High end and exclusively.

[joseserrano]

I find myself looking on social media and often seeing posts of the same corals, but being sold as unique or limited in quantities. This is very apparent with torches. You can go on pretty much any sellers page and see holy grails, gold, Malaysian,… there seems to be no scarcity, so why are they still so expensive?

 

[JojosReef]

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

[OGFrenchHorn]

Because people pay those prices.


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[Ap28]

That’s what some people are willing to pay, as long as there are people paying that’s what they’re going to charge.


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[joseserrano]

I get the supply and demand thing. I just don’t get the idea of rate when any vendor and most hobbyists have one

 

[Jimbo327]

Because they melt for no good reason, and people need to buy them again. Also, harder to frag since you need a bandsaw or dremel. Also, there is no one selling them for cheaper to make other drop their prices. Import them and sell them for cheaper.

 

[Chrisshoup420]

Because they melt for no good reason, and people need to buy them again. Also, harder to frag since you need a bandsaw or dremel. Also, there is no one selling them for cheaper to make other drop their prices. Important them and sell them for cheaper.

I agree

 

[DanK.Reefer]

Because they melt for no good reason, and people need to buy them again. Also, harder to frag since you need a bandsaw or dremel. Also, there is no one selling them for cheaper to make other drop their prices. Import them and sell them for cheaper.

Yup for sure. I have many torches HG, Hellfire, NYK, Rupunzel, Indo 24k, Indo Gold etc. I can say without a doubt the more costly torches are more sensitive. Just like some acros are super hardy and others bleach and die if you forget to turn the ATO back on.

I have a cheap green no name torch($35 per head) when I was removing it from the original frag plug the skeleton shattered and the flesh was barely hanging on. I glued the pieces of skeleton back together with super glue, the flesh band receded a bit, then came back no problem. It is now spliting to 2 heads.

My HG torch grows slower and if I don't keep my water parameters stable and clean it starts bailing out at a rapid pace. I got busy and wasn't paying attention and ran out of Part 1 on my doser. My Mg dropped from 1390 to 1260 over the course of a week and the Ca also dropped down to 380 from 450 I lost 3 heads for that error. No other corals showed any issues.

I can always tell if something is off in my tank by looking at my HG. Its the first to show issues. Just because lots of them are available doesn't mean they are easy to keep and a lot weren't lost during the growing process. There are lot's available because people are hyper focused on growing them even though they are harder to grow.

Also if you paid $200-$500 a head for a coral...even a hobby guy pruning his own torch down isn't gonna want to just throw that away. This hobby is expensive and if you have a piece of coral that can help ease the financial burden a bit then I see no issue getting a premium for it. If people want to pay for it let them. If you wanna get one cheap watch the classified ads on these forums. I have seen HG torches for $150 or less on here from time to time but you gotta jump on 'em quick.

Just be aware pests love euphilia and they harbour a lot of bacteria as well, some good some not so good. If you get a sick one(BJD or EEFW) it could take down all of the others that you have. Then you get to drop another $G$ if you want them back.

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[jessesoto33]

Wholesale on Holy Grails are $250 well at least where I get them from, so at $300 to $350 is where they stay until further notice.


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[joseserrano]

What else do you guys think. Trying to spark conversation on the forum.

 

[Greaser9999]

Wholesale on Holy Grails are $250 well at least where I get them from, so at $300 to $350 is where they stay until further notice.


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It's ridiculous, considering how easy they can melt. I inquired about one recently and was blown away by the pricing. Worse part, they dont look much different from what use to be common torches.

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[jessesoto33]

It's ridiculous, considering how easy they can melt. I inquired about one recently and was blown away by the pricing. Worse part, they dont look much different from what use to be common torches.

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Huh???


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[jessesoto33]

What it is, is that So Cal is saturated big time, yes, we are spoiled


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[joseserrano]

It's ridiculous, considering how easy they can melt. I inquired about one recently and was blown away by the pricing. Worse part, they dont look much different from what use to be common torches.

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I am curios to know if the ones from people like kung fu who harden them and treat them for some time have similar melting issues.

 

[Greaser9999]

What it is, is that So Cal is saturated big time, yes, we are spoiled


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Partially, yes lol there is big spenders in the surrounding counties that can afford to spend lots of money on some of these gems. Me, not so much

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[BluRocket3]

While we are talking about Holy Grails, I've got some for $200 and in my system for over 3 months with nice flesh bands.

 

[Greaser9999]

While we are talking about Holy Grails, I've got some for $200 and in my system for over 3 months with nice flesh bands.

Let's see some pics or it didn't happen lol

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[MikeGilliland]

What else do you guys think. Trying to spark conversation on the forum.

In my experience, it moves from one type of coral to the next. Zoas for instance, morphs under different light produce a different color, therefore someone has a “new” zoa that they can claim as LE and they name it something stupid. I know there are definitely different kinds but I’ve seen 8 different pink zippers that are named something else. And people get suckered in(myself included) and the price will never drop until we wise up.

 

[DanK.Reefer]

It's ridiculous, considering how easy they can melt. I inquired about one recently and was blown away by the pricing. Worse part, they dont look much different from what use to be common torches.

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This is a hobby that incorporates many different facets of care, design, and curation. 2 of which are collecting and husbandry. The fact that you need be on top of your collection care to keep them happy is what adds to their value. If torches were crazy hardy and anyone who wanted to keep one could just throw it in their tank and have 14 heads in 6 months, then they wouldn't be worth $$$. It's no different than keeping Acro's or Zoa's the slower growing more sensitive varieties are more expensive. I have a common green torch its beautiful and hardy, it doesn't have the purple/blue tips of the HG but it isn't gonna die if I let my parameters swing a little, the HG on the other hand may not make it.

Stratospheres grow slow and die easy and they are more expensive, Pandoras grow fast and can't be killed....people give them away. Green Slimer grows like a weed and people throw the chunks away because they cant give it away fast enough, but ORA's Pearl Berry may not be so forgiving.

The biggest difference in this type of collecting is that it's not like buying a pair of collectible sneakers or figurines that just sit in their box and retain their value. People who keep higher end corals have either spent a small fortune to buy colonies, or they have nurtured boogers for months or even years to get them to were they can make viable frags or have beautiful colonies of their own. Either way that should not go un-noticed or unappreciated and the way the new collector shows this appreciation is in cash $$$ or equivalent trade. That part is no different than any other hobby that involves collectibles. Some collectibles are just more desirable and valuable.

Some guys like to just have some common hardy corals that look pretty, grow fast, and take a beating and thats ok you can have a very beautiful and bulletproof collection of corals and a stunning tank on a budget that way. Others feel rewarded and apprecieate the challenge when they can keep something special alive and thriving. There are corals out there for everyones budget and skill set and maybe some of the higher end stuff isn't for everyone but for those who do take the leap it can be quite rewarding.


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[DanK.Reefer]

What it is, is that So Cal is saturated big time, yes, we are spoiled


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This is a fact. I have talked with reefers all over the country and most are envious of what we have available to us. Many reefers are forced to roll the dice with online vendors if they want something special on a budget. People travel for hours to go to mediocre LFS all over the country. From my house I am within 30min. of 10 reef shops. It's to the point were I have the audacity/luxury to complain about 1 shop or the other.....LOL. Just think many, if not most reefers have only 1/2 shops to choose from and they are lucky if it is within an hours drive.

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