Normal?

[theinnkeeper]

I was buying some fish at island pets unlimited in Richmond when I saw a sign saying they buy fish. I had recently decided to redo one of my tanks so I had to get rid of some fishes and found the option intriguing. I packed up 11 of my mixed platys to bring and sell. I bring them to the back and the guy at the back makes a face and says I can give 5 for these. I didn't like the deal but since i already spent a lot of time catching and bagging the fishes and i was already there I accepted. Guy gives me a 5 dollar vouch and at the back writes "10 x platys" when they were 11.

These were the same fishes they were selling for 3.99 and mines were noticeably bigger.

Is this the normal price they buy for or did I just get ripped off?

[gklaw]

IPU does not rip people off. I found their staff very professional and very accommodating.

Platy is a very common fish. They breed very easily. You should be glad that they offer you $5. I bet most other stores would not have given you anything for platies unless they want to do you a favour. Besides, they have to med. / quarantine them or take the risk of infecting their entire stock.

I think the note on the back of the memo is irrelevant.

When they have lots, there really is no need for them to take any. I have given them over 30 blue lobster FF. I could not keep them, they still have lots that are not moving. There is no obligation for them to take them.

We have to put ourselves in the shoes of our LFS. They need to make some money to continue to provide us with their services

[Tazzy_toon]

Sounds resonable to me. And although they are selling them for 3.99, they have to pay for rent, food, utilities, staff to clean etc so there isn't a whole lot of profit actually being made.

[BelieveInBlue]

There's actually a trade-in policy thread in this sub-forum. And as mentioned before, platys are quite a common fish, so there isn't a great deal of value in them.

Live stock trade in policy

[Momobobo]

IMO I am surprised you even got 5 dollars.

[The Guy]

I was in petland in surrey the other day and a guy brought in 6 african cichlids and got nothing for them, but he was just happy they would take them. This is not unusual with most LFS's. You did ok getting $5 my friend

[Diztrbd1]

agree with all the replies here, surprised you got that much for them too. One more thing to add is your fish sound like they were adult, given the average platy lifespan is only 3-5 years, most people will want younger ones as opposed to older ones in so they can enjoy them longer my opinion. As for feeling ripped off because they wrote 10 instead of 11...don't! You would have got the same price most likely, be it 10 or 11. They probably just wrote down a even number

[theinnkeeper]

6 of the 11 were redtail swordfishes.

[BelieveInBlue]

u mean red swordtails? In either case, livebearers aren't really worth that much; most places won't give you anything for them just because it's not worth it to buy them in and then keep them until they get sold, if they get sold.

[Tarobot]

ya i think store taking any fish at all for credit is already a plus. there's always risks of not knowing how the fish has been kept and possibly infect their own stock. it's normally that or getting flushed down the toilet.