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):
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)??