Why?....erm..Random...

DeanThorpe · #1 (**permalink**) 16-05-2008, 10:23 PM

Just a quick question...

Why do you use whatever online store you use?
I personally use livefood.co.uk, I used to also use cornish crispa...
both have a huge range of stock and have been about a while...

Theres a lot of people, including on here who have online stores... soem with more selection that others....very few seem to do livestock.. many seem to do livefood...or even exclusively or atleast mainly live food over equipment.....

just curious....
why use whatever online store you currently use?
seen as how geographcal location is widely irrelevant with items being posted/couriered...is it a case of "try this one..happy... continue to use"?
or is it due to being friendly with or in soem way affiliated with the site owner?

is it a case of whoever comes up top [or sponsored link such as 2 out of the 3 on this search who are also on this forum] when doing a google search? reptile accessories - Google Search
or what?

freekygeeky · #2 (**permalink**) 16-05-2008, 10:27 PM

i go with petzoo, really friednly people, and if anythign goes wrong, it gets sorted ASAP, in a friendly way

Shiori · #3 (**permalink**) 16-05-2008, 10:57 PM

Ive used cornish crispa before, mainly because they had something in stock that i couldnt get anywhere else, ive since ordered a few more bits as the service and delivery times were really good.

Ive been looking at getting some things from 888 reptiles as well, they seem to have some good reviews and quite a following, either that or i have also thought about using petzoo.

DeanThorpe · #4 (**permalink**) 16-05-2008, 10:58 PM

Thanks guys,
More replies welcomed.

Meko · #5 (**permalink**) 16-05-2008, 11:04 PM

I've used Cornish Crispa because i was looking on Ebay and they were the cheapest.
Also used livefoods because that was one of the first forums i came across so i used the shop. also used them after i found other places because i'm too lazy to search and create new accounts with shops.

pink · #6 (**permalink**) 16-05-2008, 11:17 PM

I can answer this one from the other side of the fence.

Once you seperate the wheat from chaff and get down to the real companies that are in the online reptile supplies business rather than the "jims reptile supplies -e-mail me and I will get ya whatch want" type websites, there is actual very little difference in price and product range - Bobs apples maybe 10p cheaper but freds bannanas are 12p cheaper and Bobs Bannanas are 5p dearer (swings and roundabouts and all that!).

The real difference comes in speed of processing an order, after sales service and product knowledge of items on sale. Humans are creatures of habit and most people will shop with us and stay with us because 1, we have every product under the sun available and 2, they like us and have been treated well.

Then you have the second category of customer, these have done a google search and drilled down for their item and purchase, these maybe one off customers but the aim is to keep them for life. these are fewer in number than customer type 1

Finally you have the third customer type, these have "perceived" or recived bad service from another supplier and have migrated to you, this is great. Until the post office take a day longer than usual to deliver and then they are off again to pastures new.

DeanThorpe · #7 (**permalink**) 17-05-2008, 08:34 AM

Thanks for that.
Bump..

If you were to look for a new place to buy....what would you be looking for? a new product? or a common product that happens to be at a particularly low price longterm?
I would assume every site has the customer service bit down... however I know a couple that are a bit crap which is astonishing really.

Delivery times I think are usually quite similar with most sites...with the main downfall being those who dont hold as much stock as the variety they advertise..and having to have the order come in before it can be sent out....if that coincides with a weekend i guess it can seem a loooong wait which i guess is where comunication and honesty comes in...

pink · #8 (**permalink**) 17-05-2008, 09:23 AM

Problem at the moment is the online reptile supplies market is over saturated with at least a new shop opening every month or every other month, its now very easy for someone to get a website up and running.

the second problem you've got is what you already mentioned stock availability, take for example a well known range of thermostats, to stock the entire range of well known thermostats you are going to need to have at least £250 tied up in stock just to stock one of each, say you expect to sell 50 well known thermostat products in a week well then you need to have £12,500 tied up in stock just to stock the well known thermostat range and have them in good stock.

Combine this with the first issue, that is a new webstore opens practically every month, then competition is very very very very fierce, with most online retailers knocking stuff out near on the actual wholesale price!, just to be competitive. So on those 50 well known thermostats you sell you are only making £2 or £3 a piece. On a stock holding of £12,500 you are getting a weekly return of about £150 less vat £127, less corporation tax = £100. Multiply this by the 2500 or so reptile products currently available its a lot of money to be sat around with little return.

Thats why alot of the newbies take the money and then order the goods in, which puts them on a backfoot against those that do have the stock in the first place.

Athravan · #9 (**permalink**) 17-05-2008, 09:32 AM

No one uses me

I can say as an online shop that competition IS very fierce. If I was trying to make any money off mine it would be a bit of a joke really - I'm fortunate in that I built my online shop myself, it uses my existing hosting plan so costs me nothing.... and it's just a catalogue of what I stock in store really, used mostly by my local customers who put in an order to collect at store, it's more of a free bonus for my existing customers than anything else.. although I do get a few online orders

I cringe at the thought of the people who are going to try to make a living from opening a new online store - there are a lot of big popular names out there already.

I still buy from Cornish Crispa... one reason only... because they do the braplast tubs in bulk cheaper than I can get wholesale (And no where else ever has them in stock in good quantities)!

So for me it's - availability of product I want, stock of the product I want, and price of product I want.

iiisecondcreep · #10 (**permalink**) 17-05-2008, 02:17 PM

For food I use Livefoods Direct, have done for about 10years now and can not fault them, stuff always arrives very quickly and in excellent condition, customer service is probably the best I've ever experienced anywhere.

I only spent a few quid with Cornish Crispa, but stuff was posted out straight away and communication was good.

Not bought any animals from online shops only privately/classifieds.

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