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Coral Pricing
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kellyjn
Active Member
You hit it on the head. It is all about hype.
Supply and demand / economics.............(cough)BS(cough). Is someone here gonna tell me they wouldn't want a hyped coral that sold for $200 if they can get it for $100? Is it less desirable b/c it is cheaper? Retailers survived just fine before forums and the internet were big in reefing. Now that the internet (hype creator) is big in this hobby we have big prices and lots of retailers/greedy reefers trying to make as much money as possible.
I look at my nuclear greens(sorry but I'm not involved in the ridiculous chalice craze). I paid $40 for two polyps a year to year and a half ago. I'd estimate I have 150 polyps now. Does that mean to me my NG's are now worth $3000? No. When I sell them I'll sell for $10 per polyp. I feel I'm doing my part in reefing and spreading the love and will continue to do the same with any coral I acquire. I'd hope the people who bought them would do the same thing, and eventually everyone who wants them can get them at a reasonable price.
Just my $.02
What is your definition of a Mother Colony? What is the true definition (if it actually exists) of a Mother Colony?
It's the nature of the beast. People will pay anything to have something "rare" or popular. I tend to stay away from all the wild pieces coming in because they are unpredictable. However, if I see one I really like then I'll take a chance.
I honestly do not care but I do have a opinion... It may be supply and demand. I think the vendors are just hurting themselves in the long run. People will try harder to find a trade with these high prices and since most people will buy more than 1 frag to offset shipping they are losing sales and not getting their name out there. Also they are promoting the hobbyist to set up a frag tank or frag theirs to offset the prices.
The real crazy people are the ones paying the price just to have something some one else does not have because eventually everyone else will at a lower price. Now you have to sell your to get something else different and never go to enjoy the coral and watch it grow into a colony.
I have been in this hobby so long and seen so many fads and what is cool today is not tomorrow. Most of the people I know that get caught up in these fads or get addicted to buying corals end up getting out of the hobby after it ends. I known a few people who spent thousands on corals and the tank crashed and it devastated them. A few survive and just go back to keeping nice looking corals rather than worrying about rarity or named corals. I see so many newer hobbyists get caught up in these fads and are one of the main drivers of these fads and they get so deep in and end up burning them selves out right away. Take things slow and enjoy the hobby. People seem to get more caught up in these fads than the actual biology of keeping a reef and because of this so many people end up out of this hobby because they never took the time to understand how the biology of a reef works. Allot of this also has to do with the fact it is easier to keep reef tanks now a days. It is amazing to me just how many peoples tanks now a day look more like frag tanks and look like crap. So many people do not give their corals time to grow into nice colonies anymore, a bunch of little tiny colonies everywhere.
It has also killed allot of vendors. They spend all this time and money to build up the inventory and guess what the fad changes and they are stuck there with these expensive coral few people want anymore. Some of acan vendors went this way when the Ausie stuff started coming in..
But hey this is America people can sell or buy anything at what ever price is set.
Dave
The real crazy people are the ones paying the price just to have something some one else does not have because eventually everyone else will at a lower price. Now you have to sell your to get something else different and never go to enjoy the coral and watch it grow into a colony.
I have been in this hobby so long and seen so many fads and what is cool today is not tomorrow. Most of the people I know that get caught up in these fads or get addicted to buying corals end up getting out of the hobby after it ends. I known a few people who spent thousands on corals and the tank crashed and it devastated them. A few survive and just go back to keeping nice looking corals rather than worrying about rarity or named corals. I see so many newer hobbyists get caught up in these fads and are one of the main drivers of these fads and they get so deep in and end up burning them selves out right away. Take things slow and enjoy the hobby. People seem to get more caught up in these fads than the actual biology of keeping a reef and because of this so many people end up out of this hobby because they never took the time to understand how the biology of a reef works. Allot of this also has to do with the fact it is easier to keep reef tanks now a days. It is amazing to me just how many peoples tanks now a day look more like frag tanks and look like crap. So many people do not give their corals time to grow into nice colonies anymore, a bunch of little tiny colonies everywhere.
It has also killed allot of vendors. They spend all this time and money to build up the inventory and guess what the fad changes and they are stuck there with these expensive coral few people want anymore. Some of acan vendors went this way when the Ausie stuff started coming in..
But hey this is America people can sell or buy anything at what ever price is set.
Dave
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I have a flatworm with a face in it.
$1,000,000 and its yours
$1,000,000 and its yours
KEEPERZ
TOTM March 08'
I like the wild pcs- I want to know what's behind the next door, will the coral live,die get better or worse,-it's my mental sickness. Saying that, as long as some people/vendors would rather die with their LE corals in hand it seems-the higher prices are what they are and you'll most likely have to pay to play-
Chris22582
Active Member
Just like anything else in life. If you have enough money you can have whatever you want. If your like most of us you get what you can when you can. lol You know how many more people would be in this hobby if there wasnt so much greed. Its not so much the supply and demand that drives them up so far. Its Greed.
On the other side of it if you pay 250 for an eye how much do you want to sell it for? lol
Nice to hear the suppliers are starting to do to the venders what they have been doing to customers for a good bit of time tho.
On the other side of it if you pay 250 for an eye how much do you want to sell it for? lol
Nice to hear the suppliers are starting to do to the venders what they have been doing to customers for a good bit of time tho.
Ian
Valuable Member
Sikryd
hmm...Sweet!
I agree. I'll pay the price to have something that is less available and cool looking.
I also paid $600 for a colony that I really like. I am also hoping I can sell some frags to offset the cost. I will have it for at least 6 months before doing so though.
Vendors or people doing this aren't at fault though either. They are making a living doing something hopefully they enjoy, and we are willing to pay the price for them doing the work to bring it in, frag it, run tanks, take chances on boxes that are full of regular stuff - hoping for a gem, ect.
Do I buy stuff that is "cool" so I can hopefully frag it out later and mitigate my initial investment - he$$ yeah. I'm not some righteous reefer thinking that everything should be free!!!
Its just like anything else I get rid of - if I know you and were cool - the price is XXX, if your a prick - your gonna pay ****** tax...
edit: The last sentenence sounded a little harsh - but it is not meant to be like that! It just gets hard when you are selling frags for $10 and guys come over and complain that they think it is too much, or want a big ole' piece of a colony that took a couple years to grow and is SWEET! Then leave with nothing after an hour and a half of complaining!!! lol
Do I try and work deals - yep - its the salesman in me! I also buy it still though... :)
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You gotta pay to play
treylane
Active Member
On the one hand, if you've got $ to burn, chalices are a pretty good "investment" overall. They come in beeeautifulll colors, usually hold their colors well, they're relatively hardy, readily fraggable, etc. Much less dicey than dropping big bucks on freshly imported soprano palys or the latest greatest icefire echinata.
That being said - I hope people are using their heads sometimes. Buying that ugly brown thing just because somebody else says it's "popular" at the moment is a great way to wind up broke and hating your tank. Keep an eye on what YOU like. What makes YOU smile when looking at your tank.
That being said - I hope people are using their heads sometimes. Buying that ugly brown thing just because somebody else says it's "popular" at the moment is a great way to wind up broke and hating your tank. Keep an eye on what YOU like. What makes YOU smile when looking at your tank.
Sikryd
hmm...Sweet!
If I paid $10 for a SWEET chalice frag, it wouldn't have as much appeal to me, as if I had paid $150. Its a mind thing...and mine is wired funny!!!
Its just like ordering Cristal - I never liked the taste, but boy did it get some chicks riled up!!!!
Its just like ordering Cristal - I never liked the taste, but boy did it get some chicks riled up!!!!
As long as you have a house,car, job ,food and pocket money you are still good but if you are skipping those payments to buy corals.. YOU NEED HELP!
also if you open a credit card to just buy your corals YOU TOO NEEDS HELP lol
also if you open a credit card to just buy your corals YOU TOO NEEDS HELP lol
Sikryd
hmm...Sweet!
Marvin - It is always nice to get things out in the open and see where everyone is at. I like seeing all sides to it. Including myself and the different views I have that are conflicting. I want to buy things CHEAP, so I can have them ALL, but I also want unique stuff that I only have!!!
The MAIN problem I have is that when my buddies come over to check the tank out, I can't help myself but to hook them up with frags!!!!
Man this thing is sik...you have to have a piece!!! lol
The MAIN problem I have is that when my buddies come over to check the tank out, I can't help myself but to hook them up with frags!!!!
Man this thing is sik...you have to have a piece!!! lol
Fish n' Frags
Gold Sponsor
I'm just going to put this out there.... feel free to fire back :D
Let say my supplier gets in a wild aussie colony in a shipment and he just happens to know that its a money maker. Now, he doesn't want to sell it cheap, but i still want it to have for sale on my site and be the only one selling it. So i cough up big money just to get a small chunk of it. Now i have it and i want to sell it. How can i go about doing this without it getting spread out like the plague and making the piece i payed big dollars to aquire worthless? Well, i put a 300+ price tag on it, or only sell it in a frag pack that would include other pieces and that would total 700-1000+. Now i know this is going to throw people off except for the true must have every chalice collectors that I know are going to buy the piece cause they like it themselves and not cause they want to profit off it and spread it out to everyone. This is how i keep my items rare, and in demand. Yes, its a business ploy, but I don't want to sell bread and butter.... i want to sell high end one of a kind pieces. And i can't do that if my corals are bought by every reefer and fragged and sold to everyone they know as well. Than all my hard work in acquiring those finds would be pointless. Nice corals don't just fall in the "vendors" laps. Believe it or not, its a whole other job, pulling teeth and beating people up, to find something unique. I won't give that stuff away.
This all being said, i know that it lessens my customer base. But what i do gain is the "know" that when someone comes to my site to view a recent shipment update, that they are going to find coral that is one of a kind or close to it. BUt your right, it does cost more.
Also, you need to remember that the suppliers now know the value of coral as well. This doesn't really help the businesses that use a middle man (which i do), since it costs more to get the nice pieces. Trust me when i say that a chalice like the Jabawaki doesn't cost me $80.00 to get..... its a WHOLE lot more. I would have to sell a few frags to finally make profit.
Let say my supplier gets in a wild aussie colony in a shipment and he just happens to know that its a money maker. Now, he doesn't want to sell it cheap, but i still want it to have for sale on my site and be the only one selling it. So i cough up big money just to get a small chunk of it. Now i have it and i want to sell it. How can i go about doing this without it getting spread out like the plague and making the piece i payed big dollars to aquire worthless? Well, i put a 300+ price tag on it, or only sell it in a frag pack that would include other pieces and that would total 700-1000+. Now i know this is going to throw people off except for the true must have every chalice collectors that I know are going to buy the piece cause they like it themselves and not cause they want to profit off it and spread it out to everyone. This is how i keep my items rare, and in demand. Yes, its a business ploy, but I don't want to sell bread and butter.... i want to sell high end one of a kind pieces. And i can't do that if my corals are bought by every reefer and fragged and sold to everyone they know as well. Than all my hard work in acquiring those finds would be pointless. Nice corals don't just fall in the "vendors" laps. Believe it or not, its a whole other job, pulling teeth and beating people up, to find something unique. I won't give that stuff away.
This all being said, i know that it lessens my customer base. But what i do gain is the "know" that when someone comes to my site to view a recent shipment update, that they are going to find coral that is one of a kind or close to it. BUt your right, it does cost more.
Also, you need to remember that the suppliers now know the value of coral as well. This doesn't really help the businesses that use a middle man (which i do), since it costs more to get the nice pieces. Trust me when i say that a chalice like the Jabawaki doesn't cost me $80.00 to get..... its a WHOLE lot more. I would have to sell a few frags to finally make profit.
Sikryd
hmm...Sweet!
It is a good business model and is obviously working - you are already sold out!!!
I say you send me a frag of each and I will farm and drop ship them for you after they grow into a nice colony!! ;)
PS I agree - I don't want every tom dick and harry having everything I have - otherwise I would buy bread and butter stuff.
I still think I should get special prices though - don't you KNOW who I am!!!! lmaooooooooooooo
I say you send me a frag of each and I will farm and drop ship them for you after they grow into a nice colony!! ;)
PS I agree - I don't want every tom dick and harry having everything I have - otherwise I would buy bread and butter stuff.
I still think I should get special prices though - don't you KNOW who I am!!!! lmaooooooooooooo
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Fish n' Frags
Gold Sponsor
Sorry for another post but here is another example. I'm in a defensive mood today... :)
This piece for example....
I've been in business for just over a year now. I've been buying from the same supplier for that long, bringing in shipments every few weeks. Now, this is the first "alien eye"/"watermelon" chalice i've ever gotten. Nope, it is not proven, but there is no way that after waiting for this long, being patient, and working my way up the ladder to build a relationship with my supplier that i'm just going to give it away. Does this make sense or am i all alone here?
This piece for example....
I've been in business for just over a year now. I've been buying from the same supplier for that long, bringing in shipments every few weeks. Now, this is the first "alien eye"/"watermelon" chalice i've ever gotten. Nope, it is not proven, but there is no way that after waiting for this long, being patient, and working my way up the ladder to build a relationship with my supplier that i'm just going to give it away. Does this make sense or am i all alone here?
Fish n' Frags
Gold Sponsor
LOL, i'm not sold out, i'm just putting everything up on the site before i make it all available for purchase. Probably tonight or tomorrow.
And SHOULD i know who you are? If i do, please let me know and we can work on that special pricing.. :D
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