DivingTheWorld
Active member
Buying on credit is a disappointing development in this hobby. I was a bit disgusted when I got that email from Marine Depot.
what happened to reefing?
- Thread starter supernareg
- Start date
Buying on credit is a disappointing development in this hobby. I was a bit disgusted when I got that email from Marine Depot.
five.five-six
Well-known member
It's just business. It's up to each individual person to not be an idiot and screw their future over for something shiney right now.
TrojanScott
Active member
Thought I'd chime in here. I see both sides, and empathize with the OP. I've been involved in the hobby for now 27 years. I remember bubble corals for $30, and heck, brain corals for $40. Actually being able to buy colonies. Frags weren't the big thing, designer corals, etc. With that said, it's been changing for over 10 years. I think I bought an orange setosa frag from sniperSPS for $80, but nobody else I knew had such a piece. LFS certainly didn't. I've given xenia away, hell I've given away neon toadstool frags. But if I, being of semi sound mind, buy a zoa frag for $100, I'm certainly not giving that away. It's what the market bares, or is right now. And in time, that will change. Remmber when Neon toadies were $100 and up for a tiny frag? Because it was supposedly a "Tyree" piece? This really has been going on for years now. I wish it were different, but it isn't. With all that said, it's NEVER been a cheap hobby!
The more everything changes, the more it remains the same.
I've been around, um, a "few" years, and there have always been "hot" corals. Heck, RBTAs were "hot" items for a few years there, and although I wasn't selling mine for $100+ per clone, I didn't begrudge others who did. If someone is willing to pay high prices for today's "designer" coral, more power to the seller (although calling malformed rhodactis mushrooms "bounce" and charging a premium really is silly :lol
.
But, guess what? With more and more areas being closed to collection, "Boutique frag" operations are going to become even more common, and prices will go up even further (IMO). Don't rail against those who get what they can; just shop smart and buy what you personally can afford. Remember, it's a hobby. Give back when you can, and have fun!
Kevin
I've been around, um, a "few" years, and there have always been "hot" corals. Heck, RBTAs were "hot" items for a few years there, and although I wasn't selling mine for $100+ per clone, I didn't begrudge others who did. If someone is willing to pay high prices for today's "designer" coral, more power to the seller (although calling malformed rhodactis mushrooms "bounce" and charging a premium really is silly :lol
.But, guess what? With more and more areas being closed to collection, "Boutique frag" operations are going to become even more common, and prices will go up even further (IMO). Don't rail against those who get what they can; just shop smart and buy what you personally can afford. Remember, it's a hobby. Give back when you can, and have fun!
Kevin
All Delight
New member
If you build friendships in the hobby those avenues are still there. However, most people don't "know" other hobbyist in person. They only chat online so that same
"friendship" isn't there.
"friendship" isn't there.
hitawaah
Member
I live in Florida where everyone who has corals are selling them out of their garage so to speak and a lot at retail prices. That's where I think the hobby(keyword) has gone astray. It's a 2 part plus problem, first these people that ask close to or retail prices don't have the overhead the stores do. They also don't pay taxes on revenue earned(just had a guy tell me last night paid his mortgage payment with coral sales profits) which is pure greed imho. The other issue is that these unlicensed people hurt our entire market by buying a coral growing it as fast as they can, then sell 1/2" pieces of SPS frags for $250 a pop. Sometimes not even healed, sometimes with pests. I don't mind local trading or even buying and selling but if as a reefer you can say I honestly feel like I deserve as much as WWC or your LFS for this coral frag, well that is why a lot of people feel like this hobby(or reefkeeping) has lost its way. I'm not even a fan or shopper at WWC(I live 20 minutes away from them in Orlando but shop elsewhere) I just happen to know someone close to their coral farm and I understand all the money they put into this hobby. YOU are right I make my own choices so I don't have to deal with people like that. Too many people wanting to profit on a hobby around here without paying proper dues.
Just my .02 after 25+ years of saltwater tanks.
dodgerblew
Team RC
Just to clarify, the frags are not 1/2", they're just about if not already an inch and more. Not one frag is less then basically an inch, yet not one poster has even asked how big they are. I don't grow them as fast as I can in fact I maybe sell a frag pack every 6-9 months of a few pieces which, like the 24k milli I had to snip that double branch off of because it was growing into another colony. I like mature full looking colonies and reef. And, as my post said I didn't sell these for close to what I paid vendors at my asking price of $385 which was about 40% off of what I paid. I in fact sold it yesterday for $300 which is more then 50% off of what I paid. That's far from greedy IMHO. The corals as well are healthy, pestless and healed. That $300 I received has already been spent , not for my mortgage but to Battlecorals for some new pieces that hopefully in a year or two I'll be able to share with my friends here on the forum. I respect your time in the hobby, I'm a senior hobbyist as well, and I respect your opinion but I don't think any of your statements would apply to me. I'm definitely not a frag star millionaire and I'm certainly not profiting. It was really only a 3 way trade.
I think what bothers me and why I even posted in a nutshell is that people would rather assume my or others motives and label others without even one fact to support their so called opinion. That opinion without the knowledge of facts is not an opinion at all, its judgement. Hypothetically, I wonder if the OP would have posted specifically calling out others threads if those OP’s were doing these threads to raise funds for funeral expenses due to an unfortunate tragedy or something of that nature. Would these people not be nice or brothers then?
I think what bothers me and why I even posted in a nutshell is that people would rather assume my or others motives and label others without even one fact to support their so called opinion. That opinion without the knowledge of facts is not an opinion at all, its judgement. Hypothetically, I wonder if the OP would have posted specifically calling out others threads if those OP’s were doing these threads to raise funds for funeral expenses due to an unfortunate tragedy or something of that nature. Would these people not be nice or brothers then?
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christygirl
Well-known member
Well said Rik.
calistyle
Active member
supernareg, we're still a good group around here and had you came in looking for nice corals, but not premium stuff, you'd likely of gotten people to offer stuff for free, or great deals...I see it all the time.
When you got out of hobby did you not try and get top dollar for your setup? You did, asking for $300, then $200, then $100 before throwing it in the trash? A brother would've simply gave it away to a local before simply tossing it, no?
anywho, not to pry into your history, I was just feeling bad for a minute.
When you got out of hobby did you not try and get top dollar for your setup? You did, asking for $300, then $200, then $100 before throwing it in the trash? A brother would've simply gave it away to a local before simply tossing it, no?
anywho, not to pry into your history, I was just feeling bad for a minute.
dodgerblew
Team RC
What's up Randy. Haven't seen you around for awhile brother, errr dude!
Jorden, I always love when you post. I still laugh and I'm laughing now when I think about the meme you posted on the Dodgers thread when the fat Panda fell while rounding second while looking at a superimposed cupcake in centerfield. Classic. You've had many
Jorden, I always love when you post. I still laugh and I'm laughing now when I think about the meme you posted on the Dodgers thread when the fat Panda fell while rounding second while looking at a superimposed cupcake in centerfield. Classic. You've had many
Sisterlimonpot
Premium Member
When I had a thriving reef tank there in Ventura, I always displayed the same sentiment as the OP, I never could wrap my head around why someone would sell a frag for high price, while at the same time being baffled that someone would pay said high price. When I got into the hobby I was naive to the idea that it's just a hobby and true to that, there were others that shared my passion. What I quickly realized is that there were people in the hobby that took it to the extreme, skirting around business license and immensely profiting from coral sales. That doesn't make the person a bad person but it does bring to question motive.
We can categorize hobbyist into many different groups. However for the sake of this thread and simplicity, we can separate us into 2 camps. Ones that see this as a hobby, and like any hobby it’s an expense we budget for, to fulfill some sort of happiness for our life. Never looking to turn the hobby into a form of income. Always wanting to help other hobbyist with free corals in an effort to drive down coral prices.
On the other side of the spectrum, we could be a hobbyist that thinks once we have some experience under our belt, we can take the love for the hobby to the next level and help subsidize if not profit from said hobby. By justifying the cost of keeping our reef alive, we look to sell frags at a price we feel some people will pay for but out of reach for those that are on a shoestring budget promoting the creation of different classes of hobbyist.
Most of us fall somewhere in between those two extremes. I wouldn’t take offense to someone having a different opinion than yours. Nor would I think that all of you have similar views as mine. Although my goal was to purchase high end coral, grow them out in my tank and when they needed to be trimmed I would give them away and/or sell them for an extremely reduced price in hopes that those that purchased it for $5 would in turn do the same. I’m not sure if the OP was targeting a particular person, I see that some have taken it personal and defended their stance in kind.
For those of you that remember me inventing a solid state dry side and driver for the MP40s (A dry side that didn’t have any moving parts). My sole motivation was to show everyone how easy it was to build one within a budget of $40 and to make us all question the high price of a $450 pump. That’s just the way my mind is wired.
My views don’t make me a bad person the same way that you selling your corals for profit makes you one. Just as life we come from all walks of it. I wonder how many of you would take the proper steps to become a legitimate business? I’m not judging, it’s more rhetorical in hopes that you can reflect on the other side of the argument. I always said, “There’s nothing wrong with turning your hobby into a business, if you love what you do, you’ll never work a day in your life.”
We can categorize hobbyist into many different groups. However for the sake of this thread and simplicity, we can separate us into 2 camps. Ones that see this as a hobby, and like any hobby it’s an expense we budget for, to fulfill some sort of happiness for our life. Never looking to turn the hobby into a form of income. Always wanting to help other hobbyist with free corals in an effort to drive down coral prices.
On the other side of the spectrum, we could be a hobbyist that thinks once we have some experience under our belt, we can take the love for the hobby to the next level and help subsidize if not profit from said hobby. By justifying the cost of keeping our reef alive, we look to sell frags at a price we feel some people will pay for but out of reach for those that are on a shoestring budget promoting the creation of different classes of hobbyist.
Most of us fall somewhere in between those two extremes. I wouldn’t take offense to someone having a different opinion than yours. Nor would I think that all of you have similar views as mine. Although my goal was to purchase high end coral, grow them out in my tank and when they needed to be trimmed I would give them away and/or sell them for an extremely reduced price in hopes that those that purchased it for $5 would in turn do the same. I’m not sure if the OP was targeting a particular person, I see that some have taken it personal and defended their stance in kind.
For those of you that remember me inventing a solid state dry side and driver for the MP40s (A dry side that didn’t have any moving parts). My sole motivation was to show everyone how easy it was to build one within a budget of $40 and to make us all question the high price of a $450 pump. That’s just the way my mind is wired.
My views don’t make me a bad person the same way that you selling your corals for profit makes you one. Just as life we come from all walks of it. I wonder how many of you would take the proper steps to become a legitimate business? I’m not judging, it’s more rhetorical in hopes that you can reflect on the other side of the argument. I always said, “There’s nothing wrong with turning your hobby into a business, if you love what you do, you’ll never work a day in your life.”
All Delight
New member
Just like the car dealership selling you a car you really shouldn't be buying. But they extend the duration of the loan and hike up the interest rate. It's disgusting
All Delight
New member
What happen to back in the day when cost to go to Long Beach city college was $11 per unit. Now it’s $46. What the heck happen to gas prices? I remember when I first started to drive it was 89 cents a gallon.
I also remember that the pink lemonade acro sold for over $500 on eBay over 10 years ago. Why isn’t anyone complaining that pink lemonades are $30 now. I mean that’s ridiculous.
Or WD was $700 just 3 years ago. Now there $150. Really? Come on man.
There are lots of people that hook up friends in the hobby. I’ve received really good deals from multiple people in this thread and I’ve given really good deals to these same people. And I’ve also not given any deals. Lmao
I also remember that the pink lemonade acro sold for over $500 on eBay over 10 years ago. Why isn’t anyone complaining that pink lemonades are $30 now. I mean that’s ridiculous.
Or WD was $700 just 3 years ago. Now there $150. Really? Come on man.
There are lots of people that hook up friends in the hobby. I’ve received really good deals from multiple people in this thread and I’ve given really good deals to these same people. And I’ve also not given any deals. Lmao
ChefZilla
Active member
Ok heres my perspective on this. I have been in this hobby for many years (since 92) and remember when CFL lightning was new and DAYUMMM expensive...
When i started keeping corals on a regular basin red Hornets were still $300 pp... guess what? They grew like weeds for me and chopped em up. Gave some away, traded some, donated some to raffles and yes i sold some. But i was selling them for $15-$25 pp when they were still asking $150 pp. Soo yeah as far as brotherhood goes. Theres plenty of reefers i know that will give me just about anything or next to nothing. Dave, Rik, Mike, George, Joe, Leonard ect ect... so yes were still out here but airing your displeasure for people selling expensive frags might not get you where you want to be. I for one will give you frags whenever your tanks ready but you're gona have to drive lol... either way, Yo my reefing friends (you know whom you are) miss ya guys... much love to everyone
When i started keeping corals on a regular basin red Hornets were still $300 pp... guess what? They grew like weeds for me and chopped em up. Gave some away, traded some, donated some to raffles and yes i sold some. But i was selling them for $15-$25 pp when they were still asking $150 pp. Soo yeah as far as brotherhood goes. Theres plenty of reefers i know that will give me just about anything or next to nothing. Dave, Rik, Mike, George, Joe, Leonard ect ect... so yes were still out here but airing your displeasure for people selling expensive frags might not get you where you want to be. I for one will give you frags whenever your tanks ready but you're gona have to drive lol... either way, Yo my reefing friends (you know whom you are) miss ya guys... much love to everyone
ycnibrc
STAG HORN DOMINATE REEF
Lol THERE IS NOTHING FREE IN AMERICA. Free and too good to be true are all scam. I went to so many funeral and the phrase if u need anything please call me lol when u call and find out your number is blocked. If u can afford it then buy if not work harder then buy.
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