Ghxst
Well-Known Member
When you have packs that are really cheap and you say #6 alone is worth the price of the pack, is that one stick "high end"?
Btw I love your sales and corals. Do you grow out any of those and keep em around?
High End?
- Thread starter Reef Pets
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When you have packs that are really cheap and you say #6 alone is worth the price of the pack, is that one stick "high end"?
Btw I love your sales and corals. Do you grow out any of those and keep em around?
Facebook groups and eBay will keep "high end" just that way. I thought 8 months ago the market would be saturated with these and they are still selling for stupid amounts. It's hype and it's as high as it has ever been now.
When your mother colony picture is a piece that could make 3 normal frags....
When your mother colony picture is a piece that could make 3 normal frags....
KJAG
Rogue
I can read between the lines regarding the nature of your post, and I agree when it's just someone hyping random, easily sourced Acro colonies or Paly morphs ( for example, as I've seen this recently.) Worse, or in addition to, is when these aforementioned threads are prefaced with all caps exclamatory expressions like BOOM!!!( as an old sponsor-who-is-no-longer-a-sponsor used to do I won't name any names) But this thread is the perfect pitri dish for all those who don't choose/want to pay for more expensive named pieces, but for some reason become agitated when others choose to do so. There's a difference between truly unique morphs/pieces and someone just giving something a radical name under some blue lighting. There is a real bonafide high end market out there. And I love it. "Don't like it? Don't buy it. Problem solved."
bowen1022
Active Member
As a poor college reefer, I really hate the up sale price of corals. Like honestly is it really worth 750-1000 dollars? Like come on. I think even 150 is steep for certain corals. I know I'm cheap but a lot of people can't afford stuff like this. To me it's amazing how much people mark up corals. Flame away...
It reminds me of SPL car stereo competition back in the day. Groups of friends would work their butt off on one car with minimal money and some rich guy would stroll in, press a button, win, and leave.
Didn't kill the hobby but totally took the drive to work hard at the specifics of it when it became big bank take little bank.
Didn't kill the hobby but totally took the drive to work hard at the specifics of it when it became big bank take little bank.
Keepswiming
Well-Known Member
So I guess you need to define what "high end" means...? High prices? Hype? Names?
Your #8 ultra violet is worth more than the pack that costs $299. It has a name and costs a lot.... Seems "high end" to
me. Shoot, I get RR and sexy coral pieces for less, and they are at the top of the "high end" game.
My intentions are not to knock you. Simply playing devils advocate. Although, I do like high end corals. Actually, I like high end everything in life. I am a sucker for hype I guess. As mentioned above, I don't get why people are mad about the marketing techniques and hype. Subconscious enevy maybe, or that might be a stretch.
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Keepswiming
Well-Known Member
You hit the nail right on the head with the first part of your post. It's all how people want to sell it. Marketing sales techniques and tactics...
mcarroll
10K Club member
I haven't looked this up, but hype may be the oldest trick in the book.
The cool part about the trick is that so far as your brain is concerned, it works if you want it to!
For example, an $8 bottle of wine properly hyped with a $150 price tag can literally make the buyer feel better than an $8 bottle. The phenomena does not pass a double-blind test though....$8 wine tastes exactly like $8 wine. (which is to say – just fine)
Similarly, as legend has it, Taco Bell couldn't sell taco's when they first came out. A little market research told them that nobody trusted a 10¢ taco. They raised the price to 25¢, applied a little hype and the rest is history – we can't get enough "taco's".
I'm not aware of any double-blind tests on tacos. 
The cool part about the trick is that so far as your brain is concerned, it works if you want it to!
For example, an $8 bottle of wine properly hyped with a $150 price tag can literally make the buyer feel better than an $8 bottle. The phenomena does not pass a double-blind test though....$8 wine tastes exactly like $8 wine. (which is to say – just fine)
Similarly, as legend has it, Taco Bell couldn't sell taco's when they first came out. A little market research told them that nobody trusted a 10¢ taco. They raised the price to 25¢, applied a little hype and the rest is history – we can't get enough "taco's".
I'm not aware of any double-blind tests on tacos. 
Sharvey103
ReefAddicted
I just think it is different coloration and making them microfrags to make us believe they are very rare and therefore very expensive. Yes i covent some of them but refuse to pay the price. Guess I will have to stick to the
"normal" spa and be satisfied although I have gotten some very interesting and unique colors out of these "normal" sps.
"normal" spa and be satisfied although I have gotten some very interesting and unique colors out of these "normal" sps.
Sm51498
Active Member
To play devils advocate, high prices on colorful desirable corals is *great* for the hobby. The high prices drive people to cultivate and sell nice looking stuff because they will receive a financial incentive for doing so.
Maybe this pushes the price of these corals too high for a bit. Remember the zoa craze with some polyps selling for crazy money? Look how common and cheap nice looking zoas are now. By driving up the price, it attracts production which drives down the price through a glut in supply.
I've been reefing for 13 years or so and in that time I've seen corals get so much cheaper.
The practice of these itty bitty single polyp frags selling for hundreds bothers me but I can go buy a coral, just as pretty at a decent frag size for 10 bucks now. Unheard of just a few years ago. So I deal with my irritation.
Maybe this pushes the price of these corals too high for a bit. Remember the zoa craze with some polyps selling for crazy money? Look how common and cheap nice looking zoas are now. By driving up the price, it attracts production which drives down the price through a glut in supply.
I've been reefing for 13 years or so and in that time I've seen corals get so much cheaper.
The practice of these itty bitty single polyp frags selling for hundreds bothers me but I can go buy a coral, just as pretty at a decent frag size for 10 bucks now. Unheard of just a few years ago. So I deal with my irritation.
OP
OP
Reef Pets
Bioprospector
That's exactly what I was looking for in this post, what people think makes a coral high end. You clearly feel that it's price. Some feel that it's color while others feel its supply and others feel its demand.
Being on the inside and supplying many of the vendors with coral I know the tricks of the trade and that's why I asked hobbyist the question.
mcarroll
10K Club member
Here's an observation.
"high end" corals don't come from the usual legitimate wholesale sources.
That could be the main thing that makes them...questionable...in the first place. Someone far up the supply chain is dipping them out. LFS's can't even get them.....except from these "high end" dealers.
(Try ordering boxes and boxes of corals from a wholesaler for ten or fifteen years. Random chance would dictate a few treasures given what you see online. In actuality you get zero. Best you ever see are some mid-grade LPS.)
"high end" corals don't come from the usual legitimate wholesale sources.
That could be the main thing that makes them...questionable...in the first place. Someone far up the supply chain is dipping them out. LFS's can't even get them.....except from these "high end" dealers.
(Try ordering boxes and boxes of corals from a wholesaler for ten or fifteen years. Random chance would dictate a few treasures given what you see online. In actuality you get zero. Best you ever see are some mid-grade LPS.)
BigKid4788
Well-Known Member
Price makes it "high end". Usually colors drives the price
Keepswiming
Well-Known Member
Yeah "high end" for me is named colorful pieces, which dicate or justify a high price tag.
Although, I believe there should be a cap on how much an asking price should be. I feel as though hundreds of dollars is where I draw the line. Oblivious this is just my own opinion and is not really worth much. People are going to get as much as they can for any product they provide.
BigKid4788
Well-Known Member
There is a "cap" on what someone can charge. Once people stop purchasing the price comes down. If people keep buying I wouldn't drop the price. I enjoy higher price pieces because they have nice colors
Keepswiming
Well-Known Member
If this is absolutely true, I feel much better about spending over a hundred dollars on a frag. I have this subconscious thought that, "these venders are playing us". Coloring stuff up, naming them, and acting like their is limited quantity to benefit off the nature of buying corals in this hobby.
This thread is becoming more valuable as I read. Where is the thumbs up emoji? Lol
Keepswiming
Well-Known Member
This is true, but it seems like they never truely drop enough, so much so that everyone in the hobby can afford it. I agree though, the WD frag that was once as much as my Audi, is now on my list of acros that I own, and wasn't even that crazy expensive.
BigKid4788
Well-Known Member
Someone can't expect to be able to afford everything in a particular hobby. Every hobby has a upper, middle and lower level part of it. Usually it has to do with the price/availability.
