Why do you think corals are so expensive?

[AydenLincoln]

With the amount of vendors that exist and the amount competition it always surprises me how much coral cost varies for the same or similar pieces. I know some reasons may be a bit more obvious but to spend thousands or even a few hundred on a single coral is kind of crazy to me. Especially for meat or scoly corals which are a whole other level of expensive. I get some colors may be rare and they don’t frag but hundreds to thousands on a single piece is mind boggling. Why do you think corals are so expensive and what is your most expensive coral?

 

[AydenLincoln]

What vendor have you found to have the best deals and cheapest coral with a good variety?

 

[tzabor10]

With the amount of vendors that exist and the amount competition it always surprises me how much coral cost varies for the same or similar pieces. I know some reasons may be a bit more obvious but to spend thousands or even a few hundred on a single coral is kind of crazy to me. Especially for meat or scoly corals which are a whole other level of expensive. I get some colors may be rare and they don’t frag but hundreds to thousands on a single piece is mind boggling. Why do you think corals are so expensive and what is your most expensive coral?

Just got a $200 Walt Disney Acropora. Full polyp extension on day 1.
Corals are expensive because many hobbyists have the money to pay for it. Also, selling corals and fish seems super risky. Any die off hits hard and the setup is very expensive

 

[Reefer Matt]

With the amount of vendors that exist and competition. I know some reasons may be a bit more obvious but to spend thousands or even a few hundred on a single coral is kind of crazy to me. Especially for meat corals which are a whole other level of expensive. I get some colors may be rare and they don’t frag but hundreds to thousands on a single piece is mind boggling. Why do you think corals are so expensive and what is your most expensive coral?

Coral are expensive because they are perishable, seasonal, and a luxury “product”. Hobbyists can and do make things cheaper, but the industry always seems to find a way to keep margins up. I have spent and lost thousands on coral over the years.

 

[maroonclown65]

What vendor have you found to have the best deals and cheapest coral with a good variety?

Check out aquasd they have sales extremely often and usually discount codes 31 dollar overnight shipping they also carry a little bit of everything and I have great colorful coral from there

 

[JNalley]

What vendor have you found to have the best deals and cheapest coral with a good variety?

Facebook Coral Auctions (Aquariums Wholesale out of Olathe, KS is a pretty good one, they have auctions 2-3 times per week)

I also shop at SaltCritters a fair amount, their prices are reasonable, but they don't have a huge variety all the time, lots of frags of the same 30-40 corals, and a few other one-offs from time to time.

Other than those two, I tend to just sniff for deals around the internet willy nilly...

 

[steveschuerger]

Most expensive is my HG torch from SBB

My go to vendors: SBB, AquaSD, I’ve also found good deals from Zoanthids.com, and Riptide Aquaculture. Other vendors Living Reef Orlando, and TCK on occasion. Mind you I buy mainly during “live” sales when prices are lower.

 

[Tonycass12]

Just got a $200 Walt Disney Acropora. Full polyp extension on day 1.
Corals are expensive because many hobbyists have the money to pay for it. Also, selling corals and fish seems super risky. Any die off hits hard and the setup is very expensive

I got a WD for free from another local reefer. I give away frags for free or cheap of that now. I've gotten tons of 100$+ frags for next to nothing from local reefers. I always pay it forward and rarely charge over 20$ for most frags to locals.

I'll splurge from time to time for a frag I really want but people paying outrageous prices for 1/2" frags are the real problem. As long as they keep buying they are letting the sellers know the cost is ok.

 

[steveschuerger]

Check out aquasd they have sales extremely often and usually discount codes 31 dollar overnight shipping they also carry a little bit of everything and I have great colorful coral from there

I love their Goni selection. Gotten a few larger chunks on clearance that way . And they have a large Micromussa/Acan selection. Got this guy for 45 bucks on clearance last year

And the three Micros on the r center/right were AquaSD

 

[tzabor10]

I got a WD for free from another local reefer. I give away frags for free or cheap of that now. I've gotten tons of 100$+ frags for next to nothing from local reefers. I always pay it forward and rarely charge over 20$ for most frags to locals.

I'll splurge from time to time for a frag I really want but people paying outrageous prices for 1/2" frags are the real problem. As long as they keep buying they are letting the sellers know the cost is ok.

Got it. I’ll remember that at Reefapalooza

 

[PotatoPig]

but hundreds to thousands on a single piece is mind boggling

I think the most expensive coral I have was $30…

 

[AydenLincoln]

I think the most expensive coral I have was $30…

This is one of mine from someone local. $70! Also my newest!

 

[tzabor10]

This is one of mine from someone local. $70! Also my newest!

Just love the yellow

 

[Sisterlimonpot]

I think there's a lot to unpack with this topic.

This hobby seems to fit in a unique microcosm of people. Undeniable, this hobby has a huge turn over, where the average hobbyist lasts 18 months. That means that there is very little turn over and people joining today have no clue that high end corals are traded and/or given away. All they see are pretty coral pictures which encourages them to do a simple search to reveal the high price tag.

Their mind concludes that everyone with this coral, paid that price, ergo, "if I want it, I have to pay that price."

From there the path splits, vendors are emboldened when someone actually pays the price. Hobbyists that realize they paid too much won't say anything and will encourages others to pay the same price because they want to protect the value of their purchase.

It just continues to perpetuate and when we come across someone actually spilling the beans, people dismiss him as disgruntled or stuck in the past.

In a nut shell, unsuspecting hobbyists are allowing this to happen.

 

[tautog83]

The places that dont have a lot of overhead aka fellow reefers.

 

[Dragen Fiend]

Simple supply and demand. There is more demand than supply. Coral supply won't ever really increase in scale which could cut down on overall costs. But no one is taking on that risk.

I'm defiantly an agreement on prices. They are pretty dang absurd. The same looking coral could be anywhere from 20-50% more by just slapping a name on it and somehow its worth a lot. That and some corals grow fast and easily fraggable. Personally its subjective on what looks the best. Thankfully what I like costs $10-30 a frag. Then if you really want to save money buy a small frag that's 1-2 heads. Some people trying to buy colonies or larger frags to get that amazing look instantly.

The most expensive things I've bought were torches and soon to be anemones. Some of the costs make sense. Especially with the damage of our reefs. Its hard to get some things.

If your looking to buy a few coral. I'd buy locally to save on shipping. But If I am making big purchases I'll go online for the unique finds. Though locally is always better. This way you can see its true colors and even ask what color spectrum the shop uses to get similar colors.

 

[Tonycass12]

Simple supply and demand. There is more demand than supply. Coral supply won't ever really increase in scale which could cut down on overall costs. But no one is taking on that risk.

I think those is actually flat out wrong. I'll watch my local shop pull in aquacultured named frags and maricultued colonies alike just to waist away in a couple weeks in the systems they have because they are just not up to par to keep sps. Other times I'll recognize chop shops bringing in and naming mariculture colonies just to cut them into 2 dozen frags and try to charge you over 100$ each when the whole colony was probably less then 200$ to begin with. This happens everywhere I've been. Surprisingly the shops with the cheapest corals are also the best caretakers and growers of their own stock imo and those shops have usually built up a very dedicated following in their local reefing communities and you can still find corals at prices like I remember from well over 10yrs ago.

When Fiji opened back up we didn't see a drop in maricultured colonies even though we now had another supplier enter back into the game. We havent seen that even though we have had more organizations and groups get into coral farming. If Hawaii opens back up I expect we will see much of the same. Things won't drop in cost, they will more or less stay the same because retailers know what customers are still willing to spend.

My2cents

 

[DJF]

Online coral vendors do play a game where there is a near fictional retail price and the coral is more often on sale than not. Easy way for them to gauge demand and give the perception of a deal. if someone wants it for retail then that’s gravy.

 

[areefer01]

With the amount of vendors that exist and the amount competition it always surprises me how much coral cost varies for the same or similar pieces. I know some reasons may be a bit more obvious but to spend thousands or even a few hundred on a single coral is kind of crazy to me. Especially for meat or scoly corals which are a whole other level of expensive. I get some colors may be rare and they don’t frag but hundreds to thousands on a single piece is mind boggling. Why do you think corals are so expensive and what is your most expensive coral?

I think if we are being honest we all know why they are expensive so I won't go into that as it really isn't productive. However I will say that in my opinion social media and marketing doesn't help. This is true with all hobbies though to be fair.

With that said our best options are:

• Set a reefing budget - I know, the dreaded B word. I personally set them for new displays or upgrades then yearly thereafter.
• Set a frag budget - soft, lps, and sps (per frag) and do not include shipping. Shipping is what it is and not all businesses are like the larger vendors or subsidized by governments. If it has a free shipping limit see if you can buy enough to meet that if your budget is safe (not your per say, our, hobbyist, etc).
• Join local clubs - sharing is caring as my neice often reminds me. Give and you will receive. If you are not in the position to give then trade, or buy as it will still be cheaper than online or LFS

These are my rules. The only other thing I have done is found someone I connect with virtually, long term, and shared corals as a bank. This way should something happen to either of our systems we both have mini colonies growing in each others displays. This is something that you have to build up over time and trust and treated like an actual bank.

Take care.

 

[MarsReefer]

I found you pay for the selection. If you want a specific coral with a specific name then you have to go online and pay for it.

If you can wait 4 months and accept something 99% the same color you can likely find it for 1/5th the price.

I pretty much only shop at our local yearly frag swap. That torch color that is $400 online +$50 shipping, I can pick up for $99 at the swap. The $100 frags online are $30-40 at frag swaps.

I also found black friday at my LFS is the best time to pick up lower end corals. Those $20-30 corals I can mostly get for $5 on black friday.

The other side of this though is that there are significant regional variations as well. My area might be lacking certain corals and be abundant in others. It is sometimes worth it to pay a premium for something I can't find locally because if I can grow it out there are lots of other reefers in my area willing to buy it.