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Petco bought Dr. Foster and Smith...


ninjamyst

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Well, now they have a means to sell the expensive coral that lets be honest would have died at a crappy petco some where in Podunk Iowa

 

I haven't seen that many high end corals go through LA/LADD to make it worth acquiring all of DFS for lol Besides petco has a website, LA doesn't have tons of walk in locations... petco has more options to move pieces then LA currently, they just have poor execution of those options.

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I haven't seen that many high end corals go through LA/LADD to make it worth acquiring all of DFS for lol Besides petco has a website, LA doesn't have tons of walk in locations... petco has more options to move pieces then LA currently, they just have poor execution of those options.

 

They do have some real high end fish on occasion. I always drool when i see some rare stuff that I can't fit in my tank.

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or swfl

whut?

 

I haven't seen that many high end corals go through LA/LADD to make it worth acquiring all of DFS for lol Besides petco has a website, LA doesn't have tons of walk in locations... petco has more options to move pieces then LA currently, they just have poor execution of those options.

They have larger colonies of stuff and an audience which is my main point, I basically assume they're gonna use the name to build an audience or something

 

They do have some real high end fish on occasion. I always drool when i see some rare stuff that I can't fit in my tank.

Hard to find ones are the best :3

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They do have some real high end fish on occasion. I always drool when i see some rare stuff that I can't fit in my tank.

 

Yeah LADD is pretty well known for rarer and quality/ healthy fish. Definitely get some high end fish, I was just talking about coral tho since that was what was mentioned for the reasoning behind buying DFS. Even the fish portion isn't really worth buying the whole company for tho, they have access to the same fish. It'd make more sense to set up a "collectors corner" type section on the site and market that then buy all of DFS if they were really just after the fish and coral that they have access to anyways..... Hell they would be better off to buy the wholesaler then to buy the competitor, probably cheaper too. :wacko:

 

I'm sure somewhere there is a break down of where their profits come from and I am willing to bet SW fish/ coral isn't Petco's strong selling point to their investors/board so theres no way the board would say lets shell out a ton of scratch to buy this whole company and its subsidiary for the subsidiary (because really LA/LADD is a spin off company to the parent company of DFS...) because they are really doing fish and coral right lol Breaking into the prescription part as mentioned by others is far more likely. The whole package is a good purchase to expand petcos market share on a whole, but if they bought DFS because of a desire for one portion it wasn't likely the fish/coral section ;)

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They have larger colonies of stuff and an audience which is my main point, I basically assume they're gonna use the name to build an audience or something

 

Large colonies and high end pieces are two totally different things, I know you know that come on ;)

 

If large pieces was what they were after buy the wholesaler, probably cheaper.... As far as the audience, petco is much more visible then LA or DFS.

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Large colonies and high end pieces are two totally different things, I know you know that come on ;)

 

If large pieces was what they were after buy the wholesaler, probably cheaper.... As far as the audience, petco is much more visible then LA or DFS.

Yeah but as an advanced hobbyist how often do you go to petco? People neck deep into the hobby have no problem spending $600 on some lights whereas people that go to petco do not spend that type of money lol. I know for a fact that the last time I walked into a petco for "fish stuff" was back in 2007 when I bought a 10 gallon tank with 50/50 bulbs and decided that I would make a reef out of it lol

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Yeah but as an advanced hobbyist how often do you go to petco? People neck deep into the hobby have no problem spending $600 on some lights whereas people that go to petco do not spend that type of money lol. I know for a fact that the last time I walked into a petco for "fish stuff" was back in 2007 when I bought a 10 gallon tank with 50/50 bulbs and decided that I would make a reef out of it lol

 

You think those same people that won't walk into petco physical stores are going to buy from LA knowing it is owned and controlled by petco?? Supporting LA would be supporting petco.... as a few have already said here (and I am sure more on other boards...) they will go elsewhere.

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I am not against giving my money to petco if liveaquaria stays quality. I will not however give em my money if it turns into petcoquaria where you have a 1/10 shot of a healthy fish shipped. (which is what the odds are of me driving one home from my local petco i estimate)

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I am not against giving my money to petco if liveaquaria stays quality. I will not however give em my money if it turns into petcoquaria where you have a 1/10 shot of a healthy fish shipped. (which is what the odds are of me driving one home from my local petco i estimate)

 

Thats going to be the big question long term, will it stay quality or will the penny pinching and corner cutting come into play....

 

In all reality tho, petco and actual liveaquaria.com aren't that much different.... I don't believe LA QT's nonDD items, so since they come from through the same chain you are at the same risk there really. LA you click on an image and buy, some might read the little blurb of info on its care but lets be real, that is a small glimpse into what it takes to care for these animals. Petco in store you walk in and can talk to a live person (which can be good or horrible depending on the person lol) DD is where the real difference comes in with the QT process....

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Yeh I should have clarified this as DD the QT process is pretty essential as none of my LFS's or petco do. It is pretty frustrating around here sometimes.

 

The best way for me to buy a fish from my lfs is to only buy from their regular 1.023 salinity tanks and only after I have seen the fish there for a week or so. The majority they keep in their 1.017 tanks and well I don't think many diseases rear their heads that low.

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Yeh I should have clarified this as DD the QT process is pretty essential as none of my LFS's or petco do. It is pretty frustrating around here sometimes.

 

The best way for me to buy a fish from my lfs is to only buy from their regular 1.023 salinity tanks and only after I have seen the fish there for a week or so. The majority they keep in their 1.017 tanks and well I don't think many diseases rear their heads that low.

 

The LFS I used to support bought all their fish from the same place as LA and Petco..... I bought probably 50 fish through there over the years and never had problems. My secret..... take them still in the wholesalers bag whenever possible. If they use a quality wholesaler, you have better odds taking it in their bag then after its been released into cesspools.... I mean retail systems LOL

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The LFS I used to support bought all their fish from the same place as LA and Petco..... I bought probably 50 fish through there over the years and never had problems. My secret..... take them still in the wholesalers bag whenever possible. If they use a quality wholesaler, you have better odds taking it in their bag then after its been released into cesspools.... I mean retail systems LOL

 

There wholesaler is from somewhere in NC which i believe means its a middle man for a bigger wholesaler right?

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There wholesaler is from somewhere in NC which i believe means its a middle man for a bigger wholesaler right?

 

Not all wholesalers/ direct importers are located in CA or FL....

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Not all wholesalers/ direct importers are located in CA or FL....

 

Might have to give the scoop it up before it goes in the tank option a go then, I know I have the option and can see their lists before orders which is nice.

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Might have to give the scoop it up before it goes in the tank option a go then, I know I have the option and can see their lists before orders which is nice.

Obviously check it over a bit in the bag 1st but if it looks good in the bag I really see no reason not to, its the same as getting it shipped to your door from an online vendor like bluezoo or LA... but instead of an extra flight you have a shorter drive home where you handle it as opposed to someone who really doesn't care about a sticker that says live fish ;)

 

FWIW I always drip acclimate fish I get direct for about 20 min. or until salinity matches whichever takes longer (if not already within range).

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well, one change that did happen is that Dr. Foster and Smith started charging tax for IL. Not sure if this is a change because of Petco or because IL online tax law changed. I know Amazon started charging tax in IL too.

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When did Amazon start charging tax for Illinois residents? I have put in several orders since the first of the year, and 2 more this week and did not get charged any tax

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When did Amazon start charging tax for Illinois residents? I have put in several orders since the first of the year, and 2 more this week and did not get charged any tax

Since Feb 1st.

 

http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/breaking/ct-amazon-sales-tax-illinois-0124-biz-2-20150123-story.html#page=1

 

The article states the new law charges 6.25% tax rate but looks like Dr. Foster and Smith is charging 9.xx % so most likely it's because Petco charges 9.xx% sales tax.

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Since Feb 1st.

 

http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/breaking/ct-amazon-sales-tax-illinois-0124-biz-2-20150123-story.html#page=1

 

The article states the new law charges 6.25% tax rate but looks like Dr. Foster and Smith is charging 9.xx % so most likely it's because Petco charges 9.xx% sales tax.

 

I think it depends where the item you ordered from Amazon came from. Sometimes I order stuff from Amazon and I do not get charged for tax.... and I live in CA where almost EVERYTHING IS TAXED

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well, one change that did happen is that Dr. Foster and Smith started charging tax for IL. Not sure if this is a change because of Petco or because IL online tax law changed. I know Amazon started charging tax in IL too.

Since petco had an operation in IL they must charge sales tax on online sales that ship to IL zip codes.

 

This applies to any business that has an operation or brick and mortar store in a ship to with an online sale.

 

So basically all DFS sales will be taxed at your local rate. Unless petco isn't completely nationwide yet.

When did Amazon start charging tax for Illinois residents? I have put in several orders since the first of the year, and 2 more this week and did not get charged any tax

Not all items on Amazon are sold by Amazon. Even if they are prime. All depends on the seller and where they opperate from.

Should be your state and or county tax rate. Not where petco is headquartered

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