What's important to you when you shop for coral?

[teelow]

when purchasing online I like to know as well what lighting it was photo'd under. It is also nice to see pics that are not all "top down"
yes- it captures the coral at its best, but I want to know what it will look like in my tank, viewing it as I naturally would.
Cost is important, but you will pay for high end corals, so it is not a deal breaker for me if you want nice coral.
Most important to me is reputation of the seller.

[comical]

Usually I just do a quick check where its located first and if they can deliver before I focus on the picture of it and then I look at the price

[Ryan]

Accurate photos. Want to scare me away,post up blue smurf photos with an iPhone.

I also like seeing colony photos. Something baseball or softball size, though find people who actually grow coral this big is about as rare as hens teeth. Seems as soon as a coral has 3 branches its suddenly a colony and they are selling 1/2 or 3/4 inch frags.

I am finding it hard to buy coral and not because it's been hard to get stock into the country.

[Dearth]

Early on I learned some hard and expensive lessons in the hobby about corals the following are my personal take on buying coral

I only buy from trusted businesses And trusted local reefers and because I trust them I will often buy sight unseen from them.

I will never buy coral that is ground shipped I will only buy if it is air cargo only.

I also refuse to buy coral with one or two heads on tiny plugs because it is a ripoff in my opinion which is also the reason I won’t buy from many reefers or stores that do this I understand they want to make money but I also don’t like being ripped off either.

Just my two cents worth

[Guy]

Very nice feedback! Thanks lads! Nice to hear.

[smokinreefer]

I think a key point would be to not post a picture that is just ALL blue where you can't even guess in the slightest what the color of the actual coral is.