What makes some zoas have such a high pp price?

[Cooper32803]

Maybe my noob-ness coming through but I was wondering why some zoas were such a high pp price? I understand some of the newer ones are priced so high due to supply and demand, but why are some zoas that have been in the market for what seems to be some time so high priced? IE Rastas, Hornets etc... Is it because of a high melting rate when they are fragged? I guess this could be said for other corals as well. Like some chalices and what not... Just curious...

 

[Rockadile]

demand and hype. nothing more.

 

[Cooper32803]

But shouldnt the market be flooded with these corals that have been out for a while? So shouldn't be much demand since the saltwater trade is such a niche market. I'm not complaining about prices I have paid for any of my corals, I was just curious as to how the FMV of a coral is assessed (not including newer zoas).

 

[caudill187]

Usually the more expensive ones are the more attractive and unique morphs. Also, rarity plays a part

 

[Rockadile]

take my clementines for example. very nice zoa, easy to grow, and still fetch $50 pp.

 

[1Snapple]

Take agaves and Darth mauls for example, easy melters and not so common. Also Slow growers.

Now Clementines, i want

 

[Steelerfan747]

I think it also has to do with the names that are given. For example, Darth mauls. Just the name makes it attractive jmo

 

[Gabe]

I was just curious as to how the FMV of a coral is assessed (not including newer zoas).

I think that the Captain American Palys is a good good example here.

At one point this stable and somewhat abundant coral was taken from the ocean and sent somewhere in California. Then from there a Wholesaler sent them to the LFS and coral shops online to sell. Without being too specific on numbers, I think these guys got up around $100 pp (retail) when they first hit the market some years ago. A couple steps down the chain and they ended up in a lot of home aquariums. Their size and fast growth led to a lot of reefers having them in abundance. A local reefer sells to one of 2 places, his reefer buddies and his LFS or Ebay. What that really means is that within a year of this $100 pp Captain America showing up, you have a ton of hobbyist willing to frag and trim them down for maybe $10 a head. That price drop was caused entirely by the supply of the polyp. Get two or three guys in a reef club with colonies and that whole group of people in that state/city/whatever now has access to $10-$20 heads of this polyp while they are still retailing closer to $100.

Meantime, you have a wholesaler sitting on several colonies, waiting to cash in on them as he watches price drops. Polyp per Polyp, the ones that grow the slowest and don't have a near imitator or similar morph are the ones that retain their value the most. Fast growers come down in price quickly. Polyps with similar imitations, like the Darth Maul, also come down pretty heavily in price.

 

[Gabe]

take my clementines for example. very nice zoa, easy to grow, and still fetch $50 pp.

Which would indicate that they aren't widely available, in high demand, or you have managed to grow them faster than

 

[Cooper32803]

take my clementines for example. very nice zoa, easy to grow, and still fetch $50 pp.

Thats what I am talking about... I bought 3 polyps of clementines for a great price (20pp) so I was wondering where people that charge the normal 40-60 pp price got the pp price structure... I guess its just the general amount that people charge online?

 

[jonbar1]

People charge what they think they can likely get based on how desirable the zoa is compared to how easy it is to get elsewhere. The more people that have them available, the fewer the people that want them and so the price drops. Case in point, Nuclear Greens and Purple Deaths. When first available and only a few reefers had them they were up to $100 per polyp. Now most reefers have them since they're so prolific, so there aren't a lot of reefers looking for them. The ones that are looking for them can price shop for the lowest deal, so if you don't sell them cheap then you don't sell them.

Sometimes supply doesn't increase much, but demand just drops. I noticed this with PPEs. You have to shop around to find some for sale, but when you find them they are usually pretty cheap compared to how much they used to cost. I guess peoples tastes moved on to other People Eaters like Blue Agaves and left little demand for them. You don't even see them in peoples tank photos very often anymore

 

[Akwarius]

People charge what they think they can likely get based on how desirable the zoa is compared to how easy it is to get elsewhere. The more people that have them available, the fewer the people that want them and so the price drops. Case in point, Nuclear Greens and Purple Deaths. When first available and only a few reefers had them they were up to $100 per polyp. Now most reefers have them since they're so prolific, so there aren't a lot of reefers looking for them. The ones that are looking for them can price shop for the lowest deal, so if you don't sell them cheap then you don't sell them.

Sometimes supply doesn't increase much, but demand just drops. I noticed this with PPEs. You have to shop around to find some for sale, but when you find them they are usually pretty cheap compared to how much they used to cost. I guess peoples tastes moved on to other People Eaters like Blue Agaves and left little demand for them. You don't even see them in peoples tank photos very often anymore

Great explanation.

Captain America, Nuke Green, Purple Death, PPE, Darth Maul, Scarface, and most hornets all succumbed to an over-abundance of supply either through propagation and/or excessive wild collection, driving prices down.

This doesnt always happen, however, due to polyps not propagating well in addition to lack of wild stock. Examples of this would be: Soprano, Bloodshots, Black Hornets, and Serene Nova. The mythology around these polyps keeps people interested despite the rarity.

 

[Young Frankenstein]

take my clementines for example. very nice zoa, easy to grow, and still fetch $50 pp.

it looks good and everyone wants one

 

[Mr. Microscope]

color and hype. Slow growers like bowser and CAR's tend to maintain a high price over the years where as easier growers like hornets and rastas start to fall.

 

[A. grandis]

Well, bottom line is:
Prices are high because people pay for them. If there were no buyers, the prices would probably drop.
We do have to respect others and that's why we're not here to judge their tastes and wallet volume.
I understand all the rare findings and availability. That plays into the game too, I know...
Other thing is the fact that some dealers do reproduce them in captivity and that costs some extra money in the long run.

I think the colonies should be aways of 8 to 10+ polyps minimum, depending on the species.
The price should be the same for such colonies as they charge for the single polyp, to begin with.
But now it's too late because the market is already ruined and non of the sellers will change.

The biggest problems I see with the high price tagged cartoon named zoas are:
1) When people get a wild colonies and frag into tiny pieces to make a great profit out of it.
2) When dealers sell that poor solitary polyp that will take forever to grow, limiting it's chances to fight water chemistry/light adaptation, infections, predation and others.

Some times the two notes above aren't true and so once more it's hard to judge.
That's why we have this thing going...
Pretty soon it's gonna be normal. Well, it IS kinda normal already.
And pretty soon we won't see this kinda threads anymore.

Just my US$.02.
Old man Grandis.
LOL!!!

 

[KJAG]

it looks good and everyone wants one

Always thought clementines were overhyped. Just a blue zoa with a red spot right? Wrong. Once I got mine I realized they are impossibly bright. Definitely live up to the price/hype

 

[eddiecorrea]

Take Rastas for example. A very desirable zoa that is rather hardy but takes FOREVER to grow. They typically sell about 15-20pp. I sell them(when I have them) for $2pp. I HATE how people overprice coral. I'm out to help lower the costs of an already insanely high priced hobby. Not to keep the price up.

 

[keome]

+ 1 "demand and hype. nothing more."

Thats it.

 

[bige]

+ 1 "demand and hype. nothing more."

Thats it.

Yep that's it.

 

[KJAG]

Yep that's it.

Dang, and all this time I was stoked on searching out all of these unique & vividly colored, harder to find Zs&Ps.. Note to Self: strictly focus on dragon eyes, Nuc greens,tubbs blues etc. from this point on.