[Myka]

It has a lot to do with location of collection. "Rare" doesn't necessarily mean it's rare in the wild, just rare in the hobby. Sometimes corals are collected only from one location that's hours away from a collection farm. For propagated corals, like many Zoas, the price is often based on demand and also the speed that the Zoas grow. Some Zoas are painfully slow growing, and thus the price will always remain relatively high. Newly discovered color combinations often start at a high price, but are faster growing, so once hey get spread around a bit the price will drop.