Vendors Gone Insane?

[Dr. Dendrostein]

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

Capitalism at its best,comrade
When Carl's Jr sells famous star burgers 2 for $1, (they did one time)
McDonald's happy meals
New clothes we buy
Especially when we buy made in USA
When we buy fruits and vegetables
When we get our Air conditioner fix home or car, business too

If we really knew what it cost without markup.
Capitalism at its best, comrade

 

[Backreefing]

I do think some vendors are greedy.
But the ones I dealt with have been good to me.
I also see a absentice of threads saying great things about vendors here , yes there is sponsor feedback threads . But here is more traffic.
Don’t think I’m sticking up for greedy vendors but peps are paying them big so.....

 

[cain720]

WWC is capitalizing on their brand recognition at the hobbyists' expense. I'd love to see someone call them out, but I'm afraid they have too many connections and shills in the hobby.

They hike prices on their site to create the illusion of good deals during their live-sales when in reality you're still paying over market price. Yet another reason I despise their live sales...

 

[MnFish1]

WWC is capitalizing on their brand recognition at the hobbyists' expense. I'd love to see someone call them out, but I'm afraid they have too many connections and shills in the hobby.

They hike prices on their site to create the illusion of good deals during their live-sales when in reality you're still paying over market price. Yet another reason I despise their live sales...

Why no one is forcing you to participate in live sales - I have never done it.

 

[cain720]

Why no one is forcing you to participate in live sales - I have never done it.

Because I care about fellow hobbyists and have no problem calling out scummy business tactics when I see them.

 

[vetteguy53081]

WWC is capitalizing on their brand recognition at the hobbyists' expense. I'd love to see someone call them out, but I'm afraid they have too many connections and shills in the hobby.

They hike prices on their site to create the illusion of good deals during their live-sales when in reality you're still paying over market price. Yet another reason I despise their live sales...

I think I kwow what youre saying. A couple others are guilty of it and then advertise " LIVE SALE- 40% off) but if you refer to last week or two weeks ago pricing, the numbers come out to be the same after 40$ so in essence, the prices are marked up 40% and then after 40%, savings = ZERO

 

[fcmatt]

If you dont like wwc you would have pulled your hair out in the past then. There were waiting lists for certain named frags. You would wait months and months for a chance to pay big bucks. At least now days they ship immediately. Heh.

 

[AngryMike2016]

All I have to say about WWC is $650 walt disney, $90 frogskin acro.

 

[MnFish1]

Because I care about fellow hobbyists and have no problem calling out scummy business tactics when I see them.

No - you can buy those frags elsewhere - than WWC. If they are cheaper elsewhere. buy them there. This is a crazy thread. No one is forcing anyone to buy expensive corals. The solution is for people to stop buying - and the price will come down. Or buy from vendors that have a lower price. If WWC ( Ne er ordered from them) has high prices and then has a sale - good on them. So what lol

 

[MnFish1]

I think I kwow what youre saying. A couple others are guilty of it and then advertise " LIVE SALE- 40% off) but if you refer to last week or two weeks ago pricing, the numbers come out to be the same after 40$ so in essence, the prices are marked up 40% and then after 40%, savings = ZERO

and your point is? Its their company right - they can charge what they want - and customers can vote with their wallets..... Or - better yet - call WWC and ask for a better deal?

 

[S2G]

WWC is capitalizing on their brand recognition at the hobbyists' expense. I'd love to see someone call them out, but I'm afraid they have too many connections and shills in the hobby.

They hike prices on their site to create the illusion of good deals during their live-sales when in reality you're still paying over market price. Yet another reason I despise their live sales...

It's a voluntary transaction. What do you want governed coral pricing so everyone is as high as they are? Lol

 

[S2G]

No - you can buy those frags elsewhere - than WWC. If they are cheaper elsewhere. buy them there. This is a crazy thread. No one is forcing anyone to buy expensive corals. The solution is for people to stop buying - and the price will come down. Or buy from vendors that have a lower price. If WWC ( Ne er ordered from them) has high prices and then has a sale - good on them. So what lol

All these price threads are crazy. I do wish everyone would get out of this nano phase so when they live above their means I can at least buy the equip.

 

[Mark]

I never thought I'd see $1k RBTA's and Mushrooms, but here we are. That said, don't let it get to you. Let the collector-itis folks do their thing, while you find joy in building/aquascaping a nice reef in your tank with less rare corals. Stop buying the newest LED and the hottest corals, and focus on the care of the corals you already have.

My other hobby is guitar playing. And whenever I jump on the guitar forums, I see so many people get caught up in the guitar-acquisition-syndrome. They spend more time cruising the online guitar vendors instead of playing and getting better on the guitars they already have.

 

[Zerobytes]

I think I kwow what youre saying. A couple others are guilty of it and then advertise " LIVE SALE- 40% off) but if you refer to last week or two weeks ago pricing, the numbers come out to be the same after 40$ so in essence, the prices are marked up 40% and then after 40%, savings = ZERO

Doesn't this occur in all retail areas? Some places would mark it up more than 40%. I don't believe there is anything unique to reefing in this whole issue.

 

[blstravler]

WWC is capitalizing on their brand recognition at the hobbyists' expense. I'd love to see someone call them out, but I'm afraid they have too many connections and shills in the hobby.

They hike prices on their site to create the illusion of good deals during their live-sales when in reality you're still paying over market price. Yet another reason I despise their live sales...

So I bought a fair amount of corals during their last live sale. I look at what I bought and their current prices and I roughly saved 1400. I’ve also purchased a fair amount at their eBay auctions and have saved even more.

So maybe you could provide and example of them raising their prices 40% before a live sale? I’m not defending WWC but if you’re going to accuse them of something proof is usually a good thing to start with? I also saved about a 1,000 during the last TSA live sale - and I won a GC.

At the end of the day people see value in some things and some people don’t. Doesn’t mean you have to purchase what you don’t value nor does it mean you should accuse them of shady business practices without proof.

 

[cain720]

Just compare their prices with other vendors that don't move a large amount of their corals through live sales.

I watched one of the more recent WWC live sales before I knew what they were, and it became 100% evident to me why they do them. It's a tactic to have hobbyists competing against each other to "win" corals at prices that are still above market value. They're encouraging impulse decision making to move more product at higher prices. Not to mention these are live animals we are talking about...

 

[cain720]

It's a voluntary transaction. What do you want governed coral pricing so everyone is as high as they are? Lol

No, I would just like for hobbyists to be aware of these things. People in this thread are acting like this industry isn't a niche market. The law of one price doesn't apply, and calling out vendors that are trying to drive prices up is a great way to keep prices down.

 

[bct15]

I only read the OP and a couple comments.

I’ve been doing reefs for a long time, but took a break for a while. I’m coming back into the hobby now and building a setup for a 500 gallon display. Looking at the current price for coral, as well as the minuscule size of frags has me completely shocked.

For stocking my tank I will be mostly buying from other hobbyists that have been in as long as I have. They tend to sell decent sized frags at more reasonable prices.

I can remember when a “chunky” frag was a couple inches and multi branches. Now it seems acros are sold by the polyp.

 

[AquaRaider44]

I only read the OP and a couple comments.

I’ve been doing reefs for a long time, but took a break for a while. I’m coming back into the hobby now and building a setup for a 500 gallon display. Looking at the current price for coral, as well as the minuscule size of frags has me completely shocked.

For stocking my tank I will be mostly buying from other hobbyists that have been in as long as I have. They tend to sell decent sized frags at more reasonable prices.

I can remember when a “chunky” frag was a couple inches and multi branches. Now it seems acros are sold by the polyp.

Completely agree with you. They list acro frags like the one I pictured as XL like no not even close to XL. I could almost count the number of polyps on my fingers and toes lol.

 

[Ling_Thing]

I don't care what coral is growing out, 650$ for a frag is unacceptable.

What about $1k for a frag of vivids insanity? I might pull the trigger lol