Why the difference in price?

[nkthen]

I'm a little stumped by my little observation.

I wanted to buy some Yamato shrimps. So I went to LFS in Tampines and ask for the price.

It's $2.50 per shrimp! Wow, that's expensive.

Then, I went to another LFS in Bedok North 2 days later. Guess what's their price for Yamato?

$1.00 per shrimp!!!

Hmm... Did they get it from different supplier?

[beetlejuice403]

Hi nkthen,

guess it's just like we go supermarket buy groceries like that, some things may be cheaper at NTUC while some others may be cheaper at Seng Siong... [Ok, I know I'm abit out of point here...]

It may be as you'd mentioned - source are from different suppliers - hence different in retail price. It may also be due to the profit margin that the LFSs owners seeking are different. Or maybe the operating cost of the LFSs also play a part (if 1 LFS is situated inside a BIG shopping MALL with aircon; the other is located at those neighbourhood shops - the former is more likely to sell at a much higher premium). Could it possibily be also due to the size of the Yamatoes & whether the owner had acclimated the shrimps for long? Not sure if there are 'gradings' for Yamatoes like for CRSs though... Whatever it is, the reasons are so varied & unlimited...

When I first got into this hobby & wanted to buy Neon Tetras, had gotten prices from $1 per piece to $0.20 per piece... Both fishes look the same to me, so in the end bought it at $0.50 per piece... [Only discovered the $0.20 per piece after getting mine, so went home pounding my heart ] Hence, tend to ask around for prices nowadays first before getting my stuffs... Or may come AQ for recommendations or look for good deals...

Just my 5 cents...

[zenscape]

Its a free market here.. happy sellers and willing buyers. Visit a few shops before you commit anything and avoid those that sell exorbitant prices.

I had seen cardinal at S$2.50 piece in a LFS while you can get it 3 for S$1.00 somewhere else.

[cyclops]

Price varies from place to place even for the same size and type shrimps. So guess buyers just have to do our homework before any purchase. Anyway the price is there and it is up to us to decide if we want to make the purchase. Just my few cents of thoughts.

[patricc]

This is SG man haha got used to it already sigh

[EvolutionZ]

same for equipments, i saw a lfs selling seachem excel like $11 while others like polyart and c328 sells only $8..

[RHX]

Location plays a big part of it. LFS in shopping tend to be more expensive as it has better location & enviroment.

Just imagine, if you want to buy a fish which cost $5 market price & you live in tampines. The tampines LFS sells for $7, & clementi sells for $5. Would you go all the way to clementi & spend extra $2 ~ $3 on transport to and fro, just to buy a fish which is $2 cheaper?

To me they just cost the same economical wise, it's just that you will have to spend extra effort & time to get to clementi to get the same stuff.