• Folks, if you've recently upgraded or renewed your annual club membership but it's still not active, please reach out to the BOD or a moderator. The PayPal system has a slight bug which it doesn't allow it to activate the account on it's own.

Why so expensive?

I am just curious why Jawbreakers are so expensive. I just can't figure out why something that spreads and is fragged so easily is $150+. Is it just because people will pay it or are they just not as hardy as most mushrooms?
 

kschweer

Administrator
Staff member
Officer Emeritus
Moderator
From what I heard they are pretty slow growers and do not spread quickly like other mushrooms do.
 

Sunny

NJRC Member
Article Contributor
A coral is only worth what you are willing to pay for it. Like you said, you think it is expensive and so it is. There is someone who thinks it "breaks his jaw" and he thinks thats cool. :)
 
I've seen them in person and would say they are worth every penny.. That being said I do not have and wouldn't spend that kind of money on it... But it's all about supply and demand. The more people that have something the less the price will be. They are a slow grower..
 
Even if they are slow growers, its a mushroom. I understand pricing on some corals like scoly's for instance, very hard to frag and I've very rarely heard of them reproducing naturally in aquariums.
 
Retail pisses me off!

Me too. If I ever were to run into something worth bookoo buck for no reason I'd probably be the guy to grow it out and flood the market with it just because. LOL


I think my attitude toward the whole thing is because of the members on here. You get very generous frags/mini colonies for cheap then I look elsewhere at the same thing and get floored at the prices for things that don't even fill a frag plug.
 

Sunny

NJRC Member
Article Contributor
When a member sells frags they are tank grown and mostly not for profit. If a store sells the frags they have the overhead of a brick and tar store.
I do not mind paying little extra for something to a LFS, actually I am happy to do that.
The real culprits are the ones who have online shops and rip people off with tiny frags and outrageous prices.
 

ecam

Administrator
Staff member
Board of Directors
NJRC Member
Moderator
[/QUOTE]
I think my attitude toward the whole thing is because of the members on here. You get very generous frags/mini colonies for cheap then I look elsewhere at the same thing and get floored at the prices for things that don't even fill a frag plug.[/QUOTE]


I agree... At least when you buy from a member, you know the specimen (fish or coral) is healthy and is expected to grow in your tank (no major disease). With a store they just got it in a tank an hour ago and trying to move it...... Its like playing russian roulette with a lot more cost. I prefer checking out the locals b4 buying.....

I dont consider it being cheap... Its just you know more than somthing that just arrived in the store a couple hrs ago
 
When a member sells frags they are tank grown and mostly not for profit. If a store sells the frags they have the overhead of a brick and tar store.
I do not mind paying little extra for something to a LFS, actually I am happy to do that.
The real culprits are the ones who have online shops and rip people off with tiny frags and outrageous prices.

I get the store front to a point. But you also have to realize I'm south so the LFS are just as pricey as the online places.

supply & demand.
What makes a chalice worth $1200 an eye?

I don't understand that as well. I think its funny that if it has more than 3 eyes its concidered a colony.
 
I agree... At least when you buy from a member, you know the specimen (fish or coral) is healthy and is expected to grow in your tank (no major disease). With a store they just got it in a tank an hour ago and trying to move it...... Its like playing russian roulette with a lot more cost. I prefer checking out the locals b4 buying.....

I dont consider it being cheap... Its just you know more than somthing that just arrived in the store a couple hrs ago

I still dip EVERYTHING. LOL
 
Being on the "retail" end (If you want to call me that).... It's all about supply and demand. We (shops, lfs, etc) end up paying way more for lets say a lunar palythoa than we do bland green zoas. I've seen the Indonesian pricelists and I can tell you the suppliers in the US, pretty much pay damn near close for each piece of similarity. Unfortunately, when something comes in HOT, like a jawbreaker, superman shroom, Armor of God zoa, etc, they charge us way more than they do on the other stuff that's a little more bland. I've seen Yuma's that were bright pink going for $100 my cost! So now after paying over $100 a box of maybe 15-20 corals in shipping, what am I going to have to sell that Yuma for to make a few bucks? I guess retailers figure that's their meal ticket or crown jewel. They'd rather quadruple their price and sit on it for a bit, cause we all know that there's someone out there who will drop the coin on something they like. Reef keeping seems to be full of "impulse buys". I on the other hand..... would rather charge accordingly and move corals out to get in fresh stock. I'm not a fan of sitting on anything.
 

dnov99

FRAG SWAP VENDOR
I am just curious why Jawbreakers are so expensive. I just can't figure out why something that spreads and is fragged so easily is $150+. Is it just because people will pay it or are they just not as hardy as most mushrooms?

Well I will address the OP's question rather than tangent off.

1. Actually $150 is not expensive relatively speaking, initially these were selling for $500, just a few years back.

2. These are not "fragged so easy", they multiply much slower than your normal average mushroom, which grow like a weed. Sometimes they will only "pop" one baby off a year.

3. The jawbreaker mushroom is truly a one in a million specimen. These are rarely collected, like your basic, blue, green, brown mushroom which can easily be collected by the thousand.

4. They truly are IMO one of the most beautiful and brightest corals out there. There are a few different "strains" the original came from The digital fishroom and Reef Odyssey, but IMO the nicest and most spectacular, comes right from my favorite LFS Aquatic Obsession and can be seen in their main DT.

So hopefully that answers your question, I honestly think they are worth every penny. I have 2 of these types of mushrooms, and have recovered my initial cost many times over.

I think this is easily worth $150!!!

download
 
Well I will address the OP's question rather than tangent off.

1. Actually $150 is not expensive relatively speaking, initially these were selling for $500, just a few years back.

2. These are not "fragged so easy", they multiply much slower than your normal average mushroom, which grow like a weed. Sometimes they will only "pop" one baby off a year.

3. The jawbreaker mushroom is truly a one in a million specimen. These are rarely collected, like your basic, blue, green, brown mushroom which can easily be collected by the thousand.

4. They truly are IMO one of the most beautiful and brightest corals out there. There are a few different "strains" the original came from The digital fishroom and Reef Odyssey, but IMO the nicest and most spectacular, comes right from my favorite LFS Aquatic Obsession and can be seen in their main DT.

So hopefully that answers your question, I honestly think they are worth every penny. I have 2 of these types of mushrooms, and have recovered my initial cost many times over.

I think this is easily worth $150!!!

download


One head a year!!!!!!!!!!! Thats Crazy. I know they look nice. I just cant get over the price of some things and this being a mushroom I thought that was HIGH. Expecially since the pics I see are tiny.
 
Well I will address the OP's question rather than tangent off.

1. Actually $150 is not expensive relatively speaking, initially these were selling for $500, just a few years back.

2. These are not "fragged so easy", they multiply much slower than your normal average mushroom, which grow like a weed. Sometimes they will only "pop" one baby off a year.

3. The jawbreaker mushroom is truly a one in a million specimen. These are rarely collected, like your basic, blue, green, brown mushroom which can easily be collected by the thousand.

4. They truly are IMO one of the most beautiful and brightest corals out there. There are a few different "strains" the original came from The digital fishroom and Reef Odyssey, but IMO the nicest and most spectacular, comes right from my favorite LFS Aquatic Obsession and can be seen in their main DT.

So hopefully that answers your question, I honestly think they are worth every penny. I have 2 of these types of mushrooms, and have recovered my initial cost many times over.

I think this is easily worth $150!!!

download

If you don't mind me asking do you sell them for their "MSRP"
 

dnov99

FRAG SWAP VENDOR
If you don't mind me asking do you sell them for their "MSRP"

No. If you ask anybody on this forum that has bought from me I dont sell anything at "MSRP". Although I don't exactly give things away, as I spend much time and money on corals and my system and just look to recoup what I spend. I give a large discount to local reefers and ship to hobbyists all over the country which is when I charge more in line with "MSRP".
 
No. If you ask anybody on this forum that has bought from me I dont sell anything at "MSRP". Although I don't exactly give things away, as I spend much time and money on corals and my system and just look to recoup what I spend. I give a large discount to local reefers and ship to hobbyists all over the country which is when I charge more in line with "MSRP".

I can back this up. Darren is one of the best if not the best guy out there if you're looking for high end stuff. Very fair with prices.
 
Top