Unique Corals BIG THUMBS UP!

[Mr. Microscope]

Just place my second order!

 

I need a CUC and they had the exact snails I was looking for. Banded Trochus and Nassarius Vibex!!! Been looking around for someone that sold those with no luck and low and behold UC comes through! While I was there, I figured I might as well pick up this:

 

[jedimasterben]

mother of god I need moar sticks.

[Tamberav]

$19 shipping?

 

You have my attention!

 

They have some nice Eviota and Trimma gobies too.. and dwarf dartfish.

[rengb6]

I placed an SPS order with them and received excellent fully encrusted frags. While attempting to pry the strawberry shortcake off of the frag plug it slipped and slammed against my wall, breaking off a tiny arm that had started growing in. Three weeks later the main body of that frag has started to encrust onto my rock and the small chip that broke off is sending off polyps. Obviously their frags are in great shape. I'll be placing a second order with them sometime this week.

[GHill762]

 

oh oh oh I hope UC comes to NR!!! thanks for getting the ball rollin' Markalot!!

[Mr. Microscope]

mother of god I need moar sticks.

I know acros are last on your list of SPS. They've got some very nice stylos, pocis, and birdsnests right now. I think there's even a pack.

http://uniquecorals.com/coral/sps/acropora-sp-uc-collection-sps-frag-pack-4-different-stock-frags.html

$19 shipping?

 

You have my attention!

 

They have some nice Eviota and Trimma gobies too.. and dwarf dartfish.

Right! I don't know how they keep shipping that cheap, but I love it! Yeah, I noticed all of those gobies too. It seems those are getting harder to come by. At least around me they are.

I placed an SPS order with them and received excellent fully encrusted frags. While attempting to pry the strawberry shortcake off of the frag plug it slipped and slammed against my wall, breaking off a tiny arm that had started growing in. Three weeks later the main body of that frag has started to encrust onto my rock and the small chip that broke off is sending off polyps. Obviously their frags are in great shape. I'll be placing a second order with them sometime this week.

lol! Awesome. Yeah, my acro came in and was extending polyps pretty much right away. +1 on health. I can't wait to see how my next frag looks.

[Tamberav]

Just place my second order! I need a CUC and they had the exact snails I was looking for. Banded Trochus and Nassarius Vibex!!! Been looking around for someone that sold those with no luck and low and behold UC comes through! While I was there, I figured I might as well pick up this:

 

Post a pic of what you actually get. Enchinata is on my wish list.

[glennr1978]

Right! I don't know how they keep shipping that cheap, but I love it!

 

 

First of all, let me preface this statement by stating that I have the utmost respect for Unique. There really should be more vendors out there like them. Now, to answer your question, they can advertise $19 shipping because they cover the difference in the price of the coral. For example, let's say they sell 3 frags at $50 each where other vendors would sell the same 3 frags for $40 each, but those other vendors charge $40-$50 for shipping (which is what it actually costs). Obviously this doesn't always work such as in the OP's case. The price of the one frag didn't cover the difference and they probably did in fact lose a few bucks by making that sale. That may sound like bad business but it's actually incredibly smart. You see, it's a numbers game. I would be willing to bet that the vast majority of their orders are for quite a few more than one frag. So over all, it works.

 

It's all about perception (please don't mistake that for deception, there's nothing deceiving about what Unique is doing). Kinda like when you go trade in a car that you're upside down on. If you owe 7k on a car that's worth 5k and the dealer tells you that they will give you 10k you would likely jump all over that deal, right? Well, it's not what it seems. What they do is "roll over" (aka add 5k to the price of the new car) the negative equity (5k) into the price of the new vehicle. So you're paying more for the same car that you could have bought for 5k less at another car lot. The car analogy gives you an idea of what's going on but it's not exactly the same. Unique isn't taking trade-in's, lol, they're betting on the customer buying enough corals to make up the difference. Which in most instances, I'm sure they do .

 

 

I would like to advertise $19 shipping as well, but I would have to increase my prices quite a bit to do so. Honestly, it all works out the same in the end.

[jedimasterben]

I know acros are last on your list of SPS. They've got some very nice stylos, pocis, and birdsnests right now. I think there's even a pack.

http://uniquecorals.com/coral/sps/acropora-sp-uc-collection-sps-frag-pack-4-different-stock-frags.html

 

And at this point Acropora are 2/3 of the SPS frags in my tank lol

[Lawnman]

 

First of all, let me preface this statement by stating that I have the utmost respect for Unique. There really should be more vendors out there like them. Now, to answer your question, they can advertise $19 shipping because they cover the difference in the price of the coral. For example, let's say they sell 3 frags at $50 each where other vendors would sell the same 3 frags for $40 each, but those other three vendors charge $40-$50 for shipping (which is what it actually costs). Obviously this doesn't always work such as in the OP's case. The price of the one frag didn't cover the difference and they probably did in fact lose a few bucks by making that sale. That may sound like bad business but it's actually incredibly smart. You see, it's a numbers game. I would be willing to bet that the vast majority of their orders are for quite a few more than one frag. So over all, it works.

 

It's all about perception (please don't mistake that for deception, there's nothing deceiving about what Unique is doing). Kinda like when you go trade in a car that you're upside down on. If you owe 7k on a car that's worth 5k and the dealer tells you that they will give you 10k you would likely jump all over that deal, right? Well, it's not what it seems. What they do is the "roll over" the negative equity (5k) into the price of the new vehicle. So your paying more for the same car that you could have bought for 5k less at another car lot. The car analogy gives you an idea of what's going on but it's not exactly the same. Unique isn't taking trade-in's, lol, they're betting on the customer buying enough corals to make up the difference. Which in most instances, I'm sure they do .

I would like to advertise $19 shipping as well, but I would have to increase my prices quite a bit to do so. Honestly, it all works out the same in the end.

Unique does have a little higher prices on corals than most vendors that charge 45-50 for shipping. It all works out to be the same but that 19 dollars pulls you in. I have never bought from them but I look often. Never heard a bad thing about there business either.

[jedimasterben]

First of all, let me preface this statement by stating that I have the utmost respect for Unique. There really should be more vendors out there like them. Now, to answer your question, they can advertise $19 shipping because they cover the difference in the price of the coral. For example, let's say they sell 3 frags at $50 each where other vendors would sell the same 3 frags for $40 each, but those other three vendors charge $40-$50 for shipping (which is what it actually costs). Obviously this doesn't always work such as in the OP's case. The price of the one frag didn't cover the difference and they probably did in fact lose a few bucks by making that sale. That may sound like bad business but it's actually incredibly smart. You see, it's a numbers game. I would be willing to bet that the vast majority of their orders are for quite a few more than one frag. So over all, it works.

 

It's all about perception (please don't mistake that for deception, there's nothing deceiving about what Unique is doing). Kinda like when you go trade in a car that you're upside down on. If you owe 7k on a car that's worth 5k and the dealer tells you that they will give you 10k you would likely jump all over that deal, right? Well, it's not what it seems. What they do is "roll over" (aka add 5k tot the price of the new car) the negative equity (5k) into the price of the new vehicle. So your paying more for the same car that you could have bought for 5k less at another car lot. The car analogy gives you an idea of what's going on but it's not exactly the same. Unique isn't taking trade-in's, lol, they're betting on the customer buying enough corals to make up the difference. Which in most instances, I'm sure they do .

 

 

I would like to advertise $19 shipping as well, but I would have to increase my prices quite a bit to do so. Honestly, it all works out the same in the end.

The thing with UC, though, is that their shipping used to be $30+ and the same prices as they currently have on their coral. They lowered shipping cost without increasing coral cost. (I've looked at their site quite a bit, but I can't guarantee that everything is the same as it was, of course )

[Lawnman]

The thing with UC, though, is that their shipping used to be $30+ and the same prices as they currently have on their coral. They lowered shipping cost without increasing coral cost. (I've looked at their site quite a bit, but I can't guarantee that everything is the same as it was, of course )

Well that is awesome. Sure if they take a loss on a sale they could be writing the loss off in taxes? Who knows but it's pretty cool of them to lower shipping and keep the prices the same.

[glennr1978]

The thing with UC, though, is that their shipping used to be $30+ and the same prices as they currently have on their coral. They lowered shipping cost without increasing coral cost. (I've looked at their site quite a bit, but I can't guarantee that everything is the same as it was, of course )

 

Probably so. They were basically doing the same thing, just to a lesser degree. There are actually quite a few vendors using this strategy now, Unique isn't the only one. Which is very likely what lead to the drop in the shipping charge. Gotta stay competitive .

 

They have plenty of mark up to ship at the rate they're advertising now. I could sell that same exact SPS pack for the price they quote, only mine would include shipping, and still make a little money. I guarantee that my overhead is considerably lower than theirs though.

[Tamberav]

I noticed the cost of the corals but in the end it is about the same cost. Their ponape birdsnest is $46 + $19 shipping = $65 and I have seen it on a sponsors website for $15 + $50 shipping = $65. Exact same cost. If you buy several corals at once though.. then the store with $50 shipping should be cheaper if all their frags are competitively priced.

 

In the end (for me), it comes down to selection. If a store has a few corals that are on my wish list, I'll probably order from them.

 

I need some snails though and I wouldn't mind a goby or two so I would probably add some corals. Their inverts and fish seem fairly priced to me. I wouldn't get the guarantee of Live Aquaria but sometimes their minimum order is a PITA.

[jedimasterben]

Probably so. They were basically doing the same thing, just to a lesser degree. There are actually quite a few vendors using this strategy now, Unique isn't the only one. Which is very likely what lead to the drop in the shipping charge. Gotta stay competitive .

 

They have plenty of mark up to ship at the rate they're advertising now. I could sell that same exact SPS pack for the price they quote, only mine would include shipping, and still make a little money. I guarantee that my overhead is considerably lower than theirs though.

True story. So when you gonna get some stylos and pocillopora?

[glennr1978]

Fwiw, if I weren't a vendor myself, I would buy my corals from Unique.

True story. So when you gonna get some stylos and pocillopora?

 

 

When I get quiet around here, it means I've got I've got something brewing, and I've been pretty quiet for a loooooong time .

[Tamberav]

Fwiw, if I weren't a vendor myself, I would buy my corals from Unique.

 

 

 

When I get quiet around here, it means I've got I've got something brewing, and I've been pretty quiet for a loooooong time .

 

Sticks?

[glennr1978]

Sticks?

 

PM me. I don't want to derail the thread further .

[markalot]

Fwiw, if I weren't a vendor myself, I would buy my corals from Unique.

 

 

 

When I get quiet around here, it means I've got I've got something brewing, and I've been pretty quiet for a loooooong time .

 

Hurry up!

 

I like to buy in small quantity, big orders make me nervous, so I take advantage of the cheaper shipping for smaller orders.

[Mr. Microscope]

ok....so this is a "1 inch stock frag"

sorry for the blue, I took it minutes after getting it into my tank with the moonlights on..

 

 

I used some image processing software (ImageJ) and measured it at nearly 1 3/4" tall. Score!

 

BTW, the nassarius I ordered are NOT vibex. They are the huge ones (not tonga, but some other kind). I now have six giant hungry nassarius roaming my tank. I gotta give away a few I think. The banded tronchus are cool. Much smaller than what I thought they'd be, but I think they should do the job.

[Nano sapiens]

The banded tronchus are cool. Much smaller than what I thought they'd be, but I think they should do the job.

 

 

Nice stock frag!

 

I've had Banded Trochus before and I consider them by far the best of the 1" and above snails. They can also live a few years, compared to the short life of some of the others.

 

I just received an order from UC today and as usual the packaging and organisms were in top shape. These guys really know how to take care of their livestock and how to ship properly.

[bluecoyote79]

With the $15 shipping for California I started ordering from Unique and have been blow away by the quality and prices. The frags are all huge, fully encrusted and the colors are awesome. I'm surprised it's not a better known source for corals.

[basser1]

Mr. Micro..... That is indeed one awesome looking frag. I ordered a "stock" strawberry shortcake frag a while back and I was impressed with how big it was as well.

[Mr. Microscope]

Here's some better pics of the Ice Fire!

 

Top down is a bit more accurate with color:

 

Better sense of scale here:

[ninjamyst]

they need to get those cherry blastos back in stock! i been waiting for weeks...