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Bubble Magus is getting serious about their line of cone skimmers. If you’ve been living in a cave lately, Bubble Magus is known for making copy cat designs, they are after all located in China. However, they have come to terms with one of their biggest complaints in what pump they use to power their skimmers. With their new line, expect to see Eheim and Aquabee pumps which are the bread and butter in terms of efficiency in protein skimming. We are told that these skimmers are still in production and it will be an additional few months before you will be able to get these skimmers on store shelves. Consider us interested.
Thanks Spy!
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This thing has 12 Comments
I wonder if they’ll just copy those pumps or if they’ll actually use those pumps. Expect to see the dirt cheap pricing get a bit more pricier
After my dealings with them i would not be surprised.
We recently had talks with them to distribute the line until we found out they are selling them direct out of China through EBAY at the same rates that dealers are supposed to buy them in for in the USA.
One skimmer distributes for $67 they gave us a MAP of $249.00 then with some research found the same unit on ebay for $120.00!!
Do the maths taking into account shipping and import duties!
I was assurd this would change but it never did so we ended communication
Mike, they are using the actual eheim/AB pump for their skimmer(s). if you go to the China forum, they show all the detail images for their cylinder model and done really well to mod the venturi to match their pumps(with air meter connected).
michael, couldn’t agree more. i have deal with the ebay seller for few times, it only take few days to get the item landed to OZ. price is great compare to local importer.
Yes this is the issue though for Bubble magus to be taken seriously they must not povide distributors with one price but then sell the units massively cheaper on the global trash market, they never will get a good name this way and people will always distrust them.
We offered them a muti thousand $$ purchase contract and they came back with MAP prices they were selling via eBay at half the distribution rate.
Bubble Magus have the chance to go into main stream supply but they have shot themselves in the foot by embracing the eBay route and not abiding to their own pricing policies.
USA clients will not in the main buy from China especially off of eBay as it is an impossibility to return anything Chinese,, customs charges manufactuers full market price for all returns and also levies taxes on top.
If they remove themselves from eBay and honour their own pricing structure i will open channels again. It is a shame they have gone down this route.
I am quite sure some USA dealers will import some from them and hope their clients dont find them on eBay but the risk to purchase container loads of goods and then have the Map price carpet swept from under you is far too great here.
yes, i had the same issue , i could pay retail and almost beat the distributor pricing. pointed that out to them last year.
Cones are just a fad anyway!
Why would more surface contact with side wall skim better? If it is considered main stream junk then you would not want to redistribute it and make money off Chinese sweat shops. They are low margin items like Coralife Calcium reactors that no acrylic shop can touch. Doesn’t mean they can’t work though.
This is the point, they are not main stream junk, the company just have not worked out how to break into main stream supply and have shot themselves badly in the foot!
How do you know that? Ebay at Chinese prices might sell more units than you can marking them up 50-100%. If quality is good and word gets out on ReefCentral and others boards, they might be huge. Usual distribution channels are not always best.
Until your the poor guy that ends up with the duff unit and can not return it to China due to customs restrictions.
But you are missing the point here, Bubble Magus are trying to open distribution channels with respected North American distributors but offering them prices that are not much cheaper than what they sell on ebay, in effect undercutting their own price lists by as much as 50%. No distributor will take that seriously.
If they were just happy with the flea bay market then fine, clients can then take the risk of purchasing direct. But dont then try and get dealers or distributors to buy in at fake distributed prices.
Distributors are there for a reason to support the end user when things go wrong, they have the correct paths in place for dealing with warranties. If Bubble Magus can get their channels sorted out, i agree they will be big players, I have no doubt.
I see your point if they are making original contact to you. To be taken seriously even on Ebay, a US contact is required. (Which in reality is what they will end up doing). Ratings would reflect buyer more accurately as Ebay is tilting tables towards buyers lately.
Unfortunately these high end acrylic tube parts are an easy target in the future. I have dabbled in this market and only thing distributors want is lower prices and reflect all problems back to manufacturer anyway. At least in North America. I lost interest quickly as many others do when someone filling orders make the same money or more than manufacturing. It would be unfair to give out any brand names.
Thanks for interesting info!!
As a side note I sold my remaining stock on ebay and did in fact make a higher profit.
I would pay a little more from U.S. retailer than MFG direct on ebay if only for piece of mind that I would receive 120V pump.