Re: KOI $$$

Come on, Millions, I do not think so. Maybe to most folks
Petco\Petsmart sells a lot of koi, but they are by far not a large
retailer of koi by any means.
I do not agree. I just purchased a boat load of koi and got them for
a lot less than what Petsmart or Petco gets them for.......and I know
they buy a heap more than me .I also know I have fish that are not
culls. I have fish that have been pulled from the same ponds as quite
a few other fish that have been shown in competetion.... I have a
friend that is a manager in a petco and I know what they pay for
koi....I beat their prices by 50% for larger fish as well as
delivery.....its governed on what the market will support in the
region they are in. Pond places are more of a speicalized place as
compared to petco / petsmart.....so they assume and they are right
they can get higher prices by having a sweet talking associates that
can sell a bill of goods.

Then again each and every petco or petsmart or lfs does not get all
their fish from the same vendor. I doubt very seriously that Petco's
in Alabama get their fish from the same vendor that the ones in Ohio
get theirs from so the volume bit is pure bunk. Its just not so. Yea,
maybe Petco/ petsmart sells a butt load of koi, if you combined all
the stores, but they are not all obtained from the same vendors so
break it down by the stores and overall those indivudual stores sure
do not sell as many fish as you may think they do. The vendors
patronizing these places all put in bids to supply such and such fish
of such and such size for a set price as well...so you can pretty well
bet your getting common run of the mill fish and mostly culls...as a
fish farm sure would not stay in business long selling fish they can
get higher prices for at a show or from a true entusiast by selling
them to a place like Petsmart who sells them for a few bucks.........I
am not afraid to say I probably got a better price overall as I bought
more koi in one load than the Petco/ Petsmart here has ever bought
in their total time of being in business..........and a koi show its
not uncommon to see a vendor with a few tubs of perhaps 400-500 koi in
the 4 to 6 inch range and sell each and every one of them during a 2
day show......for $100 or more..Just not something that is gonna
happen at Petco and other LFS stores and pond shops.And there is
usually most always more than one vendor at most of these major
shows.....

n Mon, 19 Mar 2007 12:16:01 CST, "Reel McKoi"
<> wrote:

<<>>
<<>>"©anadian Ponder" <" "@greatnowhere.com> wrote in message
<<>>news:45fec009$0$21940$ here.com...
<<>>> Hello,
<<>>>
<<>>> why can I buy koi at petsmart for under $10 and if I go to a pond store
<<>>> they charge me over $50.
<<>>>
<<>>> Does this have to do with pure breeds and mixed breeds ?
<<>>===========================
<<>>Stores like PetsMart buy them by the million so get them cheaper than a Pond
<<>>Store can. From what I have seen here in TN the quality is about the same
<<>>in both places. Only the prices are different.
<<>>
<<>>Mixed breeds?



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I forgot more about ponds and koi than I'll ever know!



~Roy~