While you can find cheap goldfish for sale in just about any pet store, it can be a lot harder to source rare types of fish in your local brick-and-mortar shops. Internet shopping allows you to browse from a much larger selection and have your fish delivered straight to your door! Let’s talk about where to buy goldfish online.
11 Best Websites For Buying Goldfish
Let’s take a look at some of the most popular places on the internet to find goldfish for sale:
1. King Koi And Goldfish
If you’re looking for fancy goldfish for sale online, then check out the premium options from King Koi and Goldfish. They specialize in the rare Chinese, Japanese and Thai goldfish breeds and have hundreds of fish to choose from. You can even search by your desired goldfish’s color, variety or size.
2. Live Aquaria
One of my favorite websites for buying fish is Live Aquaria, and I can give them my personal seal of approval. They’ve been in the online business for many years and have some of the highest quality fish and best prices around. While they don’t offer as many options as the specialty goldfish stores, they are a great place to source some of the more common fancy varieties like Black Moors and Orandas.
3. Kodama Koi Farm
If you want to keep Koi, this website has everything you need to get started. Kodama Koi Farm sells top-quality Koi, fish food, as well as Tamasaba Goldfish. They run regular auctions where fish are sold to the highest bidder, and there’ a blog that’s packed with interesting, informative articles, too.
The company was founded in Japan back in 1967 by expert Koi enthusiasts. Today, the company has a formidable reputation as the largest importer and distributor of superior-quality Japanese Nishikigoi in the U.S.
4. The iFish Store
The iFish Store is a newer online option for buying goldfish, although their physical location has been in business for over 20 years. They offer a seasonal collection of fancy goldfish at very low prices, but don’t maintain a consistent supply, so you’ll have to select and order your fish quickly when they’re available.
5. eBay
A great place to find both common and rare goldfish for sale online is on eBay! A large variety of stores and breeders sell goldfish there, and you can search by the type or color you prefer. Of course, you’ll have to read the fine print and research the seller’s history, but this is a helpful tool to find rare goldfish like the Watonai.
6. Next Day Koi
If you’re looking for some big and hardy goldfish for your outdoor pond, then you should check out the stock at Next Day Koi. They carry a large variety of single-tail goldfish perfect for unheated aquariums and ponds. Get a beautiful 7-inch long Shubunkin or Creamsicle Comet, or buy a group of younger goldfish and watch them grow.
7. Coast Gem USA
Coast Gem USA is an excellent option for buying show-quality fancy goldfish online. They typically have juvenile Ranchu, Orandas, Telescopes, Ryukin, Bubble-Eye, and Pearlscale goldfish for sale on their website. These fish are priced at premium rates and many are imported Thai varieties that are hard to find in the US.
8. Zhao’s Fancies
If you’d like to support a small family business and buy directly from a goldfish breeder, then you should consider some of the beautiful and unique fish sold at Zhao’s Farms. With a particular focus on rare Japanese varieties like the Jikin and Tosakin, they have more than 20 years experience in breeding premium goldfish. This husband, wife and dog team offers personal attention the bigger retailers find hard to match.
9. Facebook
There’s a couple of ways to buy live goldfish via Facebook. One of the easiest is to search for and join a group of goldfish fanciers. These groups are a great way to connect with other hobbyists and locate small goldfish breeders with unique or special fish for sale. But you can also use Facebook’s Marketplace to find “goldfish for sale near me” and keep everything local!
10. Goldfish Island
Goldfish Island evolved from a group of fish fanciers that teamed up to start a business importing and breeding show-quality goldfish. They offer a wide variety of juvenile fancy goldfish, including Thai Orandas, Tosakins and Butterfly morphs. They also sell some mature adult goldfish, and you can browse pictures of the specific individuals they have for sale on their website so you’ll know exactly what you’re buying.
11. Your Fish Store
Your Fish Store offers a huge number of aquatic animals and supplies from their two warehouses, since they sell entirely online and don’t have a retail location. Limiting staff and overhead expenses allows them to sell a large variety of common and fancy goldfish for rock-bottom prices. If you don’t need a $300 show fish and just want a beautiful group of fantails for your tank, this could be a good and inexpensive option!
12. Dandy Orandas
If you plan to raise show-quality fish, Dandy Orandas is the place to find the most stunning and rare imported goldfish. Unlike a pet store or retail shop, each individual goldfish is listed separately on the site and is sold via a weekly auction to the highest bidder. They offer a selection of the finest imported goldfish and many of these fish are not available anywhere else in the US.
Why Should You Buy Goldfish Online?
If you’ve only ever bought fish directly from a pet store, it may seem strange and potentially dangerous to shop for goldfish on the internet and have them shipped to you. But ordering fish through the mail has actually been the standard way aquatic shops have operated for a couple of decades, and it works like a charm!
Advantages Of Buying Goldfish Online
There are several advantages of ordering your goldfish online instead of buying them in-person from a pet store. In many cases, you’ll be shopping from the same wholesalers your local shop uses to source their goldfish, and will have access to breeders of rare and specialty fish as well!
Healthier Goldfish
Goldfish purchased directly from a breeder or online retailer are often a lot healthier than pet store stock, since in many cases they’re shipped directly from the supplier or breeder. They skip the stressful pet store stage! You still should quarantine your new goldfish for a few weeks before introducing them to your community.
- Big Box shops and pet stores with aquatic sections rarely provide proper care for their aquariums or quarantine new fish before they’re sold.
- Pet store fish are often stressed and exposed to diseases before you bring them home and may get sick soon after they’re introduced to your tank. This treatment prior to purchase can even reduce your goldfish’s lifespan!
Bigger Selection Available Online
When you shop for live fish on the internet, you’ll have a much larger selection and can find the exact color and type of goldfish you want, instead of being limited to what your local store has in stock that day. You can often find online sales events, or source rare and exotic goldfish imported from around the world!
Goldfish Are Delivered To Your Front Door Fast!
There’s no need to fight traffic or stand in line to have a magnificent goldfish aquarium! While buying from a store provides immediate gratification, it only takes a little longer for your goldfish to be delivered when you order them online.
- Live fish are fasted and safely packaged for the journey, and handled with care during shipping.
- Goldfish bought from online retailers are typically backed by live arrival and/or health guarantees, and they’ll provide assistance if you have questions or problems.
- With flat-rate shipping fees, large online orders are quite feasible and reasonably priced, so consider picking up some supplies or tank mates for your goldfish as well!
Conclusion
Buying goldfish online is the way to go if you want to avoid face-to-face contact, and it couldn’t be easier to have fish shipped right to your front door! Cut out the middleman at the pet store and get your fish directly from breeders and importers instead. Have you bought goldfish online? We’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments, or chime in on our social media pages.
