Pacific East Aquaculture

[Tamberav]

IIRC, I think the $ just come off your bill altogether (so a $129 clam is $119).. so it can be thought of as free livestock, or as earned discount.. the more you spend = more discount..

 

Yah I guess if you look at it as $10 off $110 and not $10 in additional livestock at $100. You are right. Thanks

 

 

I guess whats going to have to happen is PEA has to move to the Minneapolis/StPaul, MN so I can just drive there :D

[Sunar357]

I guess if I can place a $110> order someday that'll 'take off' the box charge and be more reasonable.

[ninjamyst]

just the fact that the vendor replied to this thread says enough about PEA...

[PacificEastAquaculture]

I just 'don't get' the box fee. Other retailers, larger and smaller can do it without charging extra. Sorry, but even though you may be great there will be no way you will convince me the customer needs to pay more when other companies of all sizes and quality product can do without box fees.

 

I guess if I can place a $110> order someday that'll 'take off' the box charge and be more reasonable.

 

Thanks for your input.

 

However, there are other livestock vendors that do charge for box/packing. A search of all the online livestock vendors will give you a list of a wide range of fees for shipping.

 

Again, we feel that our policy is fair. Also, remember that there is a huge difference with companies as to not only the quality of packing but also the guarantee policy and also restocking fees by some. We offer three options if you have any issue with our stock, an out right refund to your credit card, a store credit, or a replacement. If you do a thorough search of all the livestock vendors you will see that there is a huge variety of policies and fees.

 

No one vendor may ever satisfy everyone when it comes to shipping fees, but we think we have made an attempt to do something a bit different and unique with our Better Than Free Shipping program. As I said before, we have tried many variations over the last 14 years and continue to improve. There is no such thing as free shipping and packing materials and personnel costs to any company, these are all real and every business at some point must be profitable while still offering a quality product at a reasonable price, we hope we have archived a good balance and will continue into our 15th year in 2014.

[GHill762]

No one vendor may ever satisfy everyone when it comes to shipping fees, but we think we have made an attempt to do something a bit different and unique with our Better Than Free Shipping program. As I said before, we have tried many variations over the last 14 years and continue to improve. There is no such thing as free shipping and packing materials and personnel costs to any company, these are all real and every business at some point must be profitable while still offering a quality product at a reasonable price, we hope we have archived a good balance and will continue into our 15th year in 2014.

bingo. no matter what any company does/offers, someone will always be unhappy.

[PRJ]

Thanks for your input. However, there are other livestock vendors that do charge for box/packing. A search of all the online livestock vendors will give you a list of a wide range of fees for shipping. Again, we feel that our policy is fair. Also, remember that there is a huge difference with companies as to not only the quality of packing but also the guarantee policy and also restocking fees by some. We offer three options if you have any issue with our stock, an out right refund to your credit card, a store credit, or a replacement. If you do a thorough search of all the livestock vendors you will see that there is a huge variety of policies and fees. No one vendor may ever satisfy everyone when it comes to shipping fees, but we think we have made an attempt to do something a bit different and unique with our Better Than Free Shipping program. As I said before, we have tried many variations over the last 14 years and continue to improve. There is no such thing as free shipping and packing materials and personnel costs to any company, these are all real and every business at some point must be profitable while still offering a quality product at a reasonable price, we hope we have archived a good balance and will continue into our 15th year in 2014.

 

Well thought-out posts like this are a great insight at what is needed to successfully run a company; doing your best to accommodate a wide array of customers.

 

I look forward to ordering from you guys in the future.

[GHill762]

just the fact that the vendor replied to this thread says enough about PEA...

this thread (started by me) was meant to be a good positive review for them.. they aren't necessarily the cheapest online vendor, but you know you're getting top notch healthy livestock and everything is pretty much wysiwyg. I will absolutely order from them again, especially for clams..

[Sunar357]

Yeah, I went back and removed what they replied to before they even replied. LOL I decided I didn't want it to seem like I dislike the company at all it's just box fees irk me fortunately not many vendors i've looked at do it.

 

Like I said, when place an order over $110 i'll definitely keep them in consideration but when i'm placing a $70 order it makes it less worth it to me personally.

[Paandemonium]

I like the better than free shipping thing, one just has to buy enough livestock so that you replace your shipping cost with livestock and thus make it worth while. Once you get into the $200s area the better than free shipping thing really is better than free shipping lol PLUS you can usually add in the lucky 7 special and make all of these frags and goodies very affordable. When making coral purchases its always good to make larger buys its almost always better from a buyer's standpoint

[Sunar357]

I definitely agree with you there! The more you can buy at a time from anyone helps 'eat' the costs of shipping. Unfortunately my purchases are usually $60-80. Stinking babies are expensive and i'm impatient!

[Paandemonium]

Thanks for your input. However, there are other livestock vendors that do charge for box/packing. A search of all the online livestock vendors will give you a list of a wide range of fees for shipping. Again, we feel that our policy is fair. Also, remember that there is a huge difference with companies as to not only the quality of packing but also the guarantee policy and also restocking fees by some. We offer three options if you have any issue with our stock, an out right refund to your credit card, a store credit, or a replacement. If you do a thorough search of all the livestock vendors you will see that there is a huge variety of policies and fees. No one vendor may ever satisfy everyone when it comes to shipping fees, but we think we have made an attempt to do something a bit different and unique with our Better Than Free Shipping program. As I said before, we have tried many variations over the last 14 years and continue to improve. There is no such thing as free shipping and packing materials and personnel costs to any company, these are all real and every business at some point must be profitable while still offering a quality product at a reasonable price, we hope we have archived a good balance and will continue into our 15th year in 2014.

Also, PEA's box fee is a lot more reasonable than some companies(most of them based in California for some reason?) some places have $50 shipping plus a boxing fee and that fee doesnt go down until you start hitting the $100s. When I went to order a $50 nem from said company I almost lost my sh*t when the total at the end was $115 lol. If we're getting into the prices argument let me just say that even PEA's $15 and under bin has stuff a million times better looking than what most other vendors provide in "frag packs" or regular WYSIWYG corals. I made a larger purchase from PEA(I think it was like 12-14 frags? some where in the $250+ range I dont recall) and I ordered a frag pack from said other company(because their frag packs are 10 frags for $200 shipped) and it was not at all worth the money I spent. Frags were small, crappy colored and all browned out badly. I asked for a sunset montipora and that thing came in white as a ghost and took FOREVER to become a pinkish color( had another sunset monti in the tank that was very red and doing excellently. PEAs frags were great looking and very nice sized.

Shipping is EXPENSIVE guys, unless you own your own oil field or start enlisting your own set of drones it will always be expensive. If you can't handle a $40 shipping charge you probably should settle for local or not be in the hobby in the first place. Saltwater aquariums are a luxury and thus not always for everyone's pocket. I understand if they were asking $350 for a mushroom then people could complain but they're not lol they're providing corals at affordable prices and shipping an item/animal/person/pet/mistress overnight will never, ever be cheap.

[GHill762]

+1 to everything clay just said.. shipping from anywhere that isn't semi-local is going to be $30-40 minimum..

 

another point, and something I think makes PEA stand out, they don't have pictures that are all crazy saturated and have too much color, they look very natural and healthy.

[jedimaster1138]

Thanks for your input. However, there are other livestock vendors that do charge for box/packing. A search of all the online livestock vendors will give you a list of a wide range of fees for shipping. Again, we feel that our policy is fair. Also, remember that there is a huge difference with companies as to not only the quality of packing but also the guarantee policy and also restocking fees by some. We offer three options if you have any issue with our stock, an out right refund to your credit card, a store credit, or a replacement. If you do a thorough search of all the livestock vendors you will see that there is a huge variety of policies and fees. No one vendor may ever satisfy everyone when it comes to shipping fees, but we think we have made an attempt to do something a bit different and unique with our Better Than Free Shipping program. As I said before, we have tried many variations over the last 14 years and continue to improve. There is no such thing as free shipping and packing materials and personnel costs to any company, these are all real and every business at some point must be profitable while still offering a quality product at a reasonable price, we hope we have archived a good balance and will continue into our 15th year in 2014.

 

This. PEA is one of the few companies that I order from at this point for this reason specifically:

 

"We offer three options if you have any issue with our stock, an out right refund to your credit card, a store credit, or a replacement."

 

Most companies will only issue store credits, which is more than annoying, especially when no matter what, you are eating the shipping cost on a DOA or DAA item. The fact that PEA does this (and so does LiveAquaria in full disclosure, my other go to vendor) and calls you the day of, and follows up with an actual human, is reason enough to love PEA.

 

The other key, to me, is quality of livestock. Dr. Mac doesn't sell sickly, brown, over photoshopped coral, diseased clams, or cyanide collected fish. I'd pay 10$ more in a heartbeat for a "guarantee" of that level of quality by ordering from PEA. Plus the Doc - and Alyssa, are good people, and yeah, they answer forum posts, can't beat that.

 

(hi Alyssa, my clams are kicking butt btw, :-D )

[Sunar357]

If you can't handle a $40 shipping charge you probably should settle for local or not be in the hobby in the first place.

LOL I'm not complaining about a $40 shipping charge. I just think the $10 'boxing fee' isn't needed regardless of vendor. Box, heat/cold packs and bags are nowhere near $10 especially in bulk. Do you charge them when you sell?

 

So many PAE fanbois...i'm not slamming the company just the boxing fee. I hear nothing but good about their actual corals. =D If I would have mentioned this on another vendor I probably wouldn't catch the flack which means PAE is doing something right.

[PacificEastAquaculture]

LOL I'm not complaining about a $40 shipping charge. I just think the $10 'boxing fee' isn't needed regardless of vendor. Box, heat/cold packs and bags are nowhere near $10 especially in bulk. Do you charge them when you sell?

 

So many PAE fanbois...i'm not slamming the company just the boxing fee. I hear nothing but good about their actual corals. =D If I would have mentioned this on another vendor I probably wouldn't catch the flack which means PAE is doing something right.

 

Not to belabor the point nor to argue with you, but sometimes folks not actually in the business always feel the vendor is making a killing or somehow always cheating folks, the facts are that the cardboard, styro, two liner bags, packing peanuts, heat or ice packs, saltwater, bags, clips, rubber bands, driving the boxes to UPS, personnel to pack it and drive it, other overhead costs, all do in fact add up to $10 or more, yes even when buying in bulk.

[ZephNYC]

ALL HAIL PEA !!! Or shut the F up !

 

[VABumpkin]

I frequently sell and ship items and even for inanimate items it is quite expensive for packing materials.

[basser1]

When it's all said and done.... Is $10 bucks really a deal breaker????

[Tamberav]

Oh the box fee didn't bother me the 2nd or 3rd order...I knew it was coming! I was sad the 1st order when it calculated my shipping then had a box fee on another page. I was a noob and didn't see it coming . It felt kind of hidden even though its on the shipping page if you read the whole thing.

 

I also didn't know they refunded.. so that just shows how much I know anyways. I only thought LA did that. So now I am going to have to stalk your fish page too!

 

Btw those T-shirts are awesome. I hope they are still around when I get some more $.

[DrVENKMAN]

I have also ordered from Pacificeast in the past and was suprised when they called me to check how everything was doing after the shipment. Fantastic vendor, quality product, and great packaging.

 

Hopefully Pacificeast will see this post, and send me a 50% off coupon so I can place another order with them ASAP.

[Biokabe]

To date, PEA is still the only online coral farm I've ordered from. I'd do it again in a heartbeat.

 

As others have mentioned, the packaging was excellent. The livestock was well-protected from insensitive shippers ("Fragile", to UPS, means, "Use this package as a football"), and well-insulated to protect from possible temperature swings. Each coral was individually triple-bagged (and labeled!), and the bags were sealed with a sturdy clip instead of a rubber band.

 

They were also exceptionally helpful during the ordering and shipping process. When I ordered, I had some special concerns about my package - namely, my apartment's buzzer doesn't work, and I didn't want the delivery guy to take the package back to the shipping hub because I couldn't answer the door (it's happened before, though thankfully not with corals). PEA listened to my concerns and put giant stickers on every side of the package telling the delivery driver to leave the package at the building door if I couldn't answer.

 

The livestock were happy and healthy when they arrived - a little small, but I'd purchased a bunch of the $15 or less frags, so that wasn't a dealbreaker. Most of the corals, even the SPS, started to show polyp extension while I was acclimating them. Two of them have since died, but that's on me - I was perhaps a little too eager to restart my tank after it crashed, and a few of the corals fell victim to a red slime outbreak that lasted about a month. I had one DOA, but PEA was very accommodating. They offered to refund the cost onto my CC, but I elected to take store credit instead - I wanted an excuse to order from them again. =)

 

Overall, the pricing was pretty good, even when I included the cost of shipping - 9 corals for $149 (including freight). Buying the same corals locally would have cost me upwards of $200-$225, and that's even assuming I could find them. I've only ever seen one cespitularia locally, for example, and it was blue (instead of purple) and $60 (instead of $25).

 

Including price, selection, and service, I can't think of a reason not to support PEA. Just order enough to defray the cost of shipping.