These coral prices are starting to push me out the hobby

Hooz

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I was at WWC and saw a hot pink Goni I really liked... $199! Fast forward a couple weeks and a buddy of mine was at Reefapalooza Orlando. He picked-up the same Goni for me for $40 from someone with a booth there.

I get ALL of my stuff from local guys or other hobbyists (on this forum). Everything has been super healthy, as advertised and the prices were a FRACTION of the big online retailers. It helps if you have a few local guys that will go in on orders with you so you can split up the shipping costs. You usually get better deals on bigger packages, too.
 

zoaprince

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I keep trying to find these frag clubs in my area, never find them though.
In my area you have to pay in order to get anything from club members. You can post on their forums, but any frag exchange/giveaway/trade/sell is only for paid members. Complete BS. I'm calling you out Bay Area Reefers Club
 

ninjamyst

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Hey I am a new vendor here. I started my company because years ago I had a shop and fast forward I could not believe how this business became. Although I can’t fix wholesale prices or shipping which has become out of control due to this “pandemic” I try to go out of my way to keep prices down and offer coral not tiny little fragments of what was once a coral and work with people. Give me a look and maybe our shop we a good fit for you

Thanks
Nick
charges $60 for GSP.... https://www.nycfishncorals.com/indo-green-star-polyp-wysiwyg.html - this is exactly what this post is about
 

mermaid_life

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Hey I am a new vendor here. I started my company because years ago I had a shop and fast forward I could not believe how this business became. Although I can’t fix wholesale prices or shipping which has become out of control due to this “pandemic” I try to go out of my way to keep prices down and offer coral not tiny little fragments of what was once a coral and work with people. Give me a look and maybe our shop we a good fit for you

Thanks
Nick
When I first started in this hobby, frogspawn was $15 a head..... now it's $75 for the same. I don't understand.
 

Biokabe

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When I first started in this hobby, frogspawn was $15 a head..... now it's $75 for the same. I don't understand.

That one is actually fairly simple and easy.

Euphyllia corals are super popular (high demand). Most euphyllia corals came out of Indonesia (high supply). Then Indo shut down coral exports (low supply). But tons of people still wanted them (high demand). When you have high demand and low supply, prices soar. And prices will only drop when there's enough supply available that one or more retailers decide that they can make more money by dropping the price and making up the margin on volume.

But that hasn't happened. Supply is still restricted. So even though we have more supply than we used to, it's simply stabilized the market.
 

ying yang

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Im new to saltwater at 6 months only but i decided i will not buy any livestock online as even if pay extra for next day delivery,sometimes it can get lost,delayed for days,i even had delivery company say couldnt find address ( was 20kg of salt) ended up showing up 6 days late and driver who ended up delivering i talking to him and he said company got alot of agency workers in due to covid and alot more people ordering online as getting told to stay in and only go out for essentials and alot the shops just closed so online orders are more but he saying agency workers get paid per parcel delivered and not hourly rate so he guessed and said often they just put down couldnt find address or no answer at door and as live on 2nd floor flat and was heavy 20kg salt this is probably reason why.
So if was fish or coral then 6 days extra probably = dead livestock ,i never ordered livestock online but read alot threads here saying most vendors offer doa but dont reimburse shipping so it doesn't sound good to me ordering livestock online and as some fish or corals dont ship well they could die easier ( i know some lfs will get orders sent in post and get shipped half way around world but i want new arrivals at lfs to arrive and stay in their tanks for 5- 6 days so if any new arrival deaths happen in their care and not mine so i find out what day they expecting delivery or going to pick up from wholesalers and go to the lfs the day before this and yeah there less choice but can ring up days before and ask tjem what they got and to keep hold off it for me for few days but i always go to lfs knowing exactly what i will buy so i done my research on it off where to place it/ flow/lighting/what pests a certain coral more likely to have and what dips most effevtive and the 3 lfs i go to,2 of them have 100- 200 different corals to pick from as low as £ 10 upwards and as im new im only going for softies and lps and will get few sps as tank matures more and i wont spend £ 100's or £ 1000's on a silly name coral for i see sometimes a 1- 2 inch frag .

As im a yorkshire man and generally we wise with our money and if you ever want to know how copper wire got invented,it was 2 yorkshire men argyuing over a penny ha ha

So i will buy a coral reasonably priced that looks similar to another coral that ridiculously priced as imo we got such a huge selection of corals anyway to choose from.
 

bubbaque

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I check websites pretty often and it’s been on there for a while. I would be interested in buying it at a slightly lower price hahahah

A lot of my frags from TSA have not done well in my tank for some reason while other frags from other places have flourished. BMF signature Corals has one of the best packaging IMO.

There were some other high-end acro websites selling their Vivid Insanity 1”-1.5” frags for $300-380 that were actually mostly colored up already whereas TSAs Vivid is mostly green.
After sinking $1K+ of frags from TSA, their acros just aren’t as healthy, vibrant, or colored up as other acros from other vendors from my experience. I do like SBB, TCK Corals, BMF signature, POTO, or Unique Corals since they sell their frags after they’ve fully colored up and the frags handle shipping well and are “healthier” if that makes any sense.
I am the photographer for TSA and part of their online sales team. If you had any issues with any frags you received from us, please let us know. We are always very willing to do what is needed to make a customer happy.

As far as the Vivids insanity price, we look at the market when we price corals. When it's priced we look at the size of other sellers and price. I searched for a vivid insanity frag you mentioned but can not find any. The best I could find is a small one for $400 on sale. The one on the site is easily over 1.5".

We use no filters when taking pics and pics are not in all blue. I could use a filter like 95% of the other vendors but we prefer to sell frags close to what you actually receive so you are not disappointed.

We also have a wide range of prices for coral, with some as low as $15.

Again if you have any issues please reach out to us and we will make it right.
 

reefinatl

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This guy is so out of touch. Puts the name indo infront of GSP and the price instantly goes up.

Its a dang GSP
Sounds like he's perfectly in touch with these fools dropping $100 on nubs. I stocked my 90 with every color for a few hundred total.

If you are building it for you focus on the overall color of the coral and buy local. Leave the latest and greatest junk alone. Hot stuff from 4-10 years ago still looks amazing and goes for free-$50 from local guys. Honestly need to preserve those strains. Vendors move on to the next "it" and they are gone. I'm having a heck of a time finding purple cap or blue digitata.
 

Timfish

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In my book $$$$ equals a coral that has been stressed by lighting and or environemtnal conditions to force those colors, and/or a coral that is slow to grow, and/or a coral that has a weak immune system and need special conditions, and/or a coral that has had filters used to show colros it won't have under typical light conditions as seen in fig 1 here. As pointed out above there are good sources for cheap corals. The best is local reefers where you can see and ask about the conditions a coral grew under.
 

Zeal

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I am the photographer for TSA and part of their online sales team. If you had any issues with any frags you received from us, please let us know. We are always very willing to do what is needed to make a customer happy.

As far as the Vivids insanity price, we look at the market when we price corals. When it's priced we look at the size of other sellers and price. I searched for a vivid insanity frag you mentioned but can not find any. The best I could find is a small one for $400 on sale. The one on the site is easily over 1.5".

We use no filters when taking pics and pics are not in all blue. I could use a filter like 95% of the other vendors but we prefer to sell frags close to what you actually receive so you are not disappointed.

We also have a wide range of prices for coral, with some as low as $15.

Again if you have any issues please reach out to us and we will make it right.
I can find nearly all of your corals here in Miami at nearly 80% off. Bigger frags, same colors. What you have in your "$15" is the most basic of basic corals that people give out.

TSA and WWC websites are extremely overpriced and I feel bad for the smucks that pay those prices.

**** WWC sells a single Illuminati for $199.00. I sold 3 Polyp for $50 not too long ago.
 

mermaid_life

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That one is actually fairly simple and easy.

Euphyllia corals are super popular (high demand). Most euphyllia corals came out of Indonesia (high supply). Then Indo shut down coral exports (low supply). But tons of people still wanted them (high demand). When you have high demand and low supply, prices soar. And prices will only drop when there's enough supply available that one or more retailers decide that they can make more money by dropping the price and making up the margin on volume.

But that hasn't happened. Supply is still restricted. So even though we have more supply than we used to, it's simply stabilized the market.
Then I guess I'm completely out of touch. I have been selling my froggies for $15 a head locally. No wonder they go so fast... whoopsie! =)
 

bubbaque

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I can find nearly all of your corals here in Miami at nearly 80% off. Bigger frags, same colors. What you have in your "$15" is the most basic of basic corals that people give out.

TSA and WWC websites are extremely overpriced and I feel bad for the smucks that pay those prices.

**** WWC sells a single Illuminati for $199.00. I sold 3 Polyp for $50 not too long ago.
TSA is not some random guy who sells out of their house. When you buy from a legit business prices will be higher as you know you aren't paying someone who is going to run away with your money or have to go to some strangers house.

Most of TSA tanks are quarantined that the coals have to go through 3 months of dips and rebasing. I think most would pay a little extra for that service.
 

LiveFreeAndReef

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I can find nearly all of your corals here in Miami at nearly 80% off. Bigger frags, same colors. What you have in your "$15" is the most basic of basic corals that people give out.

TSA and WWC websites are extremely overpriced and I feel bad for the smucks that pay those prices.

**** WWC sells a single Illuminati for $199.00. I sold 3 Polyp for $50 not too long ago.
To be fair, they are selling corals for $199 because people are paying that much. They wouldn't be in business if they weren't. Seems like you may have wiggle room to increase your own prices!
 

Zeal

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TSA is not some random guy who sells out of their house. When you buy from a legit business prices will be higher as you know you aren't paying someone who is going to run away with your money or have to go to some strangers house.

Most of TSA tanks are quarantined that the coals have to go through 3 months of dips and rebasing. I think most would pay a little extra for that service.
All of that still doesn't justify paying 5-20 times more. A season hobbyist knows what to look for. Some of those prices on the TSA website are predatory. Pray on the people that don't know.
 
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