Why are they High End Zoas????

[Nathan]

What makes them high end zoas/sps?
what makes them different from the lets say low end zoas/sps?

 

[James]

code word for "it cost me a lot"

i.e. means nothing.

 

[KathyC]

Less availability of the items and the willingness of some folks to spend higher amounts of money to have the newest corals.

Once market saturation is achieved, the prices come down.

 

[jackson6745]

They usually look better but "high end" fundamentally has to do with pricing. FYI many of these crazy zoas and SPS were in the hobby for a long time. Internet hype has driven up prices. Buy what looks nice and they will always have value.

What I find really silly is how a coral gets an "LE" title. Limited edition that is anything but limited since it is increasing throughout the hobby due to propagation???? Doesn't make sense

 

[prattreef]

Marketing.

 

[MikeC]

What makes them high end? well that would be a fellow reefer trying to rip you off by using two words.

If you like the way it looks buy it.
If you buy it because someone sais it is "High End" then your just feeding the problem

 

[Arati]

yes and no

collectors and shipping stations grade corals and clams, and they charge more for them. high end corals usually consist of the brighter colors or more rare colors but can also be applied to corals based on species if it is rarely collected or whatever.

and yes the whole LE thing is a little silly but it lets you know what coral you are getting .. instead of blue acrop #1 blue acro #2 , .. wich would lead to even more confusion.

 

[prattreef]

Collectors and shipping stations monitor reef forums and see what is "hot " right now and adjust their pricing accordingly. This is fact, not fiction.

Certainly there are truly rare items where very limited supply or " first time novelty" command higher pricing or even exhorbitant pricing, but this is really not what we are talking about here. The vast majority of the LE craze is marketing plain and simple. Obviously, if there is no market for a piece there is no market for it, but if it is nice enough that people want it-- give it a fancy name, create an aura of value and watch the price soar.

Naming for lineage and identification is another story and I agree useful, but guaging value based of lineage is weird, to me at least.

If you can't tell, I HATE this whole aspect of the hobby-- not all the beautiful corals, but the commodification of them and all that brings with it-- overly blue lighting, the seeming inability of hobbyists to let things grow before fragging, and the predominance of selling over trading and generosity. I know it is the laws of the free market etc. I still don't have to like it, and I remember when it wasn't this way.

 

[Arati]

as always I tend to agree with you. but I think the good is starting to out weigh the bad a few years back I saw a lot of people chop shopping wild corals. that is starting to die off in part because "lineage" corals hold enough value to make farming them a viable option, as the trend grows so does the knowledge that buying a captive grown coral offers a much greater chance of both success and predictable color, it lessens the burden on wild reefs.

If you start to add in designer clownfish TR tangs and angles and look at the work they are doing with clams.

we are moving towards a time when wild collection is a rarity and I am thrilled about that. The fact that the names are silly and corals are still farmed and sold by mostly small operation, to me means big corporate has not taken it over yet.

To me this is a great time to be a reefer.

 

[ducati335i]

I just buy what looks good now.. Bright and colorful.. Because 99% of people that see my tank like the cheapest stuff. O well

 

[jackson6745]

Pssssssst I have an LE Pratt Reef Psammocora 1/4" frag for $120 + shipping. Shoot me a PM

 

[prattreef]

Pssssssst I have an LE Pratt Reef Psammocora 1/4" frag for $120 + shipping. Shoot me a PM

lol And for the record, That name was coined in jest by Mike Slama jama many moons ago. I wish I still had that coral actually, it was nice.

 

[prattreef]

That Psammacora is a really good example of what I am talking about. I can trace the lineage of that coral to a shipment that was one of the first of the Mariculture corals imported into the country in the late 1990's. It is the same exact coral as the ORA Kelly green psammacora. Should one be valued more than the other because of its lineage? It is the same exact thing.

 

[jackson6745]

You gave that coral to everyone. Anyone still have a colony going? I'll get some for ya.

 

[Arati]

I have some , it is not from your colony but the same thing from a mari shipment a few yrs ago.

Id be happy to give i you a piece, just we are far away. I do have to go to NJ pretty soon I can drop it by for ya. Once I get the date ill let ya know should be in the next 2 wks. I have never seen your tank it would be a bonus to see your tank on this trip.

 

[prattreef]

I have some , it is not from your colony but the same thing from a mari shipment a few yrs ago.

Id be happy to give i you a piece, just we are far away. I do have to go to NJ pretty soon I can drop it by for ya. Once I get the date ill let ya know should be in the next 2 wks.

Thanks! How much? j/k

 

[TRIGGERMAN]

Supply and demand is a part of it and the prettier it is the more it's worth. I would think everyone would pick a nicer looking coral over one that isn't as nice for a little more money. If I could buy 10 polyps of eagle eyes for 20 bucks or 2 polyps or 1 of something way nicer I would buy the nicer one because it will grow and then I'll have a lot of them. Who cares how many you get, you are getting the coral. The names serve a purpose because it is used to identify the coral. If it is a widely used name like purple hornet, captain america etc. you know that coral is what it is and it's worth X amount. The LE non sense is ridiculous and so are some of the prices but it is what it is. I don't see people complaining about how much a mac book costs when for 1/3 the money you can get a pc that blows it away any day of the week. To some people it's a hobby to some people it's a business and how they feed their families. They depend on the hype just like apple or samsung does about the newest phones and gadgets. I feel like the reef industry is the most hated on. People act like they don't buy things for less and sell them for more in every other business we support without saying a word about it. I don't think grass costs that much money but we have no problem paying 4 bucks a gallon for milk. Diamonds are harvested by SLAVES for next to nothing and they are beaten and abused the entire time but no one complains about diamond jewelry costing thousands of dollars. Anyone has the right to sell anything for any price they see fit or think they can get. If you don't like the price don't buy it, simple as that. I like Lamborghinis but 280k is not what I'm willing to pay for 1 so I don't own 1.

 

[PolandSpring]

Some High ends are ugly and I dont buy those.. i just buy all the ones I like, unfortunetely most of the ones I like run me $50-$200 per polyp.

 

[Mattl22]

I gotta say i love the named high end sps especially when they have been in the hobby for a few yrs the high price sucks but I like being able to look at pics of mother colonies see how they look!
It's much eaiser to keep sps that been in captivity for a while and names help when trading or selling! Also it was brought up b4 but its always better to buy / trade corals already in captivity!

 

[Rob&Gab]

Supply and demand is a part of it and the prettier it is the more it's worth. I would think everyone would pick a nicer looking coral over one that isn't as nice for a little more money. If I could buy 10 polyps of eagle eyes for 20 bucks or 2 polyps or 1 of something way nicer I would buy the nicer one because it will grow and then I'll have a lot of them. Who cares how many you get, you are getting the coral. The names serve a purpose because it is used to identify the coral. If it is a widely used name like purple hornet, captain america etc. you know that coral is what it is and it's worth X amount. The LE non sense is ridiculous and so are some of the prices but it is what it is. I don't see people complaining about how much a mac book costs when for 1/3 the money you can get a pc that blows it away any day of the week. To some people it's a hobby to some people it's a business and how they feed their families. They depend on the hype just like apple or samsung does about the newest phones and gadgets. I feel like the reef industry is the most hated on. People act like they don't buy things for less and sell them for more in every other business we support without saying a word about it. I don't think grass costs that much money but we have no problem paying 4 bucks a gallon for milk. Diamonds are harvested by SLAVES for next to nothing and they are beaten and abused the entire time but no one complains about diamond jewelry costing thousands of dollars. Anyone has the right to sell anything for any price they see fit or think they can get. If you don't like the price don't buy it, simple as that. I like Lamborghinis but 280k is not what I'm willing to pay for 1 so I don't own 1.

{A+++} +1 on every topic you hit off there man, you have no clue on how crazy things are, its like all the PC's are the same people are selling diamonds for 90000X of what there actually worth when there in the rough. cars are just to insanely over priced. only cause there in high demand, i give respect to the people who do get really nice corasl for low prices, and sell it for near to nothing competitive pricing, people need to just speak up to the stores that try to make 40X there money back. cause there is some reef and fish stores that really do over price things cause they no that they can do it cause of the area or there the only ones within 10miles. and no one wants to drive.... it kills me to see how this industry is going.... i hate it...