proper etiquette in a lfs.

[runawaypencil]

We buy from a local guy so its win win for us a lot of his stuff we get for like 3-5 bucks.

That would be pretty much spot on for anything under 2-3 inchs as well and then colored male prices are a bit more .

[lilscoots]

I support my LFS by buying fish and some supplies from them.  They also buy fish from me for credit.  I work with this store for a couple of reasons.  They have at least 2 knowledgeable employees on at all times.  They keep their tanks healthy.  They do not sell fish from tanks that have a health issue if something comes up.  And they have a very good selection of fish - tropical, new world, old world, salt.

[danielratti]

Its normally 2-3 for 2-3 inch 5 for colored males.

[Ron]

But it drives me crazy when I have a list of 15 ish  different cichlids and they want to tell you everything is only worth a buck.  When we all know they pay more then that when they order there fish from out of state not to mention the cost of shipping and packaging and the DOA that occurs. So it all drives me a little crazy especially when it is a small LFS,

I've had that experience too. The best reasoning I've come up with on why they want to spend less buying from you than they are willing to from their wholesaler is that their wholesaler has minimum order amounts necessary typically and will always have more fish. If they start buying from a different source, they'd tick off their wholesaler. Some of us do/could breed enough to keep them supplied, but in general the public is full of flakes, so if the private breeder they are buying from suddenly drops off the map, they may be SOL. So there's a balance of risk and reward - they'll risk buying from a guy who walks in the shops with fish for sale if they get an advantage on pricing, otherwise they just stick with the wholesaler IME.