Zoa Prices

maroonytunes · Jul 24, 2008

I have to say, coming back into the hobby, I've been looking out a lot for nice zoas, but am totally disappointed with the prices. Over a year and a half ago when I had my reef tank going the prices were high, but as the zoas (mainly the ones that were rare) were propagated I believed the prices would go down. As I continue to look it seems prices have gone up and people seem to abuse the naming of zoas (not everyone, I have respect for people who've been in the hobby and have super nice tanks, Marvin's tanks are my favorite of all time, lol.. btw nice pictures Marvin!!!!!!) As I wandered around a few fish stores today I saw colonies (30-50 polyps) that were priced between $40 and $95 and they weren't good looking, some were ok, but most were dull. So I came to look around sites, and saw various people on sites that had ridiculous prices, I remember coming across green people eaters and I payed around $10 or $15 for 10 or so polyps, but as I look around, I see people wanting $10+ a polyp. Is it just me or does it seem that people and stores are taking advantage of the naming of zoas?

JWJTide · Jul 24, 2008

First of all I have nothing to really compare to because I have only been in the hobby about 2 yrs. I have been really interested in zoas heavily about a yr now. But my take on it is this.... I like the names because if I see some I like I can use that name to help me find them. And I can tell you I have been looking and looking for certain ones and to find specific ones can be very difficult!! So to me that would play into the price of them. I have been looking for about 5 diff kinds of zoas/palys for a yr now and I have found a couple but the prices were kinda high but I didnt buy because I didnt find anything else on the site I liked to help offset shipping costs. I can see anyones opinion about them being highly priced but if I search for something for a year and cant find it...im probably gonna pay more when I do find it. So I think the prices going up is all about supply and demand.

FateX8 · Jul 24, 2008

for your example with the gpe, what i remember about gpe 2 years ago was a crappy green with a green mouth but now theres "true" gpe which are like the "true" rpe in that they have a really nice green with a purple center which is completely different then what i remember being called a gpe and for that i would pay a little more because it is much nicer
same thing goes with rpe, theres 2 types and one looks a lot nicer than the other
thats the only thing i can say about the gpe
but prices have gone down by tons like nucs and pds went from 50/polyp a year ago to 20-30 now
ppes are down around 30
imo everything has gone down in price, except the newer stuff like sopranos and darth mauls

oceanparadise1 · Jul 24, 2008

I agree i think stuff is better looking now then it was before. Thus the reason we pay more!

maroonytunes · Jul 24, 2008

About the looking better, absolutely, I've seen just a few pictures of some and was amazed, but with people propagating there should be a lot out there, and I miss seeing a lot of the PIFs and huge trades that got things around. You shouldn't be paying $30 for 20 polyps of brown zoas with a little bit of green centers, just because they have a name it makes people think they are rare, I used to like the names, but now they have become a hassle and people use the names to make a considerable profit, once again, in my opinion, reefing is for fun and for helping the environment I can understand making a little profit but making $250+ off 10-15 polyps is ridiculous, just enjoy the hobby guys, rant off

Paintguru · Jul 24, 2008

My recollection is that, as far back as I can remember, colonies of what I would consider to be standard, boring zoas has always cost $30+. The fact that it is a coral and has to be flown half way across the world is why it costs this much. They aren't named, they are just coral. I also agree with others that prices of what were "rare" coral previously have come down in price. Newer stuff is costing more, but still it doesn't seem to me to be as expensive as newer pieces were in the past. I think at this point people have gotten over the naming thing and are simply buying what is cool, and in some cases, hard to find. Just my opinion.

Nate82 · Jul 24, 2008

everything in this hobby costs too dang much... but that aside i agree i think zoa's are outrageous esp. designer ones i mean we pay so much for something so small...

oceanparadise1 · Jul 24, 2008

Nate dog what up!!?!?! werent u just over LOL but yea zoas are way over priced IMO

oceaninabox · Jul 24, 2008

I agree with everyone, but as a seller it seems like we just cant win. If it doesnt have a name tag associated with it nobody wants it. If it does have a name tag I had to pay a premium to get it to you and thus the price is higher. Then if I have the same paly or zoa and there is no liniage, buyers say. Well, if you cant prove it came from JackInTheBox we dont want it, or they'll say "YOU CANT CALL IT THAT". so my .02cents is yes the hobby is taking a turn but you know what? Sometimes its a turn for the better. When I reintroduced Orange Envy palys several months ago. I was able to get the price in fact down for you. From the rediculous price of $500+ per polyp to $35 per polyp. So it aint all bad. I think you just have to buy from someone you trust and buy what you want at the price your willing to pay. Because of my fairness in the polyp price and yes I believe it is a fair price due to the scarcity of the genus, I have made a lot of great new customers. So, I feel your pain and I have a few of my own.

oceanparadise1 · Jul 24, 2008

See some one like me, i dont care at all about linage or name. Shoot, if i like the way it looks and you call it dung brownies lol i dont care. Nothing matters to me but looks, i dont care if tyree had it first or if its a todds torch, if it looks good ill buy

Paintguru · Jul 25, 2008

oceanparadise1 said:
See some one like me, i dont care at all about linage or name. Shoot, if i like the way it looks and you call it dung brownies lol i dont care. Nothing matters to me but looks, i dont care if tyree had it first or if its a todds torch, if it looks good ill buy

Same here. I could care less about the linage....I'm curious as to who actually does. When I post frags for sale, I post pictures only, no names. Perhaps that is why I have problems selling them. I'll gladly take a Darth Maul look alike for 50-75% less money.

oceanparadise1 · Jul 25, 2008

I totally agree with that paintguru as look as it looks good idc about anything else

EliteReefs · Jul 25, 2008

It really is simple. You should never pay more then 10.00 for a frag of zoas. The only thing that makes a coral rare is the fact that the nicest ones get plucked from the supply houses and go right online for high prices. Due to this you don’t see them in the stores to much.

For instance the popular nuke green or the other one recently that popped up on this forum. These are the same dang boring ugly paly that you pass up in the stores all the time. Get them under some good lighting and conditions they color up great. Take a nice pic and poof all of a sudden everyone is freaking out about them yet the same person may have walked right by them in the local shop.

The only part about the name game that I don’t like is when one person calls a coral X and another person says you cant call it X because I already called it that and you did not get it from me. Well guess what. These people did not invent the dang coral. It was not the only one like it on the reef. If it looks like a duck, quacks like a duck it's a dang duck if you ask me.

people are getting sick of high prices and thats a fact. that fact that i ship out more then 50 orders a week is proof of that IMO

turbois300 · Jul 25, 2008

My .02

I think also that photoshop has been introduced to this whole scene as well as a Macro lens. All these killer photos make these georgus corals look even better on screen. And when it is magnified 100x it makes a paly or micro polyp 12" across. That is great for on screen view, but then you shell out $$$ and get this 3/4" thing that you can barely see in your tank. Also alot of these sellers have top notch systems that really allow these corals to morph and become what I call "ubernatural". Actinics and hi intensity lighting aren't the norm on most reefs. Also, from my experience, it is very difficult to replicate the conditions from where these LE XE SE WXYZ come from and so what you buy doesn't always look the same in your system. (lights, params, ect.) Everyone knows this I know, but it just seems that in this hoby in particular it really bother's some people. .... I can't afford snails much less the LE XE SS WXYZ so I'm just along for the rant. Market isn't open yet!! :happy7:

oceanparadise1 · Jul 25, 2008

All very good points!

revhtree · Jul 25, 2008

Don't hate da playa, hate da game yo!

LOL!

oceanparadise1 · Jul 25, 2008

hahah rev that made my day brotha!

MarvinsReef · Jul 25, 2008

maroonytunes said:
I have to say, coming back into the hobby, I've been looking out a lot for nice zoas, but am totally disappointed with the prices. Over a year and a half ago when I had my reef tank going the prices were high, but as the zoas (mainly the ones that were rare) were propagated I believed the prices would go down. As I continue to look it seems prices have gone up and people seem to abuse the naming of zoas (not everyone, I have respect for people who've been in the hobby and have super nice tanks, Marvin's tanks are my favorite of all time, lol.. btw nice pictures Marvin!!!!!!) As I wandered around a few fish stores today I saw colonies (30-50 polyps) that were priced between $40 and $95 and they weren't good looking, some were ok, but most were dull. So I came to look around sites, and saw various people on sites that had ridiculous prices, I remember coming across green people eaters and I payed around $10 or $15 for 10 or so polyps, but as I look around, I see people wanting $10+ a polyp. Is it just me or does it seem that people and stores are taking advantage of the naming of zoas?

first off, welcome back... second, thanks for the kudos.. it's very much appreciated...

as for the name game and prices... there's been very good discussions on the good and bad of it... personally, my .02 cents on that is buy something you like and what you can afford... different reefers have different agendas when it comes to their tanks so do what makes you happy... that's what this hobby is.. having fun!!!

kurbs · Jul 25, 2008

Well, said.

As you know, I also have my opinion on this...

Good - Bad - Indifferent....Marv makes a vaild point.

It does make it difficult for those with shallow pockets to afford corals to they'd like - BUT - if we could all afford a Ferrari...it wouldn't be a Ferrari - catch my drift.

Sometimes be-friending a fellow reefer just may get you that frag a bit cheaper....just a tip for those who like to window shop.

This hobby does give back to you and itself if you treat it that way.

MarvinsReef said:
first off, welcome back... second, thanks for the kudos.. it's very much appreciated...

as for the name game and prices... there's been very good discussions on the good and bad of it... personally, my .02 cents on that is buy something you like and what you can afford... different reefers have different agendas when it comes to their tanks so do what makes you happy... that's what this hobby is.. having fun!!!