With a variety of methods available to oyster growers to produce oysters (on bottom, bottom cages, suspended containers, floating containers, etc.), commercial shellfish growers are faced with an array of costs and benefits beyond the basic considerations of effect on growth & survival. In Virginia, containerized aquaculture is dominated by two methods: bottom cages and surface floats. To compare these methods, oysters (Crassostrea virginica) were deployed in replicate bottom cages (BC) and 6-bag floating cages at Cappahosic Oyster Company in York River (VA, USA) in fall 2021. Oysters were tended with typical commercial practices (e.g., routine density reductions, air drying the floating cages, etc.) with oysters assessed for survival and growth at regular intervals. Product attributes (length, meat weights, shell shape, etc.) were assessed when most of the product was considered ‘market ready’ at ~18 months (Feb. 2023). The work was supplemented with a restaurant survey of raw oyster consumers in Aug. 2023 with oysters raised with similar methods. In addition, an analysis of shelf life using market ready oysters was performed over nearly 4 weeks to assess shelf life differences between the growing techniques. In this study, BC were compared to two positions in flippable, floating cages: bags in the four outer positions, designated FO, and bags in the two inner positions, designated FI (given prior qualitative observations of differences). While overall survival was >87%, survival was lower in the FO treatment than survival in the BC and FI treatments. Growth was highest in BC, followed by FO and FI, respectively. In contrast, oysters raised in the FO treatment had the greatest shell fan ratio (shell height/shell length) and shell cup ratio (shell width/shell length) of all the treatments. Additionally, FO oysters were substantially less biofouled than the oysters from the other treatments. In a test of shelf life during summer (using oysters raised by Cappahosic with identical methods), FO oysters had the longest shelf life while BC oysters had the shortest. However, in a preliminary restaurant survey in summer 2023, BC oysters were requested more frequently by consumers in a blind taste than oysters from FI and FO, respectively. These results suggest that there are tradeoffs between these two methods. This study also does not take into considerations other important factors such as cost, labor, permitting issues, etc. Despite these limitations, these results may help growers make more informed decisions when opting for a particular gear type.