It's more of price fixing by the exporters/importers. Most items that are sold as "rare" are not. The acans you see in lfs are common in Australia. Shipping from there is costly, true but its greed that is raising the prices to stupid proportions.

I have one....
 

And I didn't pay anywhere NEAR that amount. I picked it up at RC about a month ago.

The hammer coral I bought at one of the LFS in Edmonton looks a lot like the one in that link. I don't remember what the store called it, but I thought it was a pink hammer coral. I paid $60.00 for it, and it's about 3-4" big.

We've had them twice in two months and likely will have some more in another month or two and that's what we'd be selling them for unless price went up on them. There odd when you get them they don't look anything special (kind of drab) but color up really nice after they've been in your tank for a month or two.

Aussie stuff costs more for both the corals and the shipping. It's not always "greed" that drives the prices up. You have to remember your LFS is trying to run a buisness not a charity.

When you go to work in the morning do you expect to work for free or collect a check at the end of the month?

What it comes down to is if you like it buy it. Who cares what someone else thinks is nice or rare. It's your tank you have to look at it every day.

If it was me I would get it the price doesn't seem bad and they are a coral you don't see every day.

much as I hate how expensive this stuff is, I am glad that anything collected in the wild costs enough for people to really want it to buy it.

think how much more the impact would be on the ecosystem if we were not limited by $$$....


just a somewhat random thought.

Sorry, I should have made it clear that lfs are not the culprits as they are getting dinged just like us hobbyists.

Freight costs are freight costs. They are not shipping coral one at a time. I think that arguement is weak - just a distractionary manoeuvre (think carbon tax).

I'd buy a frag when/if you have one...I like them and appreciate that they are different! But, I couldn't afford a colony...

I second that..

We all love beauty and always want it around us and thats why we are willing to pay for it (one way or another:wink:). I've personally dished out the dough for frags from members and lfs. LOL

"think how much more the impact would be on the ecosystem if we were not limited by $$$...."

Not much IMHO. There's always $$$$ around.