Sooner or later a healthy colony makes the decision for you: there are more shrimp than the tank can hold, and some of them need to go somewhere. Selling the surplus is the obvious answer, and for most hobbyists it's genuinely straightforward — but there are a couple of rules worth knowing before you post an advert, and one that isn't optional at all.
A caveat first, and we mean it. We breed and sell shrimp; we are not lawyers or accountants, the rules change, and they differ across the UK. Everything below is a pointer to check, not legal or tax advice. Where something here might apply to you, the people to ask are your local council and HMRC — not a shrimp website.
The one rule that isn't up for debate
Start with the hard limit, because it's the only part with no grey in it: never release surplus shrimp into the wild. Not into a pond, a stream, a canal, a ditch, or a drain that feeds one. Neocaridina are not native to the UK, and releasing non-native species into the wild is illegal here. Set the law aside and it's still ecologically reckless, because a hardy animal that breeds as fast as a cherry is exactly the kind of introduction that goes wrong.
A British winter would probably see most of them off, but "probably" is no basis for a release, and the law doesn't weigh your good intentions. If you genuinely can't rehome shrimp, keep them in a spare tank or ask a local shop or aquarist group to take them — there's more on humane routes for surplus in our guide to culling explained. There is always a better option than the waterway.
Hobby surplus or a business? The line that matters
This is the question most hobbyists actually want answered, and the honest reply is that it depends — and where it depends is on your local council. The broad shape of it runs like this. Selling the occasional bag of surplus from your own tank sits at one end; running what amounts to a pet-selling business — regular sales, real volume, advertising, buying in to sell on — sits at the other. Somewhere between the two you cross from a hobby into an activity that may need a licence.
In England, the relevant framework is the Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) Regulations 2018, which made selling animals as a business a licensable activity administered by local councils. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have their own separate arrangements. What none of these do is print a tidy "you may sell exactly this many shrimp" figure, which is why the grey area is real: whether your selling counts as a business is a judgement, and the only people who can tell you where you stand are your council's licensing team. If you're moving beyond the odd surplus batch, or you're in any doubt at all, ask them before you advertise. It's usually a free phone call, and it settles the question far better than any paragraph on a shrimp site can.
The tax side: the trading allowance
Money you make selling shrimp is, in principle, income, and HMRC has a say in it. The part most casual sellers lean on is the trading allowance, which lets individuals earn a small amount from casual trading each year — a thousand pounds at the time of writing — without needing to declare it. Earn above that from your selling and you may need to tell HMRC and complete a self-assessment return.
We've deliberately not treated that figure as gospel, because allowances and thresholds change, and how they apply depends on your wider circumstances — whether you already have other side income, for instance. Check the current HMRC guidance, or speak to an accountant, before you assume you're under the line. For most people shifting a little honest surplus a year it's a non-issue; if your selling is growing into the kind of operation we describe in breeding shrimp for profit, it's worth getting straight early rather than late.
Where hobbyists actually sell
With the rules parked, here's the practical bit. Surplus from a home colony tends to move through the same handful of channels:
- Local aquarist groups and clubs. The friendliest market, usually in person, which skips postage entirely and lets the buyer see the colony they're buying from. Many areas have an aquatic society running tables or the occasional auction.
- Online hobbyist marketplaces and forums. Facebook groups and the general marketplaces reach a wide audience, but they carry the usual risks of dealing with strangers, and those cut both ways. We cover the buyer's-eye view of these in eBay and Facebook shrimp.
- A local fish shop. Some independent shops will take healthy, well-graded shrimp in exchange for store credit, occasionally cash. Call ahead rather than turning up with a bag; a shop already well stocked with cherries won't want more, and they'll expect clean, uniform stock.
- Collection in person. The sleeper best option for livestock — no shipping stress, the buyer sees exactly what they're getting, and you dodge the packaging faff altogether.
Where buyers go looking, and how sellers are judged from the other side of the deal, is laid out in our guide to where to buy cherry shrimp in the UK.
Sell like someone you'd buy from
Whichever channel you use, the reputation you build is the whole game, and it comes down to honesty. Grade honestly: a standard cherry is a standard cherry, never a Sakura or a Fire Red it doesn't hold, and our grades guide is the shared yardstick to price against. Sell only healthy, active shrimp, and never off a tank that's had a recent death or a disease scare. If you post them, pack them properly — breather bags or a good air gap, cover in the bag, an insulated box, and a heat pack in winter, exactly as we set out in how shrimp are shipped — and stand behind them with a fair dead-on-arrival policy.
The best test of your own selling is the ten questions a careful buyer will ask you: what water, how old, which line, photos, culling policy, DOA cover, how you'll ship. If you can answer all ten quickly and honestly, you're already the kind of seller this small hobby trusts and comes back to.
Pricing your surplus
Keep it grounded in what shrimp actually fetch. Standard-grade cherries go for around £2–4 each, and genuinely high-grade groups at £30–50 per 10, with the rarer, better-fixed lines at the top of that band — more on what moves a shrimp within that range is in our price guide. Undercutting wildly to shift numbers fast helps nobody: it drags the local market down and signals, fairly or not, that something's off with your stock. Price honestly for the grade, sell in tens where postage is involved so the parcel is worth sending, and let a name for good shrimp do the rest.
Our own colony is rebuilding after we scaled the tanks back, so we're on the buying side ourselves just now — but when we're back in surplus, graded stock goes to the restock waitlist first.
FAQ
Do I need a licence to sell cherry shrimp in the UK?
Possibly, if your selling crosses from occasional hobby surplus into what counts as a pet-selling business. In England that's governed by the Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) Regulations 2018, with separate arrangements in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. There's no fixed number of shrimp that draws the line, so whether you need a licence is a judgement for your local council. If you're scaling up or unsure, ask them before advertising. This is a pointer to check, not legal advice.
Do I have to pay tax on shrimp I sell?
You might. HMRC's trading allowance lets individuals earn a small amount from casual selling each year — a thousand pounds at the time of writing — before it needs declaring, and above that you may need to complete a self-assessment return. Thresholds and how they apply to your circumstances change, so check current HMRC guidance or ask an accountant rather than relying on a figure from a shrimp site. For most casual sellers it isn't an issue in practice.
Can I release my extra cherry shrimp into a pond or river?
No — never. Neocaridina are not native to the UK, and releasing non-native species into the wild is illegal, as well as ecologically harmful. This holds even though a cold winter would likely kill most of them; "likely" is no basis for releasing a fast-breeding species. If you can't rehome surplus shrimp, keep them in a spare tank or ask a local shop or aquarist group to take them.
Where can I sell my surplus cherry shrimp?
The common routes are local aquarist groups and society auctions, online hobbyist marketplaces and Facebook groups, and local fish shops that take healthy graded stock for credit. Collection in person is the easiest for livestock, because it skips shipping entirely and lets the buyer see the colony. Wherever you sell, grade honestly and only move healthy shrimp — reputation is everything in a hobby this small.
Can I sell my shrimp to a pet or aquarium shop?
Often, yes. Many independent aquatic shops will take healthy, well-graded cherry shrimp in exchange for store credit, and sometimes cash. Ring ahead first: a shop already overrun with cherries won't need more, and they'll expect clean, uniform, honestly graded stock. It won't match the price of selling direct to another hobbyist, but it's quick, local, and shifts numbers without any posting at all.