Buying a Betta online?

Anyone know of good, reliable sites where I could purchase a Betta? Particularly specific breeds of Betta?

 

Have you tryedbetta talk? I've never gotten anything from her (still don't actually own a betta yet heh)... but she seems like she'd be a very reliable person to get bettas from.

 

Don't know personally, but one site that has been mentioned here, beyond ebay, is

Mike

 

Here are the Bettas I got from Miami Aquariums or . They will attempt to find you any type of betta that you want and are very accomodating. Their fish are also the healthiest fish I have seen.

Rose

 

It looks like miamiaquariums.net hasn't been updated for a while.

Do they even ship to Canada? I couldn't find that anywhere on the site.

 

They will make arrangements to ship to other countries to my understanding. I believe that kerryve is looking into getting a female halfmoon from them and she lives in South Africa. They do not have their site updated but they do have merchandise on eBay and will order a fish for you if you know what you want. The pictures that they have on the site of the different types and colors are simply a sampling to show you what the fish can look like. The fish they sell on eBay are not fully finned yet and so when you see a picture of a crowntail or halfmoon please know that they will be growing more fins and be very beautiful. As far as that goes there are a lot of vendors on eBay but I do not know that they all ship to Canada.

Rose

 

I found a stunning 'Mustard Gas' crowntail on ebay, but the seller has only 4 feedback so I don't know how good it would be to buy through him.

Are there any sellers that anyone would recommend on ebay?

 

I've never used ebay Asinity so I couldn't recommend much...except for being careful! I don't think I'd buy from a seller that had only a few feedbacks. Of course, if the person isn't asking much for the Betta you're interested in, it might be worth taking the risk (and maybe loosing the money...if it isn't much).

I do know that ebay puts a lot of stock in the recommended, and good feedback, sellers. Maybe you can look on a bit and see if you can find a seller with more of a reputation?

Good Luck

 

You can look at it two ways, and I am NOT recommending anyone here. The people with few feedback notes have to start somewhere and the only way to get to know is to communicate with them. There is a place to "Ask Seller a Question" and I sometimes will communicate wiht them directily before I make a bid or not. I never let the "stars" do all the talking because they are only the number of people who have ordered from them through eBay. Go to the feedback section and see if they have had any repeat buyers. (they do not show up in the "stars") Read the feedback which has been left and see what the buyers have actually said. If they have not had negative or neutral feedback then they deserve to be given the chance if the item is something you really want, but if you doubt the item is what you want then don't place a bid. Before bidding on a fish on eBay you should ask about its age and what it is being fed and what the water parameters they are kept in. Sometimes this will tell you all you need to know...like if they are feeding them flake foods or if the parameters are way off out of limits. Or if the fish is too old.

I am getting ready to open an eBay account (not for fish) and I would hope the people looking at my merchandise would realize that every one of the vendors with thousands of new and longterm feedback began with none and someone who wanted what they had enough to give them a chance. BUT I am not saying to go against your heart and buy from someone you feel hinky about.

Rose

 

I've been using ebay since I was 15, (Yeah I know, too young for the rules... shhhh) but I've never had a problem except for a few buyers who were deadbeats on things I was selling. In fact I recently bought a tool for my job on ebay and the seller refunded me the money because he received it in the mail after it had been damaged beyond repair. Shame, because it was saving me $100, I'll be keeping an eye out for him again though.

The seller though has 3 feedback from buyers, the other from a seller. The buyers all claim to have been sold jewelery so I think he/she has just gotten into the fish trade. After speaking with their transshipper I can't say I'm too interested even though I love the betta. I don't like the idea of paying $20 for the fish, then another $50 for shipping. $70 for a betta seems very, VERY extreme and I think I will try my luck at a few of the specialty aquarium stores in the area before doing something like that. Atleast I know petsmart sells crowntails, just a matter of finding the colour I like I suppose.

Honestly, I'm considering breeding them someday. Being able to provide a local supply of the more rare bettas would sure be rewarding... I've got much to learn though, maybe I should consider apprenticing under chickadee? ;D

 

Yeah they are expensive some of them but I have no options here and so I pay for a betta more than I should...I just put a bid in on this beauty.

 

Wow...

That's all I gotta say to that... This is the one I was looking at;

 

I know, aren't they both pretty?? I looked at the Crowntails and Combtails they have but my heart belongs to the Halfmoons (I love all bettas though)

That is one beautiful Mustard Gas...

Rose

 

Oh no, now I've done it... I went on eBay and looked at the bettas. **drools** SO - PRETTY... I want an orange one or a mustard gas or... **dies**. I could even afford one, but I'm worried about the domestic shipping costs, I'm assuming its the store Nate came from, they ship from Thailand and the international shipping is only $5 but the domestic is extra.

 

The domestic shipping is $28 from the shipper that lives in Denver. I do not know about the others. I do not know which breeder you are looking into but the man who is selling me Nate had some orange beauties and a couple of pineapples that were pretty, all halfmoons except for one SuperDelta that I saw. He was beautiful and a bit more reasonable.

Rose

 

I buy all of my Thailand bettas on Aquabid. Just buy from a breeder with lots of good feedback.

 

I no longer go to Aquabid as I had problems with the vendor I tried to buy some snails from and I find that the eBay site has worked for me although I really prefer going direct to Miami Aquariums and deal with them rather than waiting out an auction. They will order me what I want.

Rose

 

I was going to get this lavender one , which someone is bidding on now, but I changed my mind
I went to Petsart yesterday and they have a ton of baby crowntails. I was looking through them and saw one almost identical to the one on ebay.



Natalie

 

LOL, that is the one Natalie was looking at...he is beautiful and looks so neat. He is a combtail and they are a bit more valuable than the standard crowntail. He is lovely for sure.

Rose

 

I no longer go to Aquabid as I had problems with the vendor I tried to buy some snails from and I find that the eBay site has worked for me although I really prefer going direct to Miami Aquariums and deal with them rather than waiting out an auction. They will order me what I want.

Rose

Aquabid is not a vendor though, they are just like eBay. Why would you boycot eBay because you had an issue with a seller, doesn't make sense. Also auctions don't last very long anyway, maybe 5 days at most for bettas and shipping is by air so it's very fast. With auctions I can pick and choose exactly which fish to bid on from many different sellers.

 

Where Rose chooses to buy her fish is her own choice. She is an expert on Bettas and I think she would knows best about where she wants to buy them. To be blunt I have a lot of respect for Rose and she is such a help to everyone on the forum, so it ticks me off that you have to so rudely call into question every little thing she says.

 

Thank you and I do appreciate the help but we need to get on to something else.

The atmosphere in this board has been strained for the past few days and I want to tell everyone that I am sorry things have been that way. We will go back to our old comfortable Betta Board and hopefully things will run a bit smoother now.

Thank you again,

Rose

 

AMEN!!!