The cost of tilapia fingerlings - winter 2021
The list below shows the total price after shipping for 50 blue tilapia fingerlings from the most visible Internet dealers and others who have requested to be on this list. Many of them advertise a low up-front cost only to recover their profits in the form of very inflated shipping and handling charges. An insulated shipping box and materials to hold 50 tilapia fingerlings costs less than $6. A properly packed shipment of 50 one inch fish currently costs $13.20 for priority postage. If you are being asked to spend more than more than $19 for shipping, packaging and handling for 50 tilapia fingerlings then you are paying too much.
Prices for 50 blue tilapia fingerlings
| Website | Total | Tilapia | Shipping |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lakewaytilapia.com | $58.50 | $39.50 | $19 |
| AquaponicsFish.net | $58.50 | $39.50 | $19 |
| MineralSpringsTilapia.com | $58.50 | $39.50 | $19 |
| Blue-Tilapia.com | $58.50 | $39.50 | $19 |
| BackyardTilapia.com | $69 | $69 | $0 |
| NatureCoastTilapia.com | $77 | $55 | $22 |
| TilapiaDepot.com | $84.50 - $126.50 | $62.50 | $22 - $64 |
| LiveAquaponics.com | $131.99 - $161.99 | $87 | $44.99 - $74.99 |
| AquaponicsUSA.com | $170 | $170 | $0 |
About tilapia fingerling shipping
Many live tilapia sellers would have you believe that fingerlings need to be packed in poly bags with oxygen and FedEx'd overnight. This is simply not true. The fact is that the US Postal service has a contract with FedEx to fly live animals to their destinations. If you buy live tilapia online and are more than a few hundred miles from the seller then your fish will always fly on FedEx. Modern technology has developed special bags that allow oxygen to pass into the water even in a closed box. So paying to ship a large volume of oxygen just isn't necessary.
Accept the fact that you are not a tilapia fingerling. You need much more oxygen than they do. Don't imagine that they are suffocating just because you would be. After all, you can't breathe underwater either. According to one tilapia seller, their live fish shipments are designed to survive for up to nine days in transit.
Price is only part of the picture
Considering the price of your tilapia fingerlings should only be part of your selection process. Other important factors should include the level of information and assistance being offered by the seller. You should also think about who might gain access to your personal information. At least two of the websites above use foreign platforms that are outside of US consumer protection laws. Another site requires that you send your information over a non-secure connection. Four of the websites above post incredibly inaccurate information about tilapia weights and sizes.
Tilapia for 69¢ and 10¢ each
For those of you looking for the lowest published prices on tilapia, look no further than Lakeway Tilapia and Americulture. Lakeway Tilapia is selling Tilapia for 69¢ each for as few as ten fish and Americulture is selling quantities of 100,000 and up for only 10¢ each. Bear in mind that these are published prices. As far as un-published prices and quantities are concerned, Amiericulture offers custom quotes on orders of 100 tilapia fingerlings or less and Lakeway Tilapia does the same for large orders. I did get a quote for 100,000 fingerlings from Lakeway and they price-matched Americulture. At the time of this writing I have not received my estimate for 100 fingerlings from Americulture.