Hi, Steve.
As a dealer (not a bad-guy/girl
) here is what we do...when we take a customer to Japan to buy fish, we mark up 20% above
our cost and charge for freight. If a customer is spending an extraordinary amount of money, then there is some flexibility on the percentage. This is our business, it is what we do for a living, otherwise...we would not be able to take customers with us.
When we are buying fish for only ourselves, it is a faster and simpler trip. But we have many customers that ask to go, who would like to see what it is all like. (We have seen many 'ikeage', mud pond pulls, so it is not alway as fascinating for us as it is to people who have never had the opportunity to see one. We
could just be at the greenhouses when the fish come in rather than spend time taking customers to famous breeder's ikeage.) But we also make sure that we host our guests well (that they are treated well; we help them with all the arrangements for transportation, hotel, and food; we do not leave them unattended; and that they can see beautiful koi in secret greenhouses, that they meet our friends the breeders: and that we all have fun.) Now that we are all lucky enough to have cell phones, we can talk to breeders and find out when they are pulling certain ponds (like #1 nisai or sansai pond) and plan to arrive when the fish arrive. These are experiences that a person travelling alone would not be able to do.
We enjoy doing this, but it is time consuming, and it is what we do for work.
Respectfully submitted for your consideration
.
Kari