Am i ripping myself off majorly here ?

[SaltISlife]

I want a red Goniopora and i might possibly get a smaller sized blueish one too.

Im considering trading in my big colony of tri-color valida acropora. But im not sure i like how the guy is giving me only 175-200$ store credit. I know hell turn around and try to sell it for 400$. He always gives you half of what he sells your corals for. Like for a 40 head colony of light blue trumpets i got 125$ for and he is selling it for 250$ now.

But i guess thats how locsl stores work. I originally wanted to trade ny whole acro colony for a metalic green indo torch coral but he think thats torch is worth 250$ and wouldnt do it.

So ive been looking at some gonioporas he has. He wants 100$ for palm ( not fingers just palm) sized red goniopora. And 60$ for a orange plate fungia coral. Thr fungia seems priced right but the goniopora im not sure.

Because another locsl shop has 4 honey mellon sized blueish gonioporas for 150$ each. This red one is about a golf ball or baseball sized.

Here is what my tri color colony looks like. And what iritates me. Is he called it a (brown colony) but when i ttied to explain that 99% acros are brown under white ceiling lights or outside in the sun. It needs to be in the water under blues and reef lighting. . That really annoyyed me. Almost like hes trying to short me.

But in the end im not HUGE into my acropora anymore.

 

[BrandonS]

My local shop only gives 25% and only store credit.

 

[SaltISlife]

Well my main point here is how hes calling it a brown colony and trying to downplay me saying i need filters for my camera to take pics which is a lie because these pics i posted is EXACTLY what it looks like in person.. especially the bright one under t5s. He looked st it in a bucket in the sun.. not under reef lighting in a tank..

But anyway. 50% or 25% is this colony worth trading for that orange fungia plate. And a red goniopora the size of a golf ball ? Or ?

 

[Bfragale]

Here’s my thoughts: if you can trade something you don’t really enjoy with no money out of pocket for something you do enjoy then the question is more the value of your enjoyment not a dollar for dollar comparison. I’ve traded things worth more then items I received but it was a win win for me because I didn’t have or want to spend the cash and person was willing to give me what I want for something I had and didn’t want.

hope my 2 cents makes sense and helps lol.

happy reefing.

 

[BrandonS]

All depends on the LFS. Look for a local club or the buy sell trade on here.

 

[IslandLifeReef]

If you are giving up something that you really don't want anymore for something you do want, I wouldn't worry about what the LFS sells it for. In the end, it's about whether you are happy or not.

 

[ReeferBean]

Where are you located? Just sell the colony on the forum to a local, go buy his $100 Goni, and you have extra money in your pocket.

 

[Justanano]

You also need to remember whatever his price in selling to you he makes money.. I only sell or trade to fellow reefers for that reason.. if they sell it for double means you really only get 25% of your money for the corals he bought from you

 

[X-37B]

If your getting money for them then who cares what he says, just my opinion.
Alot of lfs stores think they know everything so take it with a grain of salt.
For what its worth I just removed a softball size tri color and a 8" dia elkhorn monti to make room for others.
I gave away lots of frags and even gave some to an lfs. He always gives me credit as most were purchased from him anyway.
Just gave him a 6" rose bubbletip 2 days ago too.
For me credit works as it keeps me in fish food amd various supplies.

 

[SaltISlife]

Here’s my thoughts: if you can trade something you don’t really enjoy with no money out of pocket for something you do enjoy they the question is more the value of your enjoyment not a dollar for dollar comparison. I’ve traded things worth more then items I received but it was a win win for me because I didn’t have or want to spend the cash and person was willing to give me what I want for something I had and didn’t want.

hope my 2 cents makes sense and helps lol.

happy reefing.

Thank you.. thats what i wanted to hear and i was trying to tell myself this. Im keeping a peice of my acro.. but like you said acros i can grow easily i have 14 of em.. but they just dont do it for me anymore.. thought itd be cool but the bigger they get the more blah they are to me anyway lol

Im going there now to make the trade !! Appritiate it man

 

[PatW]

Stores have economic realities. They have rent. They have hours to keep. They pay utilities. Also, if they buy an aqua cultured piece from ORA or similar source, that piece is probably pretty pest free. They really don’t know about a local piece. They really have to offer a discount over a wholesale source. Remember they need to mark up the wholesale price to make any money at all. So 50% sounds pretty reasonable. I mean would you pay a local reefer the same price for a coral that you would pay one of the major aquaculture outfits? I don’t think so. Now your corals may well be every bit as good as the premium name brand ones, but the public and the LFS just do not know that, If you want a higher price, you can try to sell direct. It could work.

 

[Bfragale]

Thank you.. thats what i wanted to hear and i was trying to tell myself this. Im keeping a peice of my acro.. but like you said acros i can grow easily i have 14 of em.. but they just dont do it for me anymore.. thought itd be cool but the bigger they get the more blah they are to me anyway lol

Im going there now to make the trade !! Appritiate it man

My pleasure, glad my insight was valuable to you.
Take care my friend, and post some photos of your new corals, would love to check them out once you get them.

Happy reefing

 

[92Miata]

Stores have economic realities. They have rent. They have hours to keep. They pay utilities. Also, if they buy an aqua cultured piece from ORA or similar source, that piece is probably pretty pest free. They really don’t know about a local piece. They really have to offer a discount over a wholesale source. Remember they need to mark up the wholesale price to make any money at all. So 50% sounds pretty reasonable. I mean would you pay a local reefer the same price for a coral that you would pay one of the major aquaculture outfits? I don’t think so. Now your corals may well be every bit as good as the premium name brand ones, but the public and the LFS just do not know that, If you want a higher price, you can try to sell direct. It could work.

This is all true(except that I'd absolutely give a local reefer as much for a frag as I would a major aquaculture outfit) - but it neglects on major thing:

A reefer who is in your store trading a coral in is way more likely to buy things than a reefer who sold that coral on craigslist - and you don't need to make nearly as much on markup as wholesale because that reefer is using that credit on something that is *already marked up*.


IE - the starting state is the store has a coral they paid $25 for, and they'll sell for $50, for a profit of $25.

I come in with a coral they'll sell for $100 - and they give me $50 worth of credit - which I use to buy a $50 coral.

They now have paid $25 and have $100 worth of merchandise, for a profit of $75.


A store can give a very high percentage of credit for trades - and transactions are still profitable. What they can't do is give out a high percentage of *cash*

 

[RVA REEF]

lol the coloration is kinda brown and that isnt a rare coral, I would be happy they are giving you credit at all, getting 200 for that piece is very generous. If you think you can get 400 from craigslist I would do that. It will most likely change colors in his system and take longer to sell since it will most likely get more brown than it is already.

 

[BackToTheReef]

So LFS pricing can vary on similar/same items based on their cost from the distributor/source, margins, etc. It's not always apples to apples.

 

[X-37B]

I got some of my best frags from people bringing them in to lfs.
I ask a couple people what do you have and do you want to sell them and they just gave them to me. Their are still nice people left on this planet, lol.
We trade often now.
Here is a free purple stag I was givin.
Great looking and grows fast.
1 year growth from the 2" frag.

 

[SaltISlife]

lol the coloration is kinda brown and that isnt a rare coral, I would be happy they are giving you credit at all, getting 200 for that piece is very generous. If you think you can get 400 from craigslist I would do that. It will most likely change colors in his system and take longer to sell since it will most likely get more brown than it is already.

Get your eyes checked for color blindness. Nothing is brown lol its all dark purple and green. Not even close to having brown unless youre looking at the shadows and think its brown

 

[RVA REEF]

I have the same coral, yours looks brown/green at the base and some blue/purple tips, not one of the best looking acros out there and grows very fast so its not rare

 

[IslandLifeReef]

Get your eyes checked for color blindness. Nothing is brown lol its all dark purple and green. Not even close to having brown unless youre looking at the shadows and think its brown

Your coral definitely isn't brown. It looks very nice.

 

[X-37B]

I have the same coral, yours looks brown/green at the base and some blue/purple tips, not one of the best looking acros out there and grows very fast so its not rare

Exactly. I removed mine as its a weed in my system, lol.
Different colorations under different light too.
Not the best cell pic of it.