Angry about overpriced corals!

Shawnts106

Shawnts106

New member
I have come back into this hobby after being gone for two years due to moving. and I have realized something....

I work in the aquarium industry at a local aquatic pet store, and we do sell corals there of course... what makes me mad is the PRICES I see online for some of this stuff....

I know WHERE these guys are getting these UNREAL looking corals like Aussie Acans and stuff from... and we have ordered from these suppliers as well, I KNOW WHAT they pay for them!... what makes me mad is I see all these "designer names" on corals (which is just bullpoop on most!) and then they attach this HUGE pricetag... like 100$ a polyp!... thats just insane!...


These guys are buying Aussie acan colonys between 100-300 dollars Wholesale... now, they do NOT need to charge a hundred dollars a polyp to get their money back and make some too!... its just ridiculous to see prices like this on some of this stuff!

whats crazy is people pay it! lol ...

whos with me!!!!
 
Supply and DEMAND...they make there own demand.

Pt Barnum said it best. There is a sucker born every minute.
 
That's why I prefer to buy/trade with other reefers. I got 5 or 6 SPS from another member for about $55 plus shipping.

But it's the same thing with any hobby- as long as people are willing to pay for it then the sellers can set the price at whatever they want. A set of 4 pistons for a 1.6L Honda is the same as a set of 8 for a 5L Ford V8 from the same manufacturer.

It's not until people start refusing to pay the outrageous prices that we'll see prices drop.
 
I have pretty much given up on buying coral in any store because of the prices. It is so much easier to find people locally around me that have what I am looking for at great prices.
 
your opening a can of worms posting this you will get all kind of remarks from peps from your right prices are to high to who cares i got the money and i like so i buy me im with you they are to high on some stuff but i just dont buy it thier not getting my money , its just like the new thing in the super color watcha call it the new fad so they price it high and sell it but give it time more pep will have it then start to prop it and trade it then the price will fall and you will see it everyday lol i remember when Xenia was high , what realy ticks me off is the chop shops and thier high prices.
 
Different corals have different markups.

Not everyone is completely jacking prices, but ALOT are (wholesalers are just as guilty). I'm lucky enough to have a friend that imports stuff, so I too know exactly what stuff costs.

As I mentioned, Wholesalers love to jack prices too... and they really do have the industry by the b*llz so to speak.

Aussie Orange Euphyllia for instance:

I bought a torch and hammer off the first group of shipments that came in direct from Australia. I pay cost from my friend, so I don't see any mark up from the wholesale prices. Keep in mind, my friend doesn't by a lot by any means. Your larger online companies will have better pricing due to larger volume purchases.


I paid $150 for a 4 head colony of Orange Torch, and $200ish for a nice sized Orange Wall Hammer.

Torches were selling for $200/head from at least 1 well known Sponsor here. Whether $200 is fair or not is not my call. They sold out in about a day though at that price.


My friend tried to place another order 2 weeks later. Aussie Orange torch magically jumped in cost 4x.
 
It's a free market, and supply and demand is in play. If online stores want to charge these prices, then let them. Obviously rare color morphs of chalices and Zoas are going to command high prices.

What gets me though is why we see high prices for more common and fast growing corals. If prices were sustainable for some of these things I'd happily set up some high nutrient tanks and grow all these high priced acans and zoas until they covered the walls and retire happily. The truth is, these prices can't be sustained because easily grown corals eventually go down in price given common trading.

My local reef shop has overgrown SPS tanks and sells big chunks of Acros and Montis for 10% of the prices I see online. They can't give the stuff away.
 
It happens, and as long as the clowns out there keep paying top dollar, they will stay top dollar. Just a way of life, imagine how much cheaper a Tahoe or Yukon would cost if the word "bling" was never invented...
 
correct online prices are hilarious!!!
but like what was mentioned SUPPLY and DEMAND. Hype and marketing is the key to selling demand.

Support your LFS/local reefers and you will likely get the best prices for corals. Also you will likely get the better product as you can see it before you buy. Most corals online are sent not as WYSIWYG, they say they are, but when you order its a different colony.
 
my LFS is the best, SEAUMARINE in markham ontario

I have even picked up 20 bucks colonies from him lol


but with fish, its all like this !

I used to breed motoro stingrays, sold them for like 40 bucks to LFS and they sold them for close to 300 each !

one of my rays which was bigger got sold for 1000 !!!!! I earned only 50 bucks on him lol

but I did it out of love for the animal, and out of the hype ppl used to have with buying motoros and killing them.
.
 
Chris27 said:
It happens, and as long as the clowns out there keep paying top dollar, they will stay top dollar. Just a way of life, imagine how much cheaper a Tahoe or Yukon would cost if the word "bling" was never invented...
Click to expand...

this is tooo funny!!!

im going to make it my sig
 
It's simple economics and is what this country was founded on. (Though it may not be that way for long)

Supply and Demand always rules. Demand goes up, price goes up, supply goes down, price goes up.

Demand goes down, price goes down, supply goes up, price goes down. It always works and never fails. The business fails before simple economics does, unless of course they have a monopoly and have the market cornered. i.e. some power companies, cable companies, other utilities, etc. Then they can charge what they want, and we either pay or do without.
 
The same goes for the new LED 3D tv's...rather than pay the $2500, I'll wait it out until the price comes down. That's what I did with my plasma and lcd tv's and actually I did the same thing with all of my blu ray players. lol Corals are the same way. Wait until the 'craze' or 'fad' is over and THEN buy. I remember when the big fad was micromussa's a few years ago, and acans and even blastos. Things run in cycles, sometimes sps is hot, sometimes lps is hot.
 
By supporting one of the LFS's here (Orlando), we are encouraging the high prices. Is easier and more fun to find people to trade with. I am done paying an arm and a leg for some gimmick of a name.
 
If you knew what the mark up on most things you buy is you wouldn't think the corals were that out of line. For example, it costs Cisco about $20 to make that Linksyys router you pay $100+ for.
 
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