Chalice pricing and LE discussion thread.

FaviaFreak · Dec 31, 2008

JuniorMC8704 said:
lol, i wish it cost 40 a month to run my system....

more like a several hundred, electricty, water, and if you break down bulb replacements, media replacements, lots and lots of salt, and all the incidentals.

right now it costs me about 200 a month...when the new display is up, pretty much double that if i had to guess.

exactly! I spend that much a week in Waterchanges alone :squigglemouth:

FaviaFreak · Dec 31, 2008

JuniorMC8704 said:
here is my take on LE pieces...My general rule for buying any of the "super high end" coral is this....it must be in captivity for long enough to know if it will in fact hold its colors, and for God sakes it must be LIMITED!

If everyone chalice collector on RC had the same "LE" chalice....thats obviously not very "limited"

Tyree built a certain "pride" to own a direct lineage piece from him...

It showed a time line of several years for 20 people just to get a tiny frag...thats how you sell the idea of "limited"

its not limited anything if you pick up a nice chalice from a wholesaler on Monday, and on Wednesday its up on a site as LE....

I own maybe 3 "LE" pieces that have any kind of "lineage" to them...although most would agree, Ive got a pretty nice collection of corals.

However, at the same time, I don't care what you call it, if its a screaming bright, colorful coral, with a cool texture and shape, or some other unique attribute, then sign me up for a piece, and ill pay as high of a price as i can afford at the time, if i feel its worthy...

The idea of blaming anyone for high prices is silly in my opinion. Its really simple...if you want a Ferrari, you pay several hundred thousand for one...if you want Ford pinto, you will pay very little...both will get you from A to B...but it looks a lot cooler if you do it in a Ferrari....

Also something to consider before slamming all the LFS's and Sites out there selling "LE" or any super high prices corals.

What most people don't realize is the amount of JUNK coral that they have to buy, and pay a heavy price for, that is hardly salable, just to get 1 premium piece.

Its not alway so black and white people...come over to the gray area...there's plenty of room.

well said! everything comes with a price..

FaviaFreak · Dec 31, 2008

kellyjn said:
Whoa! Are you kidding me? This is where people come to HYPE their corals, in hopes of driving the price up (increasing demand). Personally, I'd love to see where the price of chalices would be right now without threads like the "Chalice Show-Off Thread!!!!"

It is the same 10-15 people posting through out that thread. Of course they think each others chalices are nice and they'd pay big dollars for a TINY frag, they want their chalices to be seen as Rare/LE/AE and worth alot of money when it is time to sell, so they can get big $$$ for their TINY piece of coral too.

IMO, just because someone will pay $350 for a coral doesn't mean it's worth that much. I think it has alot to do with people's egos and alot of people that suffer from O.C.D. I'd love to see the look on most newbie's faces or know exactly what someone was thinking, when they were told someone paid $200+ for a 1/4" frag of a coral. Only the ones that were in it for the $$$ wouldn't be shocked.

Funny people use the word "Hobby" to me. Isn't "Side Business" a more appropriate term? Pay for the upkeep of tank, blah, blah, blah. Save it for someone else. How much does this hobby really cost? The answer is once your in past the initial purchase of a tank and lights, not that much. $20 for electricity, and $10-20 worth of salt/month. A fish here, a coral there.

I can say a lot of times when people show up on this site or other forums to "Hype" corals is becasue A) they want to show-it-off or show their online friends a new piece they acquired, how else could you show your buddies a new coral you got? I know by posting it rather than sending 50 different emails to to everyone is a heck of a lot easier B) to see if anybody else has a similar piece or the same exact one, they can find out care requirements a lot easier if somebody else has kept that particualr coral. For you to assume that people come on here to hype their new coral to bump up the price on it is jumping the gun, I would say more often then not that is just plain coinsidence, others see how nice it is and they want a frag too, that comes with being passionate about this hobby, we're all coral junkies more or less...

reefboy · Dec 31, 2008

kellyjn said:
Whoa! Are you kidding me? This is where people come to HYPE their corals, in hopes of driving the price up (increasing demand). Personally, I'd love to see where the price of chalices would be right now without threads like the "Chalice Show-Off Thread!!!!"

It is the same 10-15 people posting through out that thread. Of course they think each others chalices are nice and they'd pay big dollars for a TINY frag, they want their chalices to be seen as Rare/LE/AE and worth alot of money when it is time to sell, so they can get big $$$ for their TINY piece of coral too.

IMO, just because someone will pay $350 for a coral doesn't mean it's worth that much. I think it has alot to do with people's egos and alot of people that suffer from O.C.D. I'd love to see the look on most newbie's faces or know exactly what someone was thinking, when they were told someone paid $200+ for a 1/4" frag of a coral. Only the ones that were in it for the $$$ wouldn't be shocked.

Funny people use the word "Hobby" to me. Isn't "Side Business" a more appropriate term? Pay for the upkeep of tank, blah, blah, blah. Save it for someone else. How much does this hobby really cost? The answer is once your in past the initial purchase of a tank and lights, not that much. $20 for electricity, and $10-20 worth of salt/month. A fish here, a coral there.

The jab at the site is way off base most people come here more for help and knowledge not the hype and if your running a 10gal nano it might cost that much to run and the LE/AE thing as gotten a little outa hand but heres the thing why complain just quit paying for it and prices will come down its not like gas you dont have to have it lol

JuniorMC8704 · Dec 31, 2008

by the way, i am getting wwc bubblegum monster and wwc watermelon from another local MI reefer, and i couldnt be happier....why you might ask? because they look AMAZING! thats why...not because its got a name on it, or because tyree loves it too....because I love it....worth every penny.

iani · Dec 31, 2008

JuniorMC8704 said:
lol, i wish it cost 40 a month to run my system....

more like a several hundred, electricty, water, and if you break down bulb replacements, media replacements, lots and lots of salt, and all the incidentals.

right now it costs me about 200 a month...when the new display is up, pretty much double that if i had to guess.

Yup here in San Francisco, I pay up to 33 cents per kilowatt hour on my electricity. One 250w mh on for 8 hours a day costs me over 20 dollars a month. lol. I estimate that I spend about 200 dollars a month (on my tank) on electricity alone.

Emc · Dec 31, 2008

JuniorMC8704 said:
by the way, i am getting wwc bubblegum monster and wwc watermelon from another local MI reefer, and i couldnt be happier....why you might ask? because they look AMAZING! thats why...not because its got a name on it, or because tyree loves it too....because I love it....worth every penny.

That's the same reason I bought his BGM, yellow eye watermelon, grape ape, and radioactive pink watermelon. :D The BGM has been an absolute joy to watch grow.

Saltysteele · Dec 31, 2008

hey! this thread is back open :)

i just wanted to say, if i see anything with the name tyree associated with it, i'm not buying it. this dude isn't making these things. he got them the same places the rest of the corals come from. you show me anything he has, and i can guarantee there's another one just like it out in the ocean.

i've talked with several reefers now, just heard from another one last night, of tyree getting or wanting corals from them.

???

he's getting them from us, slapping his name on them, and charging double! GUH?? what the heck??

i've seen the pic's of jr's collection of acans, and i doubt tyree has one that nice! i've seen all the chalice's in the show off thread, and i doubt he has all those honeys. his name means nothing to me, other than I don't want it.

there is nothing that i have that i don't like, but just bought because it was the rage.

limited edition (don't know what ae stands for) is fine, but just like tyree,, these people aren't making them in their basements! they may be rare, but they're still out in the ocean. or, they may be rare in your area, but they may be the green button paly's in mine.

don't get me wrong, i don't have anything against limited edition corals. corals, to me, are like adult pokemon cards. the show off threads are a place where you can show your friends what cards you have, and you can see what other sweet cards are out there you can drool over. i love looking through them.

i also don't have a problem with corals costing more than others, based on supply and demand. that's the way the world runs. doesn't mean i will, or can afford to, buy one. but if i can afford it, and it's one I like, i'll buy it and show it off. i also don't fault people for selling their stuff for more than they bought it for. everyone in every hobby, trade, business does the same thing.

jerryc · Dec 31, 2008

JuniorMC8704 said:
by the way, i am getting wwc bubblegum monster and wwc watermelon from another local MI reefer, and i couldnt be happier....why you might ask? because they look AMAZING! thats why...not because its got a name on it, or because tyree loves it too....because I love it....worth every penny.

Junior i fill the same way about the bubblegum i just ordered one from WWC
cant wait to see it in my tank

korndogg091 · Dec 31, 2008

so at what point is it no longer a LE? the tyree watermelon has been around for some time now and it seems allot of people have frags of it. so is it no longer a LE? or do we keep the LE on it so we can charge allot for it?

nino78 · Dec 31, 2008

korndogg091 said:
so at what point is it no longer a LE? the tyree watermelon has been around for some time now and it seems allot of people have frags of it. so is it no longer a LE? or do we keep the LE on it so we can charge allot for it?

That's like saying a car company will stop calling a vehicle a limited edition after it sells so many models. It doesn't work like that. My sister drives a Jeep Liberty limited. There must be thousands of them on the road. Should they change the name now and lower the price. I don't see that happening.

reefboy · Dec 31, 2008

And if there so easy to come buy how come I dont have one or had anyone hit my trade thread lol I'd say there still limited.

nino78 · Dec 31, 2008

I'd be willing to bet that less than 1% of reef hobbyist in the world have a piece of it in there tanks. I'd say that's pretty limited.

JuniorMC8704 · Dec 31, 2008

I agree, but id also say thats probably true if we are talking real numbers about most coral, LE or otherwise.

I can promise all my acans are probably in that same 1%...

but im just nitpicking...i know what you mean:bigsmile:

nino78 said:
I'd be willing to bet that less than 1% of reef hobbyist in the world have a piece of it in there tanks. I'd say that's pretty limited.

Saltysteele · Dec 31, 2008

i know it'd be opening a whole other can of worms, but wouldn't it make more sense if they were graded on quality, not availability? then you have to decide who grades them and how, but i think that would be a more accurate "tag" than limited.

i'm sure some of us have higher grade corals that some of the tyree's, or limiteds.

reefboy · Dec 31, 2008

Saltysteele said:
i know it'd be opening a whole other can of worms, but wouldn't it make more sense if they were graded on quality, not availability? then you have to decide who grades them and how, but i think that would be a more accurate "tag" than limited.

i'm sure some of us have higher grade corals that some of the tyree's, or limiteds.

I think it needs to be a combination of the two.

mpoletti · Dec 31, 2008

Saltysteele said:
i know it'd be opening a whole other can of worms, but wouldn't it make more sense if they were graded on quality, not availability? then you have to decide who grades them and how, but i think that would be a more accurate "tag" than limited.

i'm sure some of us have higher grade corals that some of the tyree's, or limiteds.

Isn't that why Steve would rather make his corals AE rather than LE. Limted is a term and when he started his business many of the current businesses were not around.

I think Steve gets a really bad rap. If you have ever met him, you would know that hes just a good guy and the hobby has morphed into the current state. I believe people who hear tyree this and tyree that are sometimes misinformed as many of the hobbyist have been in the hobby less than 5 years and do not know really how hard and what a big deal it was to keep alive SPS corals and how rare it was to get what we think is common today.

I know that my want for wonderful corals is not limited to on how limited a coral be as one of my favoite corals is the Bali Green Slimer, I know, I know.

Has it gotten out of hand, yes. and I think we can all agree on that. I do not blame any of the businesses that are trying to market thier own products as we all have to make a living. I know I have a choice where I spend my money and that is my job as a consumer to do research and feel confident in where I spend my cash.

I have been a participant in many of disscussions like this and I always appreciate hearing everyones viewpoint as we are all in this together. I am a hobbyist without a wholesale license (I know, that is rare these days) so I depend on retailers to bring in these wonderful corals.

Saying all this is well and wonderful; and its OK if we don't always see eye to eye as long as we try to remain civil and mature. One thing I did take away from this thread is that I am not the only person that feels that there are right ways of business and wrong ways of business. Labeling a coral that is not the real deal is wrong and I appreaciate hearing others feel the same way.

And just because the world needs more eye candy, here is some bali green