does anyone make money on the side selling frags?

I have run a small coral frag business out of my house and it has helped with paying for some of my stuff, but not really made money on a constant basis. The problem is that if you set up a tank just for fragging, it may be difficult to have enough turnover to make it worthwhile.

There is no way you are going to be able to grow enough pieces on your own to make $200 per month, so what it comes down to is how are you going to get your supply.

A wholesaler most likely won't work with you because you are too small, so your only other option is to buy large pieces that other people are looking to get rid of and frag them into multiple pieces. Aka- buy a 5" x 1" piece of monti cap for say $15 and make 5- 1" pieces to sell for $5 each.

Then you need to figure out how you are going to sustain enough customers when you can't get specific coral varieties that they want because your supply is spotty at best.

IMO it is very difficult to do if you are trying to make a constant profit month after month. The only way I have been able to do it is because I look for great opportunities and then just capitalize on them, but they are far from a steady in-flow.

 

+1 to what has already been said. You should do it because you ENJOY it, because you will never make enough money to cover your expenses. Help with some of your overhead, yes........get you some extra money to buy that next, new piece you want, yes, but 200.00/month........highly unlikely.

Wholesale will not sell to you.......they will only sell to people with business licenses so you would have to buy the pieces outright and frag them to sell.

I would set up a frag tank and concentrate on a few select pieces that you like and think others in your area wants. Then look into your local reef clubs and sell them at their frag swaps.

 

This is so true. And don't come up with the idea of buying cheap colonies to chop and sell as frags. Chop shops get bad reps quick **coughmrcoralcough**

Local clubs and frag swaps are your best bet. Only don't assume what is popular in your area, instead get on area club forums and find out what it is that people want. I'm fortunate to live in a location that puts me in easy reach of clubs in SD, IA, MN and NE.

 

To be honest, just because one business has a bad reputation, doesn't mean that it doesn't work. Not everyone is looking to buy a $100 8" x 8" favia, but if you offer them a 2" x 2" piece for $15, they will still see the value. Every single location that sells frags is a "Chop Shop" (as you so bluntly put it ;D )- that's how frags are made.

I've never dealt with MR. Coral, so I can't speak from experience in that regard, but the reason people get bad reps is because they have poor quality frags or have no idea what they are doing and will recommend an SPS when you have a single t5 over your tank.

As for my own "micro business", I know the care of every single coral I buy in this manner and before I sell ANYTHING, I ask what set-up the person has. I will not sell it to them unless I am positive it will survive. I have people who absolutely love the pieces they buy from me because they get them home and they flourish. They then come back for more.

You should be an expert on anything you sell- #1 rule of being a salesperson. If you are a caring seller and want what is best for your customer, you will most likely succeed. It's when people get greedy and start taking shortcuts that they fail.

 

No but for real, mr coral really is a chop shop.

 

Mike, people who type in lime green font go to purgatory.

 

Mr coral just changed ownership and their stuff has been improved quite a bit, but like astrick said, most places are chop shops lol.

 

I sell enough to cover any new additions at this point. But that's about it. It helps curve the cost of the hobby, but no where close to break even on even my monthly expenses much less the start up costs. Though, if it had been my goal, I'm sure I could be closer to break even still not enough to make a profit worth the time. It's more about the fun and I love trades. I have gotten my favorite stuff by trading.

 

I supplemented my unemployment for 2 years selling frags. I sold on CL, local clubs, and also traded for store credit to help with salt and supplies. I wasnt getting 200 a month, it was more along the lines of couple hundred every few months. But when on unemployment making enough to keep the tank going without dipping into normal budget expense money was really nice. Near the end I didnt have anything you could call a colony left, but I did get to keep the tank.

 

FYI guys and gals. Selling coral is 100% exploitation of this hobby. Rather than selling them you should consider giving them away to get more people into this hobby that we all love. We all know the most limiting factor in this hobby is the expense and time and time again we here someone say, "I would love a saltwater tank but it's so expensive." Lets stop this enless excuse.

And by the way, since you are now in the giving spirit, feel free to PM me for my address so you can send me some free frags. Please exotic or named pieces only. Thank you in advance.