I was looking at getting some driftwood for my tank and man, the prices are crazy high since the last time I bought some DW. A 3 ft long piece has an asking price of $50 and up. Some of them don't even look that good. Every DW seller I've seen so far is asking those kind of prices. I know someone has to collect it, but if you live by an area with driftwood, you just have to cut it from the tree. It just seems like a little bit of labor for a lot of cash. What do you think? Is driftwood overpriced?
Why Is Driftwood So Expensive?
- Thread starter asm129
- Start date
The shipping cost is what kills you on big pcs.....Cost more than the wood and doubles the price before the reseller even marks it up!
Yeah but isnt nearly everything for aquarium keeping overpriced or expensive? I know every once and awhile I think why does this cost this much etc. Yet I won't leave the hobby so I pay their prices, I guess were all stuck.
As stated, supply and demand. Add to that collecting time, fuel/boat costs, and tools. Occassionally, ramp and parking fees. And, since everyone wants nice clean pieces, there's the cost of pressure cleaning and the equipment to do it and additional labor time. After all that, there's competition with other hobbys/professions such as with taxidermists looking for choice mounting pieces and decorators hunting for aesthetically pleasing pieces.
Find stuff not meant for the hobby (i.e. find your own wood, buy Ikea LED strips, play or pool filter sand) and you'll save a ton. I have done all three of those things and a few others I cant think of right now.
I like the look of manzanita but live in NY so I pay. I paid $65 with shipping for a nice gnarled piece and $120 with shipping for a thick trunk/tree (30 or 40 lbs). Add in the time collecting, fuel, cleaning, posting online, finding big enough boxes, packaging so things don't break, lugging huge boxes to the post office, dealing with pain in the customers, broken pieces, lost or stolen boxes etc. they ask what will make them a small profit probably not much in the end. Sure I collect pieces too but none look like manzanita though grapewood come close
I just make my own. Old cedar roots from central Texas look good. I don't know about leaching issues tho. I have continuous drip systems and just turn them up a bit with new wood.
If you want to find your own wood: first you must find wood that has been dead for a long time in an area of no pollution, second you must let the wood soak in a bath for about 2 months after you boil it completely, and third you must test the wood to make sure it sinks and that it doesnt kill fish in a test tank. It is a lengthy process that often ends in alge explosion and fish deaths.