how can i sell fish to the pet shop?

Question

I have many fish which i have bread needing taken to the pet shop. when i take them they say that i need some kind of license to get money in return. any ideas what he is on about?

the thing is that i am breeding fish looking for a profit. I am not a farmer but its a hobby which i enjoy and if i can make a profit thats even better. do i need i license for this? what kind and where do i get it from?

guppies. mollies. choolie loaches, sword tails, platties, and some sailfin mollies and high fin swordtails

i want to sell fish to a pet shop! Im from Scotland! west cost

please read the question properly! this is very stressfull!

the fish i have are all well saught after in my area. big beautiful unusual coloured fancy tailed guppies and hibrids between swordtails and platties also other unusual variations of fish. oh and im one of few people who have sucsessfully mannaged to get coolie loches to breed.

Answer 1

In most countries you do not need a license; in fact, I do not know of any countries where you need a license just to sell fish.

What kind of fish are you breeding? Many of the easier types to breed like mollies, guppies, and convict cichlids, for example, cannot be sold to petstores because they are so cheap already.

Also, some petstore, particularly large chain petstores, will NOT accept fish from hobbiests because they get all their fish from dealers / professional breeders.

You may only be able to get store credit for your fish, or you can try selling them locally to other hobbiests.


And as for them offering you a very low price; yes, they will. Because they need to make a profit. They also pay for the tanks, the food, the facility, the electricity, the water etc everything to make a petstore run. So just because they will sell your fish for 50$, it does not mean that that is what they are obligated to pay YOU.


Edit: You will not make a profit breeding those fish. The fish you mentioned are EXTREMELY easy to breed; even a novice hobbiest who has had a tank for two weeks can produce guppy, molly, platy fry. And professional breeders, well, they produce 1000s of fish per week. They also have the facilities to rear them until they are big enough to sell (which is hard to do for a hobbiest unless you want to have like 10 tanks) - even professional dealers don't get very much for these fish, but they sell so many that they end up making a profit.
I have been breeding much more difficult, expensive fish than guppies and platies - like angelfish, discus, some cichlids - and I have yet to make anything near a profit.

Answer 2

I don't know anything about the laws in Scotland that cover such things, you may well need a license of some kind to wholesale fish. Beyond that I would say deal with smaller, local shops where the owner is the main worker. They are much more likely to do business with you and more likely to know good fish when they see them. Be sure to also ask around at pet shops as to what fish they would like to be able to buy from a local breeder, the answers may surprise you.

Be warned, what you are trying to do is very hard. Breeding on a small scale is fun but far more expensive than on a mass scale. That means you need to sell far cheaper than you think and will have a hard time making a profit.

Answer 3

America is the biggest pet loving nation but apperantly only cares about mammels. No law prohibits the sale of tiny death trap tanks, so they keep selling them. Any animal lover should refuse to sell those things, though I guess most employees have no choice. I can understand that chain stores are controlled by district managers to sell certain products, but when a local fish store sells that junk, I would try not to shop there.

Answer 4

When we first started selling fish the biggest obstacle we had to over come with pet shop owners was if we could supply them on a reg. basis. Most shops order weekly and to give you their business they want to be able to get fish from you weekly.

Also The pet shops will want a guarantee on any fish you sell and most will want the fish preventive treated for common diseases.

We produce Anabantoids and Cichlids for sale throughout the northwest. We found there really was not enough money in most live bearers species to breed them on a large scale.

You will need a lic. to business anywhere you live. And since fish are considered livestock you will be subject to some livestock laws. Most however pertain to the exporting or in porting of fish.

Good luck

Answer 5

you won't make a profit from breeding fish in general, unless they're rare or unusual. which the fish you have currently, aren't. you won't make money from the common livebearers, and pet shops generally don't buy fish, at least the ones i know don't, they have their regular suppliers that keep them stocked up. Store credit though they'll do.

if you want to make profit from breeding fish you're going to have to look into rare breeds, like halfbeaks, or ones that are hard to breed and need very specific conditions, like Discus. Or very high quality fish, like Bettas. If you want to make real profit, breed Zebra Plecs, you'll need to shell out about £300-£400 for a pair though!

and sell the spawns privately, not through petstores. on websites like aquabid.

i'm not sure about licenses, you may need one as they would then class you as a "supplier" and they fall into a different catagory welfare wise than a hobbyist.

Answer 6

As far as I know,you don't need a license. To sell to a store depends on the store's policy. Some petland stores will give you a store credit and some privately-owned shops might make a little deal with you. Don't count on making a profit;you cannot compete with the big nurseries and wholesalers.Speak to the manager of the store you usually do business with.

Answer 7

I agree with above, trade. Fish stores buy thier fish at such a ridiculously low price and then like jack up the price 5x. I once had some exotic lion fish (roughly worth $80-$100 each) and they offered me like $10 each, I laughed.

Answer 8

Trade for something instead. I've always been able to trade with the pet shop on fish stuff.

Answer 9

My local pet shop will give me store credit for the fish I've brought in (saves me money on aquarium supplies I need!).

Answer 10

You need to go to the secretary of state, and ask for a "fishing license" Then send it to mexico, they will fix it up nice--so the pet owner will "accept" the "goods". "BYE!"