I feel like this hobby is getting too expensive (1 Viewer)

[RR-MAN]

I feel like this hobby is getting too expensive. I think it will drive a lot of people out of the hobby.

I was in the market for another large tank but looking at the higher prices of fish/corals not sure now. Even at a higher inflationary cost I feel like there is a lack of fish and corals at LFS. I know Hawaii/Indo bans does not make it any easier.


What do you guys/gals think?

 

[RR-MAN]

 

[BigRick]

Definetly... social media ... when the divers found out they were selling corals for $40+ and getting paid $.75, that really started it all. Now as any hobby that's taken off to the masses its just become another cookie jar to get your hand slammed on as many vendors have popped up within past 10 years and we've seen the big boys get put together. All for profit only.

 

[RR-MAN]

^^^very good point…

 

[guylaga]

Every hobby I'm involved has increased in price the last few years but really seems like 2020 onwards everything has became immensely popular.

People working from home more plus having more free time combined with either saving money from lockdowns / closures and then stimulus payments - add on social media and "influencers" and we get where we are now.

Seems like everything now is just to show off for facebook / instagram. Heck even forums are a type of social media.

Either the novelty will wear off eventually, or we get to a point where the start up costs are so high that it is impossible for new people to join and we will see alot of the vendors close up shop or merge like we have already started to see.

 

[Tangs]

It is all what the market is willing to pay for the stuff. What you want to spend on the hobby. I have lots of hobbies but do not go all out with any of them. I am now seeing how crystal clear my new romano system will do. Aquarium safe bin with 5 automotive sponges and a small protein skimmer.

 

[TX_Punisher]

Buy from fellow hobbyists. Save some coin.

but yes, it does seem like everything is going up considering also how weak the dollar is.

 

[soymilk]

i think everyone is getting caught up in these "brand name" corals. Buying frags or anemones for hundreds of dollars doesn't make any sense to me. I'll take a tank full of just regular run of the mill stuff vs a few frags of whatever the flavor of the month is.

@RR-MAN what kinda tank you thinking about getting?

 

[RR-MAN]

^^^Probably custom 8 ft by 4 ft like my previous tank.

 

[Ostentum]

Buy from fellow hobbyists. Save some coin.

but yes, it does seem like everything is going up considering also how weak the dollar is.

Here is the problem though. The local hobbyist are really getting sick and tired of bein constantly undercut and hammered on prices that are already way under priced of online vendors and hobbyists are now not selling locally anymore. Like myself I have National vendors that will buy my corals and sell them for me for way more and I won’t have to deal with that headache. That’s going to cause the price to go up also. Producer price index was up close to 10% on the year so inflation is definitely going up Consumer was at almost 7% for the year overall

 

[soymilk]

i've been outta the scene for a while. are frag swaps not a thing anymore?

 

[RR-MAN]

Here is the problem though. The local hobbyist are really getting sick and tired of bein constantly undercut and hammered on prices that are already way under priced of online vendors and hobbyists are now not selling locally anymore. Like myself I have National vendors that will buy my corals and sell them for me for way more and I won’t have to deal with that headache. That’s going to cause the price to go up also. Producer price index was up close to 10% on the year so inflation is definitely going up Consumer was at almost 7% for the year overall

Yeah yeah especially marshians

 

[Ostentum]

Yeah yeah especially marshians

If it walks like a duck quacks has feathers it might be duck

 

[reeftopia]

I think there is a lot of factors going on here #1 there was a lot of reefs wiped out in the freeze. Not all those have jumped back in
buying plus they definitely have none to sell. 2nd so many shutdowns of the industry around the world that has crippled the availability.
A big 3rd Hawaii shut down has devestated the availablity of fish. 4rth Stores are paying 1000s for shipping further diminishing the supply.
5th The transportation cost of trucking has driven up the cost to all dealers which further restricts their ability to bring in more inventory.
And last the combination of all the above has driven out many new reefers thus keeping more potential sellers hitting the market.
PERFECT STORM.

 

[RR-MAN]

^^^All great points above.


I saw a medium regal angel for $400 today. Pretty much doubled in price vs pre-Covid.

 

[Tangs]

Ya plus I have the additional cost of having to travel an hour for so so coral reef stores.. 2 hours each way to guarantee I will buy something for sure coral reef store. But all good. I am a lifer. Even being retired on a small hospital pension I will never give up my marine 1997 125er. I just thought the other day why bigger cities have the best coral reef stores. It could be that cus of living conditions they can not have a dog or cat... So aquarium might be the next best thing.???

 

[Tangs]

I sell coral frags which suppliments the hobby a bit. Plus helps keep me busy. Yesterday I sold a Kenya Tree and gragorian for 20c each. I recommend this site to others.

 

[Cody]

I’m not so concerned with the price of corals these days. What gets me is the equipment, and I think it’s going to get worse. I don’t think it has much to do with “supply chain issues”, but rather, BRS.

Apex items went up 10-20% in cost over night for no other reason than “eff you, pay me.” Radions are now about $1000 a pop. Let me reiterate that; $1000 for a printed circuit board with leds, a driver, a chip, a heat sink, and a fan. Again, this is now a partner company of BRS. If I were to switch my current black boxes to radions then it would run me over $15,000….for some led lights.

The value of an item and the price are rarely the same. There are a few economic models by which to examine what makes the price of something what it is, but I can’t quite figure out which applies. The labor theory can’t explain the $1,000 price tag, nor can the utility theory. The whole thing is bizarre.

 

[RR-MAN]

^^^Yeah BRS is going to recover the merger/acquisition cost pretty soon just by selling radions.

 

[frankc]

Well, at least some things have come down in price. As I was admiring how large my Jack-o-Lantern Leptoseris colony had become the other day, I was longing for the days of the first Reef Currents when a vendor was selling a fingernail-size piece for $400. Now I'd be lucky to get $50 for the 3x3+" colony.