Hobby costs are soaring?

[BeanAnimal]

Were talking Damsels 1.49, Emperor angel $49.99, French Angel $29.99, Majestic angel $39.99 and more. You need to go back another 10-12 years as none of these prices are comparable. And being in retail Pet, Ive seen price increase alone on the wholesale level by 500-700%

Hi - not to be argumentative but you are wholly ignoring inflation and scarcity.

The point is that in general hard goods in this hobby have not really increased in relative retail price over the last 3-4 decades. Livestock has held price fairly well also with the exception of items that are affected by strict import/export or scarcity due to demand.

So most common blennies, damsels, gobies, basslets, wrasses, etc, have all remained pretty much direclty in line with inflation. The fishes that are part of bans are far more expensive. Likewise fishes that are close alternatives are in higher demand and therefore more expensive.

We can find examples that don't fit the trend, but that is not the point. In fact, given the explosion in direct regulation in the industry and indirect regulation on just about everything surrounding the industry... it is amazing that prices are as low as they are...

That brings us to coral. Yes, it is more expensive. Part of it due to the above reasoning, but most because of the name gamer and the people who drool after the names. The irony in that is those most invested in named corals are the ones complaining and at the same time driving the prices higher by demanding designer names corals.


Anyway - enjoy the afternoon!

 

[Spare time]

I do think jebao and Tunze etc classify as midrange

The real cheap low range just doesn't get mentioned on forums much because well, it's the low range, it's garbage

I don't think tunze is very midrange in their prices at all. Just look at their ATO prices for example.

 

[Opus]

The price of fish has come down over the last few months.

I remember years ago when gem tangs were $2000. Now they are $250

Flame angels used to be $60 10 years ago. They are now back to $60

Captive bred clowns are as cheap as they have ever been (for Normal varieties).

Overnight shipping 10 years ago was $50. It’s still $50 and lots of places offer free shipping now.

Purple tangs used to be $300. They are down to $99 and I even saw $89 the other day. Never seen them that cheap.

Guess I need to take a trip to Lubbock. Went out today to see if I could find any fish for the tank. Purple tang the size of a fifty cent piece was $240. Gem tang was $800.

 

[Ross]

Guess I need to take a trip to Lubbock. Went out today to see if I could find any fish for the tank. Purple tang the size of a fifty cent piece was $240. Gem tang was $800.

Wow! That is a huge rip off. Check out NYAquatics. They do huge sales on Sundays. Last few weeks gems have been $225 and purples $89. Cheapest prices I’ve ever seen for those 2, even from the 2010s.

 

[gbroadbridge]

Tell us what it used to cost for equipment and coral Pre-2K. Do you think the current coral prices are fair?
I remember in the early 80s, putting a 55 with an iron stand and under gravel filter on layaway. I wanna say around $200. and it had everything included.

Supply and Demand.

Stop paying extortionate prices and prices drop.
Unfortunately, there is always someone who will pay the price so everyone gets gouged.

 

[smitten with ocean life]

this thread is depressing! maybe its because of how much i just spent on the SBB sale

 

[Opus]

Wow! That is a huge rip off. Check out NYAquatics. They do huge sales on Sundays. Last few weeks gems have been $225 and purples $89. Cheapest prices I’ve ever seen for those 2, even from the 2010s.

I don't buy fish online. Just something I've never liked doing.

I have seen some good prices lately. Two weeks ago I was at a local store and they had yellow belly blue tangs for $50 and flameback angels for $30.

 

[RSNJReef]

How much are people paying for cell phones?

lol, yeah, that break in half the time.

I remember a guy at work that retired a few years ago that still had a flip phone from around the early 2000s, and never had an issue to the day he retired.

 

[RSNJReef]

In all seriousness though, I do believe prices will settle out in time due to competition. More and more hobbyists are starting to sell from their own tanks and start their own side hustles or genuine business, and, eventually people will begin to catch on that corals by a different name are just the same coral under different lighting and in different water chemistry.

Look at all of the variations of holy grail torches there are out there. It’s all name gaming and different tank conditions for the most part, yeah there are a couple true variants, but not the 10+ different names out there. Eventually there will be so many names out there people will loose track. As another example, do a google image search for a mummy eye chalice and take a look at how many color variations there are.

 

[smitten with ocean life]

does anyone know if red sea salt ever goes on sale?? i choke everytime i need more. its just salt!! its not like it has miracle grow in it!

 

[elysics]

I don't think tunze is very midrange in their prices at all. Just look at their ATO prices for example.

You can get a cheap ato for half that price or an expensive one for double, seems pretty mid range to me

 

[SanFernandoValleyAIOReef]

You can get a cheap ato for half that price or an expensive one for double, seems pretty mid range to me

Which ATO is 400$?

 

[UtahReefer]

Nothing has really ever been cheap in this hobby, but yeah costs have soared. What gets me is the price of magnetic algae scrapers. Come on, it's a piece of plastic or wood with a pad and a blade on it. $75 to $100 for a decent sized one? They're hosing us folks.

 

[Chrisv.]

Were talking Damsels 1.49, Emperor angel $49.99, French Angel $29.99, Majestic angel $39.99 and more. You need to go back another 10-12 years as none of these prices are comparable. And being in retail Pet, Ive seen price increase alone on the wholesale level by 500-700%

Haha I thought about posing a screen capture from a 2008 wholesale price list.

What's incredible to me is that it's not ALL cheaper. For example, there are acans on the list for $350 wholesale. Granted that was back when acans just got hit in the hobby.

 

[Jrswish]

Costs are crazy but reef tanks are a luxury not a necessity. Don't mind the cost if you can afford it, there's also a lot of cheap options too. A lot of good lights you can buy for cheap just wont have controlability

 

[Chrisv.]

Costs are crazy but reef tanks are a luxury not a necessity. Don't mind the cost if you can afford it, there's also a lot of cheap options too. A lot of good lights you can buy for cheap just wont have controlability

That's the other thing: the quality of the gear and the R&D that goes into making it has also soared. Our gear is just night and day better now than what we had back then.

 

[twentyleagues]

I dont know about everything but some examples. In the early 2000s I had a 120 with hammers, torches, frogspawn just the green and or purple standard types something like a hulk or cotton candy would have been +$300 per head even the splatter hammers were $100 per head, now a cotton candy, hulk, dragon soul, orange hammer so on will run you $40-100 per head at a frag swap. My tanks ran mainly mh or t5 or a combo the icecap retro t5s 430 ballast 2 bulb were $200 and the 660 4 bulb $300. Mh 250w for my 120 for 2 cost me over $1200 with another $200 for bulbs every 9-12 months. Today I could light that tank for $1000 with 2 Reefi and add another $200-400 for some type of bar to reduce shading in a year or two. Fish prices are nuts but I think mostly inline with normal inflation if readily available and not being aquacultured.

 

[Reefer Matt]

I think part of it is that we are getting older. For example,1990 wasn’t 20 years ago, it was 34 years ago. $20 in 1990 is equal to about $50 today.

 

[ta88brian]

My first yellow tang in 2017 was $42, it was about (4 inches). So just compare that today's price..

Medium yello

 

[ta88brian]

My first yellow tang in 2017 was $42, it was about (4 inches). So just compare that today's price..

1990 19 doller medium yello