This hobby is getting even more ridiculous with pricing......

[Marquiseo]

As a long time serial hobbyist, I have noticed that a lot of hobbies are more expensive than what they once were BEFORE the mini economic depression in 2006 - 2010. When times were tough, I noticed everything from car parts to brewing supplies becoming more expensive as fewer products were in demand. Not sure if this would apply to reefkeeper or not but my 2 cents.

Nope, it doesn't apply to reef keeping. Exporters aren't making corals. They are collected wild. Importers are creating fads to drive prices. A popular aquarium magazine is assisting is this fad driving.

However, some costs are justifiable such as the dives to deep depths for certain fish.

 

[ritter6788]

I think it's always been that way. See the story on the $500 efflo. That was back in 2004. New and rare always goes for higher price. Once everyone has a frag the price will drop.

For example, there are so many bounce shrooms coming up for sale recently I can see the price of those dropping soon.

 

[Armydogracing]

You can get purple hornets for $5-10pp now but when I first got them 5 years ago they were $100pp.

Walt Disney prices are going down now also

Also wholesale prices are super cheap like some of yall think... with wholesale its not free shipping at 200 you pay real shipping for the weight of the box ect

 

[nicholas.babb@gmail]

Nope, it doesn't apply to reef keeping. Exporters aren't making corals. They are collected wild. Importers are creating fads to drive prices. A popular aquarium magazine is assisting is this fad driving.

However, some costs are justifiable such as the dives to deep depths for certain fish.

And people are paying those prices because of a lack in competition among retailers.

 

[Marquiseo]

And people are paying those prices because of a lack in competition among retailers.

People wouldn't be the correct response. "Certain reefers" are paying that price. It's primarily the reefers who wants people to drool at their tanks instead of enjoying the creatures. ( Didn't mean to offend anyone if I did offend)

 

[nicholas.babb@gmail]

People wouldn't be the correct response. "Certain reefers" are paying that price. It's primarily the reefers who wants people to drool at their tanks instead of enjoying the creatures. ( Didn't mean to offend anyone if I did offend you)

"Certain Reefers" don't really have a choice. If enough retailers could sell $10 frags than frags would be $10.

 

[ReeferCub]

And people are paying those prices because of a lack in competition among retailers.

Lack of competition. Price fixing. Cartel kind of business. All these things are going on.
I see Caulerpa and Chaetomorpha are being sold at ridiculous prices! Now please dont say nothing is free! lol.
When I was trying to seed my new tank last year and I asked a fellow hobbyist for a fist full of seed rock and sand from his tank, he offered to sell it to me for $30. When I looked at him with disbelief he said I will throw in a zoa! lol.
Again... I am part of the problem too. I buy these expensive accessories too in the hope that my corals will grow faster. lol. But I do feel cheated.

 

[Marquiseo]

"Certain Reefers" don't really have a choice. If enough retailers could sell $10 frags than frags would be $10.

The choice is there when a retailer releases a new frag with a silly name and sells it at $699 a 1/2" frag. I promise you retailers do have the option to sell $10 frags. Let's say a retailer buys a large 13" colony for $150 from a wholesaler. A retailer could frag the colony into 32 pieces and heal them up. At $10 a frag, the retailer would profit $170. But since some retailers want fast money, the cost is marked up to $50+ a frag to profit $1450.

 

[Demonic]

You can still get great deals out there. I love the ones on some of sites and FB. Fire 1/4" mini colony for 250 shipped. I small frag that will probably not even have color for an entire year if it make it that long for 250 bucks. Facebook is the worst, those sites are chop shops trying the get rich quick schemes. They make a bad name for a lot of vendors and are the bad side of the hobby. Try to look for local refers and see what you can trade out for new stuff. don't give those turds the time out of your day

 

[nicholas.babb@gmail]

Lack of competition. Price fixing. Cartel kind of business. All these things are going on.
I see Caulerpa and Chaetomorpha are being sold at ridiculous prices! Now please dont say nothing is free! lol.
When I was trying to seed my new tank last year and I asked a fellow hobbyist for a fist full of seed rock and sand from his tank, he offered to sell it to me for $30. When I looked at him with disbelief he said I will throw in a zoa! lol.
Again... I am part of the problem too. I buy these expensive accessories too in the hope that my corals will grow faster. lol. But I do feel cheated.

Lack of suppliers. It's why the apex cost the same as a studio apartment in anywhere except San Francisco (where I live).

 

[ReeferCub]

The choice is there when a retailer releases a new frag with a silly name and sells it at $699 a 1/2" frag. I promise you retailers do have the option to sell $10 frags. Let's say a retailer buys a large 13" colony for $150 from a wholesaler. A retailer could frag the colony into 32 pieces and heal them up. At $10 a frag, the retailer would profit $170. But since some retailers want fast money, the cost is marked up to $50+ a frag to profit $1450.

This is the exact thing that is going on. And this is harmful for the hobby in the long term. It keeps many hobbyist from surviving and enjoying the hobby.

 

[mgoesma]

I'm glad that this hobby is getting more expensive so people actually value the animals they are getting if it was cheap majority of the people would naturally be more careless with their tanks. Kind of like the freshwater hobby for the most part. People spend 5 dollars for a fish and throw it into a vase without cycling and let it sit there and die. I know it's counterintuitive and I can't afford most of the coral in the hobby unless I get a really good deal, but my value for those corals is still high. Money is the best motivator, it weeds out people that keep on killing their corals and fish, and cannot get themselves to learn things.

I'm glad that this hobby is getting more expensive so people actually value the animals they are getting if it was cheap majority of the people would naturally be more careless with their tanks. Kind of like the freshwater hobby for the most part. People spend 5 dollars for a fish and throw it into a vase without cycling and let it sit there and die. I know it's counterintuitive and I can't afford most of the coral in the hobby unless I get a really good deal, but my value for those corals is still high. Money is the best motivator, it weeds out people that keep on killing their corals and fish, and cannot get themselves to learn things.

So what do you say about all the people who have lost there intire tank do to not having the best equipment? Like there heater burns out. If everything was outrageous prices they may have been able to afford better equipment or safety measures. I can tell you from experience cost is not a deterrent it just makes people more likely to fail.

 

[nicholas.babb@gmail]

The choice is there when a retailer releases a new frag with a silly name and sells it at $699 a 1/2" frag. I promise you retailers do have the option to sell $10 frags. Let's say a retailer buys a large 13" colony for $150 from a wholesaler. A retailer could frag the colony into 32 pieces and heal them up. At $10 a frag, the retailer would profit $170. But since some retailers want fast money, the cost is marked up to $50+ a frag to profit $1450.

If profit was that much, more suppliers would sell those frags at a cheaper price. Collusion rarely occurs in a free(er) market economy.

 

[Marquiseo]

If profit was that much, more suppliers would sell those frags at a cheaper price. Collusion rarely occurs in a free(er) market economy.

Profit can be that much but you must have the customer base. That example I gave above can be done with zoanthids, for example.

 

[Chris Adams]

Either you have the money or you don't. That goes for just about everything in life in my opinion.
Either you like to spend your money or you don't.

I would love to have a Lambo but our accord has to do because I am not rich and can not fathom spending that much money because I have never had it.
The consumers drive the price weather it be the rich or just those who can't live without something.
I have seen plenty of 10 packs on here for $100.00
Clubs seem to be coming along way and trades and prices more reasonable.

I understand your frustration believe me I do. You just have to say wow beautiful and dang wish I had that money to throw around

 

[nicholas.babb@gmail]

Profit can be that much but you must have the customer base. That example I gave above can be done with zoanthids, for example.

The difference between wholesale cost and consumer cost does not equal profit.

 

[rock_lobster]

The choice is there when a retailer releases a new frag with a silly name and sells it at $699 a 1/2" frag. I promise you retailers do have the option to sell $10 frags. Let's say a retailer buys a large 13" colony for $150 from a wholesaler. A retailer could frag the colony into 32 pieces and heal them up. At $10 a frag, the retailer would profit $170. But since some retailers want fast money, the cost is marked up to $50+ a frag to profit $1450.

Not at all true... retailers pay exporters vastly more money for exotic frags... they dont pay a 150$ flat rate for all frags...... Also you are forgetting like so many things... HOw about the work of fragging, the cost of a store, employees, the loss of frags while cutting, all the DOA claims which is 15-20% for most retailers. There are license fees and like 100 other things you are forgetting.

 

[Marquiseo]

Either you have the money or you don't. That goes for just about everything in life in my opinion.
Either you like to spend your money or you don't.

I would love to have a Lambo but our accord has to do because I am not rich and can not fathom spending that much money because I have never had it.
The consumers drive the price weather it be the rich or just those who can't live without something.
I have seen plenty of 10 packs on here for $100.00
Clubs seem to be coming along way and trades and prices more reasonable.

I understand your frustration believe me I do. You just have to say wow beautiful and dang wish I had that money to throw around

Having the expendable funds vs not having it is not the underlined issue. My rant doesn't mean I do not have the funds to purchase such corals; it means I am a price conscious buyer.

Everyone likes to compare this hobby to other material items. Most of those items you get majority of what you pay for which is years of research and technological advancements that the ordinary person can not achieve without some schooling. Corals come from the wild and at a cheap cost to collect. But because overnight sellers have become a victim of their success, prices have inflated with exporters.

 

[rock_lobster]

I honestly have to disagree! The hobby has become way more affordable than I've ever seen and Ive been in for 25 years straight. Especially if you consider the massive amount of inflation during that period.. My LFS has frags for 5$ that was unheard of 10 years ago. Minimum for a green ricordea was 25$... I think what you are doing is looking at a coral that in fact only 5-10 exist in the whole country and then saying "my the hobby has gotten expensive."
I have seen the exact opposite effect. As retailers are importing massively more quantities of "regular corals" in order to get these rare pieces the common ones have gone down significantly. So much so that you can stock your whole 120 gallon tank with average coral for 100$. The increase in demand for rare coral has caused a major increase in volume. Ask any retailer what they have to do to get a highend piece. It wasnt always like this. The exporters would price all coral at the same average medium/high price. I think some people just get caught up watching the for sale threads and seeing rare pieces with insane colors go for high prices and then just forget about all the other beautiful corals like frogspawn, candy cane, whammin watermelons.... The list goes on into the hundreds.

 

[jmp21677]

I'm just amazed when you see a retailer announce they are going to release a new coral in the next day. ...then I see 40 people begging for a picture of what could possibly be coming! The picture is so photo shopped it's insane and some poor guy just dropped 850 dollars on a coral that's going to look like garbage compared to what they expect. I'm not asking for something free. ...just don't ask me to pay 150 dollars for a 1 inch frag. This site profits from many of these retailers. I remember when several companies on this site were removed so that the site could refocus on what it was supposed to be.....what happened?