What is with some importers selling lower than wholeslae to the general public?

I work in an independently owned pet store. I manage a reptile department. I notice more and more some importers who sell to pet stores, are also selling to the public, CHEAPER than they sell to us!

It makes me think of how people say box stores like Petco and Petsmart are killing the privately owned stores because they buy direct and sell dry goods to the public cheaper than we ever could.

I would like to point out what these importers are doing in absolutely no different. They are essentially live animal big box stores!

You can buy imported emeralds from one place on kingsnake right now for 175! (although, that gives me no confidence in their health)

Anyway, just wanted to regurge that on here! comments welcome!

Thanks
Chris

To be honest, I would rather buy from the importer than to pay more for the same snake at a pet store. Overall, I would rather have captive bred so cutting the importer out would seem like it solves the problem. This could also be the source of the problem. Maybe things are getting tight for importers because everyday people realize CB is the safer bet... just a buyers point of view.

Importers are cheap. There's some health risk but the risk does not necessarily disappear just because the are sold by a pet store.
Box pet stores at least have a warranty on both dry goods and critters.
Privately owned pet stores, you are dealing with whoever is behind the counter that day. No corporate warranties.

Of course if the place has a good rep, one big advantage is that the critter is there, and alive, so you don't have to wonder if your importer is actually in Cameroon laughing at you behind his computer.

It is my own personal opinion that better than brick and mortar stores of any kind is to find an online seller that has a stellar BOI rep. Less overhead costs for him/her, no need to pay a cashier and so on, and the good rep gives a good indication that you've got a good chance whether imported or captive bred, of getting a healthy critter.

Originally Posted by lucille

Box pet stores at least have a warranty on both dry goods and critters.
Privately owned pet stores, you are dealing with whoever is behind the counter that day. No corporate warranties.

I disagree, this depends on the store. Our store goes above and beyond what is necessary to make sure a customer is happy, especially when there is a casualty or problem with an animal, and we have extended our warranty past the typical 7 days in many cases. I have had customers come in and say that a box store WOULD NOT honor a warranty, saying they must not have properly taken care of the animal. I have also returned goods for people that have stopped working many months after they purchased it, because we get refunded either way.

If anything, private stores have MORE room to extend warranties, while box stores must go "by the book".

I guess the point I was trying to make is, the whole world is taking a more direct route to buying things. I'm not sure if it is good or bad, but I do see a difference the internet has made in the last 10 years, it is HUGE. Local businesses are struggling in all industries. Whether it is Walmart putting out local businesses, Petsmart putting out the local dog and cat supply store, and now the online importer is putting out the exotic reptile store and forcing prices down to a point where most local businesses are going to struggle. That's where the market is heading I guess, you can either go with the flow or sink. I just found it interesting. We are doing just fine, but I can definitely see a big difference. Thats all I was sayin'!

IMO getting anything from a wholesaler is about the same as getting it from a petstore- just cheaper. The wholesaler may know nothing at all about the animal, but how about the petstore who het their animals from the wholesalers too. Is their a difference? only in price. The only way I can say I would ever buy from a petstore before a wholesaler is if the animals are bred by the store. Many petstores in the past have told me they breed their own animals, but then have no clue about how to breed them. you see that all the time. I can tell you of 3 reptile stores I know of that say everything is bred in their store but ask if I want to go in on their wholesale orders. I would rather buy from a wholesaler or a breeder for that reason. we have too many corrupt people in this trade to really trust anyone without a good rep.

You know, for some reason I guess I just never thought of it that way. Probably because I have worked in Pet Stores for so long! haha. I"M NOT BITTER!!!

I know what you mean. When I was younger I worked in a few petstores, some good, some bad. But I will tell you this, out of all the ones I ever worked in that said they bred their own stuff (8 stores) only 1 did. And that one store had top quality animals.