Interested in joining a marine ornamental co-op? Designed to market your fish, you must be able to ship.

Re:Interested in joining a marine ornamental co-op? Designed to market your fish, you must be able to ship. (Jake)

Tue, 12 May 2015 10:34:42 GMT

Few of the big sellers raise all of their own. Half a dozen tranship from the far east and the Mideast, there is a Fla Fish Farmers Assn within which has a lot of selling to one another from farm to farm, many of the farms have their own customers they sell to and most also sell to the big ones. Its very much a situation of everyone in the business knowing everyone else. There are a number of operations that raise half a dozen or dozen species, livebearers, tetras etc, in ponds and covered concrete tanks etc.

Its a situation of businesses being in a limited geographical area and knowing one another on a first name basis. They also have a couple assn. functions a year for business and fun . About the only other similar area in the fish business I can think of is Singapore.

Re:Interested in joining a marine ornamental co-op? Designed to market your fish, you must be able to ship. (cjm3fl)

Tue, 12 May 2015 09:06:23 GMT

Originally Posted by KathyL

I think the marketting aspect is what is missing.

This is a very important point.
Marketing is a key reason why many new businesses fail. Or rather improper marketing.

The only stuff I know about Florida fish farms is 3rd and 4th hand info.
I've heard that, with a few, not all the fish they offer are breed on-site.

Chuck

Re:Interested in joining a marine ornamental co-op? Designed to market your fish, you must be able to ship. (KathyL)

Tue, 12 May 2015 08:34:05 GMT

tell us more about the fish farms in Florida and how they work?

Re:Interested in joining a marine ornamental co-op? Designed to market your fish, you must be able to ship. (KathyL)

Tue, 12 May 2015 08:33:16 GMT

This site is not well known to buyers who don't use this site. I think the marketting aspect is what is missing. It's very loosely organized, and as it isn't a business outright, it cannot negotiate shipping costs with FEDEX, etc. It's a nice thing for breeders to sell to breeders, but brick and mortar stores don't spend any time browsing this forum.

Re:Interested in joining a marine ornamental co-op? Designed to market your fish, you must be able to ship. (Jake)

Tue, 12 May 2015 06:15:06 GMT

and its not enough why?

if a co-op can work great, its going to have more expenses then individual sales, which have to be met .
Theres an answer somewhere, several of the larger fish farms in Fla started that way, and most of the largest still buy from smaller farms.

Re:Interested in joining a marine ornamental co-op? Designed to market your fish, you must be able to ship. (KathyL)

Mon, 11 May 2015 23:09:36 GMT

Jake, the Marketplace was an attempt at just that.

Re:Interested in joining a marine ornamental co-op? Designed to market your fish, you must be able to ship. (Jake)

Mon, 11 May 2015 10:48:19 GMT

A very interesting thread, could it be set up here, with a designated section for the co-op? And buyers deal directly with the sellers? This site exists, its known, a fee could be agreed on to sell. A lot of possible variations. And the seller controls their prices. Post pics of the parents if fish to sell are small.

Whatever, I think the co-op is a valid idea.

Re:Interested in joining a marine ornamental co-op? Designed to market your fish, you must be able to ship. (KathyL)

Sat, 09 May 2015 23:30:05 GMT

the advantage of a business, of course, is that you get to be taxed only on the profit: revenues minus expenses. A hobby is taxed solely on the revenues, so the tax amount is higher.

Re:Interested in joining a marine ornamental co-op? Designed to market your fish, you must be able to ship. (cjm3fl)

Sat, 09 May 2015 18:07:33 GMT

My sister-in-law works for them too. That's the same answer I'd probably get from her.

My happiness would lay in just being able to "do it".
Recovering any of my expenses would just be a plus.

Chuck

Re:Interested in joining a marine ornamental co-op? Designed to market your fish, you must be able to ship. (Umm_fish?)

Sat, 09 May 2015 17:48:01 GMT

Originally Posted by

Of course who's to say what is profit and what ain't.

My friend who is an IRA auditor seems to have a pretty good handle on it. Money left over after expenses = profit = not a whole lot of chance you'll get there selling fish.

Re:Interested in joining a marine ornamental co-op? Designed to market your fish, you must be able to ship. (cjm3fl)

Sat, 09 May 2015 17:29:57 GMT

Thanks. Those are numbers I kinda remember too, Andy
Of course who's to say what is profit and what ain't.

If I'm lucky I might get a few fish to adulthood the first couple times. The sale of any of these would be local and just to recover some of the expenses.

I don't vision myself being able to put 100 or 200 fish a month on the market. My body won't handle the work needed.
I'd be satisfied with getting a few to market, every now and then.

Re:Interested in joining a marine ornamental co-op? Designed to market your fish, you must be able to ship. (Umm_fish?)

Sat, 09 May 2015 17:18:10 GMT

The last I checked (and that was a long time ago), the threshold for the IRS was making money 3 years out of 5 was what changed you from a hobbyist to a business. I have no idea if that's still true, though.

Re:Interested in joining a marine ornamental co-op? Designed to market your fish, you must be able to ship. (cjm3fl)

Sat, 09 May 2015 16:55:15 GMT

LOL on the empty tanks. Soon. I promise. I'm beginning a medical disability issue that will free up a whole lot of time.
And thanks for the quick reply, Kathy--and the welcome.

Any endeavor I undertake will strictly be as a hobbyist. Maybe the laws have changed but used to be at some point, income wise, a hobbyist bringing in nice profits needed to register as a business. If that's no longer true, fine by me!
But I'm getting off track. As long as I can stay a hobbyist I'm good there.

I like what information I've gleaned from here already. There's still a lot I have to re-read and understand better.

I understand the change in the market. So many of the best and decades old LFS have closed locally since the 2008 issues. I see the reduced interest on the aquarium (and other) sites I visit. The expendable income just isn't available right now.

I'll keep looking and poking around. If I can't find the answer that way I'll drop a post or two. As I mentioned I'll have lots of time available shortly and I would like to expand my experience with marine fish...and it I can drop a few $$ in my pocket from time to time, so much the better.

I understand (completely) that this isn't guppy-breeding. But there's stuff to learn and knowledge I might be able to share someday.

Chuck

Re:Interested in joining a marine ornamental co-op? Designed to market your fish, you must be able to ship. (KathyL)

Sat, 09 May 2015 16:11:46 GMT