Importance of the Invoice

[Troy F]

I'm really kind of blown away by the attitude of some of the people that either appear to be in the retail end or are in the retail end of this. The burden is on you to satisfy the customer and as things progress and the hobbyist becomes more educated you will have to meet these demands or you won't be in business. If we ask to see documentation of some sort to prove where an order is coming from then it should be made available. As Christy and Naesco said, we're not interested in the price. We all know about the mark up. If you're getting your fish from a place that brings in fish from all over the place and you don't know where they came from, maybe you should change your supplier. If those that are trying to educate the hobbyist can't reach enough people through mediums such as this, we'll find our hobby policed from the outside.

I think the retailers of the area could do the hobby some good by getting together and setting some standards. If it costs more to bring in ethicaly captured critters then price fix. I know this isn't going to happen but it would solve a lot of the problems. Competition between the various retailers causes as many problems as it solves in certain cases. You can't purchase Goniapora spp. at J&L's but I'll bet you guys can find it if you want it.

DBA, how are many of the people to know if the retailer tells the truth. They know that many of the Philippine and Indo fish are cyanide caught so it wouldn't be too much of a stretch to think some may not be forthright.

Big Al's have a lab report stating that such and such fish were tested (I think it was clowns and if they need cyanide to catch clowns then we have some serious problems) and were certified cyanide free. The certificate is from back in '99 I think. How many shipments since then have come out of the Philippines and what do you think the odds are that they were all cyanide free?

Originally Posted by DBA

So many times i see long time reefers that know where the quality stores are but they go hunting for livestock at the less than par stores looking for a deal and then they complain unceasingly about the poor quality livestock that died or made their whole tank sick. STAY AWAY FROM STORES THAT HAVE CRAP PRODUCT!!!!!!!! If you keep supporting them they just keep bringing in more sub par livestock. SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL STORE THAT CARRIES BETTER PRODUCT FOR A HIGHER PRICE!!!!!!!!!! There is a very good reason that they charge a little more for some things. And it is alot cheaper in the end. On a final note, dont ever ask to see my invoice, my business, not yours!!!

This is such a great point. And, not only should we support the place that carries better product when we buy their livestock but we should support them with our drygood purchases too. Squibbling over a few bucks here and there is pointless if you give your business to an unethical retailer. There are stores around here that I wouldn't buy my dog food from, never mind aquarium livestock or supplies, and I don't care if they had the cheapest friggin' prices on the face of the earth.