Importers methods of selling

[ryanjury]

If only it was that easy, I am very much an optimist when it comes to these things and I would love to see things come into the country but I have been around long enough to know how things work.

It is all about $$'s in the end, an importer would rather import 10000 neons they can get through quarantine and actually sell because they are bread and butter fish than import things that are more expensive and a higher risk. You also have to realise that in todays climate a higher risk fish (which may die of natural causes) can cost an importer big time in testing fees, extended quarantine times and maybe even an entire shipment destroyed. So it is not just these importers being tight over a few $$'s it is there livelihood and alot of money. From what I have heard about people ordering special fish they actually chew up alot of the importers time ringing and making special demands they have to justify a new tank for them and take the risk etc, again it would make better business sense to be boring and bring in some more neons. You also have to realise that alot of the overseas suppliers that deal with NZ probably don't have alot of descent fish on their lists just the more common and cheaper bread and butter fish so potentially the wholesaler might have to deal with a whole new supplier if they wanted to get different stuff in.

Just my 2c worth I would love to hear from someone in the industry about their opinion on this. My belief is there would be alot of people throwing species around but when it came to deposits coming though there would be a great disappearing act.

Edit - Alanmin posted a few things before me but I can't be bothered rewriting mine instead

[Joshlikesfish]

It is all about $$'s in the end

Isn't everything :roll:

[livingart]

Isn't everything :roll:

basically, yes

[SamH]

If it's about the money, could a hobbyist cover all the costs and pay for 100% of the fish and fees?

[livingart]

fantasy world no.2. maybe a reality world

[ryanjury]

If it's about the money, could a hobbyist cover all the costs and pay for 100% of the fish and fees?

No reason why you cannot contact an importer and ask to hire a few quarantine tanks and get them quarantine some fish on your behalf..

[SamH]

No reason why you cannot contact an importer and ask to hire a few quarantine tanks and get them quarantine some fish on your behalf..

But is it likely the importer would be willing?

[phoenix44]

Unlikely.

[Joshlikesfish]

Unlikely.

If somebody gave them more then what they would earn normally they might.

[livingart]

one doesn't get an answer without first asking a question

[ryanjury]

I have heard of people hiring quarantine tanks before not in recent times though, again the phone book is in front of you there are plenty of importers ring them and see what you can arrange but I would put aside at least $1k maybe more if things go wrong.

[livingart]

i would set aside more than that

[phoenix44]

Few reasons why it would be unlikely -

1. They supply shops. It is likely they are contractually bound to supply those shops and not the public.

Individuals cannot purchase as much as shops. Why bother supplying individuals and bypassing the shops that put food on the wholesalers table?

2. A shop is less likely to default on receivables than any one individual.

3. It takes time to build a long relationship with wholesalers. I can only imagine how many PMs a wholesaler would get on here asking to sell fish and bypass the shops with no second thought. There is a chain of command if you can call it that. I still think the best way to get fish in is to approach a retail outlet and let them use their relationships and scale economies to push through an order.

Somewhere along the line we all need to step back and look at how reasonable / unreasonable our requests may be.

[ryanjury]

There is still no reason why you couldn't ask, you can ask for anything in life just don't be offended if you get told where to go.. lol

I agree it is very likely, but I have heard of it happening in the past.

[smidey]

there is no reason this would not work if the suppliers wanted it to. the lfs would simply clip the ticket & be a delivery address.

Few reasons why it would be unlikely -

1. They supply shops. It is likely they are contractually bound to supply those shops and not the public.

Individuals cannot purchase as much as shops. Why bother supplying individuals and bypassing the shops that put food on the wholesalers table?

2. A shop is less likely to default on receivables than any one individual.

3. It takes time to build a long relationship with wholesalers. I can only imagine how many PMs a wholesaler would get on here asking to sell fish and bypass the shops with no second thought. There is a chain of command if you can call it that. I still think the best way to get fish in is to approach a retail outlet and let them use their relationships and scale economies to push through an order.

Somewhere along the line we all need to step back and look at how reasonable / unreasonable our requests may be.

this is easily sorted, all they need to do is supply to a shop only. if it was me I would set it up with an agreement between the importer & LFS as a fixed mark up rate & that way they could advise of the sell price up front. If a LFS refuses then offer it to another, it's profit for nothing really.

that is what happens when the supplier has more than what the store purchased, they have to be sold somewhere

[alanmin4304]

Reality number 3:

If you are a large scale breeder or importer and you "sell at the back door" the shops will not buy from you because they cannot sell the fish they have bought from you. If you don't sell you go broke. If you were to arrange this you would need to do it through a shop I would think. You would also need to work out who pays for the $4k or more for disease testing that may be involved. This expense is shared over a whole shipment when the majority of the shipment is bread and butter lines and that is why importers do that. This may change as more bread and butter fish are bred locally.

[smidey]

Reality number 3:

If you are a large scale breeder or importer and you "sell at the back door" the shops will not buy from you because they cannot sell the fish they have bought from you. If you don't sell you go broke. If you were to arrange this you would need to do it through a shop I would think.

yes, there are many large businesses that you order from a central supply but are billed/pay locally.

there is nothing to stop this from being successful as long as suppliers want to do it.

You would also need to work out who pays for the $4k or more for disease testing that may be involved. This expense is shared over a whole shipment when the majority of the shipment is bread and butter lines and that is why importers do that. This may change as more bread and butter fish are bred locally.

this would affect the cost of the fish & be passed onto the customer would it not? just like anything else you buy.

[alanmin4304]

If you read the proposed guides for importing they talk about testing for diseases where there is high risk or where there have been deaths over a certain percentage. If you have problems with 10000 neons you could possibly lose 1000 before the testing kicks in, but if you bring in 10 rare and expensive (possibly high risk) fish you only have to lose one. It comes down to risk and a numbers game. These people have to make money to stay in business and that is not easy at the moment.

You are welcome to see if there is an importer out there prepared to take it on but there is good reasons behind why many fish that are on the approved list are not imported.

These things come and go as importers come and go so it is possible that someone will come along who is prepared to give it a go. Chances are they would want good money because of the risk.

I wish you luck and hope you can get what you want.

[smidey]

it seems you may be missing the point. the point is not what they will cost, what the process is to get them here or bringing in a fish that is not on the list. the point is it would not be difficult for an importer to post something like the below as long as it is an approved species to be imported. It could simply be finding out what else they can buy of the same supplier they already deal with, having not seen a list the the imports get i am unsure what format they are in but i would expect they would already know what they can buy from that same supplier just like the LFS's get.

I am placing an order this week & the following fish could also be brought in with the same order, available are:

Tropheus Moori Red Rainbow 3-4cm $xx

Tropheus Moori mpulungu 6-7cm $xx

Orders & deposits must be received by xx/xx

all this will cost the importer is a bit of time & if he/she receives no deposits then he/she doesn't order anything in addition to what they are already bringing in. If deposits are paid for a special order then there will be no problem selling them when they get here. you cannot say it can't be done as it is common place in Aussie, if it does happen there may or may not be orders & successful supplies achieved which only trialling will prove. For very little extra work extra sales could be made which is what making $ is all about.

[hovmoller]

Could someone with experience tell us what ballpark average percentage of fish is lost during import/quarantine?

Not talking about "bread and butter" fish here.. but the more "interresting" species.

[smidey]

HFF- from a business point of view i think you must take deposits but the non supply of fish situation will need to be confirmed, in aussie i believe they refund it if no fish is supplied. that is a risk that those importers take. Create what ever system you like & state it clearly that way everyone knows where they stand.

spending many years selling i found early on that if you don't identify the target (the person with the $ & willing to buy) a lot of time & money gets wasted trying to sell to those that aren't the right target, if they are not prepared to make a deposit then they are not serious about the purchase. if a group vote for a particular fish & don't put money up you may have trouble selling them, if one person puts down a deposit on a fish that no votes for then that is a sale. If the person then decides they don't want it the deposit should not be refunded & the fish advertised for sale. When it sells you have made more for that fish for the messing around that was caused.