Indo Colony Pricing

Brian_68 · Mar 22, 2020

Is it just me or are others seeing some really nice pricing on the Indonesia full colonies now? Not sure if it is caused by the economic uncertainties of today, or if wholesalers are just getting them really cheap now. Regardless I see some nice trends that could have a positive impact on consumer pricing. They have really nice sized colonies for $70-100 like this one as just an example on AquaSD:

Mr Fishface · Mar 22, 2020

While I haven't kept on on coral prices since I took my reef tank down, this makes me glad to see. Maybe one day I will try another SPS tank with these kinds of prices.

EMeyer · Mar 22, 2020

One of the largest wholesalers initially introduced Indo Acros at absurdly high prices and has recently cut wholesale prices on them by almost half.. and their inventory is still sitting their unbought, because theyre still overpriced relative to supply. The price will continue to fall unless wholesalers pull some shady tricks.

Look for the $40 indo colonies, it wont be long. You can already get them for $50 at R4L....

the_reef_keeper · Mar 22, 2020

EMeyer said:
One of the largest wholesalers initially introduced Indo Acros at absurdly high prices and has recently cut wholesale prices on them by almost half.. and their inventory is still sitting their unbought, because theyre still overpriced relative to supply. The price will continue to fall unless wholesalers pull some shady tricks.

Look for the $40 indo colonies, it wont be long. You can already get them for $50 at R4L....

Do you know if these are farmed/aquacultured indo corals or do they just pluck them from the reef?

EMeyer · Mar 22, 2020

the ones I'm describing (at wholesalers) are maricultured. I think Indo is still not allowing any wild collection, which is a great shame but thats my understanding.

NanoDJS · Mar 22, 2020

Its Mariculture

NeverlosT · Mar 22, 2020

It is a bummer that the pendulum swings so hard in one direction or the other. I would be in favor of MEDIUM prices, (not $40/colony, but not $400/colony either) with the wholesalers making a fair profit, and MORE profit going to farmers/collectors who have more overhead than ever.

It always makes me shudder when I hear of these fish and colonies selling for like 5 cents going to the farmer/collector and then going for $200 in the states with all the money going to wholesalers. We take such advantage of the farmers themselves. My opinion would be different if the wholesalers were doing diligent QT, and guaranteeing health and such, but that is not common I fear.

It might be an unpopular opinion, but I consider the basic worth of an acropora colony of that size to be more than $40. For $40 I would rather it was transplanted back on the reef and never made the risky trip to our country.

I would be stoked if some wholesaler made a policy that said "$20 of every $100 spent with us goes to paying farmers to plant corals back on the reefs" or something.

Ah well. At least the market is open again.

EMeyer · Mar 22, 2020

NeverlosT said:
It is a bummer that the pendulum swings so hard in one direction or the other. I would be in favor of MEDIUM prices, (not $40/colony, but not $400/colony either) with the wholesalers making a fair profit, and MORE profit going to farmers/collectors who have more overhead than ever.

It always makes me shudder when I hear of these fish and colonies selling for like 5 cents going to the farmer/collector and then going for $200 in the states with all the money going to wholesalers. We take such advantage of the farmers themselves. My opinion would be different if the wholesalers were doing diligent QT, and guaranteeing health and such, but that is not common I fear.

It might be an unpopular opinion, but I consider the basic worth of an acropora colony of that size to be more than $40. For $40 I would rather it was transplanted back on the reef and never made the risky trip to our country.

I would be stoked if some wholesaler made a policy that said "$20 of every $100 spent with us goes to paying farmers to plant corals back on the reefs" or something.

Ah well. At least the market is open again.

The wholesalers were already selling them for less than what you're describing as your ideal price. For some reason we are not allowed to give numbers around here but wholesalers can already sell colonies for less than what you're describing as "too low", meaning that the wholesaler, the collector, and the shipper all made a profit already at that price, leaving room for the retailer to mark it up 3-4 fold.

I think a lot of people misunderstand how low the cost of producing corals can be when overhead is low.

NeverlosT · Mar 22, 2020

EMeyer said:
The wholesalers were already selling them for less than what you're describing as your ideal price. For some reason we are not allowed to give numbers around here but wholesalers can already sell colonies for less than what you're describing as "too low", meaning that the wholesaler, the collector, and the shipper all made a profit already at that price, leaving room for the retailer to mark it up 3-4 fold.

I think a lot of people misunderstand how low the cost of producing corals can be when overhead is low.

I find it hard to believe that a good like coral can be grown, harvested, stored, packaged, shipped, stocked, shipped again, stocked, and then sold, all with necessary oversight and care, for $40. I have absolutely no doubt that if the colonies are selling for $40 the farmer made $2 on that arrangement. I would be thrilled if I was wrong though and the farmer was making $20 of that $40.

That being said, I dont know the dynamics of this market. I just want to point out that I've seen plenty of stateside aquaculture facilities with owners that look like they are doing just fine financially, but every time I see an indo farmer facility, no one looks like they are living the high life. I'd like to see their quality of life improve for the service they provide us.

snowhite · Mar 22, 2020

EMeyer said:
You can already get them for $50 at R4L....

What is R4L ?

Brian_68 · Mar 22, 2020

NeverlosT said:
I find it hard to believe that a good like coral can be grown, harvested, stored, packaged, shipped, stocked, shipped again, stocked, and then sold, all with necessary oversight and care, for $40. I have absolutely no doubt that if the colonies are selling for $40 the farmer made $2 on that arrangement. I would be thrilled if I was wrong though and the farmer was making $20 of that $40.

That being said, I dont know the dynamics of this market. I just want to point out that I've seen plenty of stateside aquaculture facilities with owners that look like they are doing just fine financially, but every time I see an indo farmer facility, no one looks like they are living the high life. I'd like to see their quality of life improve for the service they provide us.

The average monthly wage in Indonesia is less than $200 USD so it does not take long for one to easily exceed that even at a couple dollars per coral profit above costs.