Prices are too dang high!!!

[mrpizzaface]

This is a thought provoking thread but....

Can anyone reasonably explain why this

Costs $99 ?

I truly would like to understand.

To be able to buy a USA made ATO vessel for $99 seams like a great deal to me.

 

[Potatohead]

To be able to buy a USA made ATO vessel for $99 seams like a great deal to me.

I see what you did there.

 

[Tallison]

I was a frequent customer of World Wide Corals and was dropping way too much. Now I only participate in live sales or fragswaps and I get the same at a 1/3rd of the price

 

[dragon99]

This is a thought provoking thread but....

Can anyone reasonably explain why this

Costs $99 ?

I truly would like to understand.

So that's about $30 in acrylic, 1hr of labor maybe? Add in margin for the retailer and yea, $100 is about right.

 

[User]

So that's about $30 in acrylic, 1hr of labor maybe? Add in margin for the retailer and yea, $100 is about right.

Exactly- it’s a pretty niche item. Designed to fit in the left over space in a stand next to a sump.

I doubt you’ll find anything else of that capacity and form factor for half the price.

Now, if you aren’t constrained to a certain form factor due to space requirements, you could use a $22, 20 gallon brute for an ATO container and spend the extra money on something else.

Under the stand for the 125 sump-

 

[tautog83]

Part of it is hype...I just noticed a vendor selling a $50 green mushroom. 1 mushroom . If it comes from this particular vendor it must be special and going to spawn unicorns or something . They might have amazing other corals but in the end its a green mushroom but people assume it's something special because of the hype that's associated with the name . Honestly it's nothing against that vendor it's our responsibility to do the research and shop around

 

[dragon99]

That's how you budget build! Rockin' the cinder blocks ;Stop (there's no high five emoji)

 

[Matthew Frost]

This is a thought provoking thread but....

Can anyone reasonably explain why this

Costs $99 ?

I truly would like to understand.

I built my own ATO Reservoir from an old acrylic tank I bought of Offer Up and cut up. Took me about 3 hours to cut, weld and finish. This particular example is CNC/laser cut. You have the lid in there as well. You have fab/material costs and then labor. Shipping and overhead... Then the retailers markup... $100 is pretty much right on. There are less expensive options to virtually every single piece of this hobby. Buying pre-owned saves a ton. I prowl Craigslist/Offer Up constantly looking for bargains and things I might need that people are selling bundled with other items I might be able to sell and recover some of the cost.

 

[User]

That's how you budget build! Rockin' the cinder blocks ;Stop (there's no high five emoji)

Budget build? I went all out and bought the expensive $0.95 blocks, thank you very much.

 

[ZoWhat]

Bc people who can afford this hobby...pay the price.

You ain't gonna join the Ferrari Club and complain about tire prices



.

 

[Oshengems]

You guessed correctly!

Im from 229th st & Laconia ave.

I live in Maryland now but I will always love my hometown no matter how rotten the Apple is.

The best city in the world!!! I’m close to gun hill

 

[Oshengems]

It’s the same in everything we do! We are not builders at least I’m not so for things like welding bonding cutting etc I will have to pay up for Someone to do it for me, but there are certain things that are not justified in this hobby but again we buy them anyways lol

 

[User]

The best city in the world!!! I’m close to gun hill

It’s weird you’re talking about Monterey, CA with Bronx in your name

 

[Pntbll687]

It is not about better because both do the job, more about appearance and efficiency

As long as my rubbermaid bin doesnt leak, I can't see appearance being an issue. It's behind a cabinet door and no one sees it.

But I do understand what you mean. I'd rather spend more on the tank and coral/fish/rock than on something that may never be seen by someone else.

 

[Oshengems]

It’s weird you’re talking about Monterey, CA with Bronx in your name

Wuuuaaaaooooo this threat is about to go in a whole new direction lol

 

[Dj City]

I graduated from E.V.

 

[TaylorPilot]

This is a thought provoking thread but....

Can anyone reasonably explain why this

Costs $99 ?

I truly would like to understand.

Go price quality cell cast acrylic, a 3 axis CNC machine, a building to assemble it in, shipping, then try to leave any margin to make a little money. I don't see how you can make one for $100 and make even a 20% margin. That is even considering direct sales. Add 3 party margins so that vendors like BRS can sell them, and the numbers get even more mind boggling. That is why I don't make them. I don't see how they make money with that. As far as it only taking an hour. It may take just an hour, but it requires they sit and cure in between each step (4 steps for a simple box like that). Typically they let thin material like that sit atleast 8-12 hours per step. So that is between 1-2 days to complete that box. Then another 24 hour cure before you can trim it, box it and ship it. It isn't 24 hours of labor, but it takes up space on my work bench, and every square foot of that air conditioned work bench cost me a certain amount every month. I can't get a plumber to come to my house and even tell me how much it is going to cost to fix my issue for $100. I get it. He has insurance, employees, trucks, inventory. I bet that $100 barely covers his cost for the call. Regarding corals, I don't think they are priced too high. You know how I know?! People are buying them...The argument could even be made that they are too low. I am sure vendors know how much the market will bear. They raise their prices 20% and the sales fall off, lower them too much more and their profit margins fall off. Trust me, they aren't just pulling their prices out of thin air. Websites, hosting, payflow (paypal), insurance, electricity, chemicals, upkeep, new cutting bits, gas to go get new shipments from the airport (they don't get shipped to their house like retail)...The list goes on. In my day job I own half of a company that does metrology, 3D scanning, reverse engineering, 3D and 2D CAD. We get calls everyday for little projects and we won't touch anything for less than $1000. Because by the time we generate a quote, get a po, receive the part, do all the work, pay our workers, pay the rent on the building, pay the electricty, pay the insurance, pay the govt, ship the part back, then wait 60 days for payment, you'd go broke doing it for anything less.

It may not seem it, but this is a low volume business. For all but a few large vendors, if you only make 20% margins, you wouldn't be able to cover your costs. Most of the guys on here selling corals aren't getting rich. In fact I would wager that none are actually. (At least by my definition of rich).

 

[Dj City]

I'mma start selling corals, sumps, ato containers and dosing containers.

Might as well get some of this money out here.

 

[Merv49]

I'm bored at work so i'm ranting about this hobby we love.

PRICES ARE TOO DANG HIGH!!!
​

Why are corals that are soooooooooo small sooooooooo expensive? You can get a frag that's the size of a pencil eraser and it can be well over $100!
I don't care how colorful it is. IT'S THE SIZE OF A PENCIL ERASER!!!

THE PRICE IS TOO DANG HIGH​

Why is a acrylic box that holds 5 gallons of fresh water over $100??? IT'S A PLAIN OLD ACRYLIC (plastic) BOX!!! So what if it has a green top. It's ridiculous!

THE PRICE IS TOO DANG HIGH
​

Why is a fragging kit over $40 FOR A CHEAP BASIC KIT??? Let's face it. A fragging kit is really nothing more than a fingernail care kit. For a cheap basic bare bones frag kit they want over $40!!!

THE PRICE IS TOO DANG HIGH
​

Why does a dosing container cost anywhere from $40 for the BASIC single container up to 199.95???? The reasoning is beyond me!!!

THE PRICE IS TOO DANG HIGH
​

There is sooooooooo much more in this hobby that is just WAY overpriced. And I mean WAAAAAAAAY overpriced!

But, we keep buying so, they keep robbing, I mean charging us.


What's YOUR Overpriced rant?

You can always get into a hobby you can afford. Nobody is holding a gun to your head.

 

[TaylorPilot]

@Merv49 I see you are in South Carolina. I hope you are safe from the storms. It looks like they are getting a good bit of water on the coastal towns.