For Those Of You Who Breed And Sell Bettas

[Raechal]

Do you make any money from it at all?

I was considering trying it out and see what happens, and maybe one day set up a booth at like a flea market or something selling them in cute decorated tanks.

Do you think this would work out at all, or do you think I'd be better off selling them online?

I know this will be my first time breeding bettas, and I think I am ready for it, but I wouldn't be selling them until I got it down 100%.

what do you think?

any advice from breeding experts?

 

[Colin_T]

It is a lot of work setting up a flea market and you have to answer all those questions from the people interested in them. Depending on where you live you will also have problems keeping the water warm while they sit in the booth waiting to be bought. Its a lot of work for little gain.

Selling online can be ok but you don't sell that many that quickly. And not everyone who says they are interested actually ends up buying anything. Also if you get a big batch of fry you could have more than 200 fish to get rid of. That can take a while online. In addition to that you need to organise shipping and packaging and this will eat into your time and potential profits.

I usually just sell everything to my LFS. You don't get paid as much per fish but you can unload a heap at once. My LFS also happens to be a wholesaler, but even the average petshop will take 20 males at a time. You can let the shops know you have males ready for sale and they will usually hold off ordering any from the suppliers and buy yours instead.
Selling to your LFS also means they get to deal with the customers.

 

[dzsigmond217]

I would think that you would have a wider range of customers, who hopefully like bettas enough, to look them up online. When I say like I mean care about the fish enough to give him a good home. Anybody can go into a store..ask about the betta and find from the salesperson that they can live in these tiny itty bitty stupid 'fancy' bowls. Plus they need no filter or heater and even small children can take care of them. Now I dont believe this but the average person ( including my mom & once upon a time myself!) think they live in these 4"x4" puddles in rice patties. From what I've read this only happens for 2 or so months out of the year. Anywho..I would also think that the odds of selling bettas gets better if you breed the fancier and more rare looking fish such as the crown tail and half moon. Ofcourse I'm definitely no expert.. this is just my opinion!! Actually maybe I shouldn't have said anything since I don't breed or sell bettas. I guess this post is from a 'buyers' perspective

 

[andy_j]

I'm hoping to sell a few of mine when...and if the time comes. I'm not looking to make any big profit but by making a few pounds, i'll hopefully be able to recoup some of the feed costs and also buy a new tank or two for some more fighters.

I will advertise locally and i know at least 15 LFS in my area who will bite my arm off for tank bred fish of any description. For some reason, all my lfs seem to sell out of fighters over the weekend....every weekend so i don't think i'll ever have a problem selling them.

The only thing i wouldn't do is to sell mail order. Get home after working for 9 hours only to have to pack up all the fighters and take them to the post office etc.
Then you have to chase money, lost or wrong orders, people generally mucking you around, fish that are DOA etc.

 

[Bubblenester]

I would only sell online if you end up with some really nice fish that will sell for a lot (actual halfmoons or really pretty deltas), otherwise you probably won't get enough for them to make it worth listing them, dealing with buyers, packaging and shipping, etc. The flea market sounds like a good idea to at least try, if you won't have to invest too much in it, but your best bet will be selling to your LFS. You won't get that much per fish, but it's super easy.

 

[happyannie]

I've thought about breeding too since I love these guys so much. HOWEVER after seeing how so many people treat their animals I decided against it. I'd want letters of reference from buyers!
I was just in a place yesterday and the owner talked this guy out of getting a goldfish for his kid who had a little bowl for it.
He suggested a betta so I started telling him things about bettas, how great they are and how to take care of them etc etc and it seemed he just ignored me. After he left the owner told me the guy was rolling his eyes around everytime I said anything... and not with a smile either. I wonder how long that poor fish will live?? Better than the dirty little cup it was in at the LFS ...
It seems most pet stores keep them in those things which are filthy with poop OR they let them loose in tanks to get nipped up by unsuitable tankmates like this other place I know... I tried to rescue one from there and took it home to try and nurse it back to health but it died.... I'm babbling. Ok shut up now.

 

[constantine03]

My LFS actually has a wall of tanks for it's bettas. Granted, it's not a huge wall, but I think they can house at least 30 bettas at a time. The tanks have mesh dividers, and the water is circulated with a sump. Each betta has it's own unique gravel and plants. It's pretty nice...the nicest I've seen. I'm pretty excited to start breeding. He's already said that he'd be more than happy to buy from me, and told me his price on them would increase as the quality of my bettas increase with each spawn. That was cool b/c even though I'm not in it for the money, it costs quite a bit to get the set up right with the right fish to breed...so...maybe I'll make that back AND have fun!

 

[Colin_T]

A lot more shops are using similar setups (as described by constantine03) for bettas these days. Years ago most of the shops kept them in litlle containers with a few hundred mm of water. Now many of them have changed to tanks with dividers and recirculating systems to keep the water cleaner and the fish healthier.
Now if only we can get the manufacturers to stop producing pathetically small and inconvenient sized fish bowls and tanks, we might have a chance at improving fish health considerably.

 

[happyannie]

WOW. That's impressive. I think I might do a bit of breeding then too.
You're downstate from me so if I go through there, I might hit you up for the name of the place. Must be a really good store!

 

[constantine03]

There are actually two places here that may be interested. Sailfin is the one I was talking about. It's a GREAT shop. The people who work there really care about their fish. You nearly have to bring them a water sample and a picture of your tank so they can decide whether or not the fish is going to make it with you (or even be sold to you)... The other is not as good. I think it's called Leisure Time(?). They keep them in tanks so they have fresh water, but they're in the acrylic breeder things so they're not getting attacked by other fish. Still better than being in a cup, but not a lot of room to swim.