Vendors Gone Insane?

[phil bevilacqua]

They gotta pay for all the new stores some how. lol. Won’t be from me though! That frags gotta be a mistake. lol.

 

[rkpetersen]

I’m not doubting that they have a rigorous routine. I saw their shops, and they are fantastic. However, I did purchase a handful of frags from them a couple of months ago, and two out of six came in with colonial hydroids on the skeletons and plugs. I simply epoxied over those areas, but I did lose a lot of coral tissue in that process.

I’m not speaking negatively about WWC; I simply wanted to state that even some of the best can charge high prices and still be vulnerable to pests.

I stopped ordering corals from online vendors, and I now purchase them from local hobbyists so that I can inspect them and see how their husbandry affects their systems. It also has a benefit of building personal relationships with locals, which can be a benefit when you need help while on vacation or during maintenance or moving.

I've had pest algae come in on frags from the very top vendors in the hobby.
The notion that they somehow keep everything 'cleaner' than a dedicated hobbyist can is inaccurate.

 

[Jake_the_reefer]

Go local for sure. Online some corals are per head and colonies can run you a huge chunk of money. A coral shop that just opened near me sold me a colony (20+heads) of nuclear green zoas for 20$ and a beautiful orange blasto for 5$

 

[ironman187]

Does anyone think that companies have gone insane?

I have been around aquariums since I was born and was one of the first customers in WWC when I started my reef tank in 2011-2012. I bought many things from them, some that I still have today. When I started prices were reasonable on corals and there were very very few coral frags over $100 and the ones that there were were based on size or super rare. Now it seems like everyone has gone crazy and thinks that their stuff is worth $$$.

I was looking at WWC today and noticed this hilarious piece, one of the worst I have seen in a very long time.

First off, quality Acropora frags should at the bare minimum be starting to encrust the plug and shouldn't be fresh cut.
Second, this is not even close to XL and should be listed without a size at all or listed as small. This is the minimum size any Acropora should be purchased at which is about 1.5 inches with a new branch starting. The frag is hardly any bigger than the dang plug! An XL frag would start to look like a mini colony with like at least 5 branches like this one from AquaSD.
Third, this price is insane. I don't care how rare a coral is the price should never be over $500 for a frag of anything, honestly, even over $200 is getting expensive. People are forgetting that this would be about 3-6 months of growth of an Acropora in an established system.

You can argue all day that it's rare or looks nice or whatever but this is just silliness.

I'm not here to throw hate just on WWC either they just happened to be the ones I saw today.

https://worldwidecorals.com/collections/acropora/products/walt-disney-tenuis-acropora-2842

I'd be more inclined to say the sucker who pays that much for that frag is the insane one. Also, screw that person for helping drive up costs.

 

[Falreef]

Kind of what happened in Denmark in the 1600s with Lillies. The costs of everything, especially coral has gone just crazy. Even for tiny, tiny pieces. The hobby is fast approaching in the past 2-3 years, unaffordable.

 

[JayKim]

You would think that they would have recouped their initial investment plus profit by now, WD has been out for a while. I tried to sell just over 1/2 inch frag for $50 and got 1 interest and ended up trading. $649 is way too high.

 

[l_jesse_l]

A couple of months ago I had the pleasure of being able to purchase a order of Aussie corals through a importer. In my order I bought a gold torch two heads for $90. Also in my order were four large hammers and four large acro colonies. Not one of them on my shipping list was over $90. I’ve also been able to purchase from wholesalers which carry about a 75% mark up from that. Then local pet shops that carry about a 100% mark up from that. But what shamefully beats all that was the introduction of online price gouging.

 

[Bryan562]

No simply because the market sets the price. YES it does suck that frags cost that much but as long as the consumer is willing to pay a price then I don't think a company should undersell the product just to make people like you happy.

If there’s a consumer their has to be a supplier. Lol either they take advantage of the customers or someone else will..

 

[HB AL]

It's not just online, I went by one of my lfs's today and they had some acro mini colonies that didn't look like anything special but the kicker was before the ban they sold them for 49.99$ and good size now they are 129.99$ and half the size. Sh

 

[2Wheelsonly]

I’m all for good looking corals but “name collectors” can get so annoying. You can have a flourishing natural looking reef filled with diverse livestock and some dude wants to know where your Walt Disney or Home Wrecker is at. Like your tank is lacking street cred because it’s missing some stupid named coral that looks slightly different than a random green acro.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Or naming something with the word TOXIC. Cant count how many people I’ve seen at an LFS that wondered what happened if you came in contact with it or if it will kill their fish.

 

[miyags]

Greed is definitely running rampant in this hobby.

 

[Joekovar]

It's almost as if their pricing and portioning practices are being influenced by drug dealers.

Maybe the sales and marketing people are all on drugs. Then again, a salesman doing drugs? Nah, that'd never happen!

 

[ironman187]

Greed is definitely running rampant in this hobby.

That's not greed,that's supply and demand.

 

[miyags]

Plenty of supply,Mostly greed. Just saw a neon green plate coral on here for mid $400. Called it a rare yellow. Yeah, OK

 

[vetteguy53081]

Its a 50/50 scenario. Some are basing pricing on supply and demand while some and ive seen a few are simply taking advantage of having supply and listing at insane prices and changing names to give it value.
I warn many and expect to see a trend whereas many will elevate their prices even higher due to tax season and I can say anyone who overpays or purchases a coral that is overpriced without researching typical market pricing or walking away . . . . . IT'S ON Y O U !!

 

[ironman187]

Plenty of supply,Mostly greed. Just saw a neon green plate coral on here for mid $400. Called it a rare yellow. Yeah, OK

Not really. In your example, they must have thought it was a rare yellow. Either way, either it will sell at that price, they will drop the price, or they will hold in until one of the two happens.

Its a 50/50 scenario. Some are basing pricing on supply and demand while some and ive seen a few are simply taking advantage of having supply and listing at insane prices and changing names to give it value.
I warn many and expect to see a trend whereas many will elevate their prices even higher due to tax season and I can say anyone who overpays or purchases a coral that is overpriced without researching typical market pricing or walking away . . . . . IT'S ON Y O U !!

Changing the name is often a method of creating demand for a small supply. In the end, the market will only bear the price at a certain level.



At the end of the day this is simple economics, and I would argue the real greed exists in those who think they are entitled to corals at lower prices than their current market value.

 

[YankeeTankee]

Kind of what happened in Denmark in the 1600s with Lillies. The costs of everything, especially coral has gone just crazy. Even for tiny, tiny pieces. The hobby is fast approaching in the past 2-3 years, unaffordable.

Haha yes but I think it was dutch and tulips.

 

[Barks]

I bought some fish from my lfs today and they had a gem tang for £1299

 

[lapin]

I think some vendors are offering 2 year financing now.