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Post by bickitrainer on Mar 21, 2008 20:42:17 GMT 10
Hi I want to browse through many pet stores, so if you have a website where you are selling bird goodies, please tell me about it or post it here. ;D
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Post by avinet on Mar 21, 2008 22:33:08 GMT 10
It's time I made a confession - As some here already know, I own a pet shop on the Sunshine Coast, the Mooloolaba Aquarium & Aviary Centre (http://www.mooloolabapets.com.au). It specializes in fish (my real speciality), birds and reptiles only. We don't sell dogs, cats or small animals.
We don't sell over the Internet either since we don't try to compete with all the cut-price backyard operations that operate in the world of Ebay and the Web. The reason we can't compete of course is we pay a lot of rent, insurance, electricity, wages (4 full-time and 3 casual besides myself and my wife) and all the other expenses involved in having a 7 day a week shop. We also like to see who we are selling to and make sure we are giving them the right advice for their situation.
I wasn't going to bother mentioning about the shop since I did not come here to advertise my shop - I just enjoy talkingabout birds and showing off my own flock but there are things I would like to post about which are only possible if I acknowledge my pet shop background. So I decided to make it common knowledge instead of just to a few.
Anyone who finds themselves on the Sunshine Coast is of course welcome to visit us, and be sure to introduce yourself to me (but remember that I don't work Monday or Tuesday, just Wednesday to Sunday) and as a bonus you will meet Ernie and Jamila, the African Greys who come with me almost everyday I'm working to the shop. Although I might suggest if you are making a special trip to see them check with me in advance since they miss an occasional day.
cheers,
Mike
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Post by avinet on Mar 21, 2008 22:45:34 GMT 10
I forgot to put our URL in quotes so it is instantly clickable. So here it is in clickable format www.mooloolabapets.com.aucheers, Mike |
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Post by zooyouthben on Mar 21, 2008 22:49:30 GMT 10
I will be sure to visit you when i come up mike!
Fish too are one of my major passions, marines in particular, i have bred Kuda Seahorse and am looking a breeding a few clowns
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Post by abby-oldaccount on Mar 22, 2008 7:36:43 GMT 10
I don't have a shop but more then happy to recommend a few places both online and bricks and mortar. Online Parrot Rescue Centre. A portion of the money goes towards upkeep of the sanctuary/rescue centre. www.parrotrescuecentre.com/prc_shop.cfmMy Parrot shop. The customer service is good but they can be a little pricey. They don't let you know postage until you're sorting out payment either so I find that a little frustrating but they do have a really good range. www.myparrotshop.com/?gclid=CI3Wts3L_ocCFRJLTAodzRcmGQand of course our own Just4birds place. www.friendlybirdinn.com.au/shop/index.phpIf you're in SA SA birds Main North Road, Blair Athol Camsal birds (the guys can be a little snobby at times  ) Elizabeth. |
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Post by just4birds on Mar 22, 2008 8:27:10 GMT 10
I'm one of those ebay/online shops  .... but sydney people are more then welcome to come by and pickup orders or what not  |
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Post by robert on Mar 22, 2008 16:12:23 GMT 10
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Post by just4birds on Mar 22, 2008 16:19:46 GMT 10
I'd love to own a shop ... and one day soonish it mite just happen ... but at the moment i'm very happy just plodding along at home .... and going to bird sales etc ...
Which reminds me ... COMMMMMMMMMMMMMME see ya at Gunnedah this year .... i think its in 2 weeks time .... 5/4/08
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Post by avinet on Mar 22, 2008 21:19:10 GMT 10
I'd love to own a shop ... and one day soonish it mite just happen ... The way the pet industry is going these days I wouldn't recommend to anyone that they open a pet shop, unless it was a big supermarket type of place costing a million or more to setup and stock. The average member of the public is increasingly going to that sort of pet superstore and less and less to the smaller "traditional" type of store. The smaller store is being squeezed between the big stores and the internet. You can't imagine how annoying it is to have someone who you have spent 30 minutes or more going over what they need to set up their fish tank only at the end to say thanks but they can get it cheaper on the Internet. Or even worse come in with a filter they bought on the internet wanting us to spend time explaining to them how it works. Same with birds - there are cages on EBAY going for less than I can buy them from at wholesale. And then there are the birds bought in that have come from breeders or the markets with terrible wing clips we are expected to fix up or behavioural problems which we are expected to give free advice about even though it costs me $20/hour for my staff's time. So think very carefully before opening a pet shop - it is a 7-day a week business, in a market which I think has reached it's peak and is going to decline in the future. And it is labour intensive - I basically pay one person's wages every week purely to clean, feed, water etc our birds and another person's weekly wages to look after our 110 plus fish tanks. Even those days you close, such as Xmas day there are animals to attend to - my wife and myself spend 3 hours every holiday we are closed in the shop cleaning and feeding birds and checking fish tanks.. Three or four years ago when we had a stinking hot day I spent the whole of Xmsa Day in the shop so I could have doors and windows open to stop birds and fish overheating. And unless you have really good staff (which I have fortunately) forget about holidays or even going to bird sales. And then there are customers!!!!! Many are lovely people who care about their animals, are willing to learn, and a pleasure to deal with. And there are customers who are total idiots, rude, demanding and able to spoil a good day in an instance. Just today I had someone turn up with a canary that he had bought last December which had a useless wing and who wanted his money back. Turned out it had hurt it during a thunderstorm a few days after he bought it and he had not called us at the time because he thought it would get better. Since it hadn't he wanted a refund. When I pointed out that we were not responsible for an accident and anyway he should have got the bird seen to immediately since broken wings don't heal by themselves and no we weren't going to give him his money we had a foul mouthed abusive guy in the shop threatening retribution. And such customers are by no means unusual and are becoming more common. So just4birds, think very carefully before committing to a shop - it really isn't a great idea. cheers, Mike |
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Post by just4birds on Mar 22, 2008 21:49:07 GMT 10
Thanks for the advice ... tho i wouldnt be open such a per say petshop more a bird accessories shop .... And i do know what its like to run a business as i run my own bird boarding business and i worked all over crhistmas as its the "busy period" ... which i choose to do as i have such a big passion for birds .... I personally wouldnt suggest anyone buy a bird from a petshop .... impluse buyers are really starting to pee me up the wall ... I've had more and more birds been offered to me simply cause people dont have a clue what they are buying ... and the petshops seem to be in it just for the sale ... I have taken on a male eclectus , a red tail black cockatoo and trying to convince my fiance that the female eclectus would be better off with us then god knows what kinda re home ... I also think in the pet industry that we all need to work together ... in shops and online ... to offer better education, better products and at reasonable prices ... To see places put 200% or more market up on there products drives me crazzzy ... and it is also unfair on the people who wanna buy toys for there birds ... but cant justify the price Also being an owner of many companion parrots ... i wanted to offer those toys to people at a somewhat reasonable price .... some of my toys may seem alot ... but compare them to other places .... they aren't so bad Myself just by getting out there and talking with people ... i have gained a great relationship with other bird related businesses ... and we all agree its better to work together then against .... also competition is great ... keeps ya alive Since starting my bird boarding here in sydney i've seen around 3 other places start up .... 1 is a petshop that leave the birds in the shop ... 2. is another place that do bird training as well and took 5 weeks to give me a qoute and 3. is someone who does handraising and just wanted to get in on the action ... I say to them good luck ... So once again thanks for the advice ..... but only time will tell if i move from home/online to a shop ... but i do think if you have the right kind of product and a great relationship with people in the same business that wanna get the same message out there then you are on a winner My next project before my shop will be to try and get some half decent Parrot Education out there so we dont have to deal with a growing problem of many parrots being rehomed .. Thanks *Lisa* |
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Post by avinet on Mar 22, 2008 22:29:23 GMT 10
We started boarding birds as a service to customers around 1993 and have been doing it ever since. Over Xmas we had around 35 cages of birds boarding, and we get everything from canaries to macaws. Initially we were charging $1 a night per cage but around 5 years ago put that up to all of $2.50 a night for smaller birds, and $3.50 a night for Alexandrines upwards in size. Some birds have boarded with us for over 6 months while customers have been overseas. If we provide a cage then it is an extra $1 a night. In all that time, and thousands of boarders, we have only ever had two bird get sick as a result of their stay.
I am not having a go at you Lisa for being an online dealer - it is quite likely I will close up shop myself before long and go online. I could make a good living using my garage as a store room, paying no wages to staff, paying no rent, and selling with low markups. I would certainly make more than I do currently and have far less stress.
Of course that means that the good advice and educationwe give our customers about not only birds, but fish and reptiles, will be lost to the public since the only way to provide adequate, useful advice is in a one on one situation often with the bird present as well. I probably educated around 25 customers today alone about some aspect of their birdkeeping whether it was dietary, behavioural, health or breeding or all 4 together.
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Post by avinet on Mar 22, 2008 22:41:39 GMT 10
To see places put 200% or more market up on there products drives me crazzzy ... and it is also unfair on the people who wanna buy toys for there birds ... but cant justify the price Also being an owner of many companion parrots ... i wanted to offer those toys to people at a somewhat reasonable price .... some of my toys may seem alot ... but compare them to other places .... they aren't so bad If you had a shop open 7 days a week, were paying rent, electricity, insurance, wages, workcover, telephones, and all the other expenses that are involved in running a pet shop before you even paid for the stock you sell, you would understand why 100% to 200% markups were needed to stay open. If we sold any cheaper we would close. As it is I'm working fo minimum wages for a 60+ hour week. cheers, Mike |
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Post by just4birds on Mar 23, 2008 10:56:55 GMT 10
Now that i've finished working on Easter Sunday *wink* .... I can post I know shops have to put a mark up on toys to cover rent etc ... but most of the places i'm even hinting at are even online .... and i do what i do full time ... so there is really no excuse but to get the most out of whatever they are selling ... Once again me personally would NOT board any of my birds in a petshop .... if it came to that i would simply not go .... in the 2 years i've been running my business i havent been anywhere .... and the only time i'm taking off this year is to attend the parrot convention ... I also didnt think you were having a good at me personally ... but i would hate to see you get cut up cause there are online/ebay shops out there ... once again ... i find ebay an ok way to sell things ... but its not my favourite ... i think its pricy and a little hard to show off what u've got ... My fab thing would also be the shed in the yard ... there are a few places like that here in sydney ... low costs ... pitty the customer service is somewhat crappy ... I think in any pet related job ...you have to do it for the passion other wise its not worth doing .... Good luck with whatever you decide to do with your shop ... and maybe one day we can work together to get some good Parrot Education going around Australia .. *Lisa* |
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Post by bickitrainer on Mar 24, 2008 12:29:35 GMT 10
Does anyone know a good bird trick training prop shop in Australia?  |
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Post by vankarhi on Mar 24, 2008 14:12:06 GMT 10
Bicki trainer try a yahoo group called birdclick. I am a member there (not participating anymore though) and I bought a clickertraining book through them. I will try to find the link for you. Just hang on............ I can't seem to find it right now. Try to google it. It is a site like this sort of and it is run by a lady named Melinda I think. They usually have a pick of a bird doing some trick on their homepage. It is a yahoo group and it is called "birdclick"
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Post by robert on Mar 24, 2008 15:02:47 GMT 10
bikitrainer,try this site. A Shop in Melbourne. Scroll down ans see clicker training material. www.myparrotshop.com from Robert and Angel |
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Post by abby-oldaccount on Mar 25, 2008 6:34:37 GMT 10
Unfortunately Australia is behind the US on parrot toys. Over the past 12 months there have been more wonderful things coming out to Australia but as far as the parrot props go it may take awhile. I've bought from these guys in the US www.squawkstore.com/store/index.php?cPath=1_6_169and been more then happy with their customer service. The postage is unfortunately the killer. Just4birds has some of these things come into her online shop so if there's anything you want I'd suggest checking whether Lisa has it first or is able to get it in. |
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Post by just4birds on Mar 25, 2008 7:44:38 GMT 10
Great site Abby ... i already stock 4 of the 6 items on the site ..... i love all the puzzle toys i can get ... as i use them to train my eclectus ... But some i cant justify the price ... like the basketball hoop and where i can get it from the money conv over is crazzzzzzzzzzzzzy ... But if people see anything out there that they like ... and i dont have it ... just ask and i'd be happy to do my best to get it in ... my supplier has over 50 manufacturers soo i have lots to choose from |
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Post by bickitrainer on Mar 25, 2008 16:25:00 GMT 10
Oh wooooww! That's a really good site! Lisa, I'm mostly looking for a scooter, like that one on that site. Do you have it?? My parents wont allow me to get things overseas.  |
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Post by robert on Mar 30, 2008 17:29:17 GMT 10
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)
.... but sydney people are more then welcome to come by and pickup orders or what not 
