Average Salary within industry. USA

[Shawn Wilson]

We don't have it any easier up here in Canada. Grunt workers get US$7.00/hr, while seasoned grunts get US$10.00.

An assistant manager will make US$30,000.00/yr, and a manager will make US$45,000.00 - 60,000.00/yr. Assistant managers work longer hours and have more responsibilities, but after about ten years they become jaded, burnt-out and management material.

Retail store owners are rewarded with about US$25,000.00/yr for working 80 hrs a week. But yes, they get to make their own hours.

Etailers are just money movers. It gives them a chance to play with fish and use their computer skills. After a year or two, another one takes their place.

Aquarium maintenance workers charge US$65.00/hr and do 3 or 4 calls per day. It's dirty, unrewarding work, but they make good money, most of which being cash sales. Whether or not they claim this income is between them and their maker.

A franchise owners investment of US$500,000.00 brings them a return of about US$85,000.00/yr. Being pimped-out by the franchise owner reduces them to money movers to a great extent, but I'm sure it's no worse than any industry.

The top of the pyramid is occupied by the alfa-mega-retailer. They make a few hundred thousand a year with their corporate stores, and about half a million for every hard working franchise they sell. Selling dreams is very profitable.

We don't get large scale independent aquarium stores in Canada. Anyone with enough money to do so, sticks with what got them there.

 

[Anonymous]

One of my friends LFs pays service guys starting at $30K, and up to $50K. They pay their managers starting at $40K.

 

[Anonymous]

they hiring? i'm looking

 

[Anonymous]

they hiring? i'm looking

:lol:

 

[Anonymous]

bah. woops. not meant for public consumption.

 

[Anonymous]

they hiring? i'm looking

:lol:

just curious as to what exactly made you laugh ? :?

 

[Anonymous]

they hiring? i'm looking

They're moving soon, and are expanding vastly, so possiably I was offerred a job there, but I'm happy where I'm at. The thought of going back to retail doesn't excite me much

 

[fishinchick]

So is this industry worked mainly by 'grunt workers' making 10.00/ hour?

Yes. Very good observation.
Why hire people that are smart, ethical and care about the individual animals they sell when you can hire Illegals that don't speak english and stack cans of green beans just as fast as opening fish? Or some random dummy that works for a bank and only knows customer service and how to get your order and get you off the phone or out of the shop ASAP?

My 15 year old knows more about corals and fish than a lot of people that work at wholesalers or have the title sales rep and I'll bank bucks on that.

Why pay $15 an hour for someone smart when you can get three bodies to throw fish around for 5 bucks an hour and have them be happy about it? Then you can overwork those illegals and not pay them because they can't complain about it - they are illegal afterall.

Of course you get what you pay for - un-knowledgeable staff that doesnt know how to handle the animals. This is a detriment to the animal and sometimes to the unskilled worker that doesnt know about lionfish, crown of thorns or blue ring octos (I've personally seen people who clearly had no clue what they were holding).

There are few companies that pay what the jobs are worth. They are hard to find positions but if one looks long enough, you can find a jewel in the DSB.

Just make sure you get all those promises in writing before you fill out the final paperwork.

 

[Anonymous]

you can find a jewel in the DSB.

:lol:

 

[Anonymous]

they hiring? i'm looking

:lol:

just curious as to what exactly made you laugh ? :?

Probably just a mildly funny observation Vitz..
$30-40k is good money to many actually.

 

[fishinchick]

Try living on 30/40k in California without having 8 people living in a 2 bedroom apt!

ROTFLMAO!!!!!!!!

 

[sdcfish]

Grateful,

I hear ya....I think that making $10hr for basically doing a minimum wage job.

Then there are the guys that select the fish and can make $850 per week for a 50 hour week.

Then there are managers that make alot more than that.

Then there are the sales guys that can make near or more than $100K per year working 36 to 40 hours per week Mondays - Thurdays....and half days on Fridays.

I would say the fish biz is pretty darn good for a person looking to work around fish and corals all day....pretty dang awesome.

For sure these numbers vary....for sure! Some pay ALOT lower wages, but you get what you pay for. So for someone looking, just shop around....it's not very hard to see who's hiring and what level of company's are out there.

By the way....401k, 75% paid health insurance, vacation days....sick days....dental etc.

Best regards,

 

[JennM]

Or some random dummy that works for a bank and only knows customer service and how to get your order and get you off the phone or out of the shop ASAP?

HEY - I had that sales rep. He worked on 104th and I think his name was Dan. He worked for one of the biggies that everyone knows and loves *g*. He didn't know a Yellow Tang from a Yellow-Eyed Tang. I ordered the latter, he sent me the former and when I called to complain he asked me, "What's the difference?" 8O Keep in mind the stock list said Yellow-Eyed (I prefer the name Kole Tang - less confusion).

The guy didn't know a mushroom from a clownfish. When I asked him how he could sell this stuff without knowing a thing about what he was selling, he simply told me he's a "salesman" and he doesn't have to know anything about fish to sell them. Howja like dem apples?! 8O

That was the LAST time I ever dealt with 104th.

Jenn

 

[sdcfish]

Jenn,

That sales rep years ago was a test to see if we could actually hire professional sales reps. It worked for some that knew what they wanted, but not for others that needed someone with more experience.

In the end, Dan was only with us for a few months.....and he moved on. Nice guy......and we still keep in touch.

We have posted here for sales reps many times with minimal response....so we just now grow the business as we get good people.

What you aren't saying in your post is that you have been contacted many times by new reps that do have knowledge, and including myself have offered to help you with your orders....but the timing just isn't right for us I suppose...maybe some other time I hope.

Point beingon this topic......this industry pays well and can be very lucrative while doing something you love.

Best regards,

 

[JennM]

Heh Eric, well I didn't name names (except for "Dan" and I have about 6 people I deal with currently with that name - it's as popular as "Chris" in this biz...) but since you outed yourself have at it.

As for what I 'didn't say'... I did say it in the following thread: http://www.reefs.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=89978 Perhaps you need to catch up on your reading after your recent and seemingly abrupt absence. Lots of interesting banter here, to be sure!

The discussion began over the latest MAC newsletter, but SDC's name came up concerning certified wholesalers and the current supply (or lack thereof) of certified fishes. Granted the topic got skewed a bit... But that sometimes happens in this forum.

Specifically, I said:

I always receive SDC's list every week (but I don't buy from it), I just checked this week's list - the word MAC doesn't appear on the list at all. Nor does the word "certified"

*snip* for other discussions.

You use to recieve SDC lists weekly :Wink:

*snip*

Hehehe yeah - we'll see if I get another one. Well every couple of months or so, or when it's slow, Eric has one of his salespeople call me. Sometimes they're pretty persistent too, calling repeatedly. I'm always polite, but I politely decline to order, but they keep on calling despite this. That's usually when I call or PM Eric and ask him to call off the cold-call squad. Eric has even offered to handle my account personally, should I choose to order at some point. I feel special So much interest in my puny little shop...can't figure out why. Nobody gave a tinker's damn 4 years ago when I tried a few orders and then I went away unnoticed. Why so much fuss now?

We'll see if I get another list next week, but the last time I checked, my money was still as green as anybody's so as long as Eric wants to keep his foot in the door, he'll have his lists sent to me. Stay tuned....

Meanwhile the elusive MAC certified fish supply still eludes...

So you got your credit where it's due. I'm not sure why my little shop is of such interest to you, but I guess you get points for trying. Maybe it's the challenge of the pursuit I don't know, but I find it fascinating anyway. I'm not the type usually, to burn bridges, but I felt the bridge was burned a long time ago, and it wasn't by me. Nobody cared then, despite my polite but rather vocal attempts to correct some administrative issues at the time, so in the end I took my losses and moved on, another lesson learned. I'm content with my current supply chain, and the way they conduct their businesses. Over the years things change, and if and when I find it necessary, I look elsewhere, but I've never had a problem finding suppliers that I'm comfortable forging a solid relationship with. Most of them are small businesses like my own, and I find the smaller suppliers are much more in tune with my needs. I'm a good customer, and as such, seems that my business is valued I'll likely never be anyone's biggest customer, and the attitude I perceive from those I deal with scores a lot of points with me. I treat the lady who bought a $1.49 tetra from me today, in the same way I treat the customer who's spent $25,000 + with me in the last year. Never know - that $1.49 tetra lady might end up spending big bucks and becoming my biggest customer down the road - first impressions are important. Then again, she might not. Still, I have more small-dollar customers than large-dollar ones, so it's important to treat them all the way I'd like to be treated. If they're happy, they'll return. When I'm somebody's customer, I expect the same treatment, and if I don't get it, I know my patronage isn't as 'important' as someone else's.

The *best* rep I deal with, is a dry goods rep, and from the day I first contacted her when I was writing my business plan, she has made me feel like her *only* customer. I met her when I worked for another shop, and she remembered me when I approached her for my own enterprise. She is more like my own outside employee, rather than her company's inside rep. I appreciate her greatly - and I tell her regularly. I even wrote a nice letter to her boss, expressing my gratitude. Everybody is always fast to complain, but seldom does anybody go out of their way to compliment - that's important to me too. We can all take a lesson from that.

It's funny in this industry - everyone that I come into contact with, who's in the biz, always asks where my livestock comes from. I usually give as vague an answer as I can, and most people leave it at that, aware that I know they are fishing for information (pardon the pun). I guess if they like what they see, they want to find out how they can get a piece of that too. Love the wannabes who work at franchise or chain stores and they come in here dropping names of suppliers, trying to be all knowledgable and impressive, asking if I buy from this one or that one... often I just wrinkle my nose and say NOPE.

Been there, done that... I've even got a few T-shirts!

This is a challenging industry on many levels. If it's money you're after, this is probably not the one to be in - most jobs in this industry won't make you rich, unless you're an owner, and that certainly is no guarantee. IMO however, there's a lot of value in enjoying what you do, and to that end, if you're happy doing what you do, and you're making enough to live on, you're miles ahead of somebody making 6 figures who's miserable at it. How's that for trying to steer it back on-topic?

Jenn

 

[fishinchick]

I know of and have heard of a lot of sales reps from several different companies that didnt know their cleaner wrasse from a hole in the ground.

I've actually waited until they got off the phone and asked if they REALLY felt that the advice they gave was accurate. It scared me to hear the advice that was handed out sometimes. It ranged from questionable to liability for a lawsuit and worried me.

Whether you are a retailer and doing customer service, or a wholesaler - the responsiblity falls on them to provide accurate information that melds with the overall information given by the company. A wholesaler should be the most responsible since the LFS often looks to the wholesaler for the information. If you have someone who is old skool on the phones or someone who is just clueless - there is no difference. If you are going to work in this industry you should have real knowledge of what the animals are and at least a basic idea of what they can do.

This is why the pay rates are so low ... all the smart people that know about the industry don't want to work for grunt wages. It's very hard to find people with knowledge who want to work for illegal alien wages.

Very few of us are fortunate enough to find a company that pays us for the knowledge we have. It is even a bigger bonus when the company has ethics and moral stability and stands behind their employees and doesnt back stab them.
Happily, I am one of those lucky ones who have found a home.

 

[JennM]

Well, I'm *still* getting SDC's stock lists! (For those of you who were curious.)

Jenn