Would People Use A Fish Courier In The Uk?

[fish courier]

hi all

im already a fish courier but find hard to find enough deliveries to dedicate to a full time van,
would people in the uk use a centrally based defra licenced live fish courier?

if not please give constructive vaild reasons why and I will try to address them?

many thanks

fish courier

anyone???

 

[mepiscool]

hi all

im already a fish courier but find hard to find enough deliveries to dedicate to a full time van,
would people in the uk use a centrally based defra licenced live fish courier?

if not please give constructive vaild reasons why and I will try to address them?

many thanks

fish courier

anyone???

im no expert but i live in south wales what are your costs?

 

[fluffycabbage]

I would if it was reasonably priced - but tbh we have a good selection of fish in our lfs's anyway, so prob wouldnt need to use a service like yours, not at te moment anyway, as ive just started fishkeeping and can get anything i want round here at the moment. However if i wanted something special, and it was absolutely nowhere near me, i would defo consider it.
I'd also like to see you offering a tank/equipment moving service too

 

[walkers101]

the only issue i have with using one is the price of it

 

[VickiandKev]

Where are you based and what are your prices for as far north and south?

thanks

Kev

 

[electropunk06]

yeah i would defiantly consider it, also a fish sourcing facility could also come in useful.

 

[nessar]

I have done in the past and the water was stone cold and the heat pack not activated properly, although this would have been down to the company not the courier. However all fish were fine except an African Dwarf Frog which was DOA. I think courier is much safer to use than sending fish with royalmail, however mailing usually costs about £7 whereas courier costs about £15. I would use it again if I was ordering a hard-to-obtain fish, or many fish.

So basically the issues I see are the price (which I understand probably cant be lowered) and the welfare of the fish. Perhaps if you offered a service where you checked halfway on the journey whether they were warm and coping alright?

If courier service was offered instead of/as well as royal mail on the ebay auctions etc where you can buy unusual or expensive fish, e.g show bettas, I'm sure more people would take it, however it is not offered. Perhaps if you got in contact with some of the private breeders and importers they would offer courier service as well.

 

[VickiandKev]

The reason why specialist couriers are more expensive is down to the fact they have all the relevant licences/experience. Royal mail don't cover live animals under there terms and conditions so therefore more often than not will not handle with such a level of care as the specialist couriers would. I use APC and they are fantastic! In fact if the royal mail knew that it was fish they would refuse to carry it! With regards to the welfare of the fish, although with royal mail etc they may arrive alive who knows what they have had to deal with during the journey. Stopping half way to check on the fish is also NOT a good idea as to do so you would disturb and further stress the fish out (complete darkness is the best way to transport fish or any animal). Also even if they did check half way and the water was cold what would they do? It wouldn't be practical to refill bags with warm water and again you would stress the fish.

I sell fish on ebay and only post using a specialist courier. I do agree the price is expensive and therefore not applicable if you are buying 3 or 4 guppies, but when buying L46 Zebra pleco at 200 pounds or green and blue phantoms its very much worth every penny.

In short couriers work and are worth every penny, there are a few specialist couriers so there must be a market for it. It will be hard for a new courier company to start because people look for years of experience when handling fish but if the price reflected the lesser experience then I cant see why they wouldn't try them out.

Hope that helps

Kev

 

[VickiandKev]

Oh and just thought... If you were to offer the service of checking on the fish half way you would need to be prepared to pay for the fish if DOA occured as once the bag has been opened it is no longer the responsibility of the person/company sending the fish that they arrive alive and well. I would certainly not offer DOA if the fish where checked/opened half way.

yeah i would defiantly consider it, also a fish sourcing facility could also come in useful.

Fish sourcing facility???

 

[mattlee]

for fish that couldnt be sourced locally or obtained through ordering by an lfs then i would use a fish courier. if people want a certain fish then sometimes this is the only choice without a long drive, using lots of fuel and also the time it takes to travel to the fishes collection place. for normal every day run of the mill fish then its an expensive way of getting them into your tank unless you are bulk buying and saving on the fish price so can accomodate the couriers prices into the deal.
with the price you have to consider the fuel costs, other van running costs, driver wages and the fact that the driver and van are just doing 1 trip and normally same day just for you and your fish. a trip of several hundred miles each way would tie the van and driver up all day just for 1 delivery..... so not cost effective for the courier service.

ive seen no defra licensed courier charging less than £20-25 for same day fish delivery, how do you compare?
it would be good if you were a regular on here so we could just get in touch with you to arrange a collection or delivery. maybe pay through paypal and in return we recieve an emailed receipt for proof of arrangement. i think lots of people get put off by trying to arrange a courier as they dont know where to start looking especially when it involves live stock. if you were available on here in to contact then it would be very easy to arrange and maybe people could rehome more fish rather than taking them back to the lfs.

 

[N0body Of The Goat]

I can well imagine this would be difficult to run as a profitable business for a single vehicle (and perhaps multiple staff for round-the-clock transportation), as at some point cost may become more critical for the customer than the safer transportation of the fish across the UK, which a DEFRA licensed courrier may offer.

Without giving this much thought, it would possibly need a series of "hubs" throughout the country that had a collection/delivery radius of say 100 miles, which I'm guessing would mean needing ~25 hubs and at least one vehicle per hub (no doubt multiple vehicles at common import areas, presumeably along the south and south-east coast).

 

[kaivalagi]

I'd consider a fish courier if the prices are good, and if you could also provide decent packaging. I wouldn't mind spending a little more than APC but not too much more....it would also depend if you could offer a same day service which would obviously be of more benefit than overnight...

What have you been charging thus far? Do you have a per mileage/weight calculation for pricing you could share?

 

[VickiandKev]

That's a really good point steve. I think for this to work you would need to contact breeders and importers around your area and get contracts with them, then slowly get larger and more 'hubs'.

Through this forum is also a really good idea!

Steve... how are all your fish getting on? Moving over to the pleco side yet??? lol

 

[N0body Of The Goat]

I think you guys would make a perfect hub in London, with all your self-built tanks

My fish are doing "mostly well" at the mo...

• I was gutted to lose a Squirrel Loach just over a week ago though, possibly by Protozin overdose (was half-dosing as a precaution) or maybe through it being for sensitive to whatever is going on with my Pearl Danios. They have been so interactive since you supplied me with those six, which incidentally appears to include at least two Aborichtys species (not just elongatus).
• I lost my second Pearl about two weeks ago within 36 hours of a lesion appearing by its gill plate; unusual "pointy" bits on stomach sides; horrid looking Popeye; bleached out colours; swimming upside down). To try and protect my other Rio240 fish, I moved all the adult Pearls into the Korrall60 with their seven fry as soon as I saw a problem with the Pearl that died, but another adult started showing a "milky" colour where the irredescence should start. I'm now on "day 3" of half-dose Myxazin and I think they have started to react positively to treatment and several 80% water changes. Once they have 14 days of no visual signs of illness, it will be great to introduce all Pearls back to the Rio
• The two newer Barilius species are doing well, but the canarensis are so feisty for small fish, when they decide they want a patch of tank to themselves they are merciless!
• The three newer Lionheads have integrated well with the original one, possibly have a pair now, including a hump-developing male. Although it could just be two or three are more friendly with each other at this stage (still only juveniles at ~5.5cm).
• For glassfish, the Humpheads are so peaceful with the tankmates! They sometimes quarrel with each other when the alpha male decides its time to stop "current surfing" in a group, but never anything physical.
• The new Golden Wonder are doing great, almost as interactive as the Squirrels (they act as observers each time I do gardening; water tests, water changes etc. The male is beautiful, his hareem have sutle rainbow colouring in the right light too.
• I'm so glad I held off on those Microctenopoma congicum that you could have supplied me with, or Aquajardin for that matter. The more I read, the more it seemed that the active and boisterous fish would stress them, shame as they look wonderful and change colours depending on mood. A new batch of Ctenopoma acutirostre came into LFS, tiddlers of 2-2.5cm, so I've got 5 settling in (so rare for them not to be "singletons"). They are supposed to be slowish growers, which gives me a little time to get Nelly's 5x2x2 operational!
  
• The male Butterfly is slowly settling in, he is realising slowly that I'm trying to feed him Prima Discus pellets right in front of him so he can eat before they sink! Georgeous colours, hues of lilac and some silver spots that look like blobs of solder.
• I'm currently researching A. mento killifish and C. irrubesco/salivator, both of which would need single species tanks, hence I replied to your 2x2x1 advert earlier
• I also wanted to ask about when you are thinking of next visiting Fareham, as I'm at least curious about the "Timor multi colour Candy Snails" on offer at Wholesale Tropicals right now
• I've been "umming and ahhing" about Chaetostoma plecs, as the current in my Rio should be perfect. But I'm concerned about territorial issues between them and my Garra flavatra, the difficulty of keeping the water at 23C for a higher oxygen saturation for them, plus whether I ought to be getting a group or just a singleton.
• Been wondering about Synodontis nevegritis and brichardi too, along with P. buffei

 

[nessar]

Also even if they did check half way and the water was cold what would they do? It wouldn't be practical to refill bags with warm water and again you would stress the fish.

I meant to check on the heat pack and maybe replace it. I imagine cold water would be more harmful to tropical fish than low-level light for a few minutes. Especially in winter if the heat packs havent worked properly and fish are stored overnight. Fish bags wouldnt need to opened as you can guess the temp of water by simply touching the bags, and the bags are clear so you can see the fish inside without opening.