Calling out all vendors... Ultra Rare Super Toxic Holy Garbage...

[F i s h y]

Dear Vendors,

Your use of the words Super, Ultra, Rare, Holy, OG, Rainbow, Unique, ETC is absurd. I am seeing labels placed on coral that is nothing short of blah and mundane. But I guess those words don't command high dollar amounts. For all those that insist on selling Zoanthids at such high prices PER POLYP, for the vendors that are selling coral at hundreds and thousands of dollars based on a name. You are pricing people out of the hobby.

I understand capitalism. I understand that there are some instances when it costs more to import and grow a coral, cultivate it. But I refuse to believe that the greed that i see in this hobby today is anything short of just that GREED...

Wake up hobbyists... Live sale, flash sale, they aren't really sales. and these are the same vendors selling 1500 coral at an average price of 50 a coral every 2 weeks during these "sales". Not to mention the product they sell in between. For those of you that math is hard, that is $112,500 for each flash sale at that price. Even if they only do one a month or one for every holiday or other event like "back to school sale".... They are still doing 12 to 20 of these sales a year. They are robbing us blind as hobbyists.

There is so much more that can be said... but until hobbyists are no longer willing to pay these prices and go back to the trade them if you have them mentality, eventually this will end up being a hobby for the ULTR SUPER RARE HOLY OG RICH people....


Anyone want to buy a super ultra rare og Tiger torch?

 

[fishguy242]

Preach brother !!!

 

[ddc0715]

yeah never understood why hobbiest try to price like vendors and vendors price things like we are all rich.

 

[Lost in the Sauce]

As consumers, we set the prices collectively. There still Are rare corals. We wouldn't know it because now, EVERYTHING is "rare"

Super, Ultra, and Rainbow have lost All meaning in this context. A rainbow ACAN used to mean something. Now it means it's an acan with more than one color. This is just silly

Run of the mill, green on green torches are not $150/head corals because you call it ULTRA.

 

[Petcrazyson]

yeah never understood why hobbiest try to price like vendors and vendors price things like we are all rich.

Exactly! Do they think everyone can afford 5 Radion Gen 6 and a $600 coral and a $1000 fish!?

 

[Reefer Matt]

I agree it is ridiculous. However, reefing has long been a luxury hobby not afforded to everyone. I personally object to that, but people feel good about buying expensive things. If a coral is $10, there usually isn't as much excitement over a $200 one, even if they are the exact same coral. All we can do is buy from somewhere else, but the behavior may stay the same.

 

[workhz]

Wake up hobbyists... Live sale, flash sale, they aren't really sales. and these are the same vendors selling 1500 coral at an average price of 50 a coral every 2 weeks during these "sales". Not to mention the product they sell in between. For those of you that math is hard, that is $112,500 for each flash sale at that price. Even if they only do one a month or one for every holiday or other event like "back to school sale".... They are still doing 12 to 20 of these sales a year. They are robbing us blind as hobbyists.

We know what your guess is on revenue but do you also have a guess on margin, operating profit or any other non gross sales metric?

 

[14 foot reef]

Try to open a coral farm or a fishery and see how fast 2 million dollars turns into 1 million dollars. I owned and operated a Retail Store, a Wholesale facility and a collecting station in Hawaii.
I have held a commercial pet industry license since I was 17 years old. Until I left the hobby I never really made a lot of money, I supplied the industry with high quality fish and corals for a trade and earned a modest wage with an average work week of 80 hours a week. Try walking a mile in someone else's shoes before you judge. You don't have to buy from them, go to your local trade clubs or LFS stores that work their butts off to try and make a living.

 

[bushdoc]

But I love my unique, ultra rare Rainbow wrasse!

 

[Lost in the Sauce]

 

[VSVP bet]

I agree, but I don't feel robbed blind, I always look for deals. I'm in it for science, not vendor names.

 

[F i s h y]

Try to open a coral farm or a fishery and see how fast 2 million dollars turns into 1 million dollars. I owned and operated a Retail Store, a Wholesale facility and a collecting station in Hawaii.
I have held a commercial pet industry license since I was 17 years old. Until I left the hobby I never really made a lot of money, I supplied the industry with high quality fish and corals for a trade and earned a modest wage with an average work week of 80 hours a week. Try walking a mile in someone else's shoes before you judge. You don't have to buy from them, go to your local trade clubs or LFS stores that work their butts off to try and make a living.

You see i used to buy this argument. Until i realized that every hobbyist that keeps coral is essentially a coral farm. We don't need the vendors. they are the 2nd or 3rd person to touch our coral before we get them if they are even getting them from wholesaler. they are cultivating and selling frags that are barely bigger than my pinky nail. My SPS put on that much growth or more every month. I break off $1k worth of frags every time i put my stupid clumsy big hands in my tank... And i can tell you from experience that the margin on coral is far better than the margin on fish. I am only speaking to coral. i know the hardships that the small shops face when trying to fight against giant companies like BRS and online vendors to make a sale. those margins are super narrow.

 

[F i s h y]

We know what your guess is on revenue but do you also have a guess on margin, operating profit or any other non gross sales metric?

I agree that this would be a hard number to actually quantify. and if any vendor cares to chime in about their expenses then maybe i could feel better about buying from them but not on the grounds of all of the stupid names they place on the coral.

see my previous post about hobbyists being coral farmers... we dont need the vendors as much as we all think we do...

 

[JoJosReef]

Dear Vendors,

Your use of the words Super, Ultra, Rare, Holy, OG, Rainbow, Unique, ETC is absurd. I am seeing labels placed on coral that is nothing short of blah and mundane. But I guess those words don't command high dollar amounts. For all those that insist on selling Zoanthids at such high prices PER POLYP, for the vendors that are selling coral at hundreds and thousands of dollars based on a name. You are pricing people out of the hobby.

I understand capitalism. I understand that there are some instances when it costs more to import and grow a coral, cultivate it. But I refuse to believe that the greed that i see in this hobby today is anything short of just that GREED...

Wake up hobbyists... Live sale, flash sale, they aren't really sales. and these are the same vendors selling 1500 coral at an average price of 50 a coral every 2 weeks during these "sales". Not to mention the product they sell in between. For those of you that math is hard, that is $112,500 for each flash sale at that price. Even if they only do one a month or one for every holiday or other event like "back to school sale".... They are still doing 12 to 20 of these sales a year. They are robbing us blind as hobbyists.

There is so much more that can be said... but until hobbyists are no longer willing to pay these prices and go back to the trade them if you have them mentality, eventually this will end up being a hobby for the ULTR SUPER RARE HOLY OG RICH people....


Anyone want to buy a super ultra rare og Tiger torch?

I need a frag of that right now. $$$$. I do venmo, paypal, wire transfer, account transfer, partner transfer, shares for corals. What are you into? Don't make me blush, just get me one of those!!*

*i will be making an emergency post in exactly 2 weeks when my new $$$$ coral bails its tiger heads.

 

[Petcrazyson]

You see i used to buy this argument. Until i realized that every hobbyist that keeps coral is essentially a coral farm. We don't need the vendors. they are the 2nd or 3rd person to touch our coral before we get them if they are even getting them from wholesaler. they are cultivating and selling frags that are barely bigger than my pinky nail. My SPS put on that much growth or more every month. I break off $1k worth of frags every time i put my stupid clumsy big hands in my tank... And i can tell you from experience that the margin on coral is far better than the margin on fish. I am only speaking to coral. i know the hardships that the small shops face when trying to fight against giant companies like BRS and online vendors to make a sale. those margins are super narrow.

Amen!

 

[A Young Reefer]

Well said brother. Thank you.

 

[Fishgeek88]

Agreed. As far as live sales I've never been a fan. I don't like the concept of buying a shipping module and spending my weekend or holiday refreshing a page constantly. Also not going to say which vendors on here but I've literally screen shot items that have gone up in price for the sale so they can "discount" a larger percentage.

 

[elysics]

Noone is prices out of the hobby. At least not by this. Do you go to a Ferrari dealer and then say you are priced out of owning a car? You can still get a used cheap car from a used car dealership. Or just a budget dealership. Those won't have an online store with flashy pictures and media hype though.

And you can still get plenty of corals, especially colorful zoas, for cheap, even online. Just not hyped ones. Hype is fashion, fashion is for the rich. Or people who think they can easily get that money back with a few frags sold at a discount.

 

[acesfull44]

This is all very true, but unfortunately we keep participating in these "sales". We keep buying and supporting these businesses.

The good news is, YOU GET TO CONTROL THIS! Simply don't participate. Don't buy these items. Don't pay these ridiculous prices. Be more cautious on what you do purchase and who you purchase from. I don't want to be a hypocrite here, because I patriciate in these so called "sales." However, its not because I have been fooled by the vendor trying to make a living, its because I actually want to buy something.

It's like complaining about your sporting event ticket prices, and then in the same breathe saying "WE NEED BETTER FREE AGENTS and cheaper beer prices!" Until we stop going, those trends will continue.

 

[Nemo&Friends]

I do not have corals, just fish and macro algae. It is less expensive and less work, but still very enjoyable and challenging.
I do not want ultra rare fish, just a variety of them that will get along in my tank.
But I agree, the price of corals are much too high, for the size they are sold.