# Please help me with pricing. How much to sell fish for?



## CutieSusieQ (May 12, 2009)

Hello all,

I have tried to search online but I'm really getting nowhere. I am just wondering what the average price is for the following fish when sold from someone's home and not from a store:

*Labidochromis Caeruleus otherwise known as Electric Yellow Labs (juvies): I have about 15 that need to be sold and they are about 1 inch in length right now.

*Metriaclima Callainos otherwise known as Cobalt Blue Zebra (juvies): I will soon have a bunch that will need to be sold once they are big enough.

*Adult male Cobalt Blue Zebra: He is just about 1 year old and is definitely a male and totally gorgeous.

Is $5 each too much to ask for the juvies? You surely won't find them online for $5 each and if you do then you also have to pay shipping fees. Or should I ask $3 each for the Labs and $5 each for the Cobalt juvies?... How much can I get for my full grown male Cobalt? ... Just wondering what you guys/gals think.

Think


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## malawimix (Oct 8, 2008)

I have found it hard to sell 1 inch juvies at any price. I wait until mine are 2 inches and am fortunate enough to have a few local fish stores that will usually take all my extra fish. They give me about 1/3 of retail. The online places get their price because they have invested in advertising etc. They do not get to keep nearly all of their sales price....they have to pay taxes, advertising, light bill, heat bill and on and on.

Selling a few at a time for a few cents more than what I may get at the store just isn't worth my time. Keep your fish healthy, try to foster a good relationship with your local store and see if they would take your fish. I find that it helps to let them know 2-4 weeks in advance what I will have so they can adjust their orders from wholesalers and be able to take mine in.

The stores give me store credit, not cash. But I always need more food and supplies!


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## malawimix (Oct 8, 2008)

I have found it hard to sell 1 inch juvies at any price. I wait until mine are 2 inches and am fortunate enough to have a few local fish stores that will usually take all my extra fish. They give me about 1/3 of retail. The online places get their price because they have invested in advertising etc. They do not get to keep nearly all of their sales price....they have to pay taxes, advertising, light bill, heat bill and on and on.

Selling a few at a time for a few cents more than what I may get at the store just isn't worth my time. Keep your fish healthy, try to foster a good relationship with your local store and see if they would take your fish. I find that it helps to let them know 2-4 weeks in advance what I will have so they can adjust their orders from wholesalers and be able to take mine in.

The stores give me store credit, not cash. But I always need more food and supplies!


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## CutieSusieQ (May 12, 2009)

Selling to a local fish store is impossible for me considering there are none in my town that I can sell to.

I actually sold 15 yellow lab juvies for $5 each a few months ago by placing an ad on Craig's List. They were probably about 1.5 inches in length. But the reason I asked about the price on here is because I was just curious how much people sell them for on average b/c I didn't know if $5 was too cheap or too high. I know at $5 each I didn't have a problem selling them. In fact, if I had more at the time I could have easily sold them... But now I have more Labs and this time Cobalts too. I would assume that the Cobalts are worth more than the Yellow Labs because there are *impossible* to find around here.... Perhaps, it depends greatly on where we live for how easy and how much we can sell fish for... I know for me, MOST African Cichlids are rare and hard to find b/c like I said there just aren't any good places around here that sell them (other than Petsmart). I had to order all of mine online when I first got into this hobby b/c I refuse to buy fish from places like Petsmart b/c they don't have a clue what they're selling.

And I know that adult male Cobalts are worth something; I just don't know how much right now... so I thought I'd ask.


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## Ver A (Dec 25, 2009)

Check out the trading post here. Yellow lab 1 inch are listed by someone and less then 5. That was in Mo/ Ill. Good Luck.

I use Craig's list and list some on here on the trading post. Have not found a local store to deal with but would like to. I get many replies that want fish from craiglist but about half show up.

Good luck.


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## Robtheheretic (Nov 14, 2009)

i would think 5 dollars for them is could since all most all cichlids is see in LFS around me are about 10


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

I can buy 1.25" F1 mbuna nearby for $5 from a vendor who has been in business for years and has an impeccable reputation. I would not expect to pay more than that for a tank raised fish purchased from a hobbyist.


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## fox (Jun 11, 2009)

^^ Does he have Champsochromis caeruleus , I'd be willing to travel to save shipping.


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## CutieSusieQ (May 12, 2009)

DJRansome said:


> I can buy 1.25" F1 mbuna nearby for $5 from a vendor who has been in business for years and has an impeccable reputation. I would not expect to pay more than that for a tank raised fish purchased from a hobbyist.


Soooo $5 is a good price then for juvies.

But how much do you think I can sell my adult male Cobalt for?


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## CutieSusieQ (May 12, 2009)

No one ever sold an adult male fish before??  :-?


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## ksk_che_che (Sep 26, 2007)

I sold adult fish before, only to my LFS though. Same principal as selling to a pawn shop, you wont get very much. 5 inch male kenyi and a couple 4-5 inch females and a dozen or so <1 inch fry for $40 cash. I had been doing store credit for new life spectrum food, but got cash that time.

<--- That is my male blue zebra that I had. He was stunning! Do you have a pic of yours?


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## fox (Jun 11, 2009)

I bought two callainos back last may and paid two bucks a piece for them at 1-1/2" - 2". Turned out we got two boys.

They are about 4" now and I expect I could get dbl that for them around here since a 3" female we saw at a LFS wanted 4 bucks for her.


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## CutieSusieQ (May 12, 2009)

Yeah, I'm gathering that price depends greatly on how many fish shops offer pure cichlids in the area...b/c I just sold a pair of Cobalts (male and female) for $30 on Craig's List.... Nobody (and I mean nobody) around here sells Cobalts, not Metriaclima Callainos anyway. There are places that offer "mixed cichlids" about 30 mins from here, but they can't tell you what you're buying, and I don't buy or sell to places like that. The people who bought the Cobalts are interested in buying more from me too when my fry are old enough (for $5 each).

Anyway, I was just curious.. thanks everybody.


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## oshp132 (Aug 10, 2006)

I sell off my Acei and other Mbuna for about seventy-five cents each when they are an inch. If they are larger than an inch, I try to get a buck each, but I am flexible with the prices. Also, adults, I would try to get $5 for my Mbuna. I belong to a fish club, and on any given meeting, you can get a bag of Mbuna for two bucks (they are around an inch, and you would be getting between 6 and 12 fish).

My goal is to sell off my extra fry, and then use that money to pay for food and supplies! If I can break even, I am ahead!!!!!
MIKE


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## punman (Oct 24, 2003)

It all boils down to supply and demand.
I rarely sell to retail stores as they want the fish to be two inches and I don't have the space to keep them that long.
My province in Canada has a website on fish with a buy-sell area that I use.

Now back to the supply and demand. Yellow labs just under an inch I get a dollar each for as they are quite common.
Tropheus kiriza and Cyprichromis utinta I get $5 each for at the same size with no trouble as no store in this city of 1 000 000 sells them.


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## CutieSusieQ (May 12, 2009)

ksk_che_che said:


> I sold adult fish before, only to my LFS though. Same principal as selling to a pawn shop, you wont get very much. 5 inch male kenyi and a couple 4-5 inch females and a dozen or so <1 inch fry for $40 cash. I had been doing store credit for new life spectrum food, but got cash that time.
> 
> <--- That is my male blue zebra that I had. He was stunning! Do you have a pic of yours?


I don't have any recent pics, but I will work on getting some. It's so hard to photograph them. They zip across the tank so fast!!! I will post here once I get a good pic...(hopefully this weekend).


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

I do sell adult mbuna and I can get $10 per fish. Demasoni bring more. But again, only if the LFS has space for them...they do it more as a courtesy to clients than because they want the adult fish. Too much tank space, too aggressive if housed in a small tank. They would rather have the highly colored yellow labs and Demasoni at small sizes like 1.25". They are the best sellers due to their brilliant colors.


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## CutieSusieQ (May 12, 2009)

Photos as promised (taken during the day with lots of glare..not ideal conditions for best photos, but I'm not here trying to win a contest or anything, lol)..

My Metriaclima Callainos


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