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What's the whole Aquabid thing?

6/9/2014

 
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Aquabid is the ebay of fish, where you can buy anything from bettas to snails to plants to posters to filters. They have it all! For the most part, using the site is simple and straight-forward. However, the process of buying a Thai fish from a breeder gets complicated in the betta realm. Here's a small blurb on what it's like to deal with the breeder, the transshipper, what to expect, and how to stay informed. 

So, you've found your fish on the site and its beautiful. Assuming you've made an account (it's free), you can bid on the fish. I won't go into detail about bidding right now, but bid what you feel comfortable or use the "buy now" option if there is one. If/when you win, you will have time to pay the breeder or pay right away; this option is best lest you forfeit for non-payment (and get a bad rating...). The breeder will charge you their shipping fee (which is usually quite reasonable). This shipping cost is the cost from the breeder to the transshipper in your country. 

Once that is all set and the breeder ships to the transshipper, it'll be fully out of their hands and fully into yours. They sold you the product and now it's done! Your transshipper (literally an import agent) is in control of your item. It is wise to read up on the people in your area; generally, you can choose who you want. These folks tend to be spread across a region and it makes the most sense to choose someone closest to you or to a major shipping hub/city. 

Typically, you tell the breeder who you want to ship to, get in contact with them, all that. Breeders usually have transshipper info at the bottom of their auction listing.

Now you've paid your fish's price and the breeder's shipping fee. Your transshipper will get in touch and tell you their price; as the fish will then be (typically) unboxed, allowed to rest in a small tank, and then re-boxed up to get to you, this price can be a little steeper than you may expect. It's a good idea to get the quickest shipping speed possible from your transshipper. 

The transshipper's fee is paid through whatever means they accept (usually Paypal) and they ship based on weather, fish health, and payment clearing. They usually have their own pages that tell you their policies, so make sure you look it up!

Your fish will then get to you, and tada! You're set.

Here's a scenario:

A black halfmoon male is for sale from seller ThailandFish4u for $20 auction or $25 Buy Now. You elect to save some time and Buy Now. The fish, based on the seller's listed price, will be $5 to ship from him.

You pay these two fees and are out $30.

You get in contact with the breeder and choose a transshipper nearest your area named Jane Doe. Jane Doe is contacted, things are arranged, and you pay her shipping and handling fee of $35. 

You wait a number of weeks, because it takes time to pack the fish in Thailand, ship it, get it in your country, have the shipper let it recover, and box it up again. In total, you've spent $65 when you get the fish.

And that's it! It's fairly simple. Most Thai breeders have FAQ pages (like this one) and most shippers have their own websites. Language barriers, lack of communication, and more are all issues that may crop up. Your fish may die and you'll only get back the initial $25. It's up in the air: are you willing to play this game of chance? If it makes you nervous or you do not like to deal with people business-wise, buying in your area/country is a better option.

Hopefully that quick spiel helps! When in doubt, ask your seller or shipper! :) 

ACK! Messages everywhere!!!

1/2/2014

 
These past few weeks have been hectic! Unfortunately, with a boom in BSp's popularity, the site's contact info and facebook page has received hundreds of messages in only a few days regarding questions about specific fishy cases. Normally, I would go through the messages and reply, but about 90% concerned things easily answered through reading our guides, which was frustrating and got repetitive. I have decided to stop answering questions for this reason. (Sorry!!) Forums that are trustworthy (non-betta, too!!) can give tailored information about the specific questions one may have.

Once you've found a forum that looks good, has lots of members, and knows what's up, post! Remember to give ALL the information you possibly can. Pictures are usually a must.

Add:
Tank size, water change frequency, number of animals in the tank/ their species, how long you've had the betta, how often/much the fish is fed, (if you have it) water parameters like pH hardness ammonia nitrate and nitrite levels, any decor that is not 100% made for fish, if the tank has a filter, if it has a heater (it should!), what temperature, special notes/symptoms, etc.

I (and BSp) don't affiliate with any fish-specific forum, but will likely make a guide on how to best use a forum and how to get the answers you need fast and effectively very soon :) !

If you've received a reply from BSp already, I will continue to reply to your questions until everything's all set, don't worry. We'll continue what we started!

Wooooohooooo!!!

12/22/2013

 
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Heck yeah!! In only two days, a lot has gotten done! Just now DIY Dividers has been made live. Check it out here!

Various other pages have been updated, Salt Dips and You is up and running, and the Feedback page has better, more user-tailored responses for you to use. Weee!

On a similarly exciting note, I've been tracking down what sites link to BettaSplendid and have found lots and lots of people finding this site useful! That makes my heart soar! Thanks, everyone. Here are a few snapshots of places that have linked us or used this site. As always, feel free to distribute the information found here but remember to have courtesy and always link back! 

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Burd is a lovely friend of mine!
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It's that time of year again...

12/21/2013

 
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As some of you may know, I'm horrible about updating this site. I usually only am able to while on holiday from college, which is only once or twice in a year. 

Well... It's that time of year again! I plan to add a number of things to the site and try and give it a fresh new face, considering many guides and posts are quite old and need a boost.

No promises on what's coming (because even I don't know!!) but I hope you enjoy everything and continue to be great betta fans!

Thanks again to everyone for helping bettasplendid reach 100,000+ hits! You've made my little side project bloom from something I never once thought people would read into a top-ish hitting page on Google! That's lovely. I hope it can continue to rise and spread good, correct information in a sea of cruddy pages.

Love ya!! c : <3

In the works:
  • Much-need revamp of the Day One guide
  • Migration of how to make a divider post from tumblr
  • More photos
  • General re-vamps
  • New header photos


Finished!:
  • The Re-institution of BettaSplendid's facebook page is All set! "Like" us here!
  • We're now on Twitter! Follow us here!
  • How to do a salt dip (updated and finally published from 2012!!)

Blog! Blog! Blog! ♥

5/18/2011

0 Comments

 
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Woohoo! We have a blog, people! It is here that I will be posting updates about site traffic, new articles, Blurbs (short articles not posted where articles are) and everything else going on at Betta Splendid! ♥


Some exciting things going on at Betta Splendid:

Finrot 101 is coming to the disease section! It will be a basic reference for finrot; how to recognize, how to treat and how to prevent. If you are from bettafish.com and have photos of advanced fin rot you took and would like to contribute, please private message me (Pewpewpew) or email me!

Fish-in Cycling quick guide is coming under Habitats soon! This will be a guide that is more in-depth than most guides, including when and how much to do for water changes, what you need to test the water, and how to make sure your fish is safe! Very exciting! :D

General Q&A questions asked by bettafish.com members will be answered! Thank you to all who asked questions, I hope to get to all of them quickly. ♥ This will also be posted to bettafish.com once there is enough questions posted. This will be an ongoing project, and new questions and answers will be posted first on the blog!

BettaSplendid is on Facebook! Check out the fan page of this site on facebook! There are "like" buttons on many pages where you can become a fan, or you can click here! There will be posts similar to this blog about updates, new features, etc. If you like this site, become a fan! This is a great way to leave feedback about what you want from this site! :D


Some recent site changes and updates:

We've got guides! The Easy Care Plant Guide is up and in the Habitats section. Your Betta- Day One!, a guide to your first days and prep to betta keeping, is up in the Care section.

Photos, graciously used with permission from bettafish.com members and friends, are located in the Photos! section. If you have allowed a photo to be posted, please look under the Thank you! tab to check you've been credited with your desired name. If you wish to have a different name than what is posted, please contact me via bettafish.com or email me.

Please check out the Your Imput section, the polls and forms located there help me better understand who is visiting this site and what they're looking to get out of the site. This is a great way to help me help you! :D

You can also contact me via the emails located in the Contact section with concerns, complaints or suggestions for the site. I will do my best to accommodate all emails. Please use the correct email address when contacting me to help me get to you fastest!


And finally, a big thank you to:

♥ All friends and fellow members of bettafish.com who have granted permission to use their beautiful pictures. I really appreciate your help and absolutely love them! ♥
♥ Nippyfish.net, who kindly allowed a link to their fantastic betta site! Please check this site out, its one of my favorites! ♥

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    Author

    Alyssa is a betta-crazy chick dedicated to bettering the lives of Betta Fish by giving owners tools and information to keep these creatures their happiest!

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