Importing Bettas ??

[Kinda Fishey]

Hey Guys
Well, I've been clean of bettas for about the last 30 years , then I made the mistake of looking at some Beta webbsites, and Aqua-Bid . I was Hooked !
I ask around at several sites , and got less than enthusiastic responces . You know, Surprize shipping cost , getting fish not pictured. Heard some whole countries reffered to as " Thieves " ( sure , they were joking ? ) . Long waits . Sick fish. Not a lot of good news.
I was very suspicious , cause on the internet , antique- style, dosn't mean antique ,.
and Tibietan- silver is not silver... and... Buyer Beware !!.
I found two male bettas I really needed. I contacted the seller , Duenbetta , and Grandbetta , actually a husband and wife team Duen and Watt , in Thailand. They agreed to furnish a spawn sister matching the males , at an extra price. They advised me of a Transshipper, or Reshippper , in this case Linda Olsan in Colorado. I hadn't a clue about transshipper.
I learned from all of them , that I had to pay the shipping cost from Thailand to the Transshipper , usually ap. five bucks.
Then , if , you have bought from several dealers , the transshiper organizes your fish repackages them then sends them on to you , of course for a fee. More fish you buy, the less each fish cost to ship.
So after last moment , mind changes, and confussion, all caused by me. They all patiently , made everything work .
The bettas arrived right on time,, just as promised. All alive and healthy. After slowley accustoming them to the light,I put them in their 10 gal. divided tank.aged , cycled water , almond leaf included.
The males started flaring and building nest , the females flared at each other, and the males. hmmmmmm Life is good.
Having only experianced LFS bettas , I was surprized at how active , alert , vibrant
, and spirited , they all were.
The females match the males near perfect , as promised.
I don't have photos , yet ( maybe soon ) , Take my word for it, the bettas looked much better than their offering photos.
I guess you could say I am very, pleasantly surprized at the outcome.
I do not speak for all the sellers ,( though I believe most are good , honest folk ) just the two mentioned. Grandbetta, and Duenbetta, They have proven themselves , honest , generous , patient , and helpfull . I would do business with them , again , even without a photo.
Read the sellers feedback , no one hesitates to give negative input, if they have been treated badly.
Well , thats about all I know about shipping , bettas. Hope this helps a little

Luck with your bettas

KF

 

[ari]

Good Post.... im sure many out there would have taken note on this.
for all betta lover ...i suppose it would be an eye opener to go see and choose those betta yourself in thailand. i hope u all could somehow have that chance at least once in this life time.

 

[Kinda Fishey]

Thanks Ari
Thailand must be quiet an experiance , visiting the open air fish markets , thousands of bettas to choose from. I don't see how anyone gets any work done there .

Thailand might be in my future though. Because the other day , when I bought some more bettas , my wife told me I might as well move to Thailand , to be close to those bettas. She might have been joking ??, She sure wasnt smiling when she said it though.
Have a good'n
KF

 

[The_Gilly]

Could you possibly forward me their details as I would like to import some bettas.

 

[Allix]

gilly could you let me know how much they charge you for postage?

Getting things shipped to the UK is very costly

 

[Kinda Fishey]

Gilly
Did you mean details about the sellers and transshippers ?

 

[black angel]

i thought you couldnt have any fish shipped to the u.k unless you had a licence to do so or customs would get you. is this true or not?

 

[Bettaman]

its at your own risk they will ship ems but if they are opened at customs then thats the risk you take, 4-5 days to get to you? postage is $40.00 which is £20.00 on the price of the fish and Gilly dune is a good person i agree,i have spoke to him over the INTERNET and emailed him a few time may be getting some giants from him on my next shipment....... bearing in mind kinda-fishy has gone through a trans hipper so it was done through someone with an import license

 

[Kinda Fishey]

I think the easiest way is (at least on aqua-bid),above the discription of the fish, in the data section. Go to " Ask The Seller A Question ". E-Mail the seller. They will cheerfully answer all your questions , tell you about your choice of transshippers, maybe strike a deal with you about cost of additional fish . Then E-Mail the transshipper , get details. They're not going ship anything unlawfully. I don't like surprises, so I get the cost details out of the way, before I place the first bid.
I wait untill I've bought the fish, before I start pestering them with questions about fishkeeping.
Works for me.
Happy bettas
KF

 

[Bettaman]

thats what I'm saying there is not a transhipper in the uk....so they are sent by post EMS which is not going through the DEFRA veterinary import, which is the legal way in this country,EMS takes 3-4 days, if in the future if i get more time i have agreed to do some transshipping for them but takes a lot to set up as the fish are sent to Singapore and then sent to UK received next day and the re shipped to customers i had some attached to my last shipment for a friend here in the UK so he just payed postage ,so still all the same cost as you would pay except possibly the UK tax VAT........ although i think you shippers in USA would pay some sort of TAX

 

[Kinda Fishey]

Opps !!
Sorry Bettaman
I didn't see your post , just prior to my last. Slow typist.
I didn't realize there were no transshippers in England. Sounds like a lot of fun,(and work) , for someone who has room for extra tanks . Besides you would become a national hero to all the fishkeepers.
In the US, we do have to pay some sort of import tax, about four bits a fish, I think. The transshipper usually includes this in the total cost quote.

 

[Bettaman]

They are actually cracking down as a few months ago now you could just give them 24 hours notice via a fax now you have to log with traces on the INTERNET log your business and local authority will then activate your registration and this covers the whole of Europe now so can ship any ware in EU on my licence..but each time i have an import i have to log on and inform DEFRA so they will be a the border inspection post to check the fish for disease and to See how they are shipped and what condition they are in......all costs...

 

[The_Gilly]

Sounds costly yet interesting.......

When you getting your next lot of fish in bettaman I might just drive up to your place and buy some instead!

 

[Bettaman]

Yes once i have installed all the new tanks i will get the order also my shipper is looking for solid white for me.......