Prices

[92Miata]

So to summarize. We want cheap prices for the “newbies” and we also bring sustaining the reefs into the conversation. Yet these cheap prices are going to promote the kind of husbandry that will kill many many coral. As I stated in another thread. Look how many live sales are starting to go on now. There is 1 or 2 every weekend. There used to be 1 or 2 a quarter. So you are looking at thousands of frags sold each weekend with many people scrambling to get those cheap $1 to $10 pieces. Many of those people are newbies that have no idea what they are buying. I wouldn’t be shocked if someone told me that 50% of the frags sold during these live sales were dead within a year.

Honestly fragging may have been one of the worst things for the hobby cost wise. It is like water. I would have laughed in your face when I was younger if you would have told me people would pay $2 or $3 for a bottle of water. Same for a coral, I would have never thought someone would pay $20, much less $1000 for a single mushroom when I could currently get a rock covered for that price. Then you have the perfect storm of cheap easy macro photography, naming corals comes along and then bam, social media.

How does cheap prices promote poor husbandry?

 

[Mastiffsrule]

This is one of my biggest issues I have with the hobby as well. I get the retailer's that have business expenses such as overhead, utilities, etc. However, when I see people selling tiny nubs for the same price if not more than what they were purchased for makes me sick. It's going to kill the hobby because only some will be able to afford it.

I have locals around me that cut giant frags of popular corals like fox flame, WD, etc for $20 and I have some that sell 1/2" nubs for $200. It drives me crazy as a hobbyist. I am in it because I truly enjoy growing corals and I want to share that with people. For some it seems that this is a get rich scheme and it's not helping the hobby because newer hobbyist think this is how it should be.

Just to show what I mean. It's a bad picture but I am taking all of these corals up to my LFS and trading them in for store credit at $5 a piece. I know they are not the latested and greatest "rooty tootie fresh and fruity" piece but some of these could easily sell for $40 a piece.



Again, this isnt a jab at the retailers. This is for the hobbyist. I have tons of $200+ pieces in my tank and I will sell them for $20 or less when it comes time to frag.

Hi bro,

Just saw this thread. Great frags. If you were just that 7 minutes closer.

Shoot me a PM when you frag some of those other ones from your tank later on. Do you use the LFS in Indian Trail or is there on up in your area you like?

 

[Perthegallon]

How does cheap prices promote poor husbandry?

I don’t want to put words in his mouth I think he’s saying if there easy to get and replace then you will put less worth on them and people will be more prone to neglect them and not care if they die since they can just keep buying them for cheap and replacing what they lose.

 

[92Miata]

I don’t want to put words in his mouth I think he’s saying if there easy to get and replace then you will put less worth on them and people will be more prone to neglect them and not care if they die since they can just keep buying them for cheap and replacing what they lose.

I dont buy that at all. My $20 acro frags get the same care as my expensive ones.

It just come off really elitest - and frankly, I'd bet you find more poor husbandry in people who spend a ton, than people who spend little.

 

[JCOLE]

Hi bro,

Just saw this thread. Great frags. If you were just that 7 minutes closer.

Shoot me a PM when you frag some of those other ones from your tank later on. Do you use the LFS in Indian Trail or is there on up in your area you like?

If it helps I will meet you 8 minutes from my house. Let me know if you want any. Tired of staring at them. Lol.

Yeah I was going to bring these to the Indian Trail one. I also trade them into the new mooresville LFS. Have you been to that one yet?

 

[blasterman]

How do high price frags rip people off? Have a gun to your head to buy em? Any idea how much a PITA it is to bag and ship a single coral is? Personally I think online sellers should set order limits of no less than a few hundred dollars but have more corals for the price.

Yeah, I think its ridiculous when I see GSP or green implosions sell for $80, but that's capitalism. We have a hobby that promotes buying baking soda dissolved in water for 1000% markup. $80 GSP is a steal.

I used to give away giant gobstopper palys because they grew so fast. Got out of the hobby. Came back. Now people pay $50 for them.

We need more organized frag swaps and stop relying on reef stores and eBay sellers. Competition fixes this.

 

[Opus]

We need more organized frag swaps and stop relying on reef stores and eBay sellers. Competition fixes this.

To an extent. I think we had 6 local frag swaps last year with one of them being Aquashella. Prices at the swaps are about the same as online. Everyone that sells at the swaps also sell thru social media so the prices are the same. You can pick up some package deals. Also, one of our swaps does a VIP on Friday night before the Saturday show. Some of the vendors over do the drinking and you can get some good deals then! Maybe that is just a local issue for me. Other areas may not have the same experience at frag swaps. I do like my location. If you expand it out by a 3 to 4 hour drive I can add 3 or 4 more frag swaps a year. Houston usually has a few and Austin has a couple. Also 1 or 2 up in Oklahoma.