xbackgolden
New Member
We all must remember one thing. LFS take all the risk when they purchase fish from any Aro farm. There are neither consignments done nor guarantees to the LFS when he makes an order to have a selection in his store from an Aro farm.
Each farm has a high minimum number purchase, and by the time a LFS gets his delivery, be it 15 to 35 AroÂ’s, they are in the hole for thousands of dollars. That is not including operating costs, electricity, medication, etc.
We as buyers go to the LFS when we hear about the deliveries arriving within the GTA. Some stores even open doors at midnight for their preferred customers.
We have all seen AroÂ’s come in from their long journey here and when we see them, we are not overly impressed at their appearance because they are not in great shape.
LFS now have to make them look good so that they can sell as many or get deposits on the AroÂ’s to at least recoup some of his investment as soon as the stock arrive. Time is of the essence at this pint and the "Buyer Rush" will only last a few days.
We have all seen LFS holding on to old stock for a few months sometimes over a year before they sell the one's that did not get picked.
I guess you can say that this is why I feel for them at times. In reality they were the one's that took the risk in the late 80's and early 90's to get the fish here and got most of us started. I am a veteran in Arowana keeping since the late 80’s. I was first smitten when I seen my first fully developed RTG. Believe it or not it was at BIG Al’s in the west end. I said to myself, “I must have one of those. I’m sure you all have had similar experiences.
I am not a store owner nor do I have a vested interest in any of the stores in the GTA as some people may think.
My options are open and what interests me is QUALITY and I'm not counting on luck to get what I want.
My personal goal is just like some other members in this Forum, and that is to get the highest quality Arowana available for my collection here in CAN.
Of course I will pay less if I can, I would be a fool and a liar if I told you I wouldn't. But as far as what I have seen over the years, we, in Canada are not getting what the rest of SE Asia is getting.
Some PPL may feel ripped off by LFS when it comes to Aro's, but we still have to rely on them for supplies like filters, aquariums, and other supplies we use day to day in our hobby.
As for group buys, yes, it is a growing trend in the purchase of Aro's, but the stigma attached still holds me back from ordering. It is the "luck of the draw" process.
Not knowing what I will be getting until they hand me the bag, that‘s my issue.
I'm sure; as group buying evolves it may become the norm in buying Aro's.
I know that there is talk about a visual, video and pics of fish before you buy your next group buy Arowana. I may at that point switch to group buys.
But the majority of you must agree with me that there is no comparison to seeing that Arowana live. Seeing the graceful swimming action that it performs, and how it reacts to you as you stare at it for hours at the LFS.
This same topic is going on in SE Asia as we speak. Their dilemma is weather they should purchase from their LFS or group purchase from Indo. The main debate is it’s a “BLIND BUY”.
As for those looking for the lowest price, yes you may get your Aro, but will you get a high quality, maybe not. There is always someone out there willing to pay the price when it comes to quality. Yes, you will sit there staring at that empty aquarium scratching your head and saying to your self, "Who paid that price for that fish?"
Here's the Aro farmers point of view.
Canada has buyers willing to purchase a group of AroÂ’s , but we have price issues. We want to pay what Singapore pays for their AroÂ’s.
Japan, China, Korea, and other SE Asian countries will pay thousand more for an excellent specimen without batting an eye. If you are the Aro farmer who will you call on first, Canada or Japan?
The dividing line is now between buyers of Arowana's and Arowana Connoisseurs. There has to be a supply in the market for all qualities of ArowanaÂ’s. There is LOW, MEDIUM, & of course HIGH. A store canÂ’t keep too many of the other. LFS has to strategically decide what they will carry to be competitive.
To sum things up, in a real world, you will never be able to buy a brand new fully loaded BMW M5 @ a brand new fully loaded HONDA Accord price. I donÂ’t care how long you wait.
That is the same with ArowanaÂ’s.
Decide what type you want to keep and how much you are willing to pay. As long as there is a JAPANESE & SE Asia market for ArowanaÂ’s we will never see a low priced flawless example here. We here in CAN cannot really compete with the YEN pocket book unless you have a lot of $$$ and ready to spend it. IÂ’m not saying itÂ’s impossible, but it will cost you more than the $900 or $1200, your willing to pay.
There are a lot of guyÂ’s here in the GTA with deep pockets seeking that flawless specimen be it RED or GOLD at this moment and you all know who you are.
Once you have a few of those around looking to buy, they will bid for it and that Arowana will sell to the highest bidder.
What do I consider Flawless you ask?
I will ask you this; have you ever seen a real Red Aro? One that is not orange, or deep orange in colour, but RED!!! No enhancements, like red lights or computer enhanced or photo shopped.
Pure RED features in natural un-adulterated white light, LIVE or on line. Perfect body shape what ever your preference, Scale sheen and scale formations etc. Then ask yourself; “How many are there here in CAN, and how many did you go through in your search to find one.” Maybe it’s already the show piece in your home aquarium?
Which one R U?
To add on to what you have said. It is popular misconception that once the parent fish are of premium quality, (I own a pond of premium quality brooders back at home) All the fry will turn out to be of similar quality as their parents. From my experience of keeping fishes and of buying the entire brood from the individual parent's harvest, I have found that this is quite far from the truth. Generally, only about 20-30% of the fishes will be of premium quality, after that, the rest of them will be of relatively ok quality while there will be a remainder which is of substandard quality, (xbacks with no pearlies etc, red aros which grow up to be orange)
What i am trying to say essentially is that there are not really that many good arowanas around in the market. Most of is often spotted and taken by export customers of our local farms, friends of the farmers and the LFS. Hence for the price you are willing to pay, it is qutie unlikely that any of these are available to you. Also, the farms want to ensure the continuality of their business as they won't be willing to upset their best customers by sending them substandard fish.
With regard to grading of the super red, I won't comment too much as I am not really a specialist in super reds. But, not grading means that you might get a chance of getting a better quality specimen, but it can also mean you will get a substandard speciment too. So essentially the end user is bearing the risk. So its really up to you to decide what you want. For me, the fish already cost me thousands of dollars, why not pay that 10-20% more to ensure that the quality meets my expectations.
