Reefing Livestock has really gone up !

[Skyhigh]

The airlines may have something to do with it but so does the fact that exporters can read too. They know that things like chalice corals, blasto's and scolymia are how items. You know they had to up prices based on the market for these items.

Yep and thats the internet's fault, they could never see what the $ at the end was and now with all the web sites that sell corals super easy for them and they want a part of that $.

[BlackGrandPrix]

Another thing people are forgetting is that these 3rd world countries are wanting a higher standard of living. Soo instead of being paid .05cents a day now they demand .10 for example. Thats a 50% increase in wages. Along with airlines, electric bills going up, it all adds up unfortunately.

Food prices are going up Wheat has doubled in price in a month so beer, meat, breads will be going up.

[streetrodder007]

Your right Jason, allot of prices have gone up, unfortunately in Michigan our prices have gone down. In the world of construction, it's a killer right now here in Michigan, as is many other industries.

Oh yea, UPDATE- 1 of my shrimp I bought in Roseville was dead this morning. The 2 from the other shop, still breathin' . Hey JIM, I think I'm going eat the shrimp and post the pic in Feeding Frenzy ..LOL .. I wonder how peel-n-eat Cleaner Shrimp with cocktail sauce would be ?????

[Mike]

In a way it is good news for me because Acropora are now cheaper LOL unless you get the exotic Aussie from DFS.

[XSiVE]

In a way it is good news for me because Acropora are now cheaper LOL unless you get the exotic Aussie from DFS.

Same here, Im still just as into SPS as I have always been so I'm opposite the current trend, well, somewhat anyway

[fishtal]

Interesting thread. One thing I didn't see mentioned yet is locally produced captive bred fish, corals and inverts...

Granted, the supply of locally produced livestock isn't huge but with more support it could be.

Keep in mind that buying and selling locally produced, captive bred, livestock not only reduces the impact of the hobby on reefs around the world, it also cuts down on the impact/costs of shipping things around the world...

I'm not against sustainable collection of species that we can't currently raise in captivity. I'm all for sustainable collection practices along with promoting captive propagation.

As Poseidon mentioned above, if X number of fish are lost during transport, no one wins.

[rmalone]

The reason prices are higher is definately tied to shipping, but to say it's silly that an lfs is selling a common frag for high dollars is crazy. If people pay the price it would be silly not to charge that much. Nobody is getting rich on this hobby, if they are more power to them. Do higher prices suck for all us working stiffs? Of course they do, but if we keep on handing over the $$, the prices will stay where they are. Keep in mind if we all stop paying top dollar some of these items will not be cost effective to import and then we wont have access. Soooo, it sucks but it's the reality we are going to be living with.

[Mike]

I see more sales in the summer time too.

[gooch]

I see more sales in the summer time too.

Thats because from about May to just after Labor Day sales drop off the map and most vendors struggle to make enough to cover bills and payroll. Seriously sales for many drop to less than half what they do from Sept to April. They do for us and have every year that I have been in business for the last nine years. It's fine if you are well established and you can plan for it. But many of the newer shops get left with thier pants down and summer just kills em. When it is good it is OK. When it's bad it is really bad.

[cocothereef]

Recession = slow income,thus they jack up the price to balance the income.Try shopping craig's list sometimes,they post nice frag chalice for low price.