Cost of Corals?

[drcrook]

Is it just me or have prices gotten crazy? Is there something driving this? Anybody know of reasonable priced corals?

I personally find it challenging to spend $200+ on a single coral that is usually a fairly small piece and may or may not survive the shipping and or transfer. Even $100 on a single frag seems quite high. What happened to $10-$20 frags or larger coral pieces for $100 - $200?

 

[sarcophytonIndy]

I prefer to buy/trade with local hobbyists. Generally get a better price and you know its healthy

 

[fachatga]

People pay it. I can’t see spending that either.

 

[James_O]

$200+ on a single coral

I see $1k+ corals online, it’s insane.

 

[Rmckoy]

I think because people will
Pay that price , it’s partially what’s driving the price .
supply and demand .
Back in the day when $10 frags and $35 colonies the selection wasn’t as plentiful
Compare what corals you can get now compared to 20 years ago ,

different restrictions such as indo and now Hawaii . Fish and corals are harder to export/import

 

[Rmckoy]

I see $1k+ corals online, it’s insane.

Have you seen the price tag on rainbow splice acro ?

I believe it’s somewhere around the $2500 for a small frag .
Someone correct me if I’m wrong .
I know I will never have one .

Even $300-$500 for a Walt Disney ... I will have one some day when or if they drop in price

 

[James_O]

Have you seen the price tag on rainbow splice acro ?

I believe it’s somewhere around the $2500 for a small frag .
Someone correct me if I’m wrong .
I know I will never have one .

Even $300-$500 for a Walt Disney ... I will have one some day when or if they drop in price

I keep seeing this one: https://www.google.com/aclk?sa=l&ai...=2ahUKEwjcqMLmiZzwAhWSx54KHUOFDQ8Qwg96BAgBEDM

It’s crazy...

 

[elysics]

Is it just me or have prices gotten crazy? Is there something driving this? Anybody know of reasonable priced corals?

I personally find it challenging to spend $200+ on a single coral that is usually a fairly small piece and may or may not survive the shipping and or transfer. Even $100 on a single frag seems quite high. What happened to $10-$20 frags or larger coral pieces for $100 - $200?

Look at it like this, you can spend a couple dollars on a normal melon. Or, you can do it like the Japanese and buy a handpicked, polished, pampered throughout it's growth, perfectly round melon without any blemishes or errors in its skin pattern, and pay hundreds or thousands, sometimes much more, for that melon.

It is the same with corals, you can still get the normal ones (except maybe Euphyllia right now) for normal prices. And the most hyped up ones that grow in captivity will become normal sooner or later too. As for huge colonies, those were mostly wild caught, weren't they? That's becoming less of a thing, and aquaculture or mariculture costs money

And 80-120€ acro colonies are still a thing over here,i can't imagine it's much different in the US. But those will look brown or white in the store and won't have a fancy name.

 

[hhaase]

All depends on if you want to be a 'high end collector' or not, and if you're shopping for something with a popular name.

Scroll down to the bottom of the list on most shops and there's some gorgeous frags in the lower price range. You'll probably get a larger/healthier frag too because it's not being over-harvested and may have been sitting and growing on the plug for a while.

If people want to spend a fortune on the acro du jour, more power to them, their tanks and their rules. I'll continue to look in the local frag tanks and say "I like that one" and not care about the names so much.

 

[mdb_talon]

Look at it like this, you can spend a couple dollars on a normal melon. Or, you can do it like the Japanese and buy a handpicked, polished, pampered throughout it's growth, perfectly round melon without any blemishes or errors in its skin pattern, and pay hundreds or thousands, sometimes much more, for that melon.

Haha this is all new to me. If i am absent from the forums it is because i decided to be a melon farmer

 

[Just John]

And 80-120€ acro colonies are still a thing over here,i can't imagine it's much different in the US. But those will look brown or white in the store and won't have a fancy name.

In my LFS they have some great corals cheap with no name listed. The guy will even say "I don't know the fancy name, but that's a zoa/acro/etc. we get in". I bought some beautiful scrambled eggs zoas there for not much last week.

 

[ZoWhat]

Supply and demand.

The supply side is waaaay down due to limited distribution (air travel) bc of Covid.

Most reports say there is still 50% less airplanes currently flying today than when it was Pre-Covid

Most corals originate from the Indo-Pacific.

Limited supply = higher prices


.

 

[Just John]

Haha this is all new to me. If i am absent from the forums it is because i decided to be a melon farmer

let me know if you need a melon polisher

 

[JCM]

I've found a few local groups on FB where individuals sell reasonably priced corals. All of my LFS have gotten out of control with prices.

 

[Sharkbait19]

I can't see myself spending over $200 on a single coral. I always look to the $10-$20 bins for most of my corals, and sometimes spend a little extra for something really rare or cool.

 

[MaxTremors]

Supply and demand.

The supply side is waaaay down due to limited distribution (air travel) bc of Covid.

Most reports say there is still 50% less airplanes currently flying today than when it was Pre-Covid

Most corals originate from the Indo-Pacific.

Limited supply = higher prices


.

It’s not entirely supply and demand. Part of it is what I call the ‘name game’. Every single coral has a name now and they use these names to create buzz and inflate prices. Coral trends and designer corals, and the prices they’re sold for, are not necessarily a product of rarity, resellers often create false rarity. Its a marketing scheme. And unfortunately there are a lot of hobbyists that buy into it (not just buying the corals, but into the convention). I’m not saying that there aren’t rare corals or that exceptionally colored corals shouldn’t command higher prices. But these $2500 1/4” frags are absurd and the people who are buying them obviously have more dollars than sense. I’ve found that if you can wait a year or two to get whatever currently trendy coral that you want you can usually get the same coral for around 25% of what they sold for at their height of popularity.

 

[elysics]

It’s not entirely supply and demand. Part of it is what I call the ‘name game’. Every single coral has a name now and they use these names to create buzz and inflate prices. Coral trends and designer corals, and the prices they’re sold for, are not necessarily a product of rarity, resellers often create false rarity. Its a marketing scheme. And unfortunately there are a lot of hobbyists that buy into it (not just buying the corals, but into the convention). I’m not saying that there aren’t rare corals or that exceptionally colored corals shouldn’t command higher prices. But these $2500 1/4” frags are absurd and the people who are buying them obviously have more dollars than sense. I’ve found that if you can wait a year or two to get whatever currently trendy coral that you want you can usually get the same coral for around 25% of what they sold for at their height of popularity.

To be fair, average hobbyists aren't buying frags for 2500, the people that do are either growers that are in it for the profit, or people that have so much money that they'd rather not wait a year or two to save what for them is pocket change.

But what can be an issue is availability in general. Broad spectrum pet shops and fish stores still have plenty of cheap corals, but with dedicated coral stores, the inventory slowly shifts to carry more name brand pieces and less no names, at least that's what it feels like to me.

 

[JCM]

It’s not entirely supply and demand. Part of it is what I call the ‘name game’. Every single coral has a name now and they use these names to create buzz and inflate prices. Coral trends and designer corals, and the prices they’re sold for, are not necessarily a product of rarity, resellers often create false rarity. Its a marketing scheme. And unfortunately there are a lot of hobbyists that buy into it (not just buying the corals, but into the convention). I’m not saying that there aren’t rare corals or that exceptionally colored corals shouldn’t command higher prices. But these $2500 1/4” frags are absurd and the people who are buying them obviously have more dollars than sense. I’ve found that if you can wait a year or two to get whatever currently trendy coral that you want you can usually get the same coral for around 25% of what they sold for at their height of popularity.

I agree with your post overall but I wouldn't say those people "don't have sense". $2500 isn't a big deal for everyone (it is for me, but not everyone). Plus, they can frag it and sell off enough to make their money back if they can grow acros quickly.

 

[MaxTremors]

I agree with your post overall but I wouldn't say those people "don't have sense". $2500 isn't a big deal for everyone (it is for me, but not everyone). Plus, they can frag it and sell off enough to make their money back if they can grow acros quickly.

I agree, what is expensive to one person might not be to another person, but either way it’s still overpriced.

Edit: and that the other issue that prices like this encourage. Which is that people don’t grow out their frags to have a big beautiful colony, they frag at soon as possible. A lot of people’s DTs look like frag tanks now. It just seems like it’s sometimes more about clout than truly appreciating a coral’s beauty or how it fits into or compliments your aquascapes.

 

[JCM]

I agree, what is expensive to one person might not be to another person, but either way it’s still overpriced.

Oh yeah, for sure. I'm definitely not buying it.