chipmunkofdoom2
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Reef Squad Emeritus
seems like I come on here and there are less and less post and when there are post it’s about getting out. What gives. Is Reefing dead. What’s killing the hobby. I think it’s greed. This hobby is expensive enough but when people start charging $800 for a 1/4” frag that’s when people start going away. Most pieces are common now and have circulated many tanks. So why the need to charge $100 for something common like a setosa or green slimer. With all these mushroom crazes people get crazy with prices. At the end of the day I think greed is killing the hobby. Oh well just my take since there’s nothing else on here to read about might as well stir the pot a bit. Happy Reefing.
I don't think vendors arbitrarily decide to charge $800 for a frag. They set a price and see what the market demand supports. If there's a lot of demand, then they set the prices higher next time. If there's not a lot of demand, they set the prices lower next time.
I think the main issue is that reefing has never been more accessible. People see a nice looking reef tank on Instagram or Reddit and they do some Googling. They stumble upon a reefing forum and on a whim, they piece together a system, order the parts and set it up. Newcomers have no clue how much work a reef tank can be. If you don't absolutely love it, you're not going to put up with the hassle. You may read about how much work a reef tank is and think you can handle it, but many people just don't have the time, patience or resources to work through failures and always put their tanks first. I feel like it was much harder to get into the hobby before reefing forums and the Internet. As a result, the only reefers who made it into the hobby were the ones who searched high and low scraps and shreds of information. It makes sense that someone this dedicated would stay in the hobby. Conversely, it also makes sense that someone who gets into the hobby on an impulse may not be in for so long.
The price thing is definitely a problem too, I think. I personally think this extends to equipment as well. But that's a different topic for another thread.