Reefs.org Forums

[saltysupply]

Does anyone know of a website or how to get in contact with them.

Also looking for the thread with the wholesaler list.

[Twisted]

Isn't FHI Fishheads Inc? I think that was their website too, but a quick google, or yahoo search should bring them up. Sorry I would link it, but i'm on the wrong computer for it right now.

[saltysupply]

thanks! Is there a thread somewhere with stateside wholesalers?

[SlipperMan]

List is outdated but it gives you a start:

http://www.reefs.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.p ... hlight=ina

[RichardS]

http://www.fishheadsinc.com/

[ooulophilia]

I am not in retail any more and never bought from these guys but got put on their email broadcast somehow and they sent this out this week. It has some contact info on it and some interesting (if preachy) points.

[color=blue]Hey Fish Heads!

We are ramping up for an epic week next week – the product is all lined up and the sales reps are chomping at the bit – check out the list attatched!

We really do have an awesome lineup for the upcoming week – the livestock gods have smiled upon us and we have a glut of amazing product flowing in all week – some new suppliers coming online also so we will have plenty of product flowing in – send us an order at the beginning of the week and we can tell you the best day to order and put items aside for you. I was just informed that one of our new suppliers is sending us an amazing order – I am really excited to see it – call us for details and we can let you know all of the juicy details!

I wanted to touch on the topic of transshipping – it seems to be on everyone’s lips recently. I ran a retail store in the past, and I have transshipped, so I do know the reality of it. I tried it and after doing it for a while I went back to just using wholesalers – here is my reasoning:

The prices look great on paper, but when I actually sat down and did the math and factored in all of the peripheral costs and the increased loss it became evident that I was paying roughly the same as I was at the wholesalers, in some cases I was paying more for transship!

Getting exactly what I needed – one day I looked around the store and realized I was full of brown button polyps – when you transship they are going to send you product whether you like it or not; with us if I think that a coral is not up to par I am not going to send it, it is in my best interest to send you product that you can sell – if you sell it you are going to order more, and everybody makes money!

Quality of product – the guy in indo or Fiji is not a reefer, he does not know which acro species notoriously brown out or what the hot zoa is on the market – we do – we are hobbyists through and through, we are hand picking you what we know sells for your market – what moves in Florida is not the same as what sells in Oregon – we know local markets.

Terrible fill rates – if I order something, I need to know I am going to get it – that is why the walk through that we do is invaluable – we will never sub something without talking to you, but if we are missing certain items, we can suggest replacements (eg. we are out of sinularias, but we do have really nice colts). If you are going to spend the time to place an order, drive to the airport, is has to be worth your while – Fish Heads makes sure of that.

DOAs. When a fish/coral has been shipped halfway around the world, does it make sense to keep it in transit for another day? Anyone who has transshipped any SPS knows what I am talking about – in retail I remember receiving shipments that were not delayed and arrived 90% dead and being really angry at the giant pile of dead across outside the back door. How fish are handled when they first arrive is key - we have state of the art acclimation facilities, and a dedicated acclimation crew who are here all night making sure that the acclimation goes as smoothly as possible – most retail stores cannot say the same. Also, does it not make more sense to let a wholesaler absorb the DOAs, and then you only receive the healthy stuff – goes back to the hidden costs of transship.

Retail experience/hobby experience – when talking to transshippers when I was in retail, I was shocked by the lack of hobby experience, and none of them had ever worked at the retail level. How can you expect someone to help fine tune your order or recommend certain items if they have never worked in an LFS, or for that matter even had an aquarium. At Fish Heads, we have all put in our time in retail, so we know what sells and what does well, and well, we are Fish Heads! Many a time the boss has had to yell at the sales crew to get back on the phones because we are all wowing over an unusual morph that came in the night before – often times we are paid bonuses in corals –we love what we do, and know what we are talking about.

Accuracy of lists – if I see perculas on a list and order 24 of them, I want 24 perculas, not 24 polymnus clowns! And what is a meat coral/modern coral/jewelstone? Most of us know, but who uses those archaic terms any more. Often times I would suspect they were being vague in purpose to sell more stuff. You order a montipora from Fish Heads, you are going to know what species it is, what color the polyps are, growth structure, and its social security number.

Ethics – I will put it bluntly, transship is one of the worst things for our industry – it operates around the idea of “acceptable lossâ€

[SlipperMan]

Seen the same e-mail, just sent by a different rep. Interesting to say the least.

[GreshamH]

same email but they signed it differently?

[dizzy]

They certainly don't seem as welcoming to a little bit of new competition as good ol' Eric is/was. I mostly agree with what they said though.

[Raskal311]

These guys send so many emails and faxs I had to ask them to stop We tried tranship a few times and at the end of the day its more work with no real savings.

What ever happed to the culture deal they were pitching everyone a year ago?

[GreshamH]

These guys send so many emails and faxs I had to ask them to stop We tried tranship a few times and at the end of the day its more work with no real savings.

What ever happed to the culture deal they were pitching everyone a year ago?

The prices several of my LFS owner friends showed me was close to retail. Very high to say the least.

[JennM]

I didn't get that letter, but I do get their weekly emails.

I can't say I disagree, although I've never really got into transship - I'm too far from the west coast. I did receive a couple of transshipped orders a few years ago, as part of a study, but I haven't done it since.

The writer of the email has a point. The line items might be cheaper but by the time you add on all the extras - clearance fees, freight from point of origin, reox - it works out to about the same. Add in the extra mortality that is likely (??) to result, and the net price per item goes up, not to mention it's hard on the fish.

As for the cultured stuff, Raskal, they still offer it - I guess they just didn't mention it in that particular letter, but there are details on their stock list.

Jenn

[dizzy]

Ooh, ooh that smell
Can't you smell that smell?
Ooh, ooh that smell
The smell of death surrounds you


If you've ever unpacked an order that has passed its shelf life it not the best of experiences. The smell of dead or dying corals and fish is far from pleasant and can linger on your hands and in the air for quite some time. Not to mention the guilt that goes along with being a very real part of the problem, if you're among those of us who have a conscience about such things. And then there are the decisions on what to do with dying corals. Do you just thow them away or do you go ahead and put them into your system, where they may recover a little, or they might continue to breakdown at the expence of water quality. Transshipping corals certainly works better in the cooler months than in the heat of summer. Having said all that, if wholesalers are going to run their own retail web sites and cherry pick the livestock, I can understand why some stores would choose this option.

[JennM]

Well Fishheads doesn't allow jobbers to my knowledge nor do they sell direct so as far as I can tell, they practice what they preach. I'm sure if I'm wrong about that somebody will speak up from their own personal experience (and not hearsay).

I have opened up a smelly order or two that came from a wholesaler that an airline "lost"... last year I had a mostly coral order (from a west coast wholesaler) sit "lost" in ATL for 4 days before somebody actually walked back and LOOKED for it. We saved some but I know what you're talking about, Mitch.

Jenn

[Raskal311]

I didn't get that letter, but I do get their weekly emails.

I can't say I disagree, although I've never really got into transship - I'm too far from the west coast. I did receive a couple of transshipped orders a few years ago, as part of a study, but I haven't done it since.

The writer of the email has a point. The line items might be cheaper but by the time you add on all the extras - clearance fees, freight from point of origin, reox - it works out to about the same. Add in the extra mortality that is likely (??) to result, and the net price per item goes up, not to mention it's hard on the fish.

As for the cultured stuff, Raskal, they still offer it - I guess they just didn't mention it in that particular letter, but there are details on their stock list.

Jenn

I’m referring to some program where they would stock the store and the store would only pay after the item is sold. Are we on the same page?

[JennM]

Nope. I've never heard of that, period. And I've been a client of theirs for probably 6 years.

Jenn

[Twisted]

I think the store I work for is going to put in it's first order with Fishheads in the very near future.
I don't think the individual prices on items was very good, but the package deals they offer <I.E. box of 10 cherry corals for X amount> seem like a pretty good price when I have a new frag display tank to fill up.

We just signed up with four wholesalers, since one of our current wholesalers shutdown, and the other two can only seem to supply us the common every day stuff.
Hopefully one of these four wholesalers can open up a new door for us.

[SlipperMan]

The LFS only deals with FHI's package deals. They won't order individual items.

I was impressed with their zoanthid box personally. Picked up a few frags for myself.

[JennM]

Price vs. quality... that's all I have to say.

"The bitterness of poor quality lasts long after the sweet price is forgotten."

And

"You get what you pay for".

Jenn

[Twisted]

No argument there Jenn.

I just haven't ordered from them as of yet, so I don't know that the quality is there.

I would much rather pay higher prices for corals I can sell rather then low prices for corals that sit in my tanks.

If I make 25% less profit, but sell 100% more who wins? me!