Hi AJreefs,
Hope all is well!
There was a time when I purchased an ORA coral for 200% above the actual cost of the coral. Much like you, I was not happy to learn of the huge price increase. This was in my early reefing days and before I obtained a degree in Finance. So here is the deal with retail and overhead. When a LFS doubles or triples the price of a coral, there are many costs (including cost of goods sold) that are rolled into that inflated number. In the Finance department, we call all associated costs of selling the coral a "fully loaded" cost. LFS have many overhead costs such as Rent, Payroll, Insurance, Electricity, livestock losses, and targeted profit margins that they need to plan for. Now with that said, our LFS are for profit enterprises. We live in a capitalist society and prices are driven by supply and demand. If the entire reefing community chose not to compensate the LFS for the coral in question, then they have no motivation to sell the coral. Hence, we no longer have access to the coral within the LFS. LFS need to drive as much revenue (much like any business) as efficiently as possible within their limited store front space. Revenue and operating costs work this way all the way back to the distributor. Unless the importer is willing to work for free, we all have to pay the price to keep the economic cycle going. Profit is the reason we are all able to have jobs and purchase the goods and services that make us happy. Profit also drives innovation, technological improvements, and the growth of the hobby.
With that said, I support my LFS, local fraggers, and the vendors that support R2R. Back in November, I had a LFS order 16 pieces of ORA coral for me. They provided the actual ORA invoice as my receipt. Even though I know what the coral costs, I had no problem paying more than double the actual cost. As instructed, they left the coral in the original bag and shipping box. I could not be happier.
If you do not want to support your local LFS (and there is nothing wrong with that), you can always find some awesome ORA pieces from a local reefer for a fraction of the cost. Just know what the coral looks like as there is no shortage of imposters out there. I purchased a faux Purple Plasma and Hawkens Echinata. The corals are still very nice, but they are not ORA. I confirmed by repurchasing the corals through the order I mentioned above.
Whatever way you choose to purchase your corals, I wish you nothing but the most success in purchasing the perfect ORA specimen.
Warmest Regards,
James
Whats a good source for ORA corals Online? Local vendors here are charging ridiculous prices and we are driving distance to ORA; wish they sold to the public. I have a hard time believeing I should be paying sixty dollars for common ORA pieces. Honeslty, I wouldnt buy anything from their tank anyhow; Its all brown and RTN;s in about two weeks, hopefully they get it under control.
