Rant - Why do hobbyist price their corals like a store???

[RedSeaReefer1]

I’m going a coral haul and I usually buy my corals from local hobbyists or stores with good deals going on or from store owners who usually hook me up. Anyways, I’m finding a lot of hobbyist are now pricing their corals out of the market. Either pricing their corals just as much as a store or higher. Why? It makes no sense. They don’t have the bills and many expenses that a store has to pay so why price that high? If someone is going out of their way to drive to your house to pay for a frag that you didn’t even buy wholesale then why price high. It’s just a coral frag that grew from one of their established corals. People are really trying to sell me regular torches for hundreds of $$$ a head and plain mushrooms for close to $70 a piece now. And FYI to these people online is not a good reference for pricing as online is ridiculous now. 5x higher than what you should be paying. Don’t mean to rant just wanna know why….

 

[albano]

As long as people keep paying ridiculous prices, sellers will keep charging them !

 

[Jekyl]

Cost of everything is up right now unfortunately

 

[169468]

So if you had a choice of selling a frag for $50 or $500, and there were plenty of buyers, what would you do?

There is the element of paying-it-forward to the community, and I'm sure frag swapping or donations to local reefers is still ongoing, but if you are listing something for sale then the seller decides whether they want 'market value' or want to move it on for the greater good.

If they're selling for more than a buyer wants to pay, then the buyer doesn't have to buy it!

 

[LiveFreeAndReef]

Maybe I lucked out but I have a local reefer that has always been extremely reasonable when selling coral. Most corals Ive purchased from him were $10 or less each, and he always throws in a freebie

 

[LiveFreeAndReef]

And I'm sure the price tag of all the knowledge he's shared far exceeds whatever I've paid him for coral lol

 

[ca1ore]

Why? It makes no sense. They don’t have the bills and many expenses that a store has to pay so why price that high? If someone is going out of their way to drive to your house to pay for a frag that you didn’t even buy wholesale then why price high.

As noted, if there are people willing to pay silly prices, then there will be sellers only too happy to charge them. Livestock items tend to be about willingness to pay rather than gross margin calculations anyhow.

 

[Jekyl]

As noted, if there are people willing to pay silly prices, then there will be sellers only too happy to charge them. Livestock items tend to be about willingness to pay rather than gross margin calculations anyhow.

Agreed. The "high end" torches are the most available currently and still the most expensive.

 

[KevinC]

Take a Pink Floyd acro for example. TSA would charge ~$100, FHC would charge ~$80. You can find a local frag from $30-$70.
either way you still save a bit from buying from hobbyist for sure. But just so you know, $80 for a Pink Floyd frag is still consider decently priced.

 

[rhostam]

I’m going a coral haul and I usually buy my corals from local hobbyists or stores with good deals going on or from store owners who usually hook me up. Anyways, I’m finding a lot of hobbyist are now pricing their corals out of the market. Either pricing their corals just as much as a store or higher. Why? It makes no sense. They don’t have the bills and many expenses that a store has to pay so why price that high? If someone is going out of their way to drive to your house to pay for a frag that you didn’t even buy wholesale then why price high. It’s just a coral frag that grew from one of their established corals. People are really trying to sell me regular torches for hundreds of $$$ a head and plain mushrooms for close to $70 a piece now. And FYI to these people online is not a good reference for pricing as online is ridiculous now. 5x higher than what you should be paying. Don’t mean to rant just wanna know why….

It’s called capitalism. Rules of supply and demand apply. As others have said, if people pay the prices they will continue to charge those prices. If people won’t, the prices will drop. If supply is up… you get the idea.

Also, you should read Crucial Conversations. You can’t know the story behind why a hobbiest is charging those prices. Or why any stranger makes any decision in life. In this case we could assume greed, sure. But what does it matter? They could have a sick relative, they could have been hit hard financially by coronavirus impact, they could be trying to save and turning this hobby into a source of income for a host a other reasons. Why does it matter their motive?

Then there is the issue of entitlement. Should one feel entitled to own some kind of coral and expect to pay bargain prices [just because] one shares a passion? While it is no doubt that the community is awesome and many folk will do what they can to grow the community, the truth is that being in the hobby doesn’t mean we’re owed anything.

The only question and answer that matters is [what are you willing to pay for something?]

 

[Lost in the Sauce]

Capitalism works. When when consumers stop paying those prices, They will have to come down.

So long as consumers continue to pay storefront boutique prices, for Joe's closet reef grown corals, Joe will keep charging that for them, because the market supports it.


Now here's the other side of the coin.

Joe is in it to make some money. Many reefers are not and aren't guilty of this. I don't really care what somebody values their trade at. If I like that coral and they like the one I have I'm fine to trade. I've given dozens of corals away this year to people in my area starting up tanks.

There are essentially two markets out there. The Joe reefer market, and the reefer to reefer market. They have different suppliers and consumers.

 

[Theulli]

I’m going a coral haul and I usually buy my corals from local hobbyists or stores with good deals going on or from store owners who usually hook me up. Anyways, I’m finding a lot of hobbyist are now pricing their corals out of the market. Either pricing their corals just as much as a store or higher. Why? It makes no sense. They don’t have the bills and many expenses that a store has to pay so why price that high? If someone is going out of their way to drive to your house to pay for a frag that you didn’t even buy wholesale then why price high. It’s just a coral frag that grew from one of their established corals. People are really trying to sell me regular torches for hundreds of $$$ a head and plain mushrooms for close to $70 a piece now. And FYI to these people online is not a good reference for pricing as online is ridiculous now. 5x higher than what you should be paying. Don’t mean to rant just wanna know why….

Why wouldn't they price their corals at the rate people are paying for them? If no one buys them, the price will go down. The only argument I could see is that perhaps you're rolling the dice a bit more on hitchhikers and diseases, but from my experience with LFSs it's not like those are risk free.

Just because they're hobbyists, that doesn't mean they don't have bills.

 

[sp1187]

fast food upped their wages to $15/hr to flip burgers so there is more spendable income out there.
FB/basement coral farmers are happy to take it.

 

[vetteguy53081]

It’s going to get worse. All 3 major shippers have applied for rate increases

 

[workhz]

Agree with the whole supply/demand thing but I’ve basically stopped looking at local reefers to buy stuff. If you aren’t 25-30% below retail or more, it’s just not worth the hassle.

 

[Grill]

 

[jda]

I always find it ironic that most people are against anything but capitalism, except for when they don't want to pay more... but otherwise it is fine. I have always wondered that if people knew the terms for what they are suggesting, like fascism or communism, then maybe they would not suggest it?

Market - supply and demand. Pure capitalism. Let the buyers tell the sellers what to charge.

I run a small business. The best way for a true store to keep their prices up is to have hobbyists charge nearly the same amount, but have lower supply. I would be OK with a hobbyist selling coral X in the market for $100 so that I could sell 10 of coral X also at $100. Getting undercut by selling coral X for $20 hurts stores.

 

[albano]

Agree with the whole supply/demand thing but I’ve basically stopped looking at local reefers to buy stuff. If you aren’t 25-30% below retail or more, it’s just not worth the hassle.

Not sure what the hassle is?

 

[shwareefer]

Still lots of good deals from hobbyists out there. No one is holding a gun to your head. Don't like the price, present a good argument why it should be less and haggle it down. Hobbyists are not stores and usually will give in to reason. Or just walk away.

Funny, my LFS was ranting the other day about these basement fraggers who come in claiming to be so-and-so and that they should get a discount. He's like "you are who?" I guess there might be some ego involved and it goes both ways, lol.

 

[mwil79]

As someone who grows things out to frag and resell, some of it ends up on the buyers shoulders. No matter how cheap you list an item someone will always go out of the way and low ball you on prices or ask you to drive and meet them half way. I don't mind doing it at times and I never ask for the same prices as online or at stores but when you do have say a tank filled with Euphyllia (frag tank not main display) it requires dosing, monitoring, feeding, and water changes. You may not have the rent of a store but you do have everything that comes with it including electric bills.