mrpizzaface
Well-Known Member
To be able to buy a USA made ATO vessel for $99 seams like a great deal to me.This is a thought provoking thread but....
Can anyone reasonably explain why this
Costs $99 ?
I truly would like to understand.
Prices are too dang high!!!
- Thread starter Dj City
- Start date
- Tagged users None
Potatohead
Valuable Member
Exactly- it’s a pretty niche item. Designed to fit in the left over space in a stand next to a sump.
I doubt you’ll find anything else of that capacity and form factor for half the price.
Now, if you aren’t constrained to a certain form factor due to space requirements, you could use a $22, 20 gallon brute for an ATO container and spend the extra money on something else.
Under the stand for the 125 sump-
tautog83
Valuable Member
Part of it is hype...I just noticed a vendor selling a $50 green mushroom. 1 mushroom . If it comes from this particular vendor it must be special and going to spawn unicorns or something . They might have amazing other corals but in the end its a green mushroom but people assume it's something special because of the hype that's associated with the name . Honestly it's nothing against that vendor it's our responsibility to do the research and shop around
I built my own ATO Reservoir from an old acrylic tank I bought of Offer Up and cut up. Took me about 3 hours to cut, weld and finish. This particular example is CNC/laser cut. You have the lid in there as well. You have fab/material costs and then labor. Shipping and overhead... Then the retailers markup... $100 is pretty much right on. There are less expensive options to virtually every single piece of this hobby. Buying pre-owned saves a ton. I prowl Craigslist/Offer Up constantly looking for bargains and things I might need that people are selling bundled with other items I might be able to sell and recover some of the cost.This is a thought provoking thread but....
Can anyone reasonably explain why this
Costs $99 ?
I truly would like to understand.
Oshengems
Valuable Member
It’s the same in everything we do! We are not builders at least I’m not so for things like welding bonding cutting etc I will have to pay up for Someone to do it for me, but there are certain things that are not justified in this hobby but again we buy them anyways lol
Pntbll687
Valuable Member
- Joined
- Oct 4, 2017
- Messages
- 2,094
- Reaction score
- 2,609
As long as my rubbermaid bin doesnt leak, I can't see appearance being an issue. It's behind a cabinet door and no one sees it.
But I do understand what you mean. I'd rather spend more on the tank and coral/fish/rock than on something that may never be seen by someone else.
TaylorPilot
Valuable Member
- Joined
- Aug 8, 2015
- Messages
- 1,454
- Reaction score
- 1,251
This is a thought provoking thread but....
Can anyone reasonably explain why this
Costs $99 ?
I truly would like to understand.
Go price quality cell cast acrylic, a 3 axis CNC machine, a building to assemble it in, shipping, then try to leave any margin to make a little money. I don't see how you can make one for $100 and make even a 20% margin. That is even considering direct sales. Add 3 party margins so that vendors like BRS can sell them, and the numbers get even more mind boggling. That is why I don't make them. I don't see how they make money with that. As far as it only taking an hour. It may take just an hour, but it requires they sit and cure in between each step (4 steps for a simple box like that). Typically they let thin material like that sit atleast 8-12 hours per step. So that is between 1-2 days to complete that box. Then another 24 hour cure before you can trim it, box it and ship it. It isn't 24 hours of labor, but it takes up space on my work bench, and every square foot of that air conditioned work bench cost me a certain amount every month. I can't get a plumber to come to my house and even tell me how much it is going to cost to fix my issue for $100. I get it. He has insurance, employees, trucks, inventory. I bet that $100 barely covers his cost for the call. Regarding corals, I don't think they are priced too high. You know how I know?! People are buying them...The argument could even be made that they are too low. I am sure vendors know how much the market will bear. They raise their prices 20% and the sales fall off, lower them too much more and their profit margins fall off. Trust me, they aren't just pulling their prices out of thin air. Websites, hosting, payflow (paypal), insurance, electricity, chemicals, upkeep, new cutting bits, gas to go get new shipments from the airport (they don't get shipped to their house like retail)...The list goes on. In my day job I own half of a company that does metrology, 3D scanning, reverse engineering, 3D and 2D CAD. We get calls everyday for little projects and we won't touch anything for less than $1000. Because by the time we generate a quote, get a po, receive the part, do all the work, pay our workers, pay the rent on the building, pay the electricty, pay the insurance, pay the govt, ship the part back, then wait 60 days for payment, you'd go broke doing it for anything less.
It may not seem it, but this is a low volume business. For all but a few large vendors, if you only make 20% margins, you wouldn't be able to cover your costs. Most of the guys on here selling corals aren't getting rich. In fact I would wager that none are actually. (At least by my definition of rich).
Merv49
Active Member
You can always get into a hobby you can afford. Nobody is holding a gun to your head.
Similar threads
