Austin Aquariums

[demodiki]

We are excited about the big sale this weekend. Mike has been so kind to us the past week as we oogle his stock and answers all of our noobish questions. Anyone going to meet us out there early Saturday morning?

[RobertG]

I think I will pass, as last time they did this it was nutZ!

I hope there is a better system this year than last, everything got cherrypicked before you could even see it. I personally have not spent as much as some. The ones that do should be taken care of or giving first dibbs. Not stuck waiting for hours. Which some did, not me.

Is it 50% off again? Off of normal prices or inflated prices?

Sorry to ramble, I know lots of people have come from all around for this.

[Tim Marvin]

Last time they doubled the price then took 50% off which put it back to the normal price....

[captexas]

This is the first I have heard about them having any kind of event at the store which is surprising as AA used to make announcements about special events. But after seeing the last two comments, it doesn't surprise me they don't want to come on here and post any more.

[Tim Marvin]

You can fool some of the people some of the time, but a MAAST member never....LOL.... Mike is a very nice guy and perhaps it was just perceived wrong.

[demodiki]

Ouch! LOL! Ya it's going to be 50% off...and they are giving away tickets at 8 am so that only 13 can get in the fish room at a time. I'll keep a close eye on prices:)

[blueboy]

yeah, that means you had better get there by 7:00 if you want to be among the first 20-30 people in the fishroom.

[CD]

yeah, that means you had better get there by 7:00 if you want to be among the first 20-30 people in the fishroom.


That's just insane! :wacko
I'll tell ya'll, after that anniversary sale we went to at Aquatic Warehouse, I think the only "sales" we will participate in will be the ones at River City Aquatics. At least with AA, they are taking numbers...with AW, it was just a madhouse. I'd like to give total kudos to Austin Aquariums on their fish and invert inventory though - anything we've ever purchased there has been super healthy. ;)

Wendy

[Reef69]

I dont go to anniversary sales period...LOL...

[BIGBIRD123]

I was #21 or 22 last year and it was picked-out before I got to look. The prices were marked-up double and then 50% off. So, you do the math. I will not be attending....

[GaryP]

A * 2 = 2A

2A * .50 = A

OK, the math's done.

[BIGBIRD123]

Gary,
I only meant it figuratively.....but I guess that's what you did. LOL!

Steve

[GaryP]

I aim to please.

[BIGBIRD123]

I'll guarantee they made a killin' last year but they also made a few people very mad. The prices on dry goods and equipment were pretty good but he over-did-it on the livestock and corals. I bought a sun coral that I was looking at three days before the sale ($45) , the day of the sale $90. If I had known that, I would have bought it then and avoided standing in line. I'm just glad that I had a low # because after driving for an hour and fifteen minutes and not get anything, I would have been a little p-ss-d off!

[Reef69]

I dont know why they double their prices...they porbably think we wont be able to tell..ridiculous..

[::pete::]

BITING MY TONGUE!!!! :D

Its a nice thought to think the LFS are here for us, but we know its not true!! They have overhead and a profit margin to deal with ... you cant just walk in a LFS and expect everything to be priced like a dollar store ... give'em a break!

I left for NC @ the time AW opened and AA was the HOT ticket ... then AW and now FA. Can y'all see a trend? They are all good stores with their own specialties, but dont expect free stuff otherwise they wouldnt be here .. period!!

[Reef69]

BITING MY TONGUE!!!! :D

Its a nice thought to think the LFS are here for us, but we know its not true!! They have overhead and a profit margin to deal with ... you cant just walk in a LFS and expect everything to be priced like a dollar store ... give'em a break!

I left for NC @ the time AW opened and AA was the HOT ticket ... then AW and now FA. Can y'all see a trend? They are all good stores with their own specialties, but dont expect free stuff otherwise they wouldnt be here .. period!!

i agree, but its an anniversary sale..I think its time for them to give something back to us who keep the afloat through out the year.,.one day out of the year that they lower their prices for us isnt going to kill them..its truly pathetic to try to fool us by doubling their prices and them knowing it..the nerve..LOL..

[::pete::]

Its called bait and switch ...

Happens all the time in every retail field! You have to make money to stay open and its not cheap ... lokk and think about your tank and times it by @ 500 (guessing).

[demodiki]

Well we're going to hit it in the morning and we'll let ya know how it goes with prices and livestock.

[Reef69]

If you ACTUALLY give your customers the correct amount off, i dont see why it shouldnt go good..

[Tim Marvin]

Bait and switch? Deception is more like it. Give 25 percent off and be honest, that is a better approach.

[scuba_steveo]

The best thing about last time was that Aquatek was just down the street.

[Reef69]

Bait and switch? Deception is more like it. Give 25 percent off and be honest, that is a better approach.

exactly..I think there should be a day out of the year for customer appreciation, after all, like i said, we keep them afloat..i guess its the perfect day to raise prices and lie to customers..PERFECT!..lol

[Tim Marvin]

Aquateks prices are always a little high, but you get great looking corals and excellent customer service. The staff is very knowledgable, but of course you need to give them some information and talk with them to get a good answer to your questions. Sometimes we just assume LFS know what lighting, filters, and so on we are running. A relationship with your LFS is the best bet so they know something about you and your tank.

[JasonF]

If you are in the market for brown overpriced corals AA is the place to go! :)

[Reef69]

Ouch..LOL..

[StephenA]

Not even touching this one! :ph34r

[captexas]

Alright everyone, I think that's enough bashing of a former club sponsor.

If you don't like a store because you had a bad experience there, then don't shop there. No one forced you to go there and no one forced you to buy anything so what's the problem? From all these complaints, no one was taken advantage of, treated poorly, received bad products or poor service. It seems some people get alittle too spoiled at times and as soon as things don't go their way or they don't get that coral or fish they want for less than half of what it should cost, they have to start whining and bashing. Again, if you didn't like their first anniversary sale, then don't go to their second. Plain and simple, no need to be whining about it a year later. Obviously they are doing something right if they are still in operation after two years in a business that has lots of competition.

Just my two cents. :)

[mhaynes01]

Just got back from AA and man ohh man was it a mad house, i did'nt have to wait long to long to get into the fish room , btu i had to wait in line to check out.

I got 2 clown gobies, and thats it, i paid 25 for both, i know i could have gottem them somewhere else for cheaper proabaly but they really do have great stuff and knowlegdebly staff helping people, too bad i dotn have that much money :(

overall, i will come back next year most definently and also go there when they dotn have a sale. :)

[demodiki]

Well I went down this morning and was about #8 or so to get a ticket, so I got into the fish room with the first batch of people. There were definitely a lot of people there, but it appeared to me to be going smoothly. I got a strawberry crab, fire shrimp, peppermint shrimp, red star and a coral beauty angel (plus some food). I also had been to the store 3 time or so in the last couple weeks and there was not a markup at all on most of the things that I knew his prices on. There was some markup on a couple of items that I noticed, but with the half off the prices were still a heck of a lot better than the normal price.

We've had great experiences with Mike - he'll take all the time you want to talk and answer questions, knows his stuff, and is a really nice guy. This is definitely going to be one of our regular stores.

Sorry some of you feel you had bad experiences with the last sale. But a half off sale anywhere, in any retail business, is going to be kinda nuts. Think of those day-after-xmas sales! I had a good experience today, and just wanted to give Mike the kudos and let you guys know, too.

:D
Melissa

[RobertG]

Right on Melissa, that is great. Mike is very helpful.

Cap, I am not whinning. I gave my .02 worth. That's it! No bashing of a former sponsor, BTW I am the one that has to see these guys when I go in. So I am not bashing, whinning, or anything other than answering the original post. The sale is good to the ones who decide to buy, I just stated why I would not be returning. I am sure Mike will here of this, that way he can try to build from our feedback. I manage a business & I would definitly want the feedback. It helps us serve our customers better.

AA has a great store! As you & I both know we are price sensitive. As hardcore reefers, we will pass on most things unless they are just a knockout our loss type of deal.

Peace! :shades

[Tim Marvin]

No doubt Mike is a great guy, but word travels very fast when you mark things up before a sale. I still say it is better to discount less than have a large discount on marked up things.

[JasonF]

I didnt mean to come across as whining. I didnt realize that this is the vendor experience forum for positive experiences only!

[christerrell2k3]

i won some free freshwater stuff last time in their raffle... and a bunch of melafix and pima fix... still ahvnt tried them in the tank... has anyone used these before?


and a super small kent chemicals tshirt cause they didnt have anything else.... use as a towel on oil changes

[MikeDeL]

Melafix is supposed to get rid of flatworms. Makes your water REAL foamy and smells funky.

As far as the sale last year with the mark ups and everything. If 2 stores had a sale on the same day. Both stores normally sale product "X" for $100. On the day of the sale store "A" has it on a 20% sale, so the sale price is $80. Store "B" is having a 50% off sale. On the day of the sale store "B" marked up product "X" to $150, so the sale price after 50% is $75. You save $5 at Store "B". But Im going to spent the extra 5 bucks and buy it from store "A". Its a matter of principal. I would rather have a smaller discount off of regular price then a larger discount off of a marked up price.

[Tim Marvin]

JasonF, this is not only for positive experiences. It is to inform us of anything good or bad.

[StephenA]

I didnt mean to come across as whining. I didnt realize that this is the vendor experience forum for positive experiences only!

This forum is not only for Positive Experiences. It is for the good, bad and the ugly! We do try to curb Vendor Bashing and try to keep it to the facts.

[JasonF]

I do agree that Mike is knowledgable and a super nice guy. The white haired guy with the mullet is a complete jerk though. For fish they are pretty good, but for us SPS guys they dont ever have anything worth looking at. (This was my non-bashing, factual opinion! :) )

[NaCl_H2O]

WOW, being a reefer in Austin must be really tough! In San Antonio ALL the LFSs maintain great inventory all week long and operate at a huge loss so they can keep us all happy! :huh

[CD]

WOW, being a reefer in Austin must be really tough! In San Antonio ALL the LFSs maintain great inventory all week long and operate at a huge loss so they can keep us all happy! :huh

It is really tough.
The best coral shop in town happens to be at Tims place.
Why do you think we show up in SA every 2-3 weeks? ^_^

Chris

[Tim Marvin]

I don't have a coral shop any more, just a chop shop...... I'd sell to the LFS, but they don't seem too interested in higher priced frags. Although I have provided frags to River City Aquatics, Finaddicts, Aquatek, and Richards own personal tank.