Ricordia: Rare, or just expensive?

[BigAl07]

AQTCJAK your quote there from Jack!

[zoomer]

Well I was a bit unsure about Ricordia florida being able to be collected still so I checked the Florida fish and game website. According to their list there is no restrictions other then you can't take rock along with them, but I wrote and asked them to be sure all the same.

[mps9506]

Originally Posted by AQTCJAK

From what I understand all ricordia is cultivated even on site @ the collection points no wild caught ricordia has been allowed in years do to the strip farming that was taking place. Cost on all coral seems to be based solely on popularity. A few years back I remember which a acan lord was selling for $1500.00 per polyp retail wholesale if you could find them was around $750.00 & up. I think it is crazy & I am in the industry but as well all now to well if someone can capitalize on another because of their want & need there is money to be made. This is not my philosophy just must business practices.

Supply and demand People were willing to pay that much for something there wasn't much of at the time. Now you can buy the same coloration lords for much more reasonable prices compared to 1 or 2 years ago because the wholesalers/retailers eventually filled up the market. Not to mention prorogation by hobbyists decreases demand for wild collected specimens.
I hate to say how much these were 5 years ago

[Charlie97L]

i got a rock full of the pink/purple yumas on the first page for 35... had about 20, ranging from nickel sized to bigger than my hand. it really depends on who is selling... something high demand like this, well, a lot of local guys are generous.

i think, really, it's a fad thing. yumas/floridas are in right now... so they're ridiculous. i mean, last summer, they were 85/polyp. come way down since then.

also, some of the online pricing is misleading marketing, by certain vendors. say they have 20 yumas, they post 5 qty for sale at 50/polyp... those sell out pretty quick, so then they "receive" more stock, and post em at 75/polyp with "HOT/RARE" next to them... people saw it was out of stock, therefore desirable, so these are bought even quicker. next thing you know, he's selling the last 5 for 100/polyp, and people are happily paying it, just with strategic marketing. the vendor created demand by implying low stock and rarity.

it's like PPEs... those have dropped in price, because the market is getting saturated. i mean, i don't understand the guys that bough 1 polyp, and then the SECOND it buds off, would frag it and sell the polyp. if they actually let it grow out a little, they'd get a lot more production. meh.