The Mouse Factory = Rip Off!

[giaach]

So I'm thinkin about getting some frozen rats from The Mouse Factory because while I have no problem getting live rats, I figured frozen would be cheaper. I looked on their website and found that 15 frozen sm/rats cost $19.50 but after shipping it comes out to $63.00 dollars. Thats $43.50 in shipping costs! Pardon me but thats the biggest rip off I have ever seen. I work the holiday season at Honeybaked Hams and our shipping isn't even that expensive! Were talking about human food costing less that a pack of frozen rats. Whats the deal here? Anyone know a better site that doesn't rape you of your money? And for the record, I know how the shipping of frozen items works, Ive been selling that for 3 years ha

[wax32]

UH, overnite shipping isnt cheap. It costs me $55 to overnight a snake. A box of frozen mice with all that dry ice is HEAVY!

For the record, I have been buying my mice from the Mouse Factory for YEARS and they are the best I have encountered. (I have tried a couple of other suppliers.)

In fact I plan to put in an order with them today.

EDIT: I mostly have corns, and haven't ever priced a feeder rat at a local pet store, but I'm guessing they are more than $3 each, which is what that breaks down to.

[Nate]

That is not a rip off. that is the cost that pretty much any frozen rodent company will charge you. They will either ship over night or 2-3 day which is not cheap in ANY situation. On top of that, it usually ships with dry ice which I'm almost certain they have to pay a tad extra for.

My advice would be not to order 19 rodents. Order enough to last you for a very long time and that shipping charge will not be such a pain.

[wax32]

...

My advice would be not to order 19 rodents. Order enough to last you for a very long time and that shipping charge will not be such a pain.

Good point, I forgot to mention that. I buy hundreds of mice at a time so the shipping ends up being like 20 cents a mouse, or less!

[Nate]

sorry, I meant *15* rodents...19 was the price.

[tmartin2347]

I think there prices are pretty good, plus they are great looking rats; very clean.


shipping overnight for frozen rodents is always pricey, look around at other vendors. I've bought from rodent pro, big cheese, the mouse factory, and american rodent and are all priced pretty similar. Everyone will have a price that differs, but it's the quality and service that should pull you in even if you pay a little more.

just my 2 cents

[giaach]

There would be no need to overnight frozen anything unless you needed it the next day. Standard UPS shipping with perishable items is not that expensive, like I said, I work with shipping of frozen foods every day. And dry ice isn't very expensive, you can get 10 lbs for 5$ and for a company that uses a lot of it I can only assume they would get a discount on something like that. Lets just put this into perspective. I can order an 7lb ham for $7o.95 and that includes standard deliver. That ham will feed 14-18 adults and comes in a not only a cooler but is packed with dry ice and re-useable ice packs. You really think 66 buck for 2 lbs of rats is worth almost the same price? Come on....

[JohnNJ]

I struggled with the same question in another post. I basically came to the conclusion that the cheapest way for me to get frozen is at a show. You may also find a dealer near you that will allow you to pick up your order.

Good luck.

JohnNJ

[Cheryl Marchek aka JM]

Well~ you should shop for your local breeder then. It may just be time to support the small local business man/woman rather than send all your business to the big brand places that have to ship the product to you.
~~Rodent breeder that had a hard time finding clients until I found ONE Client who buys a LOT (more than I can produce each week!) because he was bright enough to figure out he doesn't have to pay shipping if he buys from me locally.

[Tosha_Mc]

Overnight shipping is not that cheap -- plus when you are shipping a hazardous matter like dry ice it costs more.

If you are only picking up one pack or too cheap to pay for quality then find somewhere local to get your feeders because all frozen suppliers will charge you more than you are obviously willing to pay. But if you buy in bulk -- the mouse factory has some of the best prices and product around.