Will someone please explain?

[uniquecorals]

I think there are great vendors at all "price levels" in the hobby..it's the darned culture that we created that made this type of pricing/sizing even remotely acceptable is what intrigues me. Again, capitalism and free choice are great...I just choose to look on from the sidelines at that "sector" of the coral marketplace, scratching my head.

 

[Rausch]

I think there are great vendors at all "price levels" in the hobby..it's the darned culture that we created that made this type of pricing/sizing even remotely acceptable is what intrigues me. Again, capitalism and free choice are great...I just choose to look on from the sidelines at that "sector" of the coral marketplace, scratching my head.

I agree, I just left a Shop and the owner who is a amazing SPS Coral Keeper and I just discussed this exact thing! He sold me a frag of Wolverine off of his Legitimate colony for half of the price i have ever seen it available online. People want to hype these corals up so much that we are willing to pay $500 for a half inch frag when in the long run it isn't good for the Colony or the frag to do so. Why not cut a nice piece , sell it for a competitive price and reap the rewards in 6 months when people are bringing frags back in to trade... Money is nice, but this hobby which we love is worth so much more

 

[malcnunn]

If I tried to sell a rare frag for more than £40 in the UK I'd get laughed at .I know we don't have the ubilicious choices you have in the states but most people just wouldn't pay that here . That makes me think you guys have too much money to waste On a serious note though , is it just a handful of people buying these extremely rare corals or is it quite a common thing ?

 

[TheWhiteFord]

If I tried to sell a rare frag for more than £40 in the UK I'd get laughed at .I know we don't have the ubilicious choices you have in the states but most people just wouldn't pay that here . That makes me think you guys have too much money to waste On a serious note though , is it just a handful of people buying these extremely rare corals or is it quite a common thing ?

It is common for people to spend $100+ dollars on a frag

 

[revhtree]

Stoking the fire of discussion on this one!

 

[d5332]

huh, just found this thread...
I doubt anyone is going to want to jump on this thread and be objective and fair with their opinions.

Too many people are doing exactly what UC pondered about 3 years ago.
Vendors and hobbyists alike are fragging frags and then creating hype with lies and unethical marketing.

Frag selling has adopted and exploits the impulse buy credit card swipe about that is common, more so here in the USA.
We swipe our credit cards like the money is free, we may lose a little bit of sleep over an impulse buy but get over it soon enough.
the credit card bill just gets paid automatically in increments and we make the conscious decision to ignore how much we overpaid on the frag and interest rate.

There are sellers both vendors and private sellers that lie.
They lie when an expensive coral is sold fishing for impulse buyers.
They lie during the presentation of the coral by editing pictures to unrealistic levels, again, searching for impulse buyers.
Many frags and or packs go unsold but the sellers just lie that it sold at a high price.

Anywho, I just received a UC bali shortcake frag today from UC, it is so big that I am shocked and it not the first coral UC sends me that has floored me.
Other vendors and private sellers are marketing the sizes UC sells as "mini colonies" for much more money, insane.

If we the buyers start ignoring the hyped up websites and for sale threads for 12 months and focus only on vendors seeking to establish relationships/repeat business we may be able to make a dent on the 1/2" frag for $200.
Impulse shoppers will always exist but if we were to ignore the BS artists in 12 months or less we would see a trend change and could get back to affordably buying and replacing coral all year round.

Will it happen probably not, hobbies are driven by people evolving through their lives.
For every person that shuts down their fish tank because it was too expensive, a new person will be looking to take up the hobby.

As long are there is newbie fish, vendors will keep baiting the hook searching for impulse buyers.

Its takes a while to catch on to the marketing / scam approach but any newbie reading this....read the OP post by an entity that is in the business, skip over the BS posts that defend picture altering and 1/2 expensive frags, go review a few pictures and for sale ads and come up with your own conclusion.

 

[norfolkgarden]

Lol, just spent $100 on a particular *KENYA TREE*. 1.5" frag.
Nice coral, pretty much guaranteed to live, and it was what I wanted.
[emoji17]

My tank has enough boring stuff in it. Something that pops is desirable.

The shelfs of stuff in light tan, dark tan, and beige at the LFS are fine but boring.
The pretty stuff costs more.

It is no different from gardening.
Some stuff is beautiful and won't live no matter what you do.
It just doesn't belong in your area. Too humid/hot/cold/dry/sunny/shady/not a long enough growing season, whatever.

Keeping alive the beautiful weeds ("wild flowers") is easy but won't get you any recognition (if that's what you are looking for.)

Some things do well, are "new" and beautiful.
Ka-ching.

Lol, my personal limit is $100. Only spent that once.
$50 in a heartbeat for something that pops.
$10 to $30 for something smaller, most days.

If you can afford $500 a frag, do you need a driver?
[emoji23]

 

[siggy]

Let me start by saying that Unique Corals is the Pinnacle Professional Coral suppler, and I never regretted a single purchase!
Regarding FB sellers and the such, ever noticed that they have a minimal presence here or none at all? That is because they would get Fillet and Grilled!
You hear that their QT is so stringent and costly, then you get the worst case of bubble algae and aptashia, not knowing where it came from you order some emerald crabs from them along with a couple of frags (cut to order) and you receive a match head or bubble algae on the plug :mad: then when you tell them one showed up rough shape they spar with you that its not totally dead! Of course you stop doing business with them and you latter see them trying to re-establish that Excitement for their Co. Start offering lower pricing and moderate styles just to get cash flow going. Well it will catch up to you sooner or later and of course Karma's a B!+@#

 

[Norcalreef]

I’ve been stocking my tank and have ordered from quite a few places. My order from Unique had by far the largest most healthy frags from anywhere. No where else was even close to the size nor health of UniqueCorals. I just got in a order from aqua SD last week from their live sale. The lps colonies were ok, but one came in half dead. The sps frags were a joke, 3 out of 4 were very small and one was covered in bubble algae. I’ll for sure be sticking with @uniquecorals from now on.

 

[madr2d2]

I could not agree more! Selling a Goni 3/4 frag for 800.00 at reefapalooza is just a bit much, you think? I have to admit that its much better then WWC 1200.00 asking price. Sure I understand if someones pays for it why not right, after all its a business, no? but going on your point yes very laughable. For a goni?? extreme abuse....

 

[siggy]

I wish @uniquecorals did a little more of the high-end stuff then I would not look elsewhere......Well that's not fair, there are a LOT of good vendors here with chunky healthy stock, Big Bada BoomCorals by far the largest frags i have ever bought...But you know what Im saying......BTW that bubble algae frag came in with the emerald crabs.

 

[tangtime]

I could not agree more! Selling a Goni 3/4 frag for 800.00 at reefapalooza is just a bit much, you think? I have to admit that its much better then WWC 1200.00 asking price. Sure I understand if someones pays for it why not right, after all its a business, no? but going on your point yes very laughable. For a goni?? extreme abuse....

Exactly I had to lol when @WWC told me their little Goni frag was $1200.00!

My tank is all wwc stuff but when a vendor throws out ridiculous prices just because, then that’s an issue and it left a bad taste in my mouth to the point where I probably will look elsewhere.