Rant - Why do hobbyist price their corals like a store???

[MarshallB]

You might not like it and you might not agree with it, but if someone is willing pay a high price for a coral then why would someone not attempt to maximize their profit?

It's also a product of other sources charging high prices on corals.

The value of anything is just what someone is willing to pay for it. I might not like a price and not buy a coral, however someone else may do it. If someone was willing to sell me a coral for $50 when they could possibly get $500 then which one of us is losing in that deal?

 

[blaxsun]

Could be worse. If environmentalists were calling the shots you wouldn’t even be able to own a goldfish...

 

[Naturalreef]

Cost of everything is up right now unfortunately

Why? Cost of Alk,CA,MG go through the roof for vendors/hobbyist Or maybe people are at home more and tending to their tanks and vendors are capitalizing on it? Sincere question.

 

[Jekyl]

Why? Cost of Alk,CA,MG go through the roof for vendors/hobbyist Or maybe people are at home more and tending to their tanks and vendors are capitalizing on it? Sincere question.

It's not limited to our hobby. The price of everything else is up also.

 

[Kfactor]

The guys I buy from always charge half of what they payed for it for frags .

 

[Naturalreef]

It's not limited to our hobby. The price of everything else is up also.

I get electronics/hardware with the craziness going on, but not coral that has been in vendors/hobbyists tanks for the last 5 years. I have had no issue finding Alk/CA/MG and food for same prices I have always paid. So in essence, nothing has changed if the coral has always been there growing at the same rates.

 

[Naturalreef]

The guys I buy from always charge half of what they payed for it for frags .

Good on them! That is who I want to give my business to

 

[Double monti 61]

Hey if you live in Dutchess county NY I have some montipora and a piece of Hollywood chalice you can have for free I can’t seem to give them away .

 

[Goaway]

Set a low price, vendor comes in, buys cheap frags. Goes to mark them up 2 to 3 times.
Hobbiest sees this, marks his/her coral the same the vendor does and then gets flamed.
Oh well.

 

[Naturalreef]

Hey if you live in Dutchess county NY I have some montipora and a piece of Hollywood chalice you can have for free I can’t seem to give them away .

Very cool of you!

 

[LiveFreeAndReef]

...not only that. Just wait until you sell your wares to another hobbyist thinking that you did a good thing and they end up on FB marketplace a few hours later for full retail. This will kill any remaining faith in the humanity of our hobby pretty quickly. People need to have a fair amount of skin in the game. Here is how I handle my extra corals...

Zoa Garden Raffle for the Quest Predator tank

I put a small zoa garden together for a raffle scheduled the 1st or 2nd week of Dec. The proceeds will go to the purchase of 1 or 2 rays for the school. The rest will go the MASC website maintenance. Gaging interest. Is it better to have more tickets? I was thinking 10 tickets at $40 20...

www.marinecolorado.org

I've seen this firsthand in my aquarium club. Some girl asked for people to donate an aquarium for her kids. A nice gentleman gave her a 55 gallon tank with a stand and all the needed equipment for free. She posted everything for sale on Facebook marketplace the following week. Some people suck.

 

[Naturalreef]

Set a low price, vendor comes in, buys cheap frags. Goes to mark them up 2 to 3 times.
Hobbiest sees this, marks his/her coral the same the vendor does and then gets flamed.
Oh well.

No flaming….. when a long time vendor/hobbyist that I purchased lots of coral from tells me prices are creeping up, but nothing has changed other than capitalizing during a pandemic, you just lost me as a customer for life. Wishing no ill will towards them, just won’t support those practices.

 

[Rick's Reviews]

I’m going a coral haul and I usually buy my corals from local hobbyists or stores with good deals going on or from store owners who usually hook me up. Anyways, I’m finding a lot of hobbyist are now pricing their corals out of the market. Either pricing their corals just as much as a store or higher. Why? It makes no sense. They don’t have the bills and many expenses that a store has to pay so why price that high? If someone is going out of their way to drive to your house to pay for a frag that you didn’t even buy wholesale then why price high. It’s just a coral frag that grew from one of their established corals. People are really trying to sell me regular torches for hundreds of $$$ a head and plain mushrooms for close to $70 a piece now. And FYI to these people online is not a good reference for pricing as online is ridiculous now. 5x higher than what you should be paying. Don’t mean to rant just wanna know why….

 

[Jekyl]

Utility bills are definitely going up. Paying way more now for electric than I did just a year ago.

 

[Goaway]

No flaming….. when a long time vendor/hobbyist that I purchased lots of coral from tells me prices are creeping up, but nothing has changed other than capitalizing during a pandemic, you just lost me as a customer for life. Wishing no ill will towards them, just won’t support those practices.

I understand, but if it's someone who is in it as a hobby and not a vendor. Usually people reason well. Now if they are bull headed, I would walk away.
I can't even buy a dying frag with algae growing on it from my lfs for half off. . I only have 2 lfs near me, both have poor coral selections. No one in my area reefs. Chicago is 3 hours away. The guy with nice corals for sell is almost 3 hours away.

I kind of wish I could complain about the local hobby prices. Instead, I get to complain about distance. Or, just pay for shipping!

 

[Naturalreef]

I've seen this firsthand in my aquarium club. Some girl asked for people to donate an aquarium for her kids. A nice gentleman gave her a 55 gallon tank with a stand and all the needed equipment for free. She posted everything for sale on Facebook marketplace the following week. Some people suck.

Utility bills are definitely going up. Paying way more now for electric than I did just a year ago.

Not saying they arent , but definitely not justifying pricing corals almost double. I still believe greed is at play over having their lights turned off.

 

[Naturalreef]

I understand, but if it's someone who is in it as a hobby and not a vendor. Usually people reason well. Now if they are bull headed, I would walk away.
I can't even buy a dying frag with algae growing on it from my lfs for half off. . I only have 2 lfs near me, both have poor coral selections. No one in my area reefs. Chicago is 3 hours away. The guy with nice corals for sell is almost 3 hours away.

I kind of wish I could complain about the local hobby prices. Instead, I get to complain about distance. Or, just pay for shipping!

I’m in the same boat. (Live south of Chicago). Stores close to me are poorly kept with dying coral and asking full prices. It’s like anything in life…. research what you are buying, look for many different sources and be ready to pounce when you find a deal. It has worked well for me and it was extremely easy walking away from vendors whom gouge.

 

[Goaway]

I’m in the same boat. (Live south of Chicago). Stores close to me are poorly kept with dying coral and asking full prices. It’s like anything in life…. research what you are buying, look for many different sources and be ready to pounce when you find a deal. It has worked well for me and it was extremely easy walking away from vendors whom gouge.

Did you see the orange torch for sale in chicago locals for 70?? I threw a fit!

 

[TheDragonsReef]

Why dont you sell your car to me for $2500? The dealer wants $5000 but they have to pay for their lot and workers so you shouldnt charge so much.

Things have value based on what people are willing to pay, and are usually determined by the market. Do you not try to get as much as you can for anything youre selling whether a car or a house? Why would coral be any different?

I sell frags and i try to be a little cheaper than the vendors but lots of the higher end coral are actully quite difficult to grow. Not everyone can throw a super rare acro or zoa in their tank and have it flourish enough to make frags. And even when they do grow well it can take months sometimes over a year before you can frag it. There are still cheap corals out there, i have plenty of mushrooms, zoas, montis, etc under $20, but i also have zoas where a single head is worth over $100. You dont need to have the fanciest high end coral, so buy within your budget.

 

[Just John]

I was just putting up a car example when you posted. lol. Here it is anyway.
I put my car up for sale at $20,000, because I knew someone would buy it for that. Would I sell it to someone for $15,000 just to show I'm not greedy or overcharging? Of course not. Isn't it the same with corals? No one needs corals. It's not bread. I don't think you can gouge. Is it too much? Don't buy it. You don't need it.
Personally, I don't think people should try to overcharge, but I don't blame them. If a stranger will pay you $100 for something, why should you charge them $80? If someone will pay a high amount, you can't be criticized for charging a high amount. Can you? Tell me why. Honestly, I would like to know. Not trying to be confrontational, I would just like to hear the reasoning.