Wow....a lot of people seem to have a problem with the price I paid! I have no problem paying $129 + tax (I'm in Ca). Firstly, I have been looking for a gigas for a long time, and if I had to pay more than 129 for it, I would have. Second, I didnt have to pay shipping as I live very near the place I got it from. Thirdly, I like to try and give business to locals whenever possible, especially this particular store as I have gotten most of my really nice stuff from it.
As far as gigas being expensive in general...go ahead and buy it somewhere else if you can find it cheaper. You wont. These clams are near extinct in nature, which does not matter, as you cannot legally collect them anywhere that they live anyways. They are food clams, and there are countries willing to pay a lot more for a fully grown gigas than we would pay for a smallish one, so the incentive to sell them to the aquarium market is low. To boot, the demand for gigas was never very high in the States anyways, so no one is really hot to bring them in, unless it is worth their while. After this batch, I think everyone that really wanted one will have one.
With that said, they are great clams for large tanks, and they definately aid in tank filtration.