$600 Per Polyp?!?!?

[gflat65]

So, just a question on the relativity that is usually overlooked. Should I read from this that no one here has ever bought baseball cards, comic books, rounds of golf, sports cars, or other collectibles or hobby related items that others thought were way over priced? I think if anyone looks at their own purchases, they'll find that they fit the descriptions and names they are calling others. I agree the price is awfully high on Envy Orange and can't justify the cost myself (or I'd have had some a few years ago when they were only $50-100 per polyp), but before people start calling names, they should really look at their own lives... As we all have the ability to defecate, I guess the saying stands that we should all be entitled to our opinions, but name calling really shows maturity. If someone were being ripped off by misrepresentation, that is one thing, but that is not the case here. Does anyone out there know anyone that actually has Envy Oranges (and I'm not talking the true RPE's that turn Orange under lower K lighting, I'm talking actual Envy Oranges)? If so, do they get any growth? All accounts I've heard on them is that there is almost no growth at all, over a years time... I know the price is high, but if I want a Porsche over a Pinto, no one has any place to tell me I'm an idiot because I got something I wanted...

 

[ct_vol]

Let'em have it Gary... lol I agree... Its all about supply and demand... If you think the price is over your head, don't pay it... If you think its worth that price and you want it badly enough you'll pay it... Can't hate on someone willing to give the price you're unwilling to...

 

[jay24k]

Nice guy or not, you cannot say 600 a polyp is not bending someone over. I have some corals that I'm sure people do not have but I don't try to rip someone off by charging extreme amounts. Just my opinion though.

 

[kevxross]

Allow me to just point out...

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8092289#post8092289 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by gflat65
I agree the price is awfully high on Envy Orange and can't justify the cost myself (or I'd have had some a few years ago when they were only $50-100 per polyp), [/B]

Yet JC's friend said "I can tell you that the growth on those envy orange ppe's is non-existent, in fact I don't think that he has had any growth at all other than the polyps sticking to the rock. I know he has tried various techniques to get them to grow but they just will not spread and mind you he has had them for some time now (probably 4 + years)."

So he's had the same few polyps for 4 years with no growth. He tried to sell the polyps a few years ago for $50-100 per polyp. Now he's recently jacked the price up to $600 per polyp.

Brilliant marketing strategy, I must say, since everyone in the online reefing community has heard of "Envy Orange" now, but I don't think anyone can say with a straight face that JC isn't trying to rip people off with this laughable price.

With that said, whoever is foolish enough to pay that price for this rather boring and nongrowing (yeah it makes it rare, but how is a nongrowing coral a good thing?) coral deserves to lose that cash. I just don't think JC deserves to receive that cash. Whatever though, I'm not involved either way, unless I get to personally point and laugh at whoever buys it (which I'd love to do).

 

[grisha]

lol . how long a single zoanthid polyp lives?

 

[Bebo77]

lol again Zoa prices area crazy...

 

[Elite]

Xenia don't grow in my tank either .. It must be the ultra rare kind.. Anybody want some Elite's Xenia?? Very limited frags available

 

[gflat65]

I don't know JC, but I would bet he got a colony several years ago and broke it up then only to find it doesn't grow from there. I'm not trying to justify the cost, just trying to get others to see that maybe they should look inward before speaking out. Sarcasm is certainly something this hobby can't seem to live without, especially in some circles, eh?

 

[The Beaut]

These threads are so ridiculous. No one is forcing anyone to pay $600 a polyp. If you want it and you have the money, buy it. It is what it is. We live in this so called capitalistic country that everyone complains about when things are not in there favor. It is simple supply and demand. Just like rare cars. If you cant afford something you don't buy it, don't get mad at someone who can. I look at these so called LE corals all the time and wish I could buy them, unfortunately I cant. But I am happy for those who can.

 

[jay24k]

Whether you can afford it or not, the price is pretty rediculous. It's one of those, I have nothing to lose if I don't. I could care less if someone buys it or not but stuff like this puts me off on ever buying from them. It's like a dealership selling a honda civic for 30K. Sure some sucker might buy it but overcharging for stuff like that makes me think..."what else is this person gonna rip me off on".

 

[Juan-Carlos]

Hey everyone,

Honestly, I was not going to reply to this thread, I've seen a few here and there. But I decided to after all.

I have explained in the past the deal with the 'Envy Oranges' There have been threads about why they are so expensive, people have posted in the past that they do not grow.

I agree with those who say to each their own, i'm not telling anyone to buy 'Envy Oranges', in fact for a long time, I stoped selling them. And I continued to recieve e-mails and e-mails about them, since I am apparently the only one that has this paly morph.
The demand for this paly in very high, I don't understand why reefers get worked up about it. There are plent of corals out there that are in high demand that go for high prices aswell. The famouse $800 pink Acanthastrea, Purple monster, Watermelon Echino, Pink lemonaid acro and many more.

With a coral as pretty as the watermelon echino, why would anyone want to frag theirs?? Thats why these uncommon corals carry with them the high tag. I would rather keep and enjoy my small Envy orange colony, than make it smaller for a couple bucks. Yet, collectors out there still want to own this paly. And if I kept it all to myself, then I would be An A-hole for hogging the morph. For a while I sold them at $50 per polyp, and many had the opportunity to get them.


The truth is I am not trying to make a quick buck, I wish I had tons of these to keep them at a lower price. There is more money in selling common crappy zoo's than the high end zoo's and this goes for all corals. Not in a morph that does not grow, and will sell once in a while.

Look at prices on coins stamps and other collectibles; who would pay $1,000's of dollars for a little stamp or dull coin. Guys this is not a common morph and therefor like rare coins and stamps the demand is too high, which leads to the price.

For all those that complaing about the price on this morph, I can tell many of you are complaing just to flame and might not even like Zoanthids. But for those of you that CAN appreciate a rarity but can not afford it, The bam bam Oranges have a similar color and are just as nice and only a few dolars per polyp, Buy it from me or not.

But for the collectors, "A regular 1999 coin is not the same as an 1800 silver dollar." I could never pay Hundreds of thousands of dollars for a high end car, but there are people who enjoy these cars and for them it is well spent money.

I don't try to rip anyone off, If a $600 polyp is to much for someone to buy, do not buy it. But It's not like everything I sell is expensive, I have very reasonable prices on many corals. I don't rip off anyone, people get what they pay for, and just because I offer something that no ealse has does not make me a rip off.

You all are intitled to you're opinions, and I can respect that, but we could go with out name calling, we are all adults.

Kindest Regards to all of you! :smokin:

-Jc
Reefenvy

 

[mayor10]

? sorry something weird happened with this message

 

[mayor10]

I just wanted to throw my OPINION in here.

I personaly think all of this overpricing is really bad for the hobby. I don't agree with the theory of "if someone is willing to pay the price, then it's worth that price." That would make "price gouging" a perfectly legitimate practice.

Do we all think it's right that the oil comapnies are profiting hundreds of billions of dollars because we are willing to pay high gas prices?

No personal offense meant JC, but I think every price on that reefenvy page is rediculous and outragous. I don't necessarily think your motives are purely for high profits, but it's setting some bad standards of pricing out there. More and more I'm seeing people sell run-of-the mill zoas for $2 or $3 a polyp when I can find them at the LFS for $20 for a colony of 60 polyps.

I just picked up 35 polyps of RPE's for $10. The LFS owner new exactly what they were, but sees no reason to overprice simply because bad standards have been set around the hobby. Campare that to $15/polyp on reefenvy?? That would make my colony "worth" $525...I think not.

Maybe I'm living in a dream world, but my tactics on the OPE would be a bit different. You have had the same 6 polyps (or whatever) for 4 years with no growth. So instead of reaming someone $600 for a single polyp that likely will not multiply, how about GIVING (yep, I said that) someone a polyp to see if they have any success getting them to multiply. To me, that kind of practice is more in the lines of a Hobby...rather than a business.

Again, this is just my opinion and I have nothing against anyone personally.

 

[levon15]

In reply to JC

In reply to JC

Good response. Do you have a large colony of your own that you do not frag form. If so could we get a pick. I just wanna see this guys in a group for once not 5 polyps on a rock. I want a mass colony pic.

 

[twon8]

well, technically pricing corals at high prices isn't price gouging; no one needs corals to make it through their normal lives.

 

[twon8]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8128263#post8128263 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Juan-Carlos
The truth is I am not trying to make a quick buck, I wish I had tons of these to keep them at a lower price. There is more money in selling common crappy zoo's than the high end zoo's and this goes for all corals. Not in a morph that does not grow, and will sell once in a while.

Kindest Regards to all of you! :smokin:

-Jc
Reefenvy

now i call bull on this, while there may be more zoas to sell of the common varieties, its much easier to sell ten $600 polyps than a thousand $6 ones. which way do you think is easier and more lucrative?

you choose to list your zoas at a high price, that;s fine, capitalism pure and simple; but don't try to say you wish you could offer them at low prices; we're not stupid, a 600 dollar margin allows one to not work nearly as much for the same money.

 

[mayor10]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8128593#post8128593 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by twon8
well, technically pricing corals at high prices isn't price gouging; no one needs corals to make it through their normal lives.

good point. maybe not the best analogy.

 

[Juan-Carlos]

Some people just don't get it.

I don't sell run of the mill frags on my site. I sell collector morphs. Mayor10, You registered March 2006. You should try and do more research on morphs. There have always been people that want to sell their common plain zoa's for higher prices because they have yet to understand what morphs are rare etc. It takes time, to be able to spot different morphs.

If you would have taken time to digest what you read in my post, you would see that I said: "For a while I sold them at $50 per polyp, and many had the opportunity to get them."
You could have figured out I have not only had 6 polyps in 4 years. When I say they do not grow I don't mean at all 100% stagnant. I mean they grow so slow you barely notice it.

You are missing the point, In this hobby there are casual reefers, and collectors. From a casual reefer's point of view $600 for a paly, $400 for a Purple Monster, $800 for an acant, $200 for a pink lemonaid 1/2" acro etc etc . is rediculous.

But for us collectors, we understand what makes morphs rare, and what differentiates these rare morphs from the rest. Many of these Rare "expensive" morphs grow very slow. But then again most people won't understand why collectors would want a 1/2" purple monster or oregon tort that grows at the rate of Frozen mollases. When an A. valida is bright purple and green and grows very fast.

The fact that there are rare morphs does not hurt the hobby, on the contrary, it gives the hobby a sense of excitement. And you proved it yourself,you got RPE's for $10 a colony. Why do you say huigher prices on higher demand corals hurts the hobby?

You mention my $15 RPE's if you would know RPE's where uncommon a couple years back. But see everyone in this hobby jumps to conclusion, I haven't had RPE's in almost 2 years (Not for any particular reason, I just prefer to grow other things) They are marked out of stock. and the $15 price was never updated since they where put out of stock almost two years ago. That you found RPE's for $10 is Great and I am happy for you. But now a days, they pop in LFS all over for $40 a colony and I have posted this on other threads before.

So instead of reaming someone $600 for a single polyp that likely will not multiply, how about GIVING (yep, I said that) someone a polyp to see if they have any success getting them to multiply. To me, that kind of practice is more in the lines of a Hobby...rather than a business.

You know once more, people in this hobby jump to conclusions. I would really like to know where you got that I have Not done this already?

I will name two well know reefers in the community that have gotten Envy oranges for Free from me.
Maximus and Chris Pasko.
Maximus, did not have better luck than I did in growing them, and he decided he'd rather sell them, which is fine.

But you see You have gone off claiming false things with knowing the fact, and in reality things like that is what ends up hurting the hobby.

Kindest Regards,

-Jc

 

[Juan-Carlos]

now i call bull on this, while there may be more zoas to sell of the common varieties, its much easier to sell ten $600 polyps than a thousand $6 ones. which way do you think is easier and more lucrative?

I compleatly dissagree with you, lets stick with corals for my analogies.

Anyone that has or works in a LFS can tell you, they sell Xenia all day long. You say it is easyer to sell 10 $600 polyps I think anyone reading this will disagree. Not everyone has $600 to spend on one frag. On the contrary most of the people in the reef hobby can spend $40 on a more common frag.

Another example, any nursery man can tell you they make more money selling 1,000 2,000 annual impatients at a time, than one rare plant to a collector once in a blue moon.

I do however agree with you on price gougeing. This hobby is not needed for us to survivie we are all in this hobby because we choose to. You woulden't call BML price gougers for not offering their cars at Kia prices?? They are both cars in the end aren't they?

Kindest Regards,

-Jc

 

[mayor10]

Just because I registered on this site 6 months ago doesn't mean I don't understand the differences and rarity of various morphs.

And you're right, the big difference here is my mentality versus the mentality of a "collector". To each their own.

I still contend that, what I see as, extreme pricing on some corals is ratcheting up prices on other, more common corals. And I see it as hurting the hobby in making it less and less accessible to those without large budgets.

I apologize for assuming you hadn't given any away.