Did I miss something?

So I've been out the hobby for awhile but I went to PetSmart to get a few things I needed the same day(Aspen bedding, UTH heaters). So I pick up the Zoo-Med large one(50-60 gal) and when I looked at the price($54.99) my jaw dropped. Okay I understand a dollar two more for convenience, but that's a very steep markup. So being curious I pulled up their page, and on the site it's $49.99, which is still extremely high. I looked up the place I generally order my stuff from(Big Apple Herp / Pet Supply) and that same one is listed on their site for $24.99. So that's a what, 220% markup over that place, and let's be realistic that they likely only paid $10-15 for that thing, so technically it's even more of a markup than that. I was pretty disgusted with them after seeing that. I don't ever remember them being that high, though I don't remember 100% because I tend to avoid those stores.

So my point is, did I miss the price markup year or something, or have they always been that overpriced?

Since about last year the markup was around the same, before I got my first BP I was going to petsmart/petco to look at them and pricing out and planning my setup. The UTH's have always been marked up around 200% even the 10 gallons ones are on Amazon for around $13 while they were $32 in petco/smart.

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Originally Posted by Rikoku

Since about last year the markup was around the same, before I got my first BP I was going to petsmart/petco to look at them and pricing out and planning my setup. The UTH's have always been marked up around 200% even the 10 gallons ones are on Amazon for around $13 while they were $32 in petco/smart.

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They must of marked them up so high to pay for all those tv commercials.

Brick and mortar store have a hard time competing with Amazon for a lot of reasons overhead being a huge one.

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Originally Posted by piedlover79

Brick and mortar store have a hard time competing with Amazon for a lot of reasons overhead being a huge one.

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Yea but bigapple has an actual store as well.

Still not the same as trying to maintain a chain. Did you order the tank off Big Apple? I'm guessing the shipping on a 60 gallon tank would be high (they don't offer free shipping on larger items).

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Originally Posted by piedlover79

Still not the same as trying to maintain a chain. Did you order the tank off Big Apple? I'm guessing the shipping on a 60 gallon tank would be high (they don't offer free shipping on larger items).

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No. I have the tank, it's a custom tank. I just put two under tank heaters on the bottom to raise the temperature. That way I can just use the bulbs for a day and night cycle without hitting the humidity.

I would always suggest going online to look for better deals unless you cant wait for an item. pet/co sells automatic fish feeders for around 25 but if your look at the one for turtles, which i swear is the exact same thing, it sells for like 5. People who dont research the product their buying don't realize their paying a huge markup and miss out on deals.

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Originally Posted by Ba11er

I would always suggest going online to look for better deals unless you cant wait for an item. pet/co sells automatic fish feeders for around 25 but if your look at the one for turtles, which i swear is the exact same thing, it sells for like 5. People who dont research the product their buying don't realize their paying a huge markup and miss out on deals.

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Oh. Trust me I still got what I needed and I'm still only going to pay the cheaper price. I just needed the same day.