Buying Aquarium Products via Amazon (& eBay)

[Carl]

A MUST READ!

Especially if you only get your news from the mainstream media

FROM:

https://www.fish-as-pets.com/2018/03/buying-aquarium-products-via-amazon.html

EXCERPT:

Now let's look at the many negatives, many not even known by many

• Cost of selling.
  

  Amazon sellers pay AT LEAST 15% of any sale (including shipping charges if applicable). As well there are costs in shipping to Amazon if the merchant is using "fulfilled by Amazon" so as to utilize the Prime feature.

  What does this mean for me as a buyer?
  
  When one considers that the average mark up of late for most aquarium products is 20-30%, this equates to 1/2 or more of the profit going to Amazon.
  Reference: Amazon Seller Fees – How Much Does It Cost to Sell on Amazon?
  
  Most full businesses cannot be profitable unless they cut certain corners.
  This includes selling aquarium UV Sterilizers without high output lamps and pre-filters (where applicable). Often most UV replacement lamps are the lower output medium pressure lamps which have 1/4 the UVC output. Reference: Actual UV-C Emission from a UV Bulb; Aquarium or Pond
  
  Even with products such as aquarium medications where one cannot cheapen the product, such as AAP Wonder Shells, you will often find actually higher prices via Amazon.
  As well, many medications are sold are clearance items with poor best used by dates, so buyer beware.
  IN FACT, as per Wonder Shells, most sold outside of the original seller (American Aquarium Products) are in fact clearance stock that is MUCH older than those sold by AAP who has new stock ordered at least once per month & stock is rotated to keep it fresh too). The result for those who purchase via Amazon, are Wonder Shells that are stale and have lost some or all of their "charge" of mineral Cations. This in turn has allowed for trolls in aquarium forums to post inaccurate reviews based purchasing via Amazon.
  
  More importantly here is the fact that full service help whether it be by customer service or by sponsoring forums (which is more common of late) requires paying staff and it is FACT that a full service professional business such as AAP CANNOT get by on 5-15% profit margins all the while paying staff to help others.
  
  Long term, these Amazon purchases will destroy such businesses and you as an end user will be left without researched/experienced information, help, & innovation. As of writing this article many high end professional quality aquarium product SKUs have already disappeared from the industry with many more teetering on the edge. Many are already gone too (Aquatronics in its original form, Ancient Mariner, many high end UV Sterilizers, The Clear Stream Pond Filter, and many, many more).
  
  

  In the end, there are MANY top notch aquarium products you cannot even get on Amazon, from the most efficient AAP AquaRay LED lights, Vecton true level one capable UV Sterilizers, and many medications/treatments such as AAP Spectrogram, Merbromin/Wound Control, Naladin, Res-Q, Eye Fungex, Medicated Wonder Shells & MANY others.
  
  So are you OK with using 2nd or 3rd best treatments/products just so you can purchase via Amazon?

  Products NOT available on Amazon (at least not legally authorized):
  
  • AAP Spectrogram, Merbromin, Naladin, Res-Q & more
  • AAP Wonder Shells; Original & Medicated
  • Vecton & Advantage High Performance True UV Sterilizers from AAP
    Nothing sold on Amazon even comes close to matching these UVs in dwell time, performance & longevity!
  • AquaRay Lighting
    Simply the highest PAR per watt of input energy with the longest warranty by far
  • Clay Neighbor's Custom Ultra Premium Fish Food Crumbles
    Based on decades of experience/research; the ONLY premium fish food with optimized fiber & energy levels
  
  Then there of course is the moral side of this too:
  Will you get help from an aquarium professional via your aquarium forum, professionally written article, local fish store, etc. then take their time and help and throw it in the trash by making your purchase via Amazon (or eBay for that matter)??


• Amazon with help from Google Ads violates copyright with impunity. The picture below shows an Ad on Google from Amazon using my business copyrighted name (AAP) to sell product that Amazon is not even authorized to sell.