tiger shrimp

[timebomb]

So sorry to piss you off so much timebomb. It is just a casual comment.
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Contrary to what you may believe, Sims, I wasn't pissed off. I was just trying to correct a common perception here, that fish shop owners are ripping people off all the time. I wasn't trying to shut you up. If I gave you that impression, I apologise.

People will disagree all the time and you really shouldn't stop giving your opinions just because someone disagrees with you. It would be terribly boring if everyone agrees with everyone all the time, don't you think?

I strongly suspect that the fish shop owner who's selling the Tiger shrimps for 50 cents each got his prices wrong. I've bought the shrimps direct from a fish farm at wholesale prices before and they were selling it for 40 cents a piece. I find it hard to believe that any fish shop owner would be contented with such a small margin. It could be he's using the shrimp as a "loss leader", a term people in the retail business use to describe a product which is sold at either a loss or for a very small profit to lure customers to turn up.

Whatever, if the shrimp are really that cheap, grab whatever you can before they are all sold out.

Loh K L

[budak]

At the risk of being repetitive, Sim, I can't agree with your statement, "Anyway they all should push down the prices."

On a global basis, I believe Singapore (and much of Asean) already enjoys the lowest retail prices for many aquatic products, especially live animals. Consider that in Melbourne, for instance, a clown loach can go for $50. Yamatos, if I remember correctly, go for at least US$2-3 in the States, and even longkang fish like guppies, platies and plain goldfish are at least a couple of US$dollars/pounds/euros in overseas markets.

The result of fairly low prices? People buying shrimp and fish like these are disposable diapers, with naught a care for what the animals require to thrive, much less survive. "They die? Just go buy some more lah" is the thinking. Look at the far extreme: arowanas. Few would go about buying a dragon without having the proper setup and research done. The cost of failure is simply too high.

The same applies to for plants. At a buck or two per bunch, they are really throw-aways. Melts? Buy somemore of the same or try another plant, without knowing even its name, not to mention its growth requirements. They say knowledge comes at a price, but ignorance is probably dearer in the long run. Of course, there are free bites of the cherry along the way, such as the vast archives of data to be found in the AQ forums, but alas, some seem to prefer the 'gimme and tell me all, right now, and make it snappy" approach to seeking advice.

The way the market works will mean that unless a cartel is involved (quite unlikely), prices will always gravitate to a level that buyers will accept and which offers sellers a profit margin that makes it worthwhile to continue selling the good. There will always be one-off anomalies (like 50c shrimp or $15 crypt balansaes), but if the cheap shrimp seller really has a good lobang (as opposed to selling a loss leader), it will be plugged by rival LFS who would not miss a chance to earn the business, while overpriced outlets will learn that buyers are simply not buying.

Again, prices are relative. Shrimps may cost dirt cheap in Tiong Bahru, but I'd rather pay more at Petmart/Nature than bear the expense and time of going all the way down those parts. If one has the time, by all means go bargain-hunting.

[chia2k]

lol i have to agree with budak , my dad has that " die then buy again lor" mentality. he's tank is nickname "graveyard" becoz of that. anyway im introducing him to this forums as he is thinking of rebuilding the tank after he saw my tank

ok a bit off topic there. just wanna ask. does malayan shirmps have white dots? or r those white spot. the thing is , the spots r very uniform. they form a line if connected

[stormhawk]

budak, that's the prevailing attitude among most people now. they don't mind buying something even if they don't know a single thing about it. like the LH trend, some people think that the LH would live in almost any conditions. little do they know that in very adverse conditions the poor LH might just get deformed or stunted or perhaps die. and when it does they start blaming everyone else but themselves. it's just a matter of whether they'd do some research before buying something though it's rarely the case nowadays. i do admit i buy some things on impulse at times but never the case for living animals which i consider as my pets.

chia2k, looking at my Malayans i suppose what u say it correct, there's this row of white spots on their back. makes it look as if they've got this dorsal stripe.

anyway, i bought about 20 large to medium sized tiger shrimp from the BP shop (luckily for me they still had quite a number left) and they're doing fine in my 3ft. foraging the tank during daylight and darkness and they love the sinking pellets meant for the corys. on my 2nd trip down to the same shop, i saw less than 20 small ones left though there's one or two tiny tiger shrimp fry.

[benny]

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On 12/18/2002 12:53:34 PM

...On a global basis, I believe Singapore (and much of Asean) already enjoys the lowest retail prices for many aquatic products, especially live animals.....

The result of fairly low prices? People buying shrimp and fish like these are disposable diapers, with naught a care for what the animals require to thrive, much less survive.....

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I do think that most Singaporeans are too price sensitive to the point that some people may call us cheapskates.

We seem to put price above all else, then after that, we still complain about the lack of service or product knowledge. It's really sad because this kind of attitude will never be a condusive environment for a good hobby industry to grow. As such, most of our LFS have not evolve beyond the 1960/70s in terms of service, knowledge and professionalism, unlike our North Asian counterparts or Western equivalent.

Having seen some LFS in Europe and the rest of Asia, you can clearly see why some places command more money for the livestocks and products and also the difference in the quality of their service and their customers.

So when we moan about the lousy service as well as the price of fish keeping, perhaps we should also think about the quality of the Singapore customers and their typically Singaporean indifference.

[limsc]

Hi All,
Any one know whether the shop is still selling tiger shrimps at that price tag. Hope to get some. Or any other LFS selling shrimps cheaper than market price. Hope to get some nice shrimps for my tank. Thanks for any feedback.

[pipsqueak]

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On 12/18/2002 12:53:34 PM
On a global basis, I believe Singapore (and much of Asean) already enjoys the lowest retail prices for many aquatic products, especially live animals. Consider that in Melbourne, for instance, a clown loach can go for $50. Yamatos, if I remember correctly, go for at least US$2-3 in the States, and even longkang fish like guppies, platies and plain goldfish are at least a couple of US$dollars/pounds/euros in overseas markets.

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Well it's true, this shop down at Chapel Street, were selling their fishes at a very high price. I thought they were ripping people off, but i figured that it's probably because of the location (ie: Australia, Uk, America)
While here in Singapore, Asia, we have farms...and it's like the centre of exporting fishes?

correct me if i'm wrong.