Sales forum has gotten out of hand

[Asagi]

Well here we go... "high end" softies will be the next thing.

Bro we are already there. What’s the most you’ve ever seen for a single Zoa polyp?

 

[Asagi]

Every seller has overhead. They pay for housing, electricity, natural gas, equipment, water, salt, lights, and the coral. Not to mention spending their time propagating the coral. The market decides what people pay. I personally aim for 50% or less of retail prices, and do not sell online. I have also given away over 1k in coral to reefers. However, I support the free market. If people don't like prices, they can shop somewhere else.

That’s not overhead friend, that’s your hobby.

 

[reefinatl]

Bro we are already there. What’s the most you’ve ever seen for a single Zoa polyp?

I made the mistake of looking at the TSA live sale and saw a single superman shroom for $70. I literally threw 3 away last weekend because they were crowding my candycanes. I think $100 for a few AOI zoas is the most I've seen for zoas but I'm a man of simple taste and if I go look around at "high end" corals it just annoys me so I don't.

 

[Asagi]

I made the mistake of looking at the TSA live sale and saw a single superman shroom for $70. I literally threw 3 away last weekend because they were crowding my candycanes. I think $100 for a few AOI zoas is the most I've seen for zoas but I'm a man of simple taste and if I go look around at "high end" corals it just annoys me so I don't.

IMO there is nothing worse than the bounce mushroom phenomenon. I see some boogers, and i mean boogers, go for a lot. Anyone have a colony of these things? please show me, i'd love to see the actinic horror of it all. One booger nem, sitting on a tile in some ones bare bottom reef. I just dont get it. Booger nem lovers, maybe you can explain. what about them gets you goin?

For some reason barf tangs come to mind. I remember years back seeing barf tangs and being like "oh wow, that's ugly" now we call them koi tangs and they sell for 10s of thousands.

 

[yanetterer]

So it's overheard when it's someone you like or a store but when it's a basement vendor trying to run a business it's just their hobby? Don't think that's how it works lol. If I don't like your business I can't just declare it a hobby because I'm cheap.

This thread isn't about businesses. They stated that in the first post.

 

[zoomonster]

Bro we are already there. What’s the most you’ve ever seen for a single Zoa polyp?

I'm sure if you looked you could find worse but how about calikidcorals at $399 per polyp for grand master krak. More like someone's been smoking krak lol. I have of course seen much lower for krak's but even at $75 pp they can keep it. I'm actually looking for some agave's and wow I can run over to WWC and get a salted for $229 per polyp lol not.

 

[kenjung]

I think there is a Instagram affect on pricing, some these coral are not even hard to get but price to the ceiling. It's been the first mover market in a while, Touches come out of no where. Some online retailer are full of Touches and hammer.

 

[Asagi]

So it's overheard when it's someone you like or a store but when it's a basement vendor trying to run a business it's just their hobby? Don't think that's how it works lol. If I don't like your business I can't just declare it a hobby because I'm cheap.

If you are not managing a business you do not have overhead. You have personal expenses. Make a business if you want to charge retail prices.

 

[BillyW]

Currently I live in Hawaii so I’m unable to buy any coral but still go to the sales forum weekly. I can but cannot wait to get back to the mainland and fill my tank back up with sticks.

I have bought from all the big box coral vendors in the past. I have also bought from several hobbyist.

It all comes down to supply and demand. If a seller has it, and you want it, they can charge whatever you or me is willing to pay.
If people continue to pay insane prices for a named coral, coral prices will stay insane.

While being in this hobby I have lived near Toledo, Nashville, Louisville, Austin, and El Paso, and now on the island of Oahu. Finding a specific coral in any of these larger areas is difficult in a brick and mortar store, SPS, LPS, or whatever else you may want.

When you talk overheard for an LFS you have to remember that they are catering to everyone in the hobby in that location, not just the stick heads, or the torch lovers, or zoa enthusiasts. This is what makes online stores and hobbyist able to compete, they can focus on one or two things. I can look online for anything I could ever want, and if I am willing to pay for it, buy it from a hobbyist or an online site and have it in my tank in 24/48 hours.

I am thankful that hobbyist are willing to take the time to do this. They don’t have to, and then you would only have online vendors charging whatever they wanted. I think hobbyist selling keeps prices grounded to a certain degree, as I have orders back to the mainland, I’ll slide in my DMs to find past sellers I have bought from to see what they have currently available at the time, and buy it.

 

[anthonymckay]

I'm seeing a lot of this in this thread.

As others have said, if hobbyists are listing things for retail prices, and people are buying stuff from them for that price, then that just what the price is. You can be mad about it, or not, but it is what it is. They way I see it: they put the time and effort into growing it, they can charge what they like. Don't like the price, don't pay it. Simple as that. Complaining about things "not being the way they used to be" wont make things the way they used to be.

I'll say this, the overwhelming vast majority of hobbyists selling frags, regardless of prices, aren't making more than they're putting into their hobby.

 

[anthonymckay]

The whole industry is just FUBAR with greed today. Other than maybe some clubs "frag swaps" are nothing more than a show you pay admission to and it's just a bunch of vendors big and small. There's no swapping going on. Too many people buying stuff they can't afford think they are going to make big bank off it when chances are they probably kill it anyway. The actual mariculture farms like in Indo have the potential to snuff the so called aquaculture places with nice grown out colonies at reasonable prices. But no... too many of the places buy up all those colonies, chop them up, glue them up and sell fresh frags and call it aquacultured for sometimes more than the whole colony costs. Worse yet people with more money than brains snap up all the stuff and drive the ridiculous faddish naming and pricing. Here in FL with the aquaculture laws and licensing the shops may report you if FF&WL doesn't catch you first selling anything w/o a license. Total monopoly that cuts out the hobbyist. Hence the end of actual frag swaps.

Then organize a frag swap? We have them here in Northern California. The Bay Area Reefing club hosts them at various locations every few months. Everyone attending is required to bring 3 frags, then everyone is assigned a number and when their number is drawn they get to go select from the table of frags. If you dont like they way things are, then do something about it

 

[Daniel@R2R]

Then organize a frag swap? We have them here in Northern California. The Bay Area Reefing club hosts them at various locations every few months. Everyone attending is required to bring 3 frags, then everyone is assigned a number and when their number is drawn they get to go select from the table of frags. If you dont like they way things are, then do something about it

I really like this idea! I might try to do something locally like this. Seems like a great time!

 

[zoomonster]

Then organize a frag swap? We have them here in Northern California. The Bay Area Reefing club hosts them at various locations every few months. Everyone attending is required to bring 3 frags, then everyone is assigned a number and when their number is drawn they get to go select from the table of frags. If you dont like they way things are, then do something about it

I guess you didn't catch the part about basically illegal w/o an aquaculture license. Florida fish and wildlife not ones to be trifled with. Google it... people have gone to jail. Some of our esteemed local shops have been alleged to have reported people. "All persons engaging in commercial aquaculture are required to obtain the certificate. Aquaculture products include: fish, shellfish, amphibians, reptiles, invertibrates, plants, and corals. The certificate number is required to be on all aquaculture products from harvest to point of sale." Problem is if you sell anything you are commercial. Ask the guy busted for selling his tang on Craigs list. Even "trades" are a gray area for enforcement.

 

[cpschult]

IMO there is nothing worse than the bounce mushroom phenomenon. I see some boogers, and i mean boogers, go for a lot. Anyone have a colony of these things? please show me, i'd love to see the actinic horror of it all. One booger nem, sitting on a tile in some ones bare bottom reef. I just dont get it. Booger nem lovers, maybe you can explain. what about them gets you goin?

For some reason barf tangs come to mind. I remember years back seeing barf tangs and being like "oh wow, that's ugly" now we call them koi tangs and they sell for 10s of thousands.

This is a buddies. I was trying to match it ,

 

[albano]

I guess you didn't catch the part about basically illegal w/o an aquaculture license. Florida fish and wildlife not ones to be trifled with. Google it... people have gone to jail. Some of our esteemed local shops have been alleged to have reported people. "All persons engaging in commercial aquaculture are required to obtain the certificate. Aquaculture products include: fish, shellfish, amphibians, reptiles, invertibrates, plants, and corals. The certificate number is required to be on all aquaculture products from harvest to point of sale." Problem is if you sell anything you are commercial. Ask the guy busted for selling his tang on Craigs list. Even "trades" are a gray area for enforcement.

Sooo , are all the Fla. livestock FS ads in the Marketplace forum, illegal?

 

[Reefing102]

IMO there is nothing worse than the bounce mushroom phenomenon. I see some boogers, and i mean boogers, go for a lot. Anyone have a colony of these things? please show me, i'd love to see the actinic horror of it all. One booger nem, sitting on a tile in some ones bare bottom reef. I just dont get it. Booger nem lovers, maybe you can explain. what about them gets you goin?

For some reason barf tangs come to mind. I remember years back seeing barf tangs and being like "oh wow, that's ugly" now we call them koi tangs and they sell for 10s of thousands.

“Koi”/Barf/whatever term are still ugly IMO. I never liked Scopas to begin with but I’d rather have a normal Scopas than whatever color mixture comes in. I’ll never buy one either. But I’m off topic.

 

[xabo]

Sooo , are all the Fla. livestock FS ads in the Marketplace forum, illegal?

 

[DIYreefer]

Sooo , are all the Fla. livestock FS ads in the Marketplace forum, illegal?

Technically, probably so.

 

[Asagi]

This is a buddies. I was trying to match it ,

Cool, did those dudes split in the first pic?

 

[Asagi]

I'm seeing a lot of this in this thread.

As others have said, if hobbyists are listing things for retail prices, and people are buying stuff from them for that price, then that just what the price is. You can be mad about it, or not, but it is what it is. They way I see it: they put the time and effort into growing it, they can charge what they like. Don't like the price, don't pay it. Simple as that. Complaining about things "not being the way they used to be" wont make things the way they used to be.

I'll say this, the overwhelming vast majority of hobbyists selling frags, regardless of prices, aren't making more than they're putting into their hobby.

You’re missing the point. Of course someone will alway pay. My point is that as a community we should not price our sales similar to retail.