The rise of coral pricing and facebook auctions

pugz508

Well-Known Member
BRS Member
Hey everyone, just wanted to start a discussion to gather opinions on the cost of corals between reefers. For most of my time in the hobby I've been exclusive to Boston reefers and some LFS but recently started following different pages on facebook. Is it a recent thing that people are charging outlandish prices for coral and ive been ignorant/sheltered to the fact? I understand theres been an increase in some prices due to certain export bans but do you believe these prices are inflated and will eventually fall ? or is this the new norm for this hobby? Its kind of insane to see polyps for 250-500$ a piece. For all of you members here with decent size frags at fair pricing, I want to thank you personally for what you do for the feeding community, we shouldn't be trying to get rich off 1 coral.
 
I'm right there with you. I try to obtain high end stuff and grow it and sell it for less.

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I try to buy from local reefers, but have paid a lot for unique piecies I couldn't find locally. People will charge what people will pay. If no-one buys at a particular price, the price will come down. If people are willing to pay high prices, sellers have no incentive to drop prices, same as in every other industry. That's just supply and demand.
 
If I could get my hands on a gold torches of each breed (Indo and Aussie) I would grow them for a long time and sell them for really cheap. No tricks or gimmicks

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Personally.
I'm okay with seeing prices rise.
Although it makes it tough for the average hobbyist, it also discourages impulse buying. People may research more and be less inclined to buy something that's just gonna die. Just my devils advocate sorta take lol
 
That's a fear for all. The dying coral thing. You can have a perfect system and buy a $$$$ coral and it may still die. Money right down the drain.

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I have had great experiences buying from the members of BRS!! I have gotten better quality and variety than most LFS. The pricing is great, all are aqua cultured, and in most cases you can see the mother colony. Honestly it has spoiled my LFS experience just a little. lol
 
I was disappointed seeing the cost of gold torches now. When i got out of the hobby 6-7 years ago they sold for $70 now they go for a few hundred. But its understandable when you read about corals around the world dying at a crazy rate. This has always been an expensive hobby and I'm sure the costs of corals will continue to rise.
 
I was disappointed seeing the cost of gold torches now. When i got out of the hobby 6-7 years ago they sold for $70 now they go for a few hundred. But its understandable when you read about corals around the world dying at a crazy rate. This has always been an expensive hobby and I'm sure the costs of corals will continue to rise.
It has to do with the coral bans and the demand of the coral along with slow growth of torches
 
The Zoa named craze is something I am not a fan of. Zoas are “entry level”. So a 25-50/polyp price tag to me is something I look at and go.... that’s nice. On that part I disagree with Aquatic nerd. On the sps range I think price is justified for the most part. They are faster growers. But what I have seen is frags get smaller and smaller in my 3 years doing this. What I paid 20 bucks for 3 years ago is going for the same price but instead of a 2 inch frag it is now an inch or less.

Never mind the uncertainty of the health of a micro frag of a high end piece....

I have actually watched one guy buy something on one auction site and then sell it for double locally on his auction site.
 
The Zoa named craze is something I am not a fan of. Zoas are “entry level”. So a 25-50/polyp price tag to me is something I look at and go.... that’s nice. On that part I disagree with Aquatic nerd. On the sps range I think price is justified for the most part. They are faster growers. But what I have seen is frags get smaller and smaller in my 3 years doing this. What I paid 20 bucks for 3 years ago is going for the same price but instead of a 2 inch frag it is now an inch or less.

Never mind the uncertainty of the health of a micro frag of a high end piece....

I have actually watched one guy buy something on one auction site and then sell it for double locally on his auction site.
I've seen this also. I agree

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In general, coral price have been up more than two to three times. That reflects the wholesale price rise due to lack of supply. Due to Indo ban and Fiji stoppage, coral imports are down ~75%. Aussie imports are limited too.

Now North Africa and Taiwan are potential sources but they won’t make up for the lass of Indo and Fiji. Also they are very expensive.

But those hundreds $ per polyp craps are just price gauging and pray on people’s ignorance or lack of information. FYI, while SPS and LPS require licenses to import and have quato and subjected to extra tax, zoas are limitless.





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This may be unpopular,

But when I see people ask for the non scientific name of a coral, I believe it inadvertently drives the price of corals up..
 
That is very true, there is no aquacultured Aussie gold torch from any coral farm, because they die easily. Go figure.
Growth rate is also a huge factor. The time and space you devote to grow a torch you could have grown many times more high end acros. For their growth rate torches are not high priced at all. Current prices on these corals are supported by harvesting from nature, not by what makes sense economically for aquaculture.

This may be unpopular,

But when I see people ask for the non scientific name of a coral, I believe it inadvertently drives the price of corals up..
You're right, it does, but having a name does add real value. There are tons of zoas, acans, acros, etc out there, and I don't find all of them equally appealing. If I want a specific color morph, it's very easy to search for it by name. If I'm buying a tiny acro frag, I want to know how it will look when it will grow to a colony. If the seller has it labeled by a common industry name, I can search pictures and see if I like its color, growth pattern, light requirements, etc. Otherwise I would have to hope that after being in my tank for months or even years, it will grow into something I like.
 
Not just the slow growth, it's the fact they die in capivity a lot faster than other things,
That is true as well.
Like you said about sps and all earlier.
Alk swings are extremely detrimental to euphyllia, polyp bailout is a big problem.
Cheezy corals lost their 2k holy grail while they were gone one day. That's gotta be heartbreaking
 
That is true as well.
Like you said about sps and all earlier.
Alk swings are extremely detrimental to euphyllia, polyp bailout is a big problem.
Cheezy corals lost their 2k holy grail while they were gone one day. That's gotta be heartbreaking
Most people don't realize this
 
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