How do people ship plants and fish on here?

I am starting to breed fish and im wanting to start by selling to my lfs. When and if I ship fish how do you do it? I know hobbyist do it so they arent professional fish breeders that ship internationally. Also how would I ship plants. And would you do payments by pay pal? And how do you ship in summer or winter? And what type of shipping should you do? Im not doing this a main or even part time job. Its just for fun and I'll hopefully cover some costs of the hobby. Im 14 and live with my parents so I dont have to worry about water and heating bills. Any way im getting off topic

 

I am starting to breed fish and im wanting to start by selling to my lfs. When and if I ship fish how do you do it? I know hobbyist do it so they arent professional fish breeders that ship internationally. Also how would I ship plants. And would you do payments by pay pal? And how do you ship in summer or winter? And what type of shipping should you do? Im not doing this a main or even part time job. Its just for fun and I'll hopefully cover some costs of the hobby. Im 14 and live with my parents so I dont have to worry about water and heating bills. Any way im getting off topic

Yes PayPal is most common and easiest way to collect payment. Unless the customers bank account is linked to PayPal YOU will be charged 2.9% +.30 cents be aware and work into cost. If I sell a pack of shrimp for $30 I get $28.83 in my account.

I use medium if it fits it ships boxes with USPS. $15 for priority mail. Most people only ship on mondays and Tuesdays to insure package gets there by the end of the week.

When temperatures are too far out of acceptable range for fish in area you ship to. Some ad heat pad or cooling pad or just dont ship. with shrimp I just simply wont ship on really hot weeks. Or during snow. Also depends the species of animal. Shrimp are less susceptible to temperature than say a discus. So depends what your shipping. Also insulate box with styrofoam then surround your bag with newspapers. This helps with slowing temperature swings.

 

I tested this out for myself by ordering from several different sources, just to see how everyone packs and ships. I've ordered from business and people on this site and I've gotten plants and fish, snails and shrimp and have basically figured out how to ship myself by taking notes on everyone's technique.

You might be able to look up unboxing videos on YouTube, that way you can see the way the foam insulation goes and the way fish etc are packaged.

Plan on spending money on supplies though. Foam insulation, heat or cold packs, good bags in sizes relative to what you're shipping.

 

I tested this out for myself by ordering from several different sources, just to see how everyone packs and ships. I've ordered from business and people on this site and I've gotten plants and fish, snails and shrimp and have basically figured out how to ship myself by taking notes on everyone's technique.
You might be able to look up unboxing videos on YouTube, that way you can see the way the foam insulation goes and the way fish etc are packaged.

Same here. Then I also got to reuse their styrofoam and not buy. Lol

I am starting to breed fish and im wanting to start by selling to my lfs. When and if I ship fish how do you do it? I know hobbyist do it so they arent professional fish breeders that ship internationally. Also how would I ship plants. And would you do payments by pay pal? And how do you ship in summer or winter? And what type of shipping should you do? Im not doing this a main or even part time job. Its just for fun and I'll hopefully cover some costs of the hobby. Im 14 and live with my parents so I dont have to worry about water and heating bills. Any way im getting off topic

Ps. What fish are you breeding?

 

For plants

- Reuse packing material which you have at home first (e.g. carton, plastic boxes for grapes, bubble warp etc.) before buying anything.

- Ask in shops if you may have some of their packing material which they don't need anymore.

 

Same here. Then I also got to reuse their styrofoam and not buy. Lol


Ps. What fish are you breeding?

Right now I have Yellow Lab Red Zebra hybrids, about 65 babies and breeds every chance she gets. In the future I want to try RCS. My kribs are also breeding but havent learned that they shouldnt eat their eggs yet. Its their second batch. Then later on I want to breed dantum angels or maybe altums but they require daily 50% wcs ?. Then maybe apistos and GBRS.

Some people ship plants in ziplocs and with wet paper towel around it I definitely would ship plants before fish. So should I do that or how else would I pack it?

I just looked over at my 125 and found little white babies swimming around the parents! Theres about 20-30 of them! I hope they survive. I already have a tank setup up. Should I take out the babies? I want them to live

 

Wet paper towels are great but pay attention that they are not too wet.
Seal ziploc with packaging tape.
Otherwise a soggy letter /parcel may arrive.

 

There are countless videos on shipping fish on YouTube.

Everyone uses some kind of insulation. One common method is to get styrofoam sheets from the home store and cut it to fit into your boxes. However it can get messy cutting styrofoam.

A commonly used shipping method used to be USPS and the flat rate shipping boxes. The USPS provides different size boxes for free. If it fits, it ships. Small boxes are around $15 to ship, larger ones are around $20. The problem these days is the 2-3 day shipping has turned into up to a week. I used to ship USPS 2-3 day (2 days to a larger metro area, 3 days to a more rural destination), but the last time I shipped that way it took five days, the water was ice cold when it arrived, and several fish were DOA. My theory is that most of the planes in the fleets are parked in the desert right now, and everything has to go ground. That's why it takes longer and there's not temperature control. It used to be that they'd travel most of their journey on cargo jets.

There are heat packs and cool packs available for shipping during cold or warm temperatures. You need to monitor your weather and the weather of the destination to determine whether you need to add temperature control to the shipment.

I'd recommend practicing before you launch. Either find someone who also wants to practice and trade fish or plants. You ship them some, they ship you some. Test the water both directions. Trade information. Another thing you can do is ship fish or plants for the cost of shipping. That way you can work out the kinks before you start selling.

A couple of legalities. If you sell fish or plants, yes, you are a professional. There are state laws on the ability to ship fish or plants. You will technically owe tax on your income or profit. If it's just a few bucks here and there it's not like you'll have agents pounding on your door, but if you're successful you'll need to start treating it like a business (which it is, no matter how much activity). Also, you're 14, and you can't enter into any contracts. I don't know for sure but I'll bet PayPal doesn't let you join unless you're 18. You might need the help of parents to get things set up.

 

There are countless videos on shipping fish on YouTube.

Everyone uses some kind of insulation. One common method is to get styrofoam sheets from the home store and cut it to fit into your boxes. However it can get messy cutting styrofoam.

A commonly used shipping method used to be USPS and the flat rate shipping boxes. The USPS provides different size boxes for free. If it fits, it ships. Small boxes are around $15 to ship, larger ones are around $20. The problem these days is the 2-3 day shipping has turned into up to a week. I used to ship USPS 2-3 day (2 days to a larger metro area, 3 days to a more rural destination), but the last time I shipped that way it took five days, the water was ice cold when it arrived, and several fish were DOA. My theory is that most of the planes in the fleets are parked in the desert right now, and everything has to go ground. That's why it takes longer and there's not temperature control. It used to be that they'd travel most of their journey on cargo jets.

There are heat packs and cool packs available for shipping during cold or warm temperatures. You need to monitor your weather and the weather of the destination to determine whether you need to add temperature control to the shipment.

I'd recommend practicing before you launch. Either find someone who also wants to practice and trade fish or plants. You ship them some, they ship you some. Test the water both directions. Trade information. Another thing you can do is ship fish or plants for the cost of shipping. That way you can work out the kinks before you start selling.

A couple of legalities. If you sell fish or plants, yes, you are a professional. There are state laws on the ability to ship fish or plants. You will technically owe tax on your income or profit. If it's just a few bucks here and there it's not like you'll have agents pounding on your door, but if you're successful you'll need to start treating it like a business (which it is, no matter how much activity). Also, you're 14, and you can't enter into any contracts. I don't know for sure but I'll bet PayPal doesn't let you join unless you're 18. You might need the help of parents to get things set up.

I have an account with my dads credit card. I can also use his account if need be.