GrouperGenius
Active Member
I'm blown away at the price these things are going for.
Chalices are the new Gold Standard ???
- Thread starter GrouperGenius
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bheld1
Community Member
The only good thing is that you can buy one high end chalice and then trade eye for eye with others and help build a little collection for yourself (although slow growth doesn't help at all). So you can end up with a few varieties by only actually purchasing one piece.
yeah it really is amazing how much they go for. just seems so unreal !!!! i have no problem if people want to pay the prices that they go for. but personally i dont think i would spend that big of an amount for such a small small piece. but maybe thats cause i dont have that much moola' to blow. 
Sikryd
hmm...Sweet!
I think it is just the seperator from the hobbiest and the collector nowadays. Just like softies - lps - sps
Now there are a lot more colors and stuff. If the pink ******* sold for $50 a frag - who would buy the other 100 chalices that come in and are plain?
Now there are a lot more colors and stuff. If the pink ******* sold for $50 a frag - who would buy the other 100 chalices that come in and are plain?
bheld1
Community Member
Sikryd nailed it. If anyone could buy the most colorful unique pieces around for $10, nothing would have a wow factor and everyone would have everything. High prices make things unique and more rare. In this hobby, you get what you pay for.
I think it also makes the hobby more fun to want A LOT and gradually make it a process of getting more and more pieces. You are always wanting.
I think it also makes the hobby more fun to want A LOT and gradually make it a process of getting more and more pieces. You are always wanting.
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Chalices are diamonds in my tank!! They are shiny and colorful!! In fact i threw a diamond in the tank and i can't find it now?
This reminds me of collecting baseball cards back in the day. I think one day I threw them all in a bag and burned them. Now I am paying $50 for a single polyp of something that could very well die on me the next day. If the wife only knew .
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reefboy
Valuable Member
Give you a little insight we also pay alot for the new ones coming in as the "special" ones are pulled and sold as such even our transhippers know what they got so prices are getting handed down and for true cultured that are rare expect high prices. But to be honest some are a tad extreme but hey buy what you like.
Sikryd
hmm...Sweet!
I think a lot of people don't realize this. It didn't help when a lot of people started paying buyers (on the side) and having them hold stuff - and when word got back that fingernail frags were going for XXX amount.
Some are insanely priced for sure...but it also keeps them desireable to a certain extent.
It is definetely a catch 22 situation - we all want the nice stuff, but don't want to have to morgage the house to have it.
it's the one coral everybody LOVES...Chalice's made me go from a hardcore stick junky to a chalice junky overnight and not even duncans, acans, mics, dendro's, could do that for me..(favia for a short period)
I personally feel that chalices are an addiction to many including myself, you see so many new colors and patterns that it is limitless and always fresh to ones eye...Everybody is looking for that one special piece, it's almost like a game or a friendly competition to see who can get the nicest pieces
The kicker is now that the overseas collectors and importers of these pieces know that we covet them, it's no secret that American hobbyist will pay top dollar for them and now even nicer ones are appearing on the scene, so I don't foresee the interest waning but increasing, we see it everyday on the forums. For the third world countries who supply us with these corals it's food on the table and they know that our importers and vendors will pay the hefty prices, which in turn affects the bottom line. I applaude the vendors who go out of there way to make sure to get the nice and new pieces. The real bottom line is you don't have to give up your hard earned money for them but if you want them then you have to pay, it's just reality, a fact of life that supply and demand, incurring cost, and overhead all come into play when paying for these pieces
I personally feel that chalices are an addiction to many including myself, you see so many new colors and patterns that it is limitless and always fresh to ones eye...Everybody is looking for that one special piece, it's almost like a game or a friendly competition to see who can get the nicest pieces
The kicker is now that the overseas collectors and importers of these pieces know that we covet them, it's no secret that American hobbyist will pay top dollar for them and now even nicer ones are appearing on the scene, so I don't foresee the interest waning but increasing, we see it everyday on the forums. For the third world countries who supply us with these corals it's food on the table and they know that our importers and vendors will pay the hefty prices, which in turn affects the bottom line. I applaude the vendors who go out of there way to make sure to get the nice and new pieces. The real bottom line is you don't have to give up your hard earned money for them but if you want them then you have to pay, it's just reality, a fact of life that supply and demand, incurring cost, and overhead all come into play when paying for these pieces
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I understand the collector mindset and the prices that go with it. What I am curious about is what some of these collectors tanks look like. Does it look at all natural, or a box of rocks with a bunch of tiny little fags of the same species only different colors.
To me, I would rather have a tank that someone outside the hobby is amazed at. I can't see a tank full of 1/2" chalice frags that are barely coloring up yet being that impressive looking, now to a fellow collector, it would be amazing.
To me, I would rather have a tank that someone outside the hobby is amazed at. I can't see a tank full of 1/2" chalice frags that are barely coloring up yet being that impressive looking, now to a fellow collector, it would be amazing.
i used to be able to pull in chalices by the butt load. cost next to nothing. they used to step on these things to get to the other corals they wanted. now once everyone started asking for them the price has shot up big time. Many of them are turning to what you see is what you get. I used to order (colored hedgehog coral) now you get full pictures, fancy name, and a price to go with it.
several years ago i sold a HUGE 10x12 mummy eye (was not called anything back then). neon green with neon orange/pink eyes. i thought it was amazing but noone gave a crap. sold it for 100 bucks. i can only imagine what it would be worth today...
the good news is these chalices are coming in like CRAZY. tons and tons and as most have seen they only seem to be getting better. because of this it wont be long before the prices come into check and the collectors will move on to a new coral. same thing happened with zoas, then duncans, then acans, now chalice.
several years ago i sold a HUGE 10x12 mummy eye (was not called anything back then). neon green with neon orange/pink eyes. i thought it was amazing but noone gave a crap. sold it for 100 bucks. i can only imagine what it would be worth today...
the good news is these chalices are coming in like CRAZY. tons and tons and as most have seen they only seem to be getting better. because of this it wont be long before the prices come into check and the collectors will move on to a new coral. same thing happened with zoas, then duncans, then acans, now chalice.
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well that's another factor for cost, they grow so slow that it in return limits the availability to an extent driving up the prices in order to obtain them. If you look around you will see many hobbyist who have grown out colonies of beautiful chalices, Mark, Alicia, Jose, I could go on and on and their tanks are beautiful, the chalices being so small also factors into the fascination of collecting them, we as hobbyist obviously love to nurture, if we didn't have tanks we would prolly be gardeners, we have that mindset to take this tiny littel frag and turn it into a whole beautiful colony, a challenge so to speak
stylaster
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i think it is funny that they really are worth more then their weight in gold! I might has well put in gold nuggets cause it's cheaper then some chalices!
