POLL OF MOST WANTED ARO FARM
- Thread starter isjah
- Start date
hondas3000
New Member
Its to risky to switch farm with payment and over sea order. Only if dragonfish can pick up local then yeah but they are not. So just stick with the farm we trust Panda 
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James Sananikone
New Member
I'm agree with Cypher, The fish by itself it more important than the farm.
The farm post pictures of the fishes with tag# and price tags, we choose ! ...
Theo add his commission on the top ... Bingo !!! Every body is happy, no Suprise, no blind pick !
The farm post pictures of the fishes with tag# and price tags, we choose ! ...
Theo add his commission on the top ... Bingo !!! Every body is happy, no Suprise, no blind pick !
isjah
New Member
I'm agree with Cypher, The fish by itself it more important than the farm.
The farm post pictures of the fishes with tag# and price tags, we choose ! ...
Theo add his commission on the top ... Bingo !!! Every body is happy, no Suprise, no blind pick !
hmmm interesting i wonder if thats even possible, sound good tho, well "the man" has to speak then we will know, i guess. yuppa.....xian leng sounds GREAT!!!!!
Cirrus
Arowana blogger
The overseas "photo fish-choose it-ship it" method is much harder and labor intensive than it sounds.
First, the photos and video have to do justice to the fish. The logistics of providing updated video and photos is work and adds to the cost of the fish. Plus, this method means one fish per tank, which adds to cost. And people will want to see larger fish with confirmed colour characteristics, which adds to cost. This method may work for larger/expensive fish in the $5000+ category, but not for smaller fish that perhaps offer more value?
Second, customers/buyers in Canada have to be able to commit immediately; the "Hmm, I'll think about it, let you know next Monday" approach does not work that well for high end fish that are in demand due to a lower price; farms want their fish sold as fast as possible. I realized when I was in Asia last year that telling a total stranger in Canada to immediately wire me $6500 so I could buy him a high end fish was not going to work. I had trouble taking the photos and could have easily spent days shuttling around S'pore taking photos, all to have the customer in the end say "I think I'll pass...". Honestly, if you know exactly what you want and are prepared to spend the money, go to an aro-pro shop in Canada or else deal with an agent/farm direct in South East Asia.
Third, it takes around 2 months for the CITES to process; fish can change a lot in two months as we all know. In addition to the growth in size, there can be changes in colour, DE, PLJ etc. I have had cases where fish that a customer had agreed to purchase had to be substituted at the last minute due to a health issue that popped up. I would prefer to have Mr.Kan oversee the overall quality issue for each order; can you imagine the uproar if someone ordered a fish based on photos and the fish showed up somehow defected from when the photos were taken? The farm could quite legitimately stand back and say "Well, we sent you the fish you chose, not our fault if it has changed in a way you don't like.
I actually see the approach of overseas farms photographing individual fish and putting them up for sale as a "boutique" service that should command a premium price. Thus, say you are in the market for a truly high grade XB or SR and are prepared to spend say $5,0000 - $10,000 for one. There are quite a few agents I can recommend in S'pore who could set you up with exactly what you want. In such a deal the customer should just cut his own deal. Judging from what I see on say MFK in the vendor section that is the way the market is evolving for really high end fish and overseas buyers.
I think the "group buy" or "value buy" model is working out pretty well so far for everyone involved. The nice thing about having an established relationship with Panda is that there is trust. Mr. Kan has proven himself time and again. Going forward, there is no reason why we can not try out other farms too. Our current order with CVMaju is a perfect case in point. Farms to order from down the road? I am open to ideas. If the demand is there I can set up a group buy from pretty much any farm.
My current view is that Panda offers exceptional value for us all on the hybrid rtg/xb's (Panda Gold and Panda Gold Supreme), XB's and SR's.
CVMaju offers exciting Indo SR's and rtg's that complement the line up from Panda. The look of these fish is different from what we get from Panda so it offers the consumer more choice.
Now, Xien Leng is an interesting call, as are some other farms in Malaysia. As for Munjul, if CVMaju works out as well as I expect, it could be kind of redundant to take on another Indo farm?
Anyway, to close this rambling post, I think a poll on the question of where people want to order fish from is a great idea. Maybe one of us can figure out how to get the polling feature working for the forum and create a BIG list of farms for people to choose from?
First, the photos and video have to do justice to the fish. The logistics of providing updated video and photos is work and adds to the cost of the fish. Plus, this method means one fish per tank, which adds to cost. And people will want to see larger fish with confirmed colour characteristics, which adds to cost. This method may work for larger/expensive fish in the $5000+ category, but not for smaller fish that perhaps offer more value?
Second, customers/buyers in Canada have to be able to commit immediately; the "Hmm, I'll think about it, let you know next Monday" approach does not work that well for high end fish that are in demand due to a lower price; farms want their fish sold as fast as possible. I realized when I was in Asia last year that telling a total stranger in Canada to immediately wire me $6500 so I could buy him a high end fish was not going to work. I had trouble taking the photos and could have easily spent days shuttling around S'pore taking photos, all to have the customer in the end say "I think I'll pass...". Honestly, if you know exactly what you want and are prepared to spend the money, go to an aro-pro shop in Canada or else deal with an agent/farm direct in South East Asia.
Third, it takes around 2 months for the CITES to process; fish can change a lot in two months as we all know. In addition to the growth in size, there can be changes in colour, DE, PLJ etc. I have had cases where fish that a customer had agreed to purchase had to be substituted at the last minute due to a health issue that popped up. I would prefer to have Mr.Kan oversee the overall quality issue for each order; can you imagine the uproar if someone ordered a fish based on photos and the fish showed up somehow defected from when the photos were taken? The farm could quite legitimately stand back and say "Well, we sent you the fish you chose, not our fault if it has changed in a way you don't like.
I actually see the approach of overseas farms photographing individual fish and putting them up for sale as a "boutique" service that should command a premium price. Thus, say you are in the market for a truly high grade XB or SR and are prepared to spend say $5,0000 - $10,000 for one. There are quite a few agents I can recommend in S'pore who could set you up with exactly what you want. In such a deal the customer should just cut his own deal. Judging from what I see on say MFK in the vendor section that is the way the market is evolving for really high end fish and overseas buyers.
I think the "group buy" or "value buy" model is working out pretty well so far for everyone involved. The nice thing about having an established relationship with Panda is that there is trust. Mr. Kan has proven himself time and again. Going forward, there is no reason why we can not try out other farms too. Our current order with CVMaju is a perfect case in point. Farms to order from down the road? I am open to ideas. If the demand is there I can set up a group buy from pretty much any farm.
My current view is that Panda offers exceptional value for us all on the hybrid rtg/xb's (Panda Gold and Panda Gold Supreme), XB's and SR's.
CVMaju offers exciting Indo SR's and rtg's that complement the line up from Panda. The look of these fish is different from what we get from Panda so it offers the consumer more choice.
Now, Xien Leng is an interesting call, as are some other farms in Malaysia. As for Munjul, if CVMaju works out as well as I expect, it could be kind of redundant to take on another Indo farm?
Anyway, to close this rambling post, I think a poll on the question of where people want to order fish from is a great idea. Maybe one of us can figure out how to get the polling feature working for the forum and create a BIG list of farms for people to choose from?
Last edited:
James Sananikone
New Member
I know what I mentioned was a dream !!!
But in real life, I have to agree with Theo, there's so many risks involved sooner or later, somebody will have to pay for them ( farms or Hobbyists).
As for my opinion, the group buy is the winning formular for both, agent and hobbyists ( In terms of the price vs. quality ) .
Just to let you know that as a hobbyist , I really do appreciate your commitment to make all kinds of fish and aquarium products accesible to us.
ARO, NST, FX5, DRAGON BOOKS, and probably more still coming ...
But in real life, I have to agree with Theo, there's so many risks involved sooner or later, somebody will have to pay for them ( farms or Hobbyists).
As for my opinion, the group buy is the winning formular for both, agent and hobbyists ( In terms of the price vs. quality )
.Just to let you know that as a hobbyist , I really do appreciate your commitment to make all kinds of fish and aquarium products accesible to us.
ARO, NST, FX5, DRAGON BOOKS, and probably more still coming ...