Relative Hobby Costs Options

[olddog]

Hi, I often get intrigued when I read postings from you guys on seeing certain bargains in the multitude of shops you have in all your home markets.

What’s the relative cost to Mr Average Joe for his fishkeeping hobby ?

In the UK at the moment an unskilled worker earns about £7-£10 per hour. A skilled guy gets about £10 - £15.
In a LFS the cost of a pet grade fish is about £3 -£5. A decent example that would not embarrass you at your local show would be about £50 a fish.

So in the UK Mr average Joe works about 15- 20 minutes for a pet grade fish and about 3-4 hours for a decent example.
We are mugs in the UK we pay loads more for most things than the rest of Europe or America! Petrol is about £0.80 per litre and restaurant meal for two is about £30-£40.

Relatively speaking what’s the score in your countries regarding hobby costs.

Hope you pay more than me, we got to have to edge on some place!

Sick as an olddog.

[Seacucumber]

ok bro Olddog, hehehe.........
here it goes...

an average dude like us in Sg makes about S$1500-S$3000 a month....which works out to be about 700 - 1400 pounds?? i am not sure about the xchange rate....

an average LFS fish will cost about S$30-S$50.

those fishes that are decent enough for shows and competition will cost anything above S$100......

hmm...petrol is not cheap in SG too.....cost around S$1.50 per litre...

as for food, a dinner of steak and salad for 2 will cost around S$40-$60 in a decent restaurant.

cost of living i would say is about the same as what you had mentioned in the UK.
whats cheap i guess would be fish food, medications and assecories. Check the prices of our fishkeeping stuffs in our buy/sell forum....

and personally, Mr. Average Andy here spends about S$50 a month for my hobby....only maintainence...food, assecories, medications etc...

[olddog]

i am not sure about the xchange rate....

an average LFS fish will cost about S$30-S$50.

those fishes that are decent enough for shows and competition will cost anything above S$100......

hmm...petrol is not cheap in SG too.....cost around S$1.50 per litre...

as for food, a dinner of steak and salad for 2 will cost around S$40-$60 in a decent restaurant.


whats cheap i guess would be fish food, medications and assecories. Check the prices of our fishkeeping stuffs in our buy/sell forum....

The exchage rate is about £1 = $3.11 SG$

I looked at some of those prices in the B&S section, they look good.

This is a link to an English online site. These prices are about 30% less than my local LFS.

http://www.animal-house.co.uk/

[mountain]

much has to do with a Small Singapore, where it is a cut-your-throat competition amongst LFS. In the end, consumers benefit.

[olddog]

You Guys have strange pricing technique (i.e., flexible). How on earth would a person visiting Singapore work out the expected price? In fact how on earth do you even recognise the correct price?

It amuses me the hear stories like “I persuaded the aunty to give me two fish from the $250 tub for $150.” What’s an aunty? Is it the shopkeeper or the assistant?
In the UK it’s always expected to pay illustrated price! Not half as much fun as you guys have! And what’s with the practice of keeping selected tub of fish for special customers? There would be a few black eyes and missing teeth if that was tried in the UK!

And lastly what is the “lobang”? Don’t tell me it’s a bang on the floor !!!!!!

[square_guy]

hi olddog,

let's leave the exchange rate out of the equation first

almost all of the LFS operates in the "old way". if i'm not wrong, the proper term should be "sole proprietorship" (did i get the spelling right? ). so the shop owner can price his goods his own ways haha. usually the selling price isn't fixed rigid, and a degree of bargaining is allowed. so we try to negotiate for a better price. things which are really cheap, we called them "lobang" (could also be explained as "a good recommendation"). hey this is singlish

if u have a chance to come to asia, u'll find that this is fairly common.

we r lucky as singapore is so near to the major goldfish exporting countries (china, thailand, japan), and we get very very good pricing for fish. other breeds of fancy goldfish could cost as little as $10 and easily above $100 for ranchus. accessories and food are also very cheap as we are near to the producing countries as well.

i probably spent less than S$50 per month if i didn't buy fishes, and i dun get tempted by some fancy equipment

[olddog]

Hi Guys,
The bargaining practice sounds like fun. I will try it out in my LFS this weekend. (I will probably get thrown out the shop!)

If I don’t buy fish, my hobby costs about £30-£40 per month. More if the wife doesn’t catch me spending!!!! I think you guys get the better “lobang” The UK is also a small island with plenty of fish keepers but few shops.

In the UK I have never seen top view for sale at LFS. We get some nice Chinese stock but you have far better for sale fish where you live. The best UK hobbyist lobang is at regional fish show auctions. I have had ten good fish for £5 at some auctions.
Its common practice for a fish auction of show breeder’s surplus stock to be held while the judges are completing the examination.

[GF Lover]

I think that in Singapore, we are very fortunate as far as buying the average goldfish is concern. If you bother to visit all the popular LFS every Thursdays or Fridays, you may get a bargain for a very decent oranda or pearl-scale for as little as S$2/-. I live near the place in Singapore where there are about 20 LFS, all within a stone's throw away from each other.

If you look hard enough, you might even find a very decent goldfish among the feeder fish.

Only at the upper end do you find it more difficult to get really good goldfish. I heard that only the lower grade of Japanese Black Babies from the Master Breeders in Japan makes it to Singapore. It seems that only way you can get a decent Japanese ranchu is to go to Thailand and buy it

[olddog]

Singapore sounds a nice place to live. Super selection and decently priced fish.

What a contrast to the UK. I bet the government don’t tax you 30%-40% on what you earn then 17.5% when you spend it in the shops…………. It isn’t fair you even get the good whether as well. I will have to move out to Singapore when I retire!!!!!!!!!

Regards Olddog

[Seacucumber]

You Guys have strange pricing technique (i.e., flexible). How on earth would a person visiting Singapore work out the expected price? In fact how on earth do you even recognise the correct price?

the lowest price is definately the CORRECT price....

[GF Lover]

Singapore sounds a nice place to live. Super selection and decently priced fish.

What a contrast to the UK. I bet the government don’t tax you 30%-40% on what you earn then 17.5% when you spend it in the shops…………. It isn’t fair you even get the good whether as well. I will have to move out to Singapore when I retire!!!!!!!!!

Regards Olddog

I think the problem is that your gov. has to support lots of welfare. Where do you think all those money comes from. Imagine that you get paid when you do not work in your country. In Singapore, the gov. make you save up when you are young through CPF and then let you draw out your money when you retire.

This is the reason many Singaporean wants to migrate to Australia, New Zealand etc. Firstly they can draw on these welfares and secondly they can spend on their CPF as they do not need to work. Every day either go fishing or keep ranchu. How you wish you can work in Singapore when you are young and go back to UK for retirement and get paid for it.

Oh btw "lobang" is a Malay word for hole. How this word get mixed-up with its current meaning, I am not too sure.

[BlueBubble]

Singapore sounds a nice place to live. Super selection and decently priced fish.

What a contrast to the UK. I bet the government don’t tax you 30%-40% on what you earn then 17.5% when you spend it in the shops…………. It isn’t fair you even get the good whether as well. I will have to move out to Singapore when I retire!!!!!!!!!

Regards Olddog

Our Govt charge us GST 5% and all of us are already screaming

[BlueBubble]

I heard that only the lower grade of Japanese Black Babies from the Master Breeders in Japan makes it to Singapore. It seems that only way you can get a decent Japanese ranchu is to go to Thailand and buy it

Is this true? I thought this is only what some breeder in thailand and his parrots were trying to mislead us so that we will buy his products? If Singapore cannot get decent Jap ranchu, why not buy straight from Japan but must go to Thailand to buy? Doesnt make sense, does it?

[olddog]

Our Govt charge us GST 5% and all of us are already screaming 

Add another 5% local council tax and another 5% national insurance on top of all the rest in the UK.
Ship me out to S.G.

Olddog.

[BlueBubble]

Add another 5% local council tax and another 5% national insurance on top of all the rest in the UK.
Ship me out to S.G.

Olddog.

A higher tax in return for some freedom of speech may not be too expensive