Vendors Gone Insane?

[S2G]

I dont see anything wrong with it personally. If you can sell it for that then ride it until the wheels fall off. That being said until I find some decent pricing I will remain without coral which is perfectly fine. In this day and age we're almost devolving culturally while evolving technologically. Everything is so tribal. I dont like that we should all get together and make them stop.

I do think it's kind of funny a lot of folks I see complaining about coral pricing have 1-2k in lighting, $600 skimmer with a coffee maker on the side, 500+ in a custom sump, and a crazy high rimless tank setup lol. No judgement it's your money do what makes you happy, but it is something I notice.

 

[BigKid4788]

I’m going to look at it a little different.
1. price gouging can’t happen in a hobby. None of us ya e to have a coral. There are plenty of $20 frags out there. You may not want them after seeing a “rare” coral but they are available.
2. corals are a limited resource so supply and demand creates the price. Your LFS will be cheaper because their market most of the time is limited. Online vendors market is the USA so if you have 20 frags of a rare coral, it can be gone quickly.
3. why do hobbyists complain about prices so much? Just because you may not be able to afford does t make it wrong. I can’t afford a Ferrari but does t mean the dealership should lower the price. I have to settle for something I can afford.
4. Lets be happy and appreciative of what we have because with Indo being closed and in my opinion Australia will be soon it will only get worse.

 

[AngryMike2016]

Serious?

100% serious; on their instagram a few people called them out on it, and mysteriously the next day it went to the $649 price.

 

[DannyBCorals]

Yeah it peeves me off so much. Can we make a rule where it’s allowed to raid their booth if one single coral is over $200?

 

[tehmadreefer]

Uh, yes we are. That is exacy what this thread is about, lol.

As this Thread is flowing and reading the many comments, I hope vendors realize there is No one vendor singled out and we are not Cutting down vendors in any manner.
WE ARE SIMPLY STATING THAT WE LOVE THIS HOBBY BUT IT IS BECOMMING UNAFFORDABLE TAKING AWAY THE FUN AND EXCITEMENT OF BUILDING A PIECE OF THE OCEAN WITHIN OUR HOMES.
Part of the reason we REEF is to collect and grow many types of coral and beautify our tanks and homes to make it an enjoyable show piece.
Sad is, seeing torches at $1200 -$1400, My daughter and I can go to Montego Bay All-Inclusive (air/hotel/transfers/all meals drinks and entertainment) for just under that price !!!!

 

[tehmadreefer]

Additionally every vendor SHOULD be tagged here so, they can see for there own eyes what their CUSTOMERS think.

 

[siggy]

Every day there’s a new one. Why is this always presented like a new issue? We get it. Corals are sometimes expensive. Easy solution...don’t buy them. The continual whining about does nothing except make me (And I assume others) not want to participate on these forums. It’s infuriating. It’s almost as bad as political ranting on Facebook.

"Easy solution...don’t" read it

Ahh the daily “EVERYTHING IS TOO EXPENSIVE” thread on reef2reef. I don’t disagree with the premise but this forum should have an official, stickied thread for the topic at this point.

Its like watching Maury Povich when there is nothing on.

 

[Dr. Dendrostein]

I agree completely - the market is at work here, and as long as people are willing to pay up for something, someone will be willing to take their money. Tulips come to mind. You don't like the price, don't buy it. It will most likely correct itself some day. Bubbles always burst eventually.

That said, same thing applies to the threads about insane pricing. You don't like the topic, don't read the thread! They are easy to skip ...

And I thought, I was going to retire off my beanie babies.....

 

[jt17]

despite how nice it is I will never buy from wwc
Because the prices are soooo off the walls nuts
Wwc is for the super rich guy and his Ferrari and his reef tank that he doesn’t even maintain and drops $2k a month to have someone else care for

they don’t care about the average hobbyist and only care about who they can gouge

$150 for a one head Zoa frag?
$500 for an acan frag?
Yea no thanks

even when they have a 50% off sale the prices are just barley normal

no thanks wwc
No one will dispute you have nice stuff
But you won’t see any of my hard earned money

I don’t have a Ferrari and I maintain my own tank. I shop at WWC all the time. Your assumption about their entire customer base is wrong.
Did you know they have a $10 coral tank that is always loaded with frags? They have frags available for every budget, they just don’t have all of them available online. Budget shoppers aren’t likely to pay the high shipping costs.
Also WWC employs 30+ employees full time who they pay a living wage. That’s expensive.
You never get what you don’t ask for in this life. I don’t blame any business for trying to maximize their profits. If this were insulin it would be different. But it’s corals. And keeping corals is a luxury weather a 20 gal or 2000 gal.

 

[tautog83]

I don't get it...if you think someone is charging too much for a coral don't buy it. If someone wants to pay $500+ for a coral or a fish they can.
You can spend your money on whatever you want to. I buy from wwc because I never have to worry about coral health or parasites coming on my frags.

Dip your corals . Also plenty of places that sell healthy corals.

 

[foxt]

And I thought, I was going to retire off my beanie babies.....

So thought my parents-in-law about their Hummels. Or my friend who collects stamps. Me, I am banking on my large collection of "vintage" wood working machines. They don't make them like they used to! At least those things had fixed production runs and in some cases represent a lost art.

 

[Greg Witherell]

The prices are crazy sometimes but what I noticed at RAP was the difference between vendors some had tiny frags while others had much nicer sizes. The disparity in price was also off base I saw a gold torch for 300 and another (a bit larger) for 1000.

 

[MnFish1]

Does anyone think that companies have gone insane?

I have been around aquariums since I was born and was one of the first customers in WWC when I started my reef tank in 2011-2012. I bought many things from them, some that I still have today. When I started prices were reasonable on corals and there were very very few coral frags over $100 and the ones that there were were based on size or super rare. Now it seems like everyone has gone crazy and thinks that their stuff is worth $$$.

I was looking at WWC today and noticed this hilarious piece, one of the worst I have seen in a very long time.

First off, quality Acropora frags should at the bare minimum be starting to encrust the plug and shouldn't be fresh cut.
Second, this is not even close to XL and should be listed without a size at all or listed as small. This is the minimum size any Acropora should be purchased at which is about 1.5 inches with a new branch starting. The frag is hardly any bigger than the dang plug! An XL frag would start to look like a mini colony with like at least 5 branches like this one from AquaSD.
Third, this price is insane. I don't care how rare a coral is the price should never be over $500 for a frag of anything, honestly, even over $200 is getting expensive. People are forgetting that this would be about 3-6 months of growth of an Acropora in an established system.

You can argue all day that it's rare or looks nice or whatever but this is just silliness.

I'm not here to throw hate just on WWC either they just happened to be the ones I saw today.

https://worldwidecorals.com/collections/acropora/products/walt-disney-tenuis-acropora-2842

No one is forcing you or anyone else to buy this coral. If indeed it is overpriced - its not the vendor thats insane - its the buyer-i think

 

[vetteguy53081]

If you have to think about if the price is high- ITS HIGH !!!
Im afraid thiw will be the case at RAP And im simply walking away if that’s the case from vendors.
It’s better to sell three at $275 each and move them in volume than one at $400 and hope to sell more than one

 

[HB AL]

Serious?

Ya I saw it too wish I woulda taken a screen shot but I was still tripping on the 80$ 1 inch green slimmer frag I had just seen. Like I said before I’m glad I live in SoCal, I have so many good lfs’s from LA to San Diego to buy my corals from with prices atleast half of what most (not all there are some decent ones) online vendors charge during a “so called live sale” or almost triple the price from there website for the same piece, and the local frags are much bigger. But unfortunately people who live in areas of the country with no lfs or ones not well stocked have no choice other than buying online and getting truly gouged. That’s probably why they are able to sell there corals at ridiculous prices. We do live in the USA and if I owned an online store I would probably do the same thing and charge the most people would pay.

 

[Tuan’s Reef]

No one is forcing you or anyone else to buy this coral. If indeed it is overpriced - its not the vendor thats insane - its the buyer-i think

Yeah but this hobby shouldn’t be dictated by a select few who can afford the insane runaway prices

 

[Jeff Jarry reef]

I agree with being to high for frags. But to be honest I have bought frags that was high priced. And yesterday at my LFS I bought a orange passion for 60 bucks a great deal considering they go for 200+ I try to find the best deal that I can too. But sometimes I can't. Just the nature of business now days I guess.

 

[MnFish1]

Yeah but this hobby shouldn’t be dictated by a select few who can afford the insane runaway prices

It isnt. And - unfortunately - neither you nor I have the right to say what prices are charged by a vendor. I mean - You can get some stuff at 1 store that costs 4 dollars - and 12 at another. Look at coach purses. Would it be 'fair' to go in and say - its not right that your purses cost so much - not everyone can afford them - and they don't cost anywhere near as much to make.?

 

[Scorpius]

I don't get it...if you think someone is charging too much for a coral don't buy it. If someone wants to pay $500+ for a coral or a fish they can.
You can spend your money on whatever you want to. I buy from wwc because I never have to worry about coral health or parasites coming on my frags.

You so sure about that?

 

[AquaRaider44]

This thread has really blown up.

I was not specifically targeting WWC I am sorry that some of you guys have taken it that way. Just an example of the craziness I have seen with some of these venders.

Some points I have seen to address here

1. Prices based on rigorous quarantine and inspection processes. IMO prices should not be much higher if any because of this. Corals should be expected to be healthy from any vendor. Also, you still have to do this yourself for any coral or fish no matter where it comes from.
2. Vendors have to pay costs and their employees which I agree with however, other vendors are charging much less for the same acro and still cover their costs.
3. The market price that everyone talks about is nowhere close to prices seen by some vendors. As @Tuan’s Reef best put it "This hobby shouldn’t be dictated by a select few who can afford the insane runaway prices". Prices should be based on the going market rate. Also as @vetteguy53081 said "It’s better to sell three at $275 each and move them in volume than one at $400 and hope to sell more than one" I agree 100% that if the average market price is $100 for a frag then everyone should be charging about this price. Also to the people bring up Ferrari's thats totally unrealistic and ridiculous comparing an average car to a Ferrari and thinking the prices should be the same is like saying all zoas or acros should be the same price when some are ugly and some are amazing.

Additionally every vendor SHOULD be tagged here so, they can see for there own eyes what their CUSTOMERS think.

I agree with this wholeheartedly! Honestly, this hobby would be so much better for everyone if everyone went back to the mindset of a fair days work for a fair days pay.

Thanks for everyone's participation maybe we can make a difference or have this sent to the vendors.