WWC pricing is going through the roof

[drawman]

I think expecting any place (including WWC) to be pest free whether it's ich, velvet, algae, dinos, AEFW etc. shows good marketing. True answer is trust no one! I am also selective about who I shop with. WWC has become quite a bit more expensive and they have totally killed it when it comes to branding. I like what they do but they are slipping out of my price range on a lot of things. I'm curious how all of this will go once an inevitable recession hits.

 

[robbyg]

I have never bought anything from them and looking at those prices I never will.
Money is not the issue, it just goes against my grain to pay 50% more for something when I don't have to. I can dip and quarantine corals myself. It's not like WWC is giving me any kind of warranty that if my tank gets infested they will replace everything.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Yeah at RAP, I saw a 4 head Acan and they wanted $80 (show special) . . . . What? Excuse me.
On the way home, stopped at a Milwaukee LFS and got a 5 head rainbow for $60

 

[nickkohrn]

I think expecting any place (including WWC) to be pest free whether it's ich, velvet, algae, dinos, AEFW etc. shows good marketing. True answer is trust no one!

I have to agree with this. I received a couple of frags that had colonial hydroids on them, and I didn't notice them until they hopped over to nearby frags. Since then, my frag tank has become overran with them. Luckily, I am moving into a new frag system, so every coral will be cut off of the current plugs/tiles and re-mounted before going into the new system.

I don't want my comment to sound like I am talking badly about WWC – pests are everywhere. I simply wanted to point out that it's becoming increasingly difficult to justify the higher prices when I am not seeing much of a difference when compared to buying from other vendors and local hobbyists. In fact, I feel inclined to purchase locally, where I can see the animals prior to making purchases.

 

[Hemmdog]

This mentality has to change. I bet the top employees are taking home huge pay for over charging the customers. While the lower workers, who do all the real work, barely earn a living. I see it everywhere with corporations. What ever happened to employers charging a fair price for their service, provide good service, and take home a modest pay vs today it's how much I can take from everyone to have a huge house, beach house, fancy vacations, etc... While all the laborers get cheap apartment type pay.

As a company grows so do their expenses. This isn’t just a little LFS with a greedy owner. They have a lot of employees who I assume are educated and would demand at least health benefits from their employer which adds up as a big cost, taxes are a nightmare when you are a medium sized company, short term & long term debt, packaging/shipping/replacement order costs, insurance for everything. I don’t see this company being run by greed, I see a company who is in uncharted waters do to the scale of their operations whom has a mountain of expenses.
Does the owner have a boat? Probably. Is it a yacht? Doubtful.

 

[LARedstickreefer]

I have very mixed feelings about this. This hobby is getting ruined by ridiculous prices, I even got to the point where I was selling my HW for $50 just to try to ruin the market since it grew too fast for me. Ofc one person is not enough lol and other people still selling it for over $200 even tho stuff grows like weed smh.

But then again, unfortunately people are willing to pay stupid money for items such as Ecotech, WWC, and someone even bought one frag of my super rare awesome acan that you should totally buy using the link here because it's the only one in the world (no joke, one more frag still left). Companies that have something unique are gonna take advantage and control the market to make themselves bigger.

I heard that WWC bought Ecotech Radion XR30 Gen 4s for only $250 each and Ecotech was still making profit.

Social media is power, and all the top companies are very innovative, all started with Victor, Lou, and Tony. The dynamic trio that KILLED the market. All because of the media. Then everyone hopped onto the trend.

Prices are still rising because we have f***** ourselves. Many people don't do the research and just buy whatever just because they have the money for it, thinking that it is normal prices. When in reality, the company they bought stuff from is just very well advertised. Dam media. Companies still take advantage of them regardless. Like a shepard with a bunch of sheeps. Also bans REALLY screwed the market.

Btw, the claims I made for my acan is mostly from Nic from Ultra Corals Australia.

I’ll help you ruin the market by taking one of those $50 HW frags from you

My beef with WWC is their naming and remaining what looks to be the same corals. I can’t cross reference what I’m buying because the same corals have 3 different names from them....

 

[User1]

For me personally, it is a matter of trust their corals are qt'd and free of ich and marine velvet and other pests.

I hear what you are saying but there is still no guarantee. The minute you introduce it into your tank, regardless of the location, there is risk.

 

[Tuan’s Reef]

I just don’t shop at LHS anymore for frags. Pricing is indeed truly insane vs what you can get from locals. My mystic montis is five time as big as their frag for $10 I got from a local. They are charging $59!

 

[Fishingandreefing]

I buy corals from whatever fits my pocket. I understand certain shops for higher rent and bills to pay, hate to say this, that’s your problem not mine! Money didn’t fall into my pocket, I worked hard for it. For those that likes to spend money on higher costs store or restaurants thinking getting way higher quality, so be it, it’s their money.

I am kind of a sucker for deals, sometimes I spent a few hundreds easy on a deal when local lfs or Craigslist. While on the other hand, I don’t even go there because I already know that a 1” green slimer frag sells for $35, a cleaner shrimp for $39.99, just an example.

 

[Thaxxx]

I really think many of their sales are to newer reefers that come on to this and other forums and get excited when the sales start online. I've watched during the sales and the majority of the post during the sale are newer members. Then they are on here 2 weeks later asking why their corals are dying.
They've got quite a business going, but when things get tough in the economy. That type operation will be the first to go. At the same time, lowering their prices isn't going to stop that from happening. So as they say "get it while you can"

 

[sde1500]

This mentality has to change. I bet the top employees are taking home huge pay for over charging the customers. While the lower workers, who do all the real work, barely earn a living.

I've never bought from WWC, so no real horse in the race here, but that is just one wild accusation that I challenge you to back up with any proof. I'd say your mentality has to change, as I don't understand the insinuation that a small business owner doesn't do any "real" work.

 

[anonomous09]

As a company grows so do their expenses. This isn’t just a little LFS with a greedy owner. They have a lot of employees who I assume are educated and would demand at least health benefits from their employer which adds up as a big cost, taxes are a nightmare when you are a medium sized company, short term & long term debt, packaging/shipping/replacement order costs, insurance for everything. I don’t see this company being run by greed, I see a company who is in uncharted waters do to the scale of their operations whom has a mountain of expenses.
Does the owner have a boat? Probably. Is it a yacht? Doubtful.

Your final statement is probably the most true for mid-sized companies in the US. You end up in a spot where your company can be 50-200 percent higher than the year before and so your overhead grows exponentially as well. Owner take home only grows by 5-10 percent. These threads seem to keep popping up every couple of weeks. If you'd like, vote with your money and don't support them. However there is no point in continuing to try and same a company. Lord knows for a hobby to be sustainable and even expanding big companies need to be involved to continue to grow.

 

[vangvace]

And while the WWC prices seem high, what bothers me is the greed of some of my fellow reefers that use the high retail prices that vendors charge for stuff that is coming out of their tanks.

It is the designer name which leads to color strain wars how one blotch of color means it cannot be the one trew coral.

 

[Tamberav]

I have never purchased from them.

The pricing is high but I also enjoy the personal interaction with other hobbyists, building a reputation with a LFS so if I need their help, they will be there for me, and also buying from the smaller guys where I can exchange emails and get to know owner (and perhaps the only employee).

WWC costs more yet are missing so much for me.

 

[FishDoc]

I’m no one to normally complain about coral pricing. But I look around and see WWC is just way out of line with everyone else.

Not trying to sound rude, but I’m wondering if they are really trying to pay off the new facility early.

no matter the case... wow.

I’m wholeheartedly with you on this one. I’m so tired of the argument of supply and demand or if you don’t wanna pay that don’t buy it. I feel like the excuses I’ve heard dance around the greater issue which is the boutique coral trade. Fancy names, coral lineage etc. will never get me to spend $1000 on a mushroom with swollen/mutated tissue. Maybe it’s just me.

 

[FishDoc]

Wow. I don’t shop there but Green slimmer and PC rainbows for over $100.

If they can get the money, more power to them.

Unfortunately this mindset is the reason they do it, with all due respect...

 

[roberthu526]

Stop wishing and start earning..... sorry, not a fan of this mentality.

I wish I could think like you

 

[Scorpius]

I bought my mp-40s new, but I've stopped ordering from wwc. New MP-40s are not going to stn on me. lol. After my last tank crash never again will I spend that much on coral. EVER. LFS for the win.

 

[Smite]

I wish I could think like you

Ya just did the first part.....Now get irritated with indulging that passive/weak thought and rephrase it to the active and productive thought "I'm going to think like that". Then go follow David Goggins on Instagram for reminders on forming mental toughness

 

[LARedstickreefer]

Why not buy from our own sellers? I’ve gotten some nice corals for half the price of WWC. Support your fellow reefers. I’ve yet to have a coral die on me that wasn’t MY fault. The sellers here have always stepped up to the plate.