Let Capitalism Live!
If there is one thing that bends reefkeepers of every tank personality out of shape more than anything else, it would be when a reefkeeper buys colonies of coral, frags them out, sells the frags and makes more money off the frags than they paid for the colonies.
Why this bends people out of shape, I’ll never know as buying and selling is basic capitalism at work.
Yes, someone is making money off the people buying the frags. Which they should – the person who took the risk to buy the whole colony, not knowing if they’d make their money back – gets rewarded. This action is basic economics at work- more risk -> more reward. The people buying the frags could have bought the colony, but they didn’t. Probably because they didn’t want to pay the price – i.e. take the risk
Also, the person buying/fragging out the colony provided value (again basic economics – more value -> higher price) to the frag purchaser. The colony purchaser took the time to buy the colony, pick it up/pay for shipping, make sure the colony was going to live and is pest-free, cut/mounted the frags, posted the frags for sale, etc. For the added value, the colony owner gets rewarded with a higher price.
Reefkeepers on the other side of the table argue that people shouldn’t be making money off a hobby. This idea is insane. If you can provide value and take on risk so that others don’t, then you should be rewarded for it. If you can make a couple of bucks while you are at it, more power to you. If you can make a full time living off of doing it, let’s write a book about it!
Now, if you are ripping people off by mis-representing your corals by saying they are 1″ when they are actually 1/2″, then you deserve to not make any money and there is no room for you in the reef keeping world if you are selling frags or even trading them.
But to shun fellow reefkeepers because they utilized basic economics is just wrong.
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I agree 100%. The only caveat I’d add is that corals that come from hobbyists with well-established tanks are generally better than “fresh off the boat” colonies that are purchase, fragged, and turned over in a matter of days.
The complaint is that many buyers in local clubs buy locally because they trust a particular person and the quality of their corals. It can be somewhat deceptive if they think that they’re getting a frag from someone who has sustained the colony for years when in reality they’re getting a 2 day old un-recovered frag.
As in all capitalistic markets, let the buyer beware. You know which shops you do and don’t buy fish/corals from, so think twice about whether you’re really getting a deal from an unknown seller.
absolutely Mike…any buyer should research and have a relationship with the seller.