KILLER SPS in Divers Den

[Sikryd]

$100 a colony - not a frag

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Sikryd]

[Boret]

I want first in line for a frag once it acclimates to your tank!

[Sikryd]

I want first in line for a frag once it acclimates to your tank!

 

I would if I picked any of these up. I was just posting pictures of colonies that I liked that I saw up on DD.

 

If I had the spare moola right now they would be in there though They have some NICE colonies coming in.

[Leishman]

I love the DD - its the only place you can buy a colony for a colony price (not priced as "well I could get 15 frags out of this and sell them for $80 so the colony is worth $1200. I can't charge that much for a 3" colony! OK... $500 for the colony" that cost $50-75).

 

There is a great thread on R2R on how reefing has had all the fun sucked out of it by LE's (that are freshly imported and have to captive history) and insane pricing on fresh cut frags. I have a bad taste in my mouth right now from all this BS. I understand businesses need to make $, we all do, I also understand the basic economics of suppy/demand pricing but it going too far and I'm done helping push those prices higer by paying them. I had a reefer leave my house last week saying like he felt he had robbed me, he left with nothing but 'Tyree' corals. Talikg of Steve Tyree, I never thought I would say I like what he has done with his LE's, but at least ALL his collection is evaluated over time, captive propagated and have a proven history to keep their color.......

 

I miss the days of trolling the e-tailers and seeing all the colonies and the occasional frag for sale.

 

I'm not liking the hobby right now -

 

(I did not proof read my rant so please forgive the spelling if it is bad.....)

[Leishman]

........................not priced as "well I could get 15 frags out of this and sell them for $80 so the colony is worth $1200. I can't charge that much for a 3" colony! OK... $500 for the colony" that cost $50-75).

 

This would be $129 max on the DD http://www.uniquecorals.com/sps/australian...acropora-colony not the $320 seen here.

 

$299 for a maricultured colony that cost them $35 shipped to their store?????? http://www.uniquecorals.com/sps/true-pink-milleopora-colony

[scott711]

This would be $129 max on the DD http://www.uniquecorals.com/sps/australian...acropora-colony not the $320 seen here.

 

$299 for a maricultured colony that cost them $35 shipped to their store?????? http://www.uniquecorals.com/sps/true-pink-milleopora-colony

 

I totally agree! that place is crazy. $300 for a colony? I have noticed DD and their colonies and have good prices for what you get. I can't stand when places get nice colonies and frag the cr@p out of them and still charge you an arm an a leg for a frag. It is ruining the hobby.

[Leishman]

$299 for a maricultured colony that cost them $35 shipped to their store?????? http://www.uniquecorals.com/sps/true-pink-milleopora-colony

 

 

HA HA - Exact same coral on DD for $79 Save $220 and DD does QT on all their corals........

 

http://www.liveaquaria.com/diversden/ItemD...&ddid=76058

[rocko918]

It is hard to find colonies anymore. most places are chop shops.

[SkiCurtis]

It is hard to find colonies anymore. most places are chop shops.

even some local and distant Md shops could be considered chop shops!

[Sikryd]

I love the DD - its the only place you can buy a colony for a colony price (not priced as "well I could get 15 frags out of this and sell them for $80 so the colony is worth $1200. I can't charge that much for a 3" colony! OK... $500 for the colony" that cost $50-75).

 

There is a great thread on R2R on how reefing has had all the fun sucked out of it by LE's (that are freshly imported and have to captive history) and insane pricing on fresh cut frags. I have a bad taste in my mouth right now from all this BS. I understand businesses need to make $, we all do, I also understand the basic economics of suppy/demand pricing but it going too far and I'm done helping push those prices higer by paying them. I had a reefer leave my house last week saying like he felt he had robbed me, he left with nothing but 'Tyree' corals. Talikg of Steve Tyree, I never thought I would say I like what he has done with his LE's, but at least ALL his collection is evaluated over time, captive propagated and have a proven history to keep their color.......

 

I miss the days of trolling the e-tailers and seeing all the colonies and the occasional frag for sale.

 

I'm not liking the hobby right now -

 

(I did not proof read my rant so please forgive the spelling if it is bad.....)

 

That is why I started that thread on there. It seems now retailers think they can rip you off on any nice coral they get in, for no other reason then they can and want more money.

Don't take the time and see if it holds its color, the risk of loosing it, and the extra money to make sure the coral survives. Take nice pictures, cut it up, sell for BIG bucks, ship it out - it turns brown or dies, and they say well its a wild frag.

 

Good times......

 

It is hard to find colonies anymore. most places are chop shops.

 

Sad but true. Anything to line their pockets more.

 

even some local and distant Md shops could be considered chop shops!

 

The only way to get them to stop is stop supporting their hype.

I'm ALL about supporting local and do. But I won't support ANY business whose business model is to chop stuff up to make more money regardless of the impact on the coral and the customer - then to just feed them a line to get them to come back to spend their hard earned money on corals that they are making 10x-20x profit on.

 

 

I will continue to support the local vendors that take care of their livestock as well as their customers. I'd also like to thank them for not joining the bandwagon and coming up with crazy hype and other stuff to try and take my money. They do their business legitimetly and takes care of their customers. For this I applaud them, and will continue to make the long drive to some of them, after Sierra is born.

[Sikryd]

DD is on facebook too. They posted up some pictures of some sweet looking deepwater acro's that are coming.

 

I'd love to see a pichoni, awi, or some others pop up. Which I am sure they will.

[Leishman]

That is why I started that thread on there. It seems now retailers think they can rip you off on any nice coral they get in, for no other reason then they can and want more money.

Don't take the time and see if it holds its color, the risk of loosing it, and the extra money to make sure the coral survives. Take nice pictures, cut it up, sell for BIG bucks, ship it out - it turns brown or dies, and they say well its a wild frag.

 

There is no 'rip off', as such, you know what you are getting and no one is being forced to pay these insane prices. Pricing must match demand, or they would not be so high.

 

I'm just bitter. Work sucks, I'm beat, I'm broke, I need a day off, and the one thing that helped 'pick me up' now also SUCKS. Thank God the Caps are on fire.

[watson_barrett]

that is what is so great about the local community, you can easily find people just looking to get a few bucks to help recoop thier hobby expenses and not looking to see how much they can get out of something...

 

when you start talking about people in the actual business, eventually they have to stop giving fair deals because they will go out of business.

 

There is no 'rip off', as such, you know what you are getting and no one is being forced to pay these insane prices. Pricing must match demand, or they would not be so high.

 

I'm just bitter. Work sucks, I'm beat, I'm broke, I need a day off, and the one thing that helped 'pick me up' now also SUCKS. Thank God the Caps are on fire.

[Sikryd]

There is no 'rip off', as such, you know what you are getting and no one is being forced to pay these insane prices. Pricing must match demand, or they would not be so high.

 

I'm just bitter. Work sucks, I'm beat, I'm broke, I need a day off, and the one thing that helped 'pick me up' now also SUCKS. Thank God the Caps are on fire.

 

I agree - "trying to rip people off" might have been a bad choice of words.

Selling WILD frags that aren't proven, are freshly cut, and will most likely die or brown out, to me is a rip off. Vendors know this, and continue to do it to boost their bottom line.

I don't agree with that at all, and would much rather support ones that have a better business model as well as ethics.

 

 

that is what is so great about the local community, you can easily find people just looking to get a few bucks to help recoop thier hobby expenses and not looking to see how much they can get out of something...

 

when you start talking about people in the actual business, eventually they have to stop giving fair deals because they will go out of business.

 

 

The business's that are NOT giving fair deals are the ones that will eventually go out of business. I can't see how a business with a good business model, ethics, and reasonable markup, marketing, and sales tactics will go out of business. Everyone needs to make a living, how certain companies do it, and where the emphasis is placed will either sustain a business in the long term, or die a slow death.

 

I can't tell you how many pm's I get from disgruntled customers replying to my outspoken posts, that they have finally been burned, or have finally had the last straw dealt to them with different vendors.

 

I tell them the same thing I am doing, support the stores that take care of them. Sometimes paying more, is worth not having to deal with the bs.

[El Camaron]

for shizzle

[amos]

The bottom line is that (as Leishman insinuated), we vote with our wallets. I would like to think that we the consumers support good business model, ethics, and reasonable markup, marketing and the like but if we don't vote with our wallets (i.e. stop feeding some of these practices), it won't change (e.g. AquaCo).

 

The other reality is there are always folks who are going to roll the dice and perpetuate the system. I don't see this whole LE craze going anywhere soon. Sure I'd like to have something "special" that nobody else has, but reality is that 99.9% of the people who see the tank think xenia or yellow polyps are the coolest thing they have ever seen.

 

Jon

 

I agree - "trying to rip people off" might have been a bad choice of words.

Selling WILD frags that aren't proven, are freshly cut, and will most likely die or brown out, to me is a rip off. Vendors know this, and continue to do it to boost their bottom line.

I don't agree with that at all, and would much rather support ones that have a better business model as well as ethics.

 

The business's that are NOT giving fair deals are the ones that will eventually go out of business. I can't see how a business with a good business model, ethics, and reasonable markup, marketing, and sales tactics will go out of business. Everyone needs to make a living, how certain companies do it, and where the emphasis is placed will either sustain a business in the long term, or die a slow death.

 

I can't tell you how many pm's I get from disgruntled customers replying to my outspoken posts, that they have finally been burned, or have finally had the last straw dealt to them with different vendors.

 

I tell them the same thing I am doing, support the stores that take care of them. Sometimes paying more, is worth not having to deal with the bs.

[Happyfeet]

The other reality is there are always folks who are going to roll the dice and perpetuate the system. I don't see this whole LE craze going anywhere soon. Sure I'd like to have something "special" that nobody else has, but reality is that 99.9% of the people who see the tank think xenia or yellow polyps are the coolest thing they have ever seen.

 

Jon

 

I STILL think Xenia is the coolest thing I've ever seen =(

[Leishman]

............................. Thank God the Caps are on fire.

 

 

I was right, they went down in flames last night......

 

 

• 1st game all season they did not hold the lead at some stage of the game
  
• 1st time they got shut out this season
  
• Only second time all season to lose by more than one goal
  

 

Not bad to say that was their 31st game

[davelin315]

I was right, they went down in flames last night......

 

 

• 1st game all season they did not hold the lead at some stage of the game
  
• 1st time they got shut out this season
  
• Only second time all season to lose by more than one goal
  

 

Not bad to say that was their 31st game

I would love to see a Caps-Blackhawks Stanley Cup. Can you imagine how many goals would be scored and how fast those games would be played?

 

Back on topic, this is a tough subject that I'm sure many of our vendors are facing... if you get in a coral that costs you an arm and a leg, how do you make back the money on it that you had to spend getting in the not so exciting stuff that may or may not sell? Same thing goes for fish, I know to get certain fish from certain places you have to place certain amounts of an order, but when do you make back the money and where is the profit margin drawn?

 

I honestly can say that I'm glad I'm not on that side of the market (although how fun would that be to be able to open up boxes of coral each week to see if you find the pot of gold?) and can't be on this side of the market a lot of the times due to the pricing on some of these things. I'd love to see things go as colonies that they come in as but again, the reality is that our hobby thrives on frags and capitalizing on that can be profitable, which in business is what counts... Not supporting or criticizing anyone, just wishing I had some money to be a player in this!

[Leishman]

4 1/2" colony for $139

 

Just added

 

[rocko918]

hey rik, when you get stuff from dd does it hold it color? and does it look like their pics. cause that is nice. I seen some stuff come into lfs right out of the boxs but they don't hold their color.

[Leishman]

hey rik, when you get stuff from dd does it hold it color? and does it look like their pics. cause that is nice. I seen some stuff come into lfs right out of the boxs but they don't hold their color.

 

 

I have never been let down by the DD. They QT all their corals - you see them come in on their facebook page but they dont hit the site for weeks

[rocko918]

I have never been let down by the DD. They QT all their corals - you see them come in on their facebook page but they dont hit the site for weeks

thats good to know.

thanks

[Sikryd]

I have never been let down by the DD. They QT all their corals - you see them come in on their facebook page but they dont hit the site for weeks

 

 

+1

 

I would be the first to %^&* if they were photoshopped or anything. They are spot on. They do use REALLY good photographers and stuff, but the stuff looks exactly the same.

Same with the colors, good color, and usually stays that way.