Quote:
Originally Posted by sphelps
Typically it's not a high margin product and if one were to try and make some money on it people would just go elsewhere which is the last thing a retailer wants.
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At $115 for a bucket of IO I'd guess the margins are pretty good
Quote:
Originally Posted by Aquatic Addictions
margins on salts are next to nil. The price is kept to a minimum to no profit to keep people comng back in. In some cases vendors are able to buy in quantity so there for they get a better deal and can advertise the salt much cheaper than others like say petland who do not buy great quantities. They do not specialize in the SW so unlike stores that do they do not get the same deals unless there are trade show deals. Any retailer you see selling salt for what you are used to now is making pennies. Remember that when you ask if they can give you a deal on it or other things they have...they dont make great margins off 50-60 percent of their store unless they have bulk buying power.
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You're right that salt is usually a loss leader. But let's assume that J&L sells it at break even or even a small loss at $45. So maybe break even is $50. $115 is a bit excessive, even factoring in shipping costs to smaller communities. Something is not right with that price. Either they are fleecing the customers who don't have anywhere else to buy salt in the community or they are being fleeced by their suppliers; in either case that is really poor business.