SPS coral pricing

[sps4mytank]

IMO sps is a challenge for any reefer. Its tempermental and can die at any moment. Nice colonies at the local wholesalers in LA go for only 25-50 bucks. These colonies are typically sold in fragments sold at 40 bucks a pop. If you want to make the most from your buck you frag it ten times. But I honestly believe that a sps frag that cost more than 100 is way to expensive especially in a time like this.

 

[Sea MunnKey]

I hope one day crazy LE cabbage corals and crazy Tyree Xenia take over so we can have our nice SPS and LPS back for cheaper!

lol@ Rasta Cabbage and Black/Orange Xenia frags for 299$

:xd::wink: I almost "ripped" my pants ... sittin' down :xd: !!


Paul

 

[johnanddawn]

i was hoping that the chalice choppers would stay out of the sps end - but i guess if the money is there

there is already a bandwagon of choppers jumping on and cherry picking the aussie sps

some are even selling frags before they even cut them - now thats funny and i semi sarcastically quote:


"hey guys i bought this cool coral i have no idea what color it will be under artificial lighting, what its growth rate will be, anything about the params to maximize its health or even if it will live to see the end of next week without rtning but am willing to part with a 1/2 frag with three - count them yes three! eyes... i mean polyps for a mere 150$ (unless of course i can get more for calling it "my miami acro"). i just can't believe how nice i am being letting you in on this once in a lifetime deal cause there are no other corals in the ocean that look like this one and although i am not making any money off it - you are going to make fortune selling frags to your buddies.

lol

 

[Reef Pets]

As Kraylen stated, all of the coral is wild at some point, ALL OF IT. Yes, coral does morph and when the coral morphs it typically makes it a rare pieces.
Everything has to be factored in when it comes to fragging coral. The most expensive chance taken is the fragging process. There are many times that a colony is fragged and the colony starts to receed, its the nature of the beast when dealing with live creatures. At that point its a complete loss for the vendor.
Almost everything that we (people) purchase is typically over priced. Think about the house that you purchased. If the house it 10 years old then there is a good chance that you paid twice the amount that the original buyer bought it for, yes twice. And when I say twice we can be talking about 150,000 dollar difference, not 100.00 or 200 dollars that we are talking about when it comes to coral.
Many people will read my comparison above and think, how can you compare the two.... Well, 100 percent mark up is 100 percent mark up no matter how much money is involved.

Now when it comes to rare... I am a huge fan of classic muscle cars. My dream care is a 1969 Yenko Camaro. New this car cost roughly $4500.00 and now a mint condition Yenko goes for about $300,000.00, that is one heck of a difference.

Again, it hard to compare a house (mark up value) and a car (rare value) to the value of live coral. But the concept is the same. If you are wanting rare then you have to pay the price and by the time you are the third owner of something you are going to have to pay the final market up value. Thats how is has worked from the beginning of time and thats how it will always work...

If you want cheap coral at its bottom dollar price then you would have to move to Australia or Indonesia and hand pick it yourself. Otherwise, you have to pay the collector, fuel for there boat, dive equipment, boxes, packaging, export broker money for there time (profit) storage/tanking. Then on this side of the world you have to pay for import broker, packaging, boxing and then of course no one is willing to house hundreds of coral for free therefore vendors have to have a small profit as well.
So, look at the process and you can see why this hobby is expensive.

 

[SDguy]

Plenty of gorgeous cheap sps to be had. I never met an ORA coral I didn't like. :)

 

[dieselab]

You can't frag a yenko or a house.

 

[terryagi]

[URL]http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-02/ac/index.php[/URL]

 

[mpoletti]

I love it Richard. I also love $150 for a frag of wild echinata when you can get a captive raised peice for less :) Don't get me started on the price of a pink wild digitata when I saw 5 of them at a lfs for $89 a colony.

Greed is ruining, if it has not already ruined this hobby for many. :(

 

[wishntoboutside]

You can't frag a yenko or a house.[/quote

you maybe be able to frag a yenko but it would be a sad day. a home is an investment for sure. a frag should be for enjoyement and not to be the first one to reep the rewards of a fresh new eye of a chalice or a new branching growth.
besides dont named corals fall in price in time home prices dont fall.. lol or never used too. i remember the day that nuk greens were a fortune now cononies going for 150.00

 

[mpoletti]

[URL]http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-02/ac/index.php[/URL]

An article written by a man that had his name placed on a bunch of cheap chinese bulbs so they would sell for more :angel:

 

[Sea MunnKey]

Hear Ye ... Hear Ye All!!! Totally agree!

Paul

 

[pisces4u]

Supply and demand rule capitalism. In our niche, timing has a huge effect on supple and demand.

A piece can be released or dubbed "Limited Edition" or rare or whatever, but after it's been out a year or two, people have fragged it over and over to re-sell or trade.

It's like the penny riddle. If I give you a penny on the 1st of the month, 2 pennies on the 2nd, 4 pennies on the 3rd and keep doubling it, you'll be a millionaire in a month.

If you want the LE/rare/new releases when they are still LE and new, you will pay a premium. If you are patient, you can wait it out and get beautiful pieces for $5 per polyp/$10 per inch/eye from your local hobbyists at swaps or as they trim their tanks.

Personally, I like pieces that have the "neon look" under my t5+LED's. You can find beautiful pieces like this that are so extremely common such as GSP, Radioactive Dragon Eye Zoa's, Eagle Eyes, etc. You can also go out and spend $200 on a 1/4" Watermelon Chalice. It comes down to how you want your tank to look.

One of my LFS owners told me the "average" hobbyist lasts 3 years (keep in mind theses forums are not swimming with "average" hobbyists). If the "average" hobbyist goes out and fills up a tank with 1/4" LE/rare frags, their tank will not have that great mature look by the time they get out taking into account pox/bugs/worms/melting/chemistry swing losses.

There will always be a market for large colonies as well as small frags. Super expensive as well as affordable. Everyone has different tastes as "beauty is in the eye of the beholder". I saw an amazing Japanese reef tank that was 90% leathers and softies that could stand toe to toe with any TOTM SPS/LPS tank. Execution adds more value than content IMO. I've seen 180g systems with LE/rare frags that I wouldn't trade my 50g for even if they paid me.

When it comes down to it, do whatever makes you happy in the hobby. It could be mushrooms, it could be Tyree chalices. If you go home at night, look at your tank, and smile, you are doing something right.

 

[Leishman]

An article written by a man that had his name placed on a bunch of cheap chinese bulbs so they would sell for more :angel:

Amen.

 

[eagleeyez5]

I agree do what makes you happy.

I remember when I had my 125 gallon tank, I had that think packed to the brim with corals constantly killing each other for realestate. during that time I had the mindset that 'only High End stuff' was ever going in my tank.

Then in April I set up my new 300 gallon tank, a 75 gallon frag tank and 2 55 gallon holding qt tanks. Now all of a sudden I look at my tank and think it is empty. So my mind set has changed to where I put in lower end but Larger colonies. Mostly waiting for the high end stuff to grow out.

My point is that I am more than willing to spend $100 per inch for a really nice sps. I have bought many pieces for that price. Now I would not spend that much on a wild caught 'unproven' peice. This is why the 'NAME BRAND' corals are the corals I look for.

 

[wishntoboutside]

so many good comments. no comment on the light bulbs though. keeping it on track. so i guess we are evoling in to a chop shop hobbie instead of a fraggig hobbie when things are overgrown... hmm should i register reefchopshop.com. or chopshop farmer.

anyone with some nice named brand frags for sale or trade that are tank raised i am looking=)

 

[ahayes13]

it is unfortunate that the hobby has gotten so dang expensive. not that its ever been cheap. i guess what i should say is that corals have gotten so expensive. but thats all in the eye of the beholder and some people will pay it, and some wont.
i dont think i would be willing to pay 100-150 of some new coral that just came into captivity. no one knows how or what it will do, and im not about to take a chance in throwing away that kind of money.
i always look for named corals, and that are captive raised. and have no problems paying the 50-60 for ora or the like. but wouldnt want to spend more on a coral that no one knows whether it will rtn on them in a week after adding it to the tank. i will wait til they have been in captivity for a while and have been fragged. and no that they will be okay in captivity.

 

[bamachamp92]

I have seen several posts justifying this by saying LE cost more LE this LE that. We are not talking about LE we are talking about newly imported colonies that probably cost 199.00 for the colony, being chopped up and sold for 150.00 a frag it is different. If it is a proven piece then name it and sell it for whatever you want. The pink lemonade didnt come in then get chopped up a week later and sold for 125.00 a frag, it was in a few tanks for a long time before it was made LE that is the difference. I like a lot of these new aussie sps, but before I pay 150.00 a 1/2 inch Im going to wait a few months and see if they are still the same color or even alive still.

 

[roshi719]

There is really only one excuse for this:




GREED









Welcome to capitalism, where the almighty dollar always gets the last vote!

 

[Znut Reefer]

bamachamp92 well spoken. I agree with all that has been said. It will be interesting to see what these wild sps morph into. I prefer tank raised anyday over wild sps coming in. They do look nice and make you look twice. But most if not all wild corals don't keep the color they have when they come in, they turn brown. And may or may not ever color back up. Tyree, ORA, are all proven to keep their color. And sure are a lot cheaper! $150-$200 for a 1/2" wild sps is insane.

 

[ddiver]

I love it Richard. I also love $150 for a frag of wild echinata when you can get a captive raised peice for less :) Don't get me started on the price of a pink wild digitata when I saw 5 of them at a lfs for $89 a colony.

Greed is ruining, if it has not already ruined this hobby for many. :(

I don't want to stir up the pot or step on any ones toes but u nailed it Mark...after the I saw the price for a frag of a pink digi for $150 it just pushed me overboard..I saw 5 on liveaquaria that was much nicer for $50 a colony...and now $150 for a "true" echinata when there's the Icefire that's proven and probably as nice as one will get..just ridiculous.....But as long as there's hobbyists that are willing to and have paid for it, the $150 for an inch or less not including shipping for an unproven coral days are just beginning...