Blue Crab Trading

Ordered a bushel of blue crabs for delivery to NYC. Crabs were delicious, arrived in great shape and customer service was smooth and friendly.

«Its the time of year when the crabs March down the Chesapeake Bay for colder months. This is by far the best time of the year to buy MD crabs.» So proclaimed Blue Crab Trading in their email blast November 16, 2015.
We ordered two dozen large steamed crabs that arrived right on schedule. Packaging seemed first class, but four crabs were crushed. That didn’t phase us, but when we lifted the crabs from the cooler we knew we were in trouble — the lightest crabs I’ve experienced in over forty years of eating blue crabs! Experienced pickers, we struggled to find the meat, but gave up after six, then trashed the whole batch.
Very obscure policy, under «shipping policy» on their website:
Refunds
Blue crab trading company will not refund any monies for orders without photo documentation of the complaint.
Even if I had seen this disclaimer, I would have had to put a crab on a scale — point to point they weren’t small, just void of meat. They offered a $ 30 gift card — presumably for more of their inferior product — which I declined.
Not surprisingly I was told nobody else had complained… ever hear that before?
Bad, VERY BAD business. Never again.

We were disappointed of our order, we ordered 2 dozen of male and female in extra large, advertised about 7″ wide, but most of them were about 6″ or less… The shipping was 2 days behind schedule and the delivery was at 8:45pm from UPS. The packing was very tight and clean, the meat was still in frozen stage which is good… But when we ate the crabs, the meat was not firm not solid, kind of shallow, some of the crabs were still dirty from the outside shell. some crabs were very salty… In all its not worth the 189 $ that we paid.
Never come back, what a ripped off.
I much rather buy 2 live dungeness crabs for 50 $ where i live and have a lot more meat and fresher.
live and learn

Just want to second all of the «this is a scam coupon site» reviews before. First they lead you in with a great promotion, then they limit you to horribly overpriced package deals. If you use the promotion, you’ll still get hit with a «packaging fee». If you don’t, they only let you use the face value for horrifically overpriced items. Their shipping rates are extortionate. Save your money; this isn’t a deal.

½ bushel of crab & each one had so much dirt & sand IN them — inedible. A bit of grit is understandable, but not huge clumps of sand! Chose steamed prior to shipping, but would’ve thought better of it if I knew they wouldn’t be cleaned. I spent over $ 120 for 5 lbs. of crab we couldn’t even eat!

I had a completely positive experience with Blue Crab Trading Co. Perhaps it is because I live in NJ and therefore my order came quickly. I did a Groupon and ordered steaks, lobsters, etc. Everything was delicious, packed well, and clean. I’m not sure why everyone else had such a horrible experience but I recommend them for sure.

Awful crooked rip-​off company!!! They have a different page for all deal vouchers where everything is at least double the price! Basically, all packages are $ 100. If your voucher expires, you can get credit for the amount paid, but only for the overpriced «deals». Then you have to pay the difference of $ 50. You are not allowed to order ANYTHING from their regular pages, which have more reasonable priced offerings.

Do not buy live crabs from this company! I wish I would have listened to other reviewers who had given this company low ratings.
Placed a phone order of 1 bushel of jumbo male live crabs and 2 dozens of large female live crabs on 9÷3÷14. The total amount is $ 483.36, with shipping, insurance, & handling. During the phone conversation, I was only told that I should expect the dead loss between 15% and 100%.
Received the package on ⁹⁄₁₂ for a party. Most of the crabs are dead. And there were NO female crabs! It almost ruined my party. I had to order more food to feed my guests. I called the company the next day, and I was told that I should TAKE A PICTURE of what I have received to prove that I didn’t make up the story. And the lady said it was stated on the company website, and now she couldn’t do anything to me.
Called them again today, ⁹⁄₁₆. I explained to the lady who picked up the phone that I never knew this policy because it was neither listed on its website homepage nor on the invoice, and nobody explained this policy to me when I placed the phone order. And it’s ridiculous that I need to take a picture of 3 – 4 dozens of crabs with bellies up to prove that I didn’t lie to them. I got the same answer from her. She suggested me to send an email to the manager. Good suggestion. I decided to post it online so other people wouldn’t get ripped off from them anymore.
I lost about 100 dollars. That’s the end of my experience with this company.

As others have mentioned, their deal vouchers are a joke. My mother purchased one for me for my birthday in lieu of taking me out for a nice dinner since we’re on opposite US coasts.
My $ 60 promotional value and $ 10 paid-​upon-​ordering shipping fee got me two four inch pieces of bread and 8 ounces of lobster. Oh, right, and «two lobster bibs» because those are completely necessary. The lobster was over-​cooked and chewy. I know I did not over cook it while re-​heating because I was very careful to simply plunge the plastic packaging in hot water.
The packaging was fine, everything arrived still frozen. Although terrible for the earth to have that much packaging for so little food. Shipping arrival date was accurate.
Currently, on their main site, one can purchase a 4-​serving lobster roll meal for $ 30. My «$ 60 value» got me a 2-​serving «meal». I am not sure what my mother originally paid, but since it’s groupon, I’m assuming it was $ 30, which is a total rip off.

Thank God for The Blue Crab trading company!
I was raised on the east coast but now reside in Sacramento California and have missed my blue crabs for sometime until I discovered these people online. I have ordered over 10 pounds of crab meat and about 2 bushels of crabs now and have enjoyed ourselves (my wife and myself) enormously. We have actually converted a few friends as well, these is nothing more scrumptious and decadent as blue crab meat. BTW their groupon deals are pretty decent.

If I could give 0 stars that would still be too much! Package arrived with half melted ice blocks inside plastic silver colored sealed bags were open clear plastic and crab and guts all over the place. So totally gross! Not to mention that the crab cut and shredded my hands removing from box. Called company immediately and got a voicemail. I addressed my problem, and to no surprise got no response. I payed 69.00 dollars on a living social deal what a joke. This company should be ashamed of themselves! I will NEVER buy anything at a deal price OR regular price from this awful company again. I’ve enclosed the green slimy crab that was in edible and the rest of the order we had to just throw away. PLEASE STOP DO NOT waist even a penny on this business, if you do you WILL be very sorry!

I purchased a Groupon. I was super excited and placed my order and then I for some reason decided to check Unilocal.This totally freaked me out. However, I am glad to report everything was great. Although the size of the lobster tails were a joke and so small, however it does say the oz. when you order so I knew they would be on the small side. I live in Colorado, so I was a little worried since I chose the 3 day shipping method. Everything came EXTREMELY COLD and well packaged. I really don’t have any complaints. I ordered the Lobster tail dinner for 2 so it included mussels and crab cakes. So I didn’t have any shipping issues or any issues of spoiled food. I’m satisfied. it makes for a fun little home date night meal for my husband and I. Especially since we used to live in CA so finding a good seafood place was not hard, but it’s a different story in CO.

It was a terrible experience with Blue Crab trading company on several issues:
1) Recently bought a livingsocial coupon to try it out. Even after paying $ 20 + $ 14 for shipping and handling, the $ 69 package was a complete joke. The quality of the crabs sent was possibly one of the worst I’ve ever seen, they are not even worth a quarter of that price. If I had looked at those crabs in the store, I would not waste a dollar on them.
2) My package was sent to the wrong address a few blocks over (Fedex’s fault) and was brought over by a kind soul from that address. But it was a day late and the ice blocks were thawed and the contents barely cool. Since I’m not the shipper I cannot file a Fedex claim. After email correspondence, BTC refused to acknowledge the issue and wanted a photo of the thawed ice blocks! It was a horrible experience with their customer service.
I will certainly not be a customer of this company.

I should have listened to other reviews. The short story… poor customer service and horrid product. Don’t buy from here unless you are in Maryland and can pick your crabs.
I had a voucher from travelzoo for $ 120 crabs/​product for $ 60. First we had problem placing the order and being told it expired before we even purchased it. Once we finally, after my persistence had the matter cleaned up, I ordered crabs and fish cakes. These crabs are the WORSE! They have barely any meat and had an odor.
Theses suck so bad, I cannot even explain. I grew up on the east with family in the DMV area. We had bushels of crabs for family gatherings. These will make you pissed off more than happy. Skip them.

A truly terrible experience. I’m normally not one for «$ 49 gets you $ 100 worth of product» type deals, but RueLaLa was having one, and I’ve always had good experiences with them. This was the first bad one.
So, if you are offered this deal avoid. Their main site is not on offer. They have «special» offers for these coupons, and these offers are a TOTAL joke. I ordered «$ 100» worth of crab legs and two small crab balls. Assuming the crab balls are $ 5 total (they are VERY small), that puts the crab at somewhere around $ 55/​lb. Wow. These crabs better crawl out of my freezer and boil and deshell themselves for that money. But wait! The main site says crab legs are $ 22/​lb! Right. So, in actuality, I paid $ 49 for $ 30 dollars worth of seafood. Great.
A total ripoff. I’ve already contacted RueLaLa, urging them never to offer this again.
Working without a coupon might serve you better on this site, but I thought the point of offering coupons is to get customers in the door so that they have a good experience and want to return to spend more money? Guess not. Blue Crab, you’re doing it wrong.

My particularly positive experience with Blue Crab Trading has converted me from a passive Unilocaler («always check the reviews but don’t post») to a committed reviewer. Mostly because our order was 100% accurate, super quick and yummy.
Because of the other reviews you may read here, I really had to take a leap of faith when placing an order with this company. I never do that. I suffer from Unilocal paralysis — I will read all 50 reviews of a restaurant (and the ratings of their 20 closest neighbors) before deciding whether to go in for a cup of coffee. I’ve been known to check out street views on Google Maps before committing to a hotel. So, it took every bit of will power and faith to go with Blue Crab.
We had a party of 15 coming to our home in California for a nonprofit fundraiser dinner — a crab feed dinner. Just crabs. Failure in the crab department would have been horrendous. Five days to find crabs and not much money with which to do it. With the Free Shipping package at Blue Crab Trading, a bushel of male crabs (plus some extra goodies) was almost $ 80 less than the competition. I couldn’t ignore that deal, but Unilocal reviews had me scared so we called. The staff was quite helpful and reassuring. I went online and clicked «submit order.» Because I was still nervous, we called again. And again, we were assured they had received our order and that they understood it really, really, really had to arrive by the date selected.
Our big box arrived one day early — which wasn’t a problem because it was well packed with dry ice and stayed cold. Crabs were perfect. As a former resident of St. Michaels MD, I know what Blue Crabs should be and how they cook up. Other reviewers comments that they were «dirty» was a bit perplexing. Perhaps they meant the spices and «foam» (the normal grunge on all cooked blue crabs that comes from fat deposits)? This is just how they come. Anywhere.
Note — I ordered directly. Although I am also «deal» addict and constantly use Groupon, Living Social, etc, I did not do so in this case. I have had Groupon and Google Offers issues with other businesses so sometimes this is a problem of third parties. This review is only for my direct interaction with the company. And we loved it and our dinner guests loved it!!!

I did the Living Social Thing. For $ 49 bucks (regularly $ 100) I got a dozen crabs, 2 mallets, and free shipping but wait, it wasnt free…12.95 packaging fee. Well the crabs arrived and they were small (sizes not specified on their website). Not only were they small but they were not firm. Definitely old crabs. I would never trust them or order from them again.
Living Social must review these scams.

wow what a rip off, got a groupon gift, 39.00 for 80.00 worth of fish, as it turns out 6 crab cakes cost 80.00 and they want 60.00 to ship them. you can’t use any portion of the groupon for shipping. Also I was told that my groupon was only good for a few limited items, I pointed out that it stated clearly that that was not the case. They inflate the prices so much that it is not only NO BARGAIN but in fact a rip off.
wish I could give no stars.

Like other reviewers, I saw the LivingSocial deal for Blue Crab Trading Co. and was excited that I could get authentic MD blue crabs delivered to my house all the way out here in California. I grew up in Maryland and LOVE pickin’ blue crabs. I didn’t have any problems ordering through the website with the LivingSocial deal. It was easy and I had a dozen crabs and 40 huge shrimp delivered to my door New Year’s Eve. I was pleasantly surprised actually. Yes, the crabs were on the smaller side but part of the LS deal noted the mixed sizing. If I order from here again without a deal, I would try ordering the larger crabs.
Anyway, the crabs reheated just fine and I tried a few cold and those were good too. Package came with 4 crab mallets, crab paper and a pound of delicious spice. The shrimp were huge and really good too. Btw, if you’ve ever had blue crabs, they always have a mix of spice and gunk on top. and you don’t eat the outside shell, so I’m not sure why other people said they had to scrub them before eating?
Overall, I would recommend trying this place if you miss MD crabs. The closer you live, the faster the delivery and the fresher the crabs will be. Unfortunately living in CA, it takes two days for the crabs to travel so I ordered them steamed as not to risk any of them dying on the way over. But if you live somewhat closer, I’d recommend ordering them live and steaming them fresh yourself.
That said, if there is a deal, I would do this again, but the regular prices are high. My guess is this deal was offered in the off-​season to bring more business. Ordering from them over the summer is probably way better so I will round up 3.5 stars to 4 :)

First let me say that I LOVE Blue Claw Crabs. Love ‘em & grew up catching them myself off both the North & South shores of Long Island, NY. So I know of what I speak.
But times have changed, & no longer being able to catch them myself, haven’t enjoyed them in quite a long time due to their price having gone through the roof in the past decade or so. Thus, I was intrigued when I received my usual «local deal» e-​mail from Amazon, that touted an offer from Blue Crab Trading Co. around Baltimore for «One dozen 5″ to 7″ female Blue Claw Crabs & six jumbo shrimp, steamed; a pound of crab spice to use when reheating the crabs & shrimp at home; two wooden mallets; two plastic knive;, & crab paper to cover your table». Original price: $ 100; Amazon Deal: $ 49 INCLUDING shipping. Too good to pass up. I had till Nov. 30^th to take advantage of the offer, so placed my order this past Monday for Wednesday delivery.
For starters, Blue Crab Trading’s website was having some problems. They processed the deal voucher just fine, but for some reason wouldn’t progress past that page to give me a confirmation. So I phoned, & was treated in the most friendly, professional manner imaginable (thanks «David» & «Caitlin»!!!). Around 2 p.m. Wed. afternoon, UPS was on my doorstep with my Styrofoam cooler of crabby goodness & ice packs.
It was a delightful mess of very nice-​sized crabs, & I didn’t bother doing a head count — there were obviously at least a dozen, if not a few more. I only tossed out one, which was cracked in half & sort of looked like that might have happened before it was cooked. Better safe than sorry. With lemon butter melting away, I filled my big stock/​steamer pot with a few inches of water, put in the steamer plate, & layered in the crabs & shrimp with the spice (extra-​spicy, as I requested). Fifteen minutes later, hubby & I were happily cracking away with our mallets & enjoying a lovely repast. Crabs were full & meaty, & a number of them had roe as well. It was wonderful & nostalgic.
But that’s not the end of the story. After we were finished, I picked out the few crabs remaining & ended up with about a cup of crabmeat that is now residing in the freezer mixed with the leftover lemon butter. Will be nice to add that to another seafood dish at a later date. I also saved all the shells & other «stuff», & yesterday simmered them away into one of the best crab stocks I’ve ever made. Did it sort of as an experiment, as I thought that the crab spices would perhaps be overpowering or too salty — but no worries. So I now have 2 quarts of fabulous crab stock that I can turn into any number of delicious crab or seafood soups/​bisques/​stews. Can’t wait!
Bottom line: Would I pay the full price of $ 100 for this? No. But for the $ 49 deal (+ $ 4 for optional insurance, which I took just in case the crabs went awry somewhere during shipping)? Definitely.