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A koi fish was sold for $1.8 million dollars in an auction according to the source. It’s a huge price. Isn’t that? Unlike other ornamental fish, koi fish seem too expensive sometimes. Still, Koi fish is very popular worldwide.
Every koi keeper or backyard pond enthusiast wants to keep colorful and healthy koi. Healthy quality koi is so pricey in recent times. Now it is worth knowing why this simple fish has a huge cost.
This article will discuss the top 7 reasons why koi fish is too expensive. So without wasting time let’s dive deep into the topic.
Top 7 reasons why koi fish is too expensive?
Before diving into the reasons you must know that every koi fish isn’t valuable in the market. There is some type of normal koi that people eat as food is not valuable because they are easy to breed. Here we are talking only about colorful pet koi fish. Let’s get started.
1. Raising koi fish is hard enough
Unlike other fish, koi fish is very hard to raise properly. Now you may ask how’s this possible? It is because there are thousands of breeders you can find who are breeding koi continuously.
Yes, you are partially right. However, there are lots of other factors you have to consider. Initially, it seems that breeding koi is very easy and moreover it is a profitable business also. You will be amazed to know that a healthy koi can lay millions of eggs throughout its life.
According to researchers, it is proved that only 60% of koi fries are hatched even if koi breeders provide the ultimate care. Not only that but among that 60% of fries, more than 30% of fries have several types of deformities. For example, missing fans, abnormal gill covers, and other issues.
Now, those small amounts of healthy fries are raised with immense care by koi breeders. They do everything to enhance their coloration. This is one of the reasons why quality koi is so expensive
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2. Koi fish need too much care
Alive koi fries can be dead too. So any kind of adverse situation should not be allowed anyhow. For that reason, expert koi breeders raise those fries in a large pond (it depends on supply and demand).
If you want to be a koi breeder then you must build a large pond. Otherwise, you can’t get quality koi. A minimum of 1000-gallon is required for 2-3 adult koi. Now, you can imagine how much corpus you need to raise a certain amount of koi fries.
Secondly, if you want to do business then your koi must be the best and have top quality. Otherwise, dealers won’t come and purchase from you.
The quality of koi fish depends on what type of food you are giving to them. There are mainly two types of koi food available in the market. One is for their health and another is for coloration.
You as a koi breeder need both of them. You must know the price of quality koi food starts from $99. So you must understand raising a quality koi needs proper care and a price that reflects its market value.
Read More:- 10 varieties of Koi Fish: Origin, Description & Pictures
3. Dealers charge extra for their expertise
As a third factor, we can discuss koi about dealers. You must know that there are a few thousand koi breeders available who breed top-class koi for the rest of the world. Now, how do you determine who is a quality breeder and who isn’t? For this reason, dealers are required here.
If an ordinary person goes and wants to purchase koi then he/she will be cheated definitely. To identify the quality of the koi fish a person needs hell lots of experience that an experienced dealer can offer.
You should know that there are various varieties of koi available in the world. Breeders cross-breed different koi species and derive various patterns. Now some of these fish become very low quality and fragile. So without experience, it will be a very bad decision to purchase expensive koi fish in a bulk.
Furthermore, dealers maintain a long-term relationship with breeders so they know which one should be placed in the market. At the end of the business, they include the price of their expertise and time within the price of koi fish. So koi seem very expensive.
4. Supply can’t meet the worldwide demand
Insufficient supply is another very significant reason why koi fish seem so pricey. There are very few countries available that breed koi fish seriously. For Example – Japan, China, Indonesia, and some other South-East Asian countries. So it is obvious not to meet the original demand with the current supply.
Now, you may ask if there is enough demand then other countries can push for increasing productivity. However, it is not possible due to climate issues. Koi fish thrive in certain weather or climate. Japan is the most suitable place to provide that kind of climate to grow quality koi fish.
It is why Japanese koi breeders have taken koi breeding very seriously. They know the potential. Still, there is a lack of supply because of the expertise of koi care. So the price of koi has become high enough nowadays.
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5. Logistics & transportation cost is huge for koi
One of the best koi farms named Kodama Koi Farm declared all the shipping costs of koi fish all over the world. If you want then you can get it all breakdown from here.
In short, we can say that they will charge you an average of $150 for three numbers of adult koi. However, this price depends on size, variety, and what shipping method you choose.
It is not so simple. There are some other external costs also that you must consider. They are saying that they need to spend approximately $41.5 per order even if you cancel the order. So they have to overcome that. So koi become so expensive due to this type of shipping cost.
Secondly, koi fish is not just a product or any other pet. You have to package it well otherwise it will die within the package which is not good for a reputed dealer. Lastly, a dealer must notice how soon the koi package is reaching the destination. If it takes longer then the chances of dying of koi fish will increase.
6. High license fees in a particular country
There are some countries like the USA that charge a high license fee to the koi dealers. It helps to increase the koi price drastically. Due to this koi dealers have to pay to the government a certain amount of money before starting the business.
Not only that but the government charges customs duty for doing the business. It is some kind of tariff for importing or exporting goods from a certain country. The government knows this is a highly profitable business so the customs duty is also high for koi businesses. So it is one of the reasons why koi seems so pricey.
7. Several competitions affect koi supply
Lastly, you must know there are various types of competitions organized in several parts of the world. If you look at the web then you can definitely find some championships. Now, you may ask how a championship influences the price of koi.
You must understand that despite having tons of koi breeders in the world, very few koi breeders can raise quality koi fish. In the world, koi enthusiasts only look for those quality koi fish, nothing else.
Now, if a koi breeder is taking part in a championship, he/she will only focus on winning that medal. After that championship, those koi fish can be available for auction. Here you must understand that those quality koi can’t be sold in the market normally. At that point, it creates a deficit in supply despite having quality fish.
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Final Thoughts
This article has discussed the top 7 reasons why koi fish is too expensive in the world. There are other factors also which are not so significant but still influence the price of koi.
For example – petrol price. It does not affect the koi price directly but when petrol price goes up logistics and supply cause increases and the price of koi increases too. It means petrol influences koi price passively.
However, these 7 reasons are top of the list because these influence the koi price throughout the year. So you must consider it if you want to know about the koi pricing system.
Best of luck and happy fish-keeping.