LFS vs online

[annietye]

I have been debating with myself on whether to support my local LFS or if I should buy online. Any opinions are appreciated. My LFS is a nice guy, relatively knowledgeable, but sells fish like Pinnatus (I inquired about them, his extremely knowledgeable employee initially said they were doing great, later said they had all died) and Asian Red Tailed Cats (FW monsters), among other difficult to keep animals. Not to mention the plants I got from him infested my tank with snails.

On the other hand, there are online retailers, who also sell difficult to keep species but who, in my experience, have a better grasp of correctly identifying species and more resources to be able to offer healthy animals to the masses. I am thinking of LiveAquaria.com specifically, the few times I have ordered live animals from them I have been extremely pleased with what I got.

Any opinions?

[CyboRob]

I like to support my LFS when it's a safe purchase for me.
They do not guarantee anything they sell, livestock or equipment.
That really bothers me.

Dr Foster and Smith are great to deal with.

[Jamokie01]

Support quality, not location. There are good online vendors as well as bad, same goes for LFS's. In my area there is very little choice, we have one good LFS, but hes a hole-in-the-wall shop, very limited selection. But on the other hand the reason for this is his lack of business. Due to the small quantities he orders most of his suppliers jerk him around, sending him wrong items and some poor quality fish.

Basically, if you can get what you want locally for a reasonable price, do it. Ill gladly pay a few extra bucks to see what Im getting in person. On the other hand, if your LFS sell poor quality items, sickly livestock, or gives bad advice/cares more about money than the life of the animals, then dont shop there, those stores are hurting the whole hobby and dont deserve your patronage.

[Rouselb]

I was tossing the idea around for livestock..last month i bought from Vivid aquariums, and the SPS frags i received were really nice. They are doing well in my tank. Also, anything over $225.00 is free shipping. I plan to buy from them again.

[reefkeep18]

It is a very hard decission to make, however I look at it this way. If the LFS is a reputable place that has most of its fish healthy I would go with them. If you do go with an online website make sure you choose from the WYBIWYG section. You want to be sure that the fish is eating and looks the way you want it to before you buy it.

[DrBegalke]

I think it just depends on the LFS. No reason to support a poor quality store just b/c the happen to be nearby... and no reason not to support a great store like liveaquaria.com just b/c they aren't nearby.

[Rouselb]

Bottom line is there are some really friendly and customer oriented online stores with lots of variety. If you cant/dont find what you want at your LFS, then shop online. Like i posted before, I purchased with Vivid, and i plan to buy another shipment from them in the near future. Good Luck.

[annietye]

Thank you all!! That really helps me. I decided to order 5 snails and a pep. shrimp from LiveAquaria.com. I received them 4 days ago and they all beat my expectations. They are Beautiful!! They all seem extremely healthy.

ReefKeep18, thank you for the note about WYBIWYG. I certainly will take that advice!

[seastar12]

With online you have to pay for shipping

[mrme]

Typically, when im looking for healthy/Quality livestock/corals.
I will shop online..lol
Dr. Foster and smith is a great place, as well as reefhotspot, or clams direct. Now they have "wysiwyg" aka what you see is what you get.
Which means they have pictures of the exact specimen your buying.
This is usually what i try to go for.

[reefer4sho]

before i found my lfs i was purchasing everything online, not only was i getting great deals but i was also able to just point and click and there it was right at my door when it was expected. With that being said i have found that supporting a lfs (assuming that they have quality goods) is just as good as you can usually get the same deal as you would online plus the cost of shipping and you get to speak to people face to face which always makes me feel reassured about the products i have purchased. good luck

[knowcrap]

I think that "getting a deal" is secondary...a couple of the LFS in my area were instramental in helping me out when I was just getting started and to me that warrants support.

In an emergency I can call/go in and always get the help I need...not that I can't get it here/on the web, but not always as fast.

So I try to at least buy dry goods locally and in the end I find that I am getting about the same (if not better in some cases) deal as I would on-line and have the added bonus of great local support.

[mfp1016]

For livestock, I have never really found online shopping that appealing as I have never seent that great of a deal online that would make up for the shipping cost. For example, I could get a yellow tang from a good LFS for 20, unless I could find a yellow tang of the same size for like 5 dollars online, the shipping will make the price of the fish way more than 20 dollars. Thus, I've never really thought about ordering online.

[Muggle]

I think we people here in So Cal are just spoiled. There are about 5 Locals within 10 min driving distance and Vivid Aquarium is just 30 min away as well. So I really never see a reason to order livestock online + I actually see what I am buying.

Dry-goods on the other hand are cheaper online as many times there is no sales tax and many offer free shipping over $200.

[thor32766]

drs foster smith is a great company to deal with as mentioned before and offer better guareentes then alot of lfs.

[A.T.T.R]

i work at an lfs and alot of ppl come to us for help with products they got online. do i help them yes i love the hobby. should you expect that from everyone NO and good luck getting fostersmith to help put a skimmer or osmthing together for you.

( btw i buy dry goods online and live stock localy.. im lucky im in fl and have about 20 lfs that i can hit in one day not every one is that lucky)

[lordraptor1]

i shop with my lfs, we have 3 here and out of the three the best one is saltwater only, the guy is very knowledgeable and he goes to his distributor and hand selects everything. he then keeps it for 2 weeks before selling it to make sure it is healthy and eating right. since my only fish are saltwater this is great for me. but i support local before online. if i buy from lfs i can go to them when there is a problem with online you have a limited time frame.

[Almondsaz]

For hardware on-line I always purchase from Marine Depot. They have been very helpful and great to deal with. Typically the best or same price as everyone else on the web. I shy away from buying proper livestock on the web - that's just me. I am fortunate to have two great local reef stores with large stock and I prefer to go and handpick what I am buying since I hope to culture it for years to come. It seems to be that once you pay for the item and the shipping (unless it is a large order) then it isn't much cheaper on line.

[jmgpr7]

i agree for hardware , online stores are great , with prices and costumer care , but for buying livestock LFS are great. You can see what you want to buy first in person.... Well I support my LFS 100% all the way.

[kalel1976]

I prefer to buy my livestock from a LFS since I can see the fish in person to see how it looks and if it is healthy and I believe in supporting the local economy whenever possible.
I know you can see how a fish looks via WYSIWYG sites but you cannot determine the personality of the fish. I cannot tell if the fish likes to hide or is acting overly agressive via a photo. Don't get me wrong, I have ordered livestock from LA and some of the other online vendors but it is only if the fish is something that I cannot get locally.

[nrstype]

IF.. I can find a high quality store for livestock.. I frequent that. Seeing the coral or fish or liverock in person makes it worth it, and helps keep my favorite stores running. Fortunately, there are 2 or 3 excellent SW livestock stores around my area I stop in once or twice per month.

But for the "big hardware" purchases, or if I have a list of stuff I can't get all at once at the LFS, then I go to Dr. Fosters, or.. to some extent, to That fish place.com, or petsolutions.com. You usually can not beat the prices on some of the supplies and hardware. (USUALLY) And like others said.. the guarantees are pretty good.

SO... I try to buy at my LFS when I can for livestock, and some once in a while test kit or other single items, but if there is a big list of stuff I need, or $$ Hardware, & $50 -100 price difference LESS on the stuff elsewhere.... then.. for my budget (and I have a family w/kids etc...).. I go online.

All in all.. for me.. it is 50/50.

[dinoman]

Anymore I've started to do more and more shopping on-line, mainly due to the fact there isn't a decent LFS near me. We do have one small shop here locally but I never go into it anymore due to the fact they don't carry much of anything for SW supplies (no skimmers, only cheap powerheads, only IO salt in little bags, hardly anything for test kits. Their entire SW section is confined to about 10ft of shelf space) and their tanks are always dim and full of algae. So the next closest LFS is ~160 miles away, which while not a really long drive for around here is far enough only manage to get there a handful of times a year.

However, if I did have a LFS I could shop at I'd gladly pay a bit extra to shop there. In my mind its well worth it if you can find one - not only to be able to examine and pick out your livestock and have it right now as you walk out the store, but to really get a close look at different equipment and get a hands on feel. So overall I have to echo what other posters have said - if you have a decent LFS near you that has good quality livestock/service/and all that good stuff don't question for a second to support them. You might have to pay a few extra bucks but those couple of extra bucks you pay can go a long ways when you have a problem. If you don't have one though and/or can't get stuff locally the online vendors are only a click away .

[dwd5813]

I'll cast a vote for at least giving your lfs a chance first. i recently was in the market for some powerheads and i thought that i had it all figured out based on reading and researching online. when i went to my lfs, though, i found that the one that i had chosen was not powerful enough for my needs. there is no way i would have ever known that unless the owner had let me put my hand in their tanks to feel the difference for myself between the one i was considering and the one i ended up buying. i for one appreciate the ability to view things in action personally before making a final decision. that said, i feel lucky to have a lfs that will let me do things like that and if i did not, i would be spending more money online.

[gunslinger]

i like kinda like going where i can get what I need. I have a great store for fish but dry products are more expensive

[steven_dean17]

If you ask the owner at the LFS a question and he/she gives you crappy advice, do you think you should then buy from them? I wouldn't think so, there's no telling what your getting. I try to make sure that when I receive crappy advice that I tell the owner that he/she was wrong so that hopefully he/she stops telling other people the same thing. If I hurt their feelings or make them mad, so be it. Online vendors however, do not offer that same bit of interaction. So what should you do? Check their rep. and make sure you get what you pay for. IMO your taking a chance no matter what, it's just a matter of making an informed decision.