Red Sea Pricing? Increased prices recently.

[Eclyps19]

I’ve been watching the Red Sea Reefers for deals over the past 6mo and noticed that just this week the major players have increased prices by $100 for some models. For anyone who has been following them for longer than a year, is this a normal part of their pricing cycle? Do they typically increase prices for a period and then do a sale toward the end of the year? Just seems weird since the pricing has been so consistent all year.

 

[Scurvy]

Not that Ive ever noticed... They were always pretty solid between the white cabinet and $100 less for a black cabinet With very little variation. I just read the other day they have added 3 new size (See Reef Builders). Sales on the major websites happen very rarely. I think Black Friday they may do a 10% off or something along those lines but don’t quote me on that.

 

[jpas]

Their tanks are Chinese made so they are paying a 25% tariff on the cost.

For the premium price they charge you would expect them to be made domestically.

 

[Scurvy]

Was the added cost only on some of the larger sizes? The 650/750xxl’s maybe?

I ask as they have acknowledged an issue with the cabinets on those larger sizes and are sending owners some sort of “fix it“ kit. They claim to have addressed it with any “new” tanks but maybe thats the added cost? Also as said, perhaps tariffs but I would think we’d see a price change on every tank and not just some of them...

 

[Eclyps19]

I’ve been eyeballing the 525 the most and I know that went up by $100. I *believe* that there was an increase in the other larger ones as well, but I don’t know for certain.

 

[Blackice615]

I noticed this about an hr hour ago. Last year I've been monitoring 750xxl for $3300 in black, now they're north of $3800. Not sure if the newly released models is what's triggering the price increase as well

 

[MuffinMonster]

I just noticed this too, black reefer 250 used to retail for $1,349.00 and now it retails for $1,499.00 on bulk reef supply, some other websites still have it listed for $1,359. Did they switch pricing due to the new models coming out? The white stand models have always been roughly $100 more.

 

[Clownreef]

Get Waterbox. Waaaay superior product. I had a Red Sea 350 and upgraded to a Waterbox 5526. Night and day.

 

[MuffinMonster]

Get Waterbox. Waaaay superior product. I had a Red Sea 350 and upgraded to a Waterbox 5526. Night and day.

I was looking to buy a waterbox, i was looking at a 70.3 or a 100.3
The 70.3 comes with a crappy sump though, i would buy it if i could just get the tank stand and plumbing and buy my own sump. And the 100.3 is a few hundred out of the price range i was wanting to purchase. I would prefer the waterbox to the red sea, everything i have read says they are great tanks.

 

[JoshH]

Their tanks are Chinese made so they are paying a 25% tariff on the cost.

For the premium price they charge you would expect them to be made domestically.

In all honesty what they charge the consumer is absolutely nowhere near premium pricing. If someone was to have a Custom Tank/stand that matches the reefers to a T made by a premium custom Manufacturer domestically it would easily be double what Red Sea charges. When you step into "Most" (Not all) domestic manufacturers the costs can be astronomical compared to Red Sea and Waterbox....

 

[Eclyps19]

Get Waterbox. Waaaay superior product. I had a Red Sea 350 and upgraded to a Waterbox 5526. Night and day.

There are plenty of Red Sea vs Waterbox threads out there - I don't think we need another one. Both have huge followings, and both sides are very happy with the quality of their respective tanks. For my needs, the Red Sea happens to fit the space that I need it to and the Waterbox is just a couple inches too deep.

I ended up purchasing the white 525 at $2699, as most places saw a jump up to $2899 (including BRS, LiveAquaria, MarineDepot, etc). I'm thinking the tariff idea might be correct...

 

[MuffinMonster]

I ended up purchasing the white 525 at $2699, as most places saw a jump up to $2899 (including BRS, LiveAquaria, MarineDepot, etc). I'm thinking the tariff idea might be correct...

Nice purchase man! Im thinking about picking up the red sea white 250 now from my LFS before prices jump up $200 with them too. Wasnt wanting to buy for another month or so, but if they are jumping price now is the time to buy probably.

 

[MichaelReefer]

Personally I love my Red Sea Reefer 250. The look and the quality is amazing. Well worth the money.

 

[Scurvy]

In all honesty what they charge the consumer is absolutely nowhere near premium pricing. If someone was to have a Custom Tank/stand that matches the reefers to a T made by a premium custom Manufacturer domestically it would easily be double what Red Sea charges. When you step into "Most" (Not all) domestic manufacturers the costs can be astronomical compared to Red Sea and Waterbox....

I got to disagree with you here somewhat. When i was looking to ugrade I was looking at the Reefer 425xl at $2300 as well as a similar Waterbox (I forget which one now) and SCA all priced in the same ballpark. None really offered everything that i wanted from my upgrade but cost was of course a factor and these were in the budget.

I do agree that the ultra high end tank makers would have been double or triple the cost but there are other quality custom shops out there you don't hear/see nearly as much about.

I stumbled upon (Practically Accidentally), researched and went with CDAquarium out of CA (Former Leemar Folks I think). Got my 4'x2'x22" starphire, PVC bottomed, Armored seems, external ghost overflow, Trigger Triton sump, completely pre-plumbed in a quality stand I chose w/ electrical compartment for under 3k all in, freight shipped to my door.

I easily would have spent 1k upgrading the other 3 options more to my liking, still lacking the external overflow and other upgrades bringing my cost on those to 33/3500.

I wound up getting all that i wanted and more going custom for a very reasonable cost difference. Having had a Reefer before this tank I can say with no doubts this is a better built tank I didn't have to upgrade and I loved my Reefer.

 

[Flameback Pair]

@MichaelReefer do you have a build thread for your Reefer 250?

 

[Txplicit]

They have increased just in time for black friday 10% off. Lol. I found aquariumspecialty still holds the older price so I pulled the trigger. I'd say do it sooner than Later cause I doubt they will be going down with the new releases in 2020 adding a 3 year warranty.