Frag prices

[michika]

I'm curious to know, and understand, how frags are priced. I want to know specifically about ones traded between hobbiests, and not store purchased ones.

I want to know, for those who've sold, sell, or will be selling frags, how do you come to your selling price?

Granted things like coloration, size, and rarity come into play, but after those are all accounted for how do you set your price?

[tang daddy]

Hey there for me it's colour and rarity but basically I figure how much I would want to pay for the piece and then sell it for that. Sometimes I see what others are selling it for too and do it a little cheaper most of my pricing is reasonable and basically distribute frags that I started off with once it has multiplied and moved onto the rock.

[michika]

That sounds like quite a fair and logical method.

Do you ever take into account the cost of having grown out the frags, or the time spent?

[Tom R]

Pricing is quite difficult. Generally if you have mounted the frag on a rock the cost of the rock also has to be taken into account. A 1 to 1 1/2" frag will sell for 1$18 to $20 plus taxes in YLFS so $12 to $15 is a good price. My frags are generally much larger than 1 1/2" more like 4 to 5" so $15 to $20 is still a very good deal. I have paid as much as $40 to $50 for a 1 1/2" frag if it has great colour and is not something you see in the LFS on a regular basis,

Tom R

[fragalot]

I think first priority is the how rare the coral is.

[michika]

Bluemantr,

So after rarity, and I'm assuming rarity is what you decide to make of it, what's next?

A general question to all who have replied, do you rate rarity, color, etc. on your own views, or do you take into account what you've seen and hear from other reefers?

[Snappy]

Originally Posted by bluemantr

I think first priority is the how rare the coral is.

I agree with this but there many variables to consider, and just one of them being if it's from a wild colony, then it is much rarer and until a bunch of frags get out there it has a very limited supply. Another is lots of the nicer corals grow really slow so they can't be fragged very often making them rare or as they say Limited Editions. There are a lot of corals available however MOST are very mediocre, at least that is the case with sps and I have found over the years that if I want a known quality strain then I'd better be prepared to pay for it. You can always buy from the stores and wait several months to year to see if you got lucky but to get a known entity of excellent quality in my opinion is worth the extra loot. Most corals will eventually look good but if you want the eye catching WOW then the odds are about 1/100 for the brown pieces you'll buy hoping to get lucky with the unknown. Especially if you aren't familiar with the subtleties of the various acropora strains let alone the vast array of other sps on the market. I personally feel it boils down to the same as most other things in life; you generally get what you pay for.