Great Prices On Salt

[Ron99]

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.

At $115 for a bucket of IO I'd guess the margins are pretty good

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.

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.

[Aquatic Addictions]

Originally Posted by Ron99

At $115 for a bucket of IO I'd guess the margins are pretty good



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.

$115 is excessive for sure. They operate as other places do in "out of the way" places or limited resources for you to shop locally.

As for the coupon answer we are talking about regular salt prices not using coupons to get a deal. Your not at the fish store with a coupon are you? No you are asking for the best deal they can do and the superstore would tell you no coupons aside.

As for the little guy giving you a better deal it could come down to 1 of 2 things...either he is losing money hoping to gain a loyal customer or the "other" place you are asking has a margin they choose not to deviate from making there price seem astronomical. It also could be the little guy made it to a trade show or there were specials and they were able to buy to attain said price. There are so many factors in all the pricing its not funny.

I personally gave deals to people to attain a customer base and allow someone who you would hope to be loyal, to get into the hobby and hope they appreciated what was done for them and continue to frequent our store. Sadly it is not always the case but retailers have to make that decision and its a risk they take in the tight market that is salt water.

[lockrookie]

maybe he adds fish steriods to his salt mix.. or maybe its laced with a drug and after you distill it and separate the drug you can make more on the streets.. ok i know i watch too many movies now

[sphelps]

Large chain stores often have higher prices because their costs are more, not product cost but everything else like rent, utilities and staff. In some cases a smaller salt specific store will have the close to the same monthly operating costs and a large general stores daily cost.

Also the price on certain products could be related to how many suppliers are involved, quite often stores are limited with contracts and restrictions and have to order from certain suppliers. The salt for instance could go through a few suppliers before it gets to that specific store, likely the reason the price is so high. I would assume that if the store could bring in product for less and increase sales with a lower price while maintaining the margin they would do so.