How!?!?

[wiktor]

Hi guys just been selling some of my corals to make a switch to more complex corals with brighter colours. My dad has been on my butt for selling my corals cheap, i have a softie tang with common corals like xenia, rhodactis mushrooms, anenomes. We went to the shop and he was baffled with prices but how can i explain to him that me selling a xenia frag for £5 isn’t a stealcheap price and that people asking for £40 for frags at shops for similarly colourful corals but i ofc understand it’s more uncommon and complex couloir patterns but he doesn’t get that. for example I sold my anem for £25 medium size rbta (bought at £25) but it’s similarly as colourful as some things they charge 400£ for a coral similar size ( they were some very nice looked like a skittles acans) .

Lol if you read that far might aswell reply and help me lol

 

[livinlifeinBKK]

Sell your current corals for as much as you can...don't let other people tell you what to sell it for based purely off what they want to pay (of course they want to pay as little as possible). As for the shops selling corals for ridiculous prices, they charge that because they believe someone will pay that price, not necessarily because it's "Ultra-Rare" or anything so your dad is partially right. Where i am I've seen ridiculous color variations from wild corals and they go for standard prices...hate to say it but LFSs play the same marketing games as every other retailer

 

[Tamberav]

A shop is a brick and morter store, they get people coming in and out every day to buy salt or whatever... they can also get impulse buyers.

Selling on facebook or whatever is not the same and I would expect prices to be better there. For example gold torches are about $100 a head on facebook but $200+ at the LFS.

Also a name drives a price. A RBT nem is not the same price as a Black Widow nem. Yes, they are slightly different, but still different and one is simply in more demand.

If the prices are to high for a local hobbyist then you get people saying they want to buy and "ok I will meet you at 1pm on blah blah" only to cancel or not show up at all. They had time to shop around and the impulse wore off. They do this even when prices are low and tbh... I don't like to deal with a bunch of people so I just trade my corals into the LFS for store credit. Yes, they sell them at a big mark up but I get convenience of just unloading all my frags in one go.

 

[Tamberav]

The real answer to this question ofc is you can offer your dad a job on commission.

Tell him you will propagate/frag/provide the corals and he can set the prices and sell them, he gets a percentage cut of whatever he sells. You guys can has out the %.

 

[joefishtank]

If I were you I would start treating your father how he treats you. If he's really on your **** use that same tone to explain to him the difference and why he doesn't understand you and your hobby. Before anyone starts berating me that I need to respect old people for being old. I'm an adult, my parents are adults, and they raised me to do this to them.

You have to explain to him how the economy works, supply and demand all that. I would just tell him "**** off and leave me alone because you're too stupid to understand". Then challenge him to do what your doing because he's so smart. Then let him destroy your corals and never respect him again.

You didn't really ask a question and I think the issue is your dad doesn't understand how stupid he is and it's getting you upset because you have to deal with customers and an idiot "Karen" father. I think you respect your father more than he respects you.

 

[Tamberav]

If I were you I would start treating your father how he treats you. If he's really on your **** use that same tone to explain to him the difference and why he doesn't understand you and your hobby. Before anyone starts berating me that I need to respect old people for being old. I'm an adult, my parents are adults, and they raised me to do this to them.

You have to explain to him how the economy works, supply and demand all that. I would just tell him "**** off and leave me alone because you're too stupid to understand". Then challenge him to do what your doing because he's so smart. Then let him destroy your corals and never respect him again.

You didn't really ask a question and I think the issue is your dad doesn't understand how stupid he is and it's getting you upset because you have to deal with customers and an idiot "Karen" father. I think you respect your father more than he respects you.

how did you derive all that from his post lol

 

[joefishtank]

how did you derive all that from his post lol

i guessed if i'm wrong im wrong but he didn't ask a question and the 2nd sentence has some irrelevant information it almost seems like hes venting to explain it to us when he needs to explain it to someone else

 

[wiktor]

Sell your current corals for as much as you can...don't let other people tell you what to sell it for based purely off what they want to pay (of course they want to pay as little as possible). As for the shops selling corals for ridiculous prices, they charge that because they believe someone will pay that price, not necessarily because it's "Ultra-Rare" or anything so your dad is partially right. Where i am I've seen ridiculous color variations from wild corals and they go for standard prices...hate to say it but LFSs play the same marketing games as every other retailer

Yeah that’s right. But also hard to explain the difference in price between a xenia colony being less valued than a small lps frag if you know what i mean. Because size ofc plays a part in the price.

 

[livinlifeinBKK]

If I were you I would start treating your father how he treats you. If he's really on your **** use that same tone to explain to him the difference and why he doesn't understand you and your hobby. Before anyone starts berating me that I need to respect old people for being old. I'm an adult, my parents are adults, and they raised me to do this to them.

You have to explain to him how the economy works, supply and demand all that. I would just tell him "**** off and leave me alone because you're too stupid to understand". Then challenge him to do what your doing because he's so smart. Then let him destroy your corals and never respect him again.

You didn't really ask a question and I think the issue is your dad doesn't understand how stupid he is and it's getting you upset because you have to deal with customers and an idiot "Karen" father. I think you respect your father more than he respects you.

My response to this is simply no. This is some of the absolute worst advice I've ever heard. Why do you think his father has an opinion at all?? It's because he cares and doesn't want to see his son being taken advantage of! Why on Earth would you regard this man's father as "stupid"???? Furthermore, why would you ever encourage anyone to quote "Let him destroy your corals and never respect him again."? Are you truly advocating for the OP to completely disregard his father's opinion even if it leads to a fundamentally disfunctional family bond?

To the OP: explain to your father how this particular market functions and seek to reach common ground. I assure you that if he was truly indifferent to you he would also be indifferent to whatever you sold your corals for. DO NOT cause any conflict between your father and yourself based on something so petty. Your father is simply concerned about what is in your best interest.

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

how can i explain to him that me selling a xenia frag for £5 isn’t a stealcheap price and that people asking for £40 for frags at shops for similarly colourful corals but i ofc understand it’s more uncommon and complex couloir patterns but he doesn’t get that. for example I sold my anem for £25 medium size rbta (bought at £25) but it’s similarly as colourful as some things they charge 400£ for a coral similar size ( they were some very nice looked like a skittles acans) .

Honestly, I'd try to explain it using something he may be able to understand like why some art pieces are worth a fortune when other, arguably comparable pieces of art aren't worth the canvas they're painted on - it's essentially a collector's market and whatever the collectors decide should be expensive is expensive (regardless of quality).

If you were in the U.S. I'd say to explain that it's like baseball cards, where even though every card is about a pro baseball player, some cards are worthless and others are extremely valuable. It's all about what collectors are willing to pay for specific pieces.

 

[Kasrift]

I've started selling some corals too and sell them for way less than you see at the shops. I think of it as a "hobbyist" price, because to be honest, I really don't want to continue to support the trend of expensive corals. I'd rather help other hobbyists get something without breaking the bank.

On another note though, we have less overhead than a brick and mortar store. I don't have to employ anyone, pay rent for a location, etc. With that being said, if you can and see something you want for a reasonable price, I definitely support buying from your LFS to keep them in business. LFS and coral farms are also paying to import so that factors into their price. The person who buys from them pays that cost, but they don't necessarily need to pass that to the next hobbyist if they don't have to.

 

[VSVP bet]

The real answer to this question ofc is you can offer your dad a job on commission.

Tell him you will propagate/frag/provide the corals and he can set the prices and sell them, he gets a percentage cut of whatever he sells. You guys can has out the %.

agreed.

 

[Dave1993]

misunderstood the question i think

 

[joefishtank]

My response to this is simply no. This is some of the absolute worst advice I've ever heard. Why do you think his father has an opinion at all?? It's because he cares and doesn't want to see his son being taken advantage of! Why on Earth would you regard this man's father as "stupid"???? Furthermore, why would you ever encourage anyone to quote "Let him destroy your corals and never respect him again."? Are you truly advocating for the OP to completely disregard his father's opinion even if it leads to a fundamentally disfunctional family bond?

To the OP: explain to your father how this particular market functions and seek to reach common ground. I assure you that if he was truly indifferent to you he would also be indifferent to whatever you sold your corals for. DO NOT cause any conflict between your father and yourself based on something so petty. Your father is simply concerned about what is in your best interest.

A gentle nudge vs pushing someone off a cliff. I'm done with being nice.

 

[livinlifeinBKK]

Perhaps you simply tried to teach them in an ineffectual way...why would you regard those you tried to teach as "stupid"? Why would you give that advice to anyone else in the way you did?

 

[joefishtank]

Perhaps you simply tried to teach them in an ineffectual way...why would you regard those you tried to teach as "stupid"? Why would you give that advice to anyone else in the way you did?

Why would you withhold the potential answer as if you were afraid people what people thought of you? People are stupid. Its a literal fact. I've told grown adults the answer and they choose to ignore it.

 

[joefishtank]

I'm content to be thought foolish and stupid. Are you?

 

[livinlifeinBKK]

I'm content to be thought foolish and stupid. Are you?

I am. Nice quote btw. However, on the flip side of that are you willing to admit the perhaps whatever you were trying to teach others was "foolish and stupid" and maybe that's why they didn't accept it? If you are truly content to be thought foolish and stupid then you would of course accept that whatever it was you tried to educate others on was incorrect...right?

 

[joefishtank]

I am. Nice quote btw. However, on the flip side of that are you willing to admit the perhaps whatever you were trying to teach others was "foolish and stupid" and maybe that's why they didn't accept it? If you are truly content to be thought foolish and stupid then you would of course accept that whatever it was you tried to educate others on was incorrect...right?

I literally said "if I'm wrong I'm wrong." You probably ignored that part so you could start lecturing me the way you wanted........... right?

 

[livinlifeinBKK]

I literally said "if I'm wrong I'm wrong." You probably ignored that part so you could start lecturing me the way you wanted........... right?

I actually didn't see that anywhere in the conversation but if it is there, then why would you advise someone to disregard his father as "stupid" if you yourself believe you might be wrong? Regardless, this goes far beyond the OP's question.