Why do you think corals are so expensive?

[Goaway]

Most expensive is my HG torch from SBB

My go to vendors: SBB, AquaSD, I’ve also found good deals from Zoanthids.com, and Riptide Aquaculture. Other vendors Living Reef Orlando, and TCK on occasion. Mind you I buy mainly during “live” sales when prices are lower.

You know... I had too.

Poor clownfish doesn't deserve to be blurry.

 

[Katze]

I know that this will not be an exact answer but still I would like to share my experience with prices here.
Where I live (overseas) There are maybe only 2 shops which have the prices that can be seen abroad.
Vendors here are more focused on fish, since corals are not being sold in high numbers that drives the prices down (also they are usually not being ordered in quite a few shops).
Fish are another case, they can only be sold at higher prices because they have to be ordered, thus making a dependency on the wholesale companies' values.
Additionaly freshwater aquariums are more popular.
This process leads to prices like: <$15-20 / medium-ish acropora frags and ~$50 for torches and large-medium acan colonies.

 

[matt_work27]

What vendor have you found to have the best deals and cheapest coral with a good variety?

Battle boxes from Battlecorals come with healthy corals at a great value. Also, the fraghouse corals big sales are good if you want to pick out each coral. And I honestly was pretty happy with my corals for gwcorals on ebay. If you constantly watch the local reefing forums you can find the coral you want at a steal (but that maybe take weeks/months).

 

[Eggs]

Online coral vendors do play a game where there is a near fictional retail price and the coral is more often on sale than not. Easy way for them to gauge demand and give the perception of a deal. if someone wants it for retail then that’s gravy.

There was a live sale over this past weekend. 4 polys of Rasta Zoas on sale for $36, regular price was $120 lol.
Nothing unique with Rasta’s. Been around and fairly fast growers.
Can’t beat a local frag swap for the best deals.

That said, +1 for AquaSD. They usually throw in a freebie.
I also like Pieces of the Ocean.

 

[Uncle99]

They are expensive cause we pay those prices.
Until we say “nope” prices of many items will rise.

 

[PharmrJohn]

They are expensive cause we pay those prices.
Until we say “nope” prices of many items will rise.

And that says it all. It's what people are willing to pay. Period.

 

[PharmrJohn]

To answer the second part, 15 years back, corals were cheap. I had this huge LPS (can't recall the name) that ran me 80 bucks. Kenya tree (large-ish) was $30 or so. Zoas were cheap. It was a wonderful time.

 

[ChrisfromBrick]

let’s start a revolution and get prices down

 

[exnisstech]

They are expensive cause we pay those prices.
Until we say “nope” prices of many items will rise.

^This ^ And I am guilty. I watched a very nice large acanthophyllia in my lfs for almost a year. He was asking $900. Finaly one day I asked what he would take in cash. I got it for $480. It's the most expensive piece I've ever bought. I just threw the skeleton over the hill last week after a year and a half of doing fine :rolling-on-the-floor-laughing:

 

[Uncle99]

What’s even worse than the price is those corals which are sold with the stores full knowledge that captive life will be short.

For the last 3 years, my new rule has been if it dies, it’s never replaced.

The stuff that grows forever is fragged and replanted.

I was so surprised to see a list of stuff I was buying which for the most part, lasted at best, a year.

As an example, to date, I have never seen a pic of the long tentacle plate coral past 1 year.

With the amount of these sold, you’d figure there would be tons of pics.

Not being fooled anymore.

 

[ryanjohn1]

The internet wrecked prices. Plus there’s a million influencers out there

 

[ChrisfromBrick]

you can do this hobby on the very cheap end and have a gorgeous mixed reef. Have to be willing to wait for a local hobbiest to frag something for you and give you a deal. When I get to the point of fragging zoas for example- I will sell for below market value.

 

[toanng]

Check out aquasd they have sales extremely often and usually discount codes 31 dollar overnight shipping they also carry a little bit of everything and I have great colorful coral from there

Not until they swap my WYSIWYG $400+ piece for something cheap. and keep going at it that it's the same piece. If i would have seen what they was gonna send me, i wouldn't spend a dime on it. Owner is a jerk at responding, telling me to let it color up and open fully. It's been in my tank for a month and still same color fully and happily inflated. I advise to steer away from ASD. Look for local hobbyist and smaller vendors that try to make a difference in the reef community.

 

[Bohemian Waxwing]

you can do this hobby on the very cheap end and have a gorgeous mixed reef. Have to be willing to wait for a local hobbiest to frag something for you and give you a deal. When I get to the point of fragging zoas for example- I will sell for below market value.

This used to be the way, but to be honest, it just doesn't seem to work this way anymore.

Other hobbyists are asking retail pricing for their frags now. It seems to be a "hustle". I had a guy almost cry the other day when I gave him some Xenia for free with his $10 CAD chalice frag...like that was some kind of really nice thing I did...but it's really just how we used to all operate.

My first ever corals were a 2 headed frogpsawn and a beautiful toadstool I got a club meeting for $20 combined. If I go on marketplace now, the frogspawn will cost $30/head and the toadstool will be $30-50 on its own.

 

[Viking_Reefing]

Corals aren’t all that expensive if we’re generalizing. Certain corals are stupidly expensive but there are still heaps of cheap options. Both from retail operations and other hobbyists.
These are my tanks and I don’t have a single “named” acro. All acros are either grown from frags bought in the cheap from other hobbyists or maricultured colonies which retails at around 80-100€ for a very large piece (which you could split with a few buddies).

Would I want and do I miss being able to buy wild colonies for around 25-30€? Sure! But the cost of corals aren’t prohibitively high in any way unless all you want is those cool named corals. Just my two cents.

 

[Kodock]

A few reasons

-people wanting to be an influencer, brag, or show off buying or trending things, keeps the hype price afloat

-people buy things on credit that they can’t afford and don’t care

-LFS are not necessarily abundant with locations or options. Some people may live a 1-2 hours from a quality saltwater store. If buyers want something specific, they have to face a $50 shipping charge, so why buy 1 $15 frag and pay $50 to ship it.. so it makes sense to buy enough to get free shipping, when they do buy.. might throw that overpriced trending one in there

-buyer hoping to grow it and sell frags at the same price locally

-sellers would rather sell overpriced and wait for a larger margin

-people just have money to blow

The thing is.. there’s all these garage sellers/online dealers charging within the same 5% overpriced number as someone like TSA. With all this competition, laws of supply and demand should kick in, but in today’s market, they don’t.. just like people are still buying $10+ value meals from McDonalds.. *(tin-foil) credit cards and investments on their receivables will be the next collapse*

Except TSA has the most rediculous prices I thought I’d never see. I guess they think they’ve cornered the market with their brand. The have green slimers listed for $50-60 a frag. It’s insane. Locally they are $5-$10.

Don’t get me started on how everythings always “on sale”.. They say a $20 frag, for a plain microscopic mushroom (which should be maybe $10), has an original list price of $100, but today and all other 364 days of the year it’s actually always 80% off at $20 just for you.. “50% off all corals today” “blah blah biggest live sale ever!!”, yet they’re somehow always the same price..

Some things dwindle down eventually, mainly after everyone gets a piece, trying to resell and tanks are stocked.

 

[KrisReef]

With the amount of vendors that exist and the amount competition it always surprises me how much coral cost varies for the same or similar pieces. I know some reasons may be a bit more obvious but to spend thousands or even a few hundred on a single coral is kind of crazy to me. Especially for meat or scoly corals which are a whole other level of expensive. I get some colors may be rare and they don’t frag but hundreds to thousands on a single piece is mind boggling. Why do you think corals are so expensive and what is your most expensive coral?

Because they are worth it.

 

[JefeL00]

Not only supply and demand but the hype that follows certain corals. WD for example is pretty well known in the industry therefore newer hobbyists wouldn’t know any better buying a frag for $300. I’ve seen sps frags in the thousands before. As long as people keep paying, the prices stay. The first time I ever paid more than $300 for a frag it was a high end blasto that slowly died over the first month. Thankfully I knew people who have been around for a while when I setup my first tank to give me frags. To reiterate what people are saying the online sales are also keeping the prices up. If you want higher end corals and can’t get them from your LFS, you have to bite the bullet. I’ve seen good deals on eBay from wwc, top shelf, thirstys reef etc.

 

[VintageReefer]

The most expensive coral I have is a banana holy grail and I paid around 375 for it a year ago. But. I spent 2-3 years wanting one and got to a point where prices fell and I decided I’ve dreamed and wished long enough and I bought one. Its splitting into 7 heads and it makes me happy every day and is one of my favorite pieces.

I have other very expensive corals but I have been lucky and found some vendors are willing to negotiate or trade.

My 24k acantho is 7” and was over $1000. I wanted it. I worked with a vendor and we arranged a trade for it. I don’t want to give out the details but I’ll say, I showed him pics of my tank. I had some things that stood out and he wanted. He asked me what I wanted for them. I said I’ll trade for the 24k acantho. And they agreed. Mailed me the acantho and shipping supplies and I mailed back two corals.

Just recently I acquired a ring of fire lobo. These are 1300$ for 2x2 and over $3000 for a 3x3. I messaged the vendor and asked if they have something smaller for better pricing. They said they have a smaller frag about 1.25” they could do for $400. I asked for pics. They provided pics and measured and said they were wrong and it’s grown and bigger than they remembered. 2x1.75 exactly. This is easily 1000+ but they would honor their offer of $400 for it. I thanked them and said, it’s really nice but out of budget. I’m looking to spend 200-250 tops. They didn’t respond for 3 days then wrote me and said they have excess coral stock at the moment and would give me a heavy discount and sell for 250 shipped. I took it

People pay the prices but that doesn’t mean you ALWAYS have to. I have found vendors are sometimes willing to work with you or negotiate. Or maybe I just have good luck. $2300 in coral for $250 + a trade

 

[tgcreef]

Plenty of cheap corals around, the really nice ones cost money. You gotta pay to play if you want stuff that is the upper echelon simple as that. Same thing with any industry, do you want the Toyota Corolla or the Ferrari? Both are cars that get you from point A to point B