How to price fish to sell to LFS?

[ChefConfit]

I'm gonna try calling my LFS in the next few days trying to sell the corydoras paleatus I bred. I don't know what to price them at. I know this species sells for $4-6 locally but I'm not sure about how to take that info and come up with a price that's competitive. 

Is there a general rule fish stores use to determine pricing that I can use to determine what I should sell fish to them for? For example do they usually sell fish for 4x the wholesale price? In which case I should ask for $1 each to be competitive. 

[FrozenFins]

if they are sold at 4-6$ locally I would try 50 cents to a dollar per fish. If you are a first time breeder, and they have never bought from you, you may wanna sell your fish a little cheaper. This is because your fish store doesn't know the quality of your fish, and all they know is that your fish will die in the next few days. 

[Kirsten]

I haven't tried selling fish to a LFS yet, but I imagine it's something like selling books to a used book store: you tell them what you got, they look it up on their charts or ask the old guy in the back and they tell you how much they're willing to pay and you can take it or leave it.

[Ken]

I think I would turn up in person. If you call you may be speaking to the newby or however drew the short straw and got phone answering duty. I happened to see this very thing happening today at a LFS. The owner/manager was talking to someone about buying blue eyed lemon nosed something-or-others and the kid helper was answering the phone.

[Daniel]

Fish I have sold recently for $5 per fish to the LFS, were sold by the LFS for $40 a fish.

When I worked in a fish store a long time ago, the markup went from 4 to 1 all the way to 10 to 1,  just depending on the species. It was a 10 cent fish that would be marked up to a dollar.

It is like @Kirsten says,

9 minutes ago, Kirsten said:

 ask the old guy in the back and they tell you how much they're willing to pay and you can take it or leave it.

I would ask for more than you think you can get initially and see were the negotiation goes. It really all depends if they need what you have.

[Fish Folk]

There are a number of factors to consider. We have 2x LFS and one chain store. Big store is prevented from buying locally raised fish from corporate. One of our LFS will offer store credit. The other will pay in cash outright. But we built those relationships by patience, and spending plenty of money over several years. Guppies go for $0.25 - $1.00 / each depending on strain. Platys sell for less. German Blue Rams sell for $2.50 each. Electric Blue Acaras will get about $3.00 each. Ancistrus might get $1.00-2.00 each, depending on their size. 
 

The economy in your area is key, as well as what kind of fishkeepers are buying. Also, pay attention to what’s going well and what’s struggling. Our home-raised guppies lasted, but every imported guppy died in days. So... we got about $100 for as many guppies recently. But no one in our area is buying discus. The store just can’t sell them, since there are few experienced freshwater aquarists near us. 

Edited December 6, 2020 by Fish Folk

[David W]

Maybe try dropping off a sample to your LFS with a card with your name / phone number / email. It will be good gesture towards building a relationship. If they like what you bring they will call you back. You won’t be taking a chance on getting the wrong person, or the right person in the wrong mood. 

Building a positive business relationship is as as important as providing a quality product. 

[JettsPapa]

36 minutes ago, David W said:

Maybe try dropping off a sample to your LFS with a card with your name / phone number / email. It will be good gesture towards building a relationship. If they like what you bring they will call you back. You won’t be taking a chance on getting the wrong person, or the right person in the wrong mood. 

Building a positive business relationship is as as important as providing a quality product. 

I'll second the suggestion to drop off a sample.  I've posted it in another place or two, but I recently emailed a store offering guppy grass and pearl weed.  The owner replied he only wanted 20 portions of pearl weed.  When I delivered it he wasn't there, but I left a few samples of guppy grass.  He emailed me back a day or two later, thanked me for the samples, and ordered 20 portions of it along with 20 more of the pearl weed.  I just got store credit for the plants, but if he hadn't bought them I'd have had to throw it away, and I wanted some fish anyway.

[ChefConfit]

Yea @Cory suggested dropping of samples in his breeding for profit series as well and I think that may be the move I'll go with. Still not sure about the price I'll ask for if they want to do business but I'm thinking $1 each right now. 

[dylaneff1]

Wow, I must have a very generous LFS owner! I usually price my fish at 1/4-1/3 the price I assume he will sell them at, and it has worked well so far. I would definitely take the advice of those above as I'm sure they have more experience than I do, but also know that the LFS may be willing to pay a bit more assuming that you maintain a strong relationship (e.g., only sell super healthy fish, throw in an extra or two sometimes, make purchases from that store when it's practical, be respectful if they don't always respond to you or turn you down, etc.).

[Andy's Fish Den]

The LFS I worked at and would sell my angelfish and discus to years ago would give between 25-50% of what they sell the fish for. There were several factors he took into account such as how long they would sit in his tanks before he sold them, size etc. H would give more in store credit for fish than if you would get cash.

I have one LFS near me that has told me he would buy neocaridina shrimps that I breed, but what I would get from him is a lot lass than what I get when I sell them myself or take to my local fish club meetings and sell. 

[ZoeyFish]

I agree that bringing in samples for them to view, or e-mailing with photos of your tank and the fish you want to sell, would be the best way.  If you just call and say I have X and want to sell for Y they have nothing to go off of.  They probably don't want to commit without seeing the quality.  Maybe you can call and ask if there is a slow time of the day that you'd like to stop by to show off some fish you'd be interested in selling and would be happy to discuss details then. 

Also, I personally wouldn't get too hung up on price if you're running out of room and need to get rid of them.  If they say no and you're stuck with fish you can't keep that's a bad situation.  However, if you don't have to sell them then that's a different story and you can try to get the price you want and walk away if you don't.  Just make that decision before you go meet with them.

Good luck!