WWC pricing is going through the roof

[Bpb]

I have a hunch they have VERY low a la carte traffic on their website catalogue (which appears to be a small fraction of what is constant going in and out of their systems). The prices on there are artificially high because their eBay traffic probably claims the bulk of the movement in and out of the tanks and their auctions are actually fairly low priced considering. Perhaps it is just a tactic to make eBay sales and forum live sales more feverish

 

[Bpb]

I ordered from WWC for the first time during one of their live sales in february/march of this year. I feel the pricing was fair, but the corals were FAR from pest free.

Just about every single frag had bubble algae on it. Some of which got through QT and I'm of course now fighting it in the display.

This post needs more eyes on it. Pests are a risk with every specimen you buy, no matter where it comes from!

 

[Joedubyk]

He’s a young dude.

It's just a quick business lesson. He is pumping up a guy who is not OUT OF BUSINESS for selling cheap frags. It's annoying how people want everything cheap but don't understand the amount of money, time and effort it is to farm corals.

And don't forget the RISK. They could easily lose a tank or more in a crash.

 

[Jon Fishman]

I can tell that many in here don't own their own business, nor have the capacity to think like a business owner. Now, I don't mean that as an insult, but many of you just aren't thinking about this logically.

1. Consider the fact, they need either a warehouse, OR a building for all their product -- THAT cost money
2. Consider the fact, they need all the equipment , a lot of tanks, lighting, fish , ALL the things we need to propogate corals -- THAT cost money and you know this.l
3. They also need to hire a staff to maintain tanks, clean the facilities. -- that cost a lot of money
4. They also have website/shippers/ marketing team -- that cost money

So do you guys want cool corals for 30 dollars and expet them to be able to put food on the table? lol

So if I start making high quality hand-crafted shoes (Allen Edmunds pre-quality dump) right here in the USA, should my customers happily lap up the $2,000 loafers because I am paying top dollar for my labor, or will they buy from my competitors who, also being businessmen, have a better grasp of their costs, and produce the same quality at half the price?

 

[amoore311]

This post needs more eyes on it. Pests are a risk with every specimen you buy, no matter where it comes from!

That should go without saying. But with all the people here touting how pest free WWC Corals are, some proudly stating they do not even dip anything..... I guess not lol.

 

[Joedubyk]

So if I start making high quality hand-crafted shoes (Allen Edmunds pre-quality dump) right here in the USA, should my customers happily lap up the $2,000 loafers because I am paying top dollar for my labor, or will they buy from my competitors who, also being businessmen, have a better grasp of their costs, and produce the same quality at half the price?

That depends on the market. Clearly, there is a market for WWC's corals and people are paying the price for them. That's why they are expanding.

The hobby is evolving to coral farmers. That's why so many LFS went under w/ the indo ban. We need to continue to have coral farmers grow, when the inevitable aussie and everywhere else ban eventually comes.

 

[Perry]

I worked in this industry, and know WAY more info than most here know, and quite frankly would want to know regarding this industry, key players, and their long term visions, which is 100% not about the hobby, but business. So, I am a happy hobbyist, and do not or will not be held back with my voice. I will not fan these flames, will not share information,and won't disrespect a business, there owners, and most importantly fellow hobbyists. I am however very offended, on record regarding age discrimination, there is no place for it!

 

[Bpb]

I can tell that many in here don't own their own business, nor have the capacity to think like a business owner. Now, I don't mean that as an insult, but many of you just aren't thinking about this logically.

1. Consider the fact, they need either a warehouse, OR a building for all their product -- THAT cost money
2. Consider the fact, they need all the equipment , a lot of tanks, lighting, fish , ALL the things we need to propogate corals -- THAT cost money and you know this.l
3. They also need to hire a staff to maintain tanks, clean the facilities. -- that cost a lot of money
4. They also have website/shippers/ marketing team -- that cost money

So do you guys want cool corals for 30 dollars and expet them to be able to put food on the table? lol

I fully understand the concept of running a business. You have overhead to cover. There is a cost to doing business. But you’re leaving out a massive concept beyond overhead and that is economies of scale. As you ramp up production to substantially larger levels, the cost of production should in theory go down proportionally in the increase in production numbers. The OPPOSITE is at play with WWC. They have increased their production level and intentionally increased their pricing along with it. Their revenues gained ought to be MORE than covering any increased cost of production.

 

[Joedubyk]

I fully understand the concept of running a business. You have overhead to cover. There is a cost to doing business. But you’re leaving out a massive concept beyond overhead and that is economies of scale. As you ramp up production to substantially larger levels, the cost of production should in theory go down proportionally in the increase in production numbers. The OPPOSITE is at play with WWC. They have increased their production level and intentionally increased their pricing along with it. Their revenues gained ought to be MORE than covering any increased cost of production.

But has the demand gone up? If they have 100 Culture Shock frags and all 100 get sold in a day or so, that means demand has gone up. That means pricing can go up. It works the same in my business too.

We don't raelly know the reasons why the pricing has gone up, but we can't assume that it's just wantomly for no reason at all.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Prices?

 

[TARHEEL78]

I find it amusing that I keep seeing pest free tossed about in this thread knowing that they have shipped corals out with aiptasia on them.

 

[Bpb]

But has the demand gone up? If they have 100 Culture Shock frags and all 100 get sold in a day or so, that means demand has gone up. That means pricing can go up. It works the same in my business too.

We don't raelly know the reasons why the pricing has gone up, but we can't assume that it's just wantomly for no reason at all.

I imagine it is an attempt to recoup the cost of the new facility quickly, paired with a self imposed value of their own brand.

furthermore as I said. The website pricing is silly. If they sell 50 frags of Cookie Monster acropora at $20 a piece in one month on eBay, but 1-2 of them from direct website orders at $150 a piece, the volume is clearly weighted in favor of auction sales over website catalogue.

 

[Bpb]

I find it amusing that I keep seeing pest free tossed about in this thread knowing that they have shipped corals out with aiptasia on them.

These are likely a majority of folks who watched a YouTube video by brs or even one of the wwc guys hyping their cleanliness and were convinced they are in the absolute clear. I mean no offense. There’s just no other explanation as to why someone would assume they’re absolved of risk

 

[Heathd]

WWC has sort of grown beyond just the coral slinger and become a brand. They generate hype, they attend the shows, they collaborate with BRS and others.... point being, they've really pushed to get their name out there. I can respect the effort that has taken and there is certainly some sort of payoff associated with that, but I don't know that it merits what they currently sell items for.

On another note, I think its a bit of nonsense to assume that you're getting pest free stuff from them. I don't doubt that they have some sense of quality control, but I really hope all of y'all are dipping their corals still.

 

[biecacka]

I ordered from WWC for the first time during one of their live sales in february/march of this year. I feel the pricing was fair, but the corals were FAR from pest free.

Just about every single frag had bubble algae on it. Some of which got through QT and I'm of course now fighting it in the display.

very interesting post here. Seems it maybe isn’t as clean as people think it is.
I have never ordered from them, I am lucky to have a SPS guru local to me who many vednors re-sell his named coral so I buy from him typically. I guess according to this thread his system should be lest free since WWC has traded and bought frags from him. I don’t know, I think it all can be risky to some extent.

corey

 

[Bpb]

I think a great analogy is this:

buying a WWC coral at asking price on their website is a lot like buying a car at sticker price with their first interest rate offer.

sure...some people do it. But with a little effort you can get the same vehicle from the same place for a lot less

sticker price isn’t the end of the story.

 

[Perry]

Leverage

1st in line
Sponsors=free product
Wholesaler vs. retailer, who monitors
RAP
Not normal margins, PERIOD

 

[ruegaroo]

As mentioned above you can buy very cheap from them on eBay. You definitely do not have to pay full price for their corals if you don't want to. I will say I have paid full website price for one because I had store credit but it is very healthy and doing really well. There were no pests on that frag.

On the other hand, that $200 frag on their site could be $20 on eBay if nobody is paying attention. I have gotten $70 frags (list price on their site) for under $5 from them on eBay. Not necessarily entirely clean or pest free though so they probably have different quarantine setups for different pieces. Just speaking from my experience on pricing and deals within the company.

 

[Opus]

So what is going to be the thread title next week for complaining about coral costs?

 

[Hemmdog]

These are likely a majority of folks who watched a YouTube video by brs or even one of the wwc guys hyping their cleanliness and were convinced they are in the absolute clear. I mean no offense. There’s just no other explanation as to why someone would assume they’re absolved of risk

Very true. A good friend of mine got a shipment a few months ago, it included aefw and wiped out his entire tank
I’ve had good luck with clean frags though. Few aiptasia but not too bad.