal on it or other things they have...they dont make great margins off 50-60 percent of their store unless they have bulk buying power.

You're right that salt is usually a loss leader. But let's assume that J&L sells it at break even or even a small loss at $45. So maybe break even is $50. $115 is a bit excessive, even factoring in shipping costs to smaller communities. Something is not right with that price. Either they are fleecing the customers who don't have anywhere else to buy salt in the community or they are being fleeced by their suppliers; in either case that is really poor business.

[BlueWorldAquatic]

Do retailers really take that much of a hit on salt sales?

Salt is considered a commodity, it is used to bring people in the door, like tanks. As we know of salt prices on boxing day by a certain retailer.

Not a large margin on them at all.

Ken - BWA

[Aquatic Addictions]

At $115 for a bucket of IO I'd guess the margins are pretty good :biggrin:



You're right that salt is usually a loss leader. But let's assume that J&L sells it at break even or even a small loss at $45. So maybe break even is $50. $115 is a bit excessive, even factoring in shipping costs to smaller communities. Something is not right with that price. Either they are fleecing the customers who don't have anywhere else to buy salt in the community or they are being fleeced by their suppliers; in either case that is really poor business.

$115 is excessive for sure. They operate as other places do in "out of the way" places or limited resources for you to shop locally.

As for the coupon answer we are talking about regular salt prices not using coupons to get a deal. Your not at the fish store with a coupon are you? No you are asking for the best deal they can do and the superstore would tell you no coupons aside.

As for the little guy giving you a better deal it could come down to 1 of 2 things...either he is losing money hoping to gain a loyal customer or the "other" place you are asking has a margin they choose not to deviate from making there price seem astronomical. It also could be the little guy made it to a trade show or there were specials and they were able to buy to attain said price. There are so many factors in all the pricing its not funny.

I personally gave deals to people to attain a customer base and allow someone who you would hope to be loyal, to get into the hobby and hope they appreciated what was done for them and continue to frequent our store. Sadly it is not always the case but retailers have to make that decision and its a risk they take in the tight market that is salt water.

[lockrookie]

maybe he adds fish steriods to his salt mix.. or maybe its laced with a drug and after you distill it and separate the drug you can make more on the streets.. ok i know i watch too many movies now

[sphelps]

Large chain stores often have higher prices because their costs are more, not product cost but everything else like rent, utilities and staff. In some cases a smaller salt specific store will have the close to the same monthly operating costs and a large general stores daily cost.

Also the price on certain products could be related to how many suppliers are involved, quite often stores are limited with contracts and restrictions and have to order from certain suppliers. The salt for instance could go through a few suppliers before it gets to that specific store, likely the reason the price is so high. I would assume that if the store could bring in product for less and increase sales with a lower price while maintaining the margin they would do so.

[zum14]

Im on board with this one too! Its very difficult to buy anything from them. Im all for supporting local buisness, but they have a colony of frogspawn there for $60!! i bought one roughly the same size from whatcaneyedo for $10! And i know his is kept in the best of care. The same with salt, I ended up just ordering one from JL. I think im going to save up and buy a bunch when we go to edm or vanc this year. Its getting tougher in this town i remember having like 3 stores in town that delt with salt when i started the hobby, not sure if the prices were any better then but had to of been better then $110 a bucket. Considering that doesnt last all that long its pretty rediculous. I do realize that they have to cover shipping and other expenses and there is a profit that needs to be made as well but if i can buy a bucket from anywhere online, (ont,bc,doesnt matter) and get it to my door for around $80 i would think they should be able to do close to the same. Maybe $85-$90 and i wouldnt even bother with going to jl. But when were talking $30 i can wait. I also see what people are talking about too that the bigger you are the more you can buy and better discount you get. My only arguement to that is that there are quite a few total pets, and there price is still higher then some of the stores with only one outlet. Per volume total pet would be more for sure but cant offer a better price? That doesnt add up to me.

[BlueWorldAquatic]

Shipping expenses should not be a major factor in the prices of salt if they buy it by the skid lot.

I knew of anothe LPS that would buy a 6 pails of salt, and pay the same shipping as I do for 32 pails. Go figure, at approx $150-$300 a skid (depending on distance) you think they would maximize the weight.

In my shipping business (my other company), there is a "resort" charge for out of the way places. So a small surchard per delivery is expected, like in Banff or Jasper.

Yes granted they may have the larger overhead, but that is also calculated out in the margin as they have many more products they carry. Another Large LFS manager once told me their fish room basically pays all expenses and staff wages, leaving the sale of their drygoods to be added to their profit margin.

This same LFS is the one that blows out salt at cost on boxing day at $29.00 a pail. I/O Salt is supplied by 2 companies that I know of, 1 in the East, and 1 in the West. Myself and Kelly (Reef Shop) were talking about this the other day, why we weren't offered the same breaks at x-mas with this distributor. When it comes down to it, its quantity purchased that controls the price, as both our shops could not match the ordering capacity as this other LFS. Maybe next year though, as I will be spearheading a group buy before x-mas for the specialized stores in edmonton, as we can store it all in my warehouse.

But $100+ for a 160gal IO salt is +100% markup.

Ken - BWA

[Madreefer]

they have a colony of frogspawn there for $60!! i bought one roughly the same size from whatcaneyedo for $10! And i know his is kept in the best of care.

They bring no corals in at all. Most of the corals in the store come from whatcaneyedo. They are way over priced so they sit and die. He also supplied them with the caluepra that they sell for I think $20 a bag. I notice he is not speaking up about this as they do take his frags and put up his posters. So smart on his part, I guess. What really bothers me is that the salt they have now has been there for months so why not put up the price after this batch is gone. But there is a bucket of Seachem salt on sale for $79
Either way they have lost a customer.

[OceanAquatics]

I cant wait for Brightwells new Kalibrate to hit the market.

Just mix with Sodium Chloride - 1 x 5 Gallon bucket does 450 gallons of saltwater..........

[whatcaneyedo]

Considering how little I spend in the store relative to what I spend elsewhere their service towards me has been very good. So like you figured, I really have no grounds for complaint.

[viperfish]

Salt prices NEED to stay low, it's the staple of this hobby. A person can choose not to dose Zeo, they can opt for cheaper lights, they cannot do without salt. If everyone sold salt at exorbitant prices, the hobby would slowly die. If no one could afford gasoline, no one would buy cars, pretty simple concept. It's like Ken @ BWA said, you have to use things like salt to keep people coming in the door. If you do that you can make the margins elsewhere.

[danny zubot]

Around here you can't even get buckets of salt at the LFS. Only bags, for the same prices as buckets. Our Total Pet just opened recently and has no salt section yet, but from what I can tell so far, their prices here will be similar to Prince George's. Thankfully there's more than one LFS that will be offering salt supplies soon, so that should bring the prices down a bit. I still opt to buy online though, its just way cheeper.

[Madreefer]

Our Total Pet just opened recently and has no salt section yet

Talk to Chris. He came from here to manage that store. He's not too bad to deal with. At times he has matched prices with J&L, but that is no longer happening. This is'nt about customer service just price gouging. Don't plan on them having any SW supplies. P.G. store only carries salt and very minimal supplies.

[carnut]

actually there is a big chain store in southern ontario that puts out coupons for livestock and dry goods.So yes i would be there with my coupon. Actually I'm always there with a coupon:biggrin:

[danny zubot]

Talk to Chris. He came from here to manage that store. He's not too bad to deal with. At times he has matched prices with J&L, but that is no longer happening. This is'nt about customer service just price gouging. Don't plan on them having any SW supplies. P.G. store only carries salt and very minimal supplies.

I've spoken to Chris a couple of times. At this moment they have the tanks for a salt set up in place but no livestock yet. I guess they intend to carry supplies but only have stuff for fresh water fish right now. Around here it seems to take LFS forever to do anything so I'm not holding my breath with this one either.

[Madreefer]

Follow up. Went to LFS yesterday. The IO salt is now $59 with the 10 fish bucks. And the guys working there are really trying to clean up the tanks. Good to see the improvement.

[zum14]

Ya, nice to see the price drop a bit at least. I do have to give them credit as well, there showing more interest in getting there water back up to snuff and maybe getting there lighting changed. Got a new light on the liverock tank and there corals are getting colors in them other then brown. It is sad because it is not there fault, the owner there just doesnt seem to care anymore.