where is the best place to sell a rare fish?

[iishanreef]

im getting a few more professional opinions with regards to its ID. It has bulked up quite a bit since ive started feeding it so i will certainly add some pics when the lights turn on today. i also agree that an aquarium or scientific group (as long as theyre not goin to disect it) would be the best option. everything really hinges on getting a few more pro opinions about its ID. the people at J&L keep asking me how much its worth so im getting curious.

[swill]

I'm totally jealous of your Eel story. I think it's such a cool hitchhiker and now to find out that he might be rare is the icing on the cake. I'd loooooooooove to have him in my tank.

[Reef_Geek]

here's a snap shot of an importer's wholesale list for eels.

Mark up in retail is typically cost + freight + box charges + permits + currency conversion, then 3x to 5x for lower value items, and 2x to 3x for higher value items. In addition to landed costs, this covers overhead (electricity, rent, taxes, wages, food, salt, losses in shipment) and provides a decent margin. The aquarium fish business is a low volume high margin business (unlike commodities such as groceries, fuel etc).

I'm going to guess that the higher value eels are both rare and ornate. For one that is simply brown, I'll guess it's in the $10 to $20 wholesale range simply because wholesalers have no interest in holding inventory that can die... but rather want to turnover stock as quickly as possible. I'll qualify my estimate as my opinion only, but as opinion from one having worked in wholesale marine sales management.

[iishanreef]

i couldnt get any pics up because i cant find camera - computer chord. Stillwaiting on a second opinion from J&L (i sent them pics but i didnt say WWM crew thought it was G. australicola, so well see what their un-influenced opinion is).
...and it isnt simply brown, the pictures dont do it justice to real life, its realy quite beatiful in colour: some angles its brown and some angles its shiny (maybe slimy) green. and its grown about an inch in legnth, and a little in head-size and girth, since i moved it into a 50g tank on his own. its also much more curious and active now with regular bi-weekly feeding.

[Reef_Geek]

Originally Posted by iishanreef

i couldnt get any pics up because i cant find camera - computer chord. Stillwaiting on a second opinion from J&L (i sent them pics but i didnt say WWM crew thought it was G. australicola, so well see what their un-influenced opinion is).
...and it isnt simply brown, the pictures dont do it justice to real life, its realy quite beatiful in colour: some angles its brown and some angles its shiny (maybe slimy) green. and its grown about an inch in legnth, and a little in head-size and girth, since i moved it into a 50g tank on his own. its also much more curious and active now with regular bi-weekly feeding.

Well, what's important is what it's worth to yourself. I have a dog that cost a few hundred dollars but I wouldn't sell him for thousands. Same idea. What it's worth to the market is different than its value to you. For something like this, there's not really a fair market value to the masses. It reminds me of the Auction Hunters episode where they found rocket parts... it was only worth something to so few people that to most other people... it was paper weight. (yes, I know that show is rigged)

[iishanreef]

heres some new pics, as requested (more feeding-time pics also the tank i keep it in)





sorry its alot of the same but its hard to lure him out with one hand a snap a shot with the other, also hes still a bit wary about being completely out of the rocks

[paddyob]

I hope that's not the tank he was hiding in for so long. :P