Post #796210 by swizzle on Thu, Jul 11, 2019 8:24 PM

It is sad that so many old-timers have abandoned the site and it IS a great resource, what's even sadder though is that the majority of people new to Tiki use Facebook as their only source of information.

It doesn't matter how many times page moderators, on different pages, tell people to use Ooga Mooga or how many times people will leave the link to OM for a particular mug, people SHOULD know about the site but are too lazy to do their own research.

Just about every day someone posts a picture of a mug and asks for information on it. Occasionally you won't find a mug on OM but that's most likely down to either not searching for it properly or the mugs template is described (or named) in a way that might not be so obvious but it is very rare to not find what you are looking for there. Sometimes you see people comment that the search feature is not easy to use which i think is completely the opposite. I think it's very easy. It gives you lots of options on how to break down your search. It's only when you have to find a 'brown tiki' mug that it becomes time consuming because you have to go through 40 pages, which most people are far too lazy to do, but in general you'll usually find what you are looking for.

Another thing is Critiki. That is another site who's name gets mentioned all the time so people should be aware of it but still on an almost daily basis people ask about where they should go or what Tiki bars there are in whatever state/city they are visiting. I know that Critiki hasn't been updated in a while and is not entirely accurate but it definitely gives you a starting point. You can call all of the places listed before you go on your trip and if you find that some of them have closed THEN ask on social media.

Now in regards to your question, that is a topic that has been discussed on Facebook quite a few times and will no doubt come up again. The answer is two things.

1.) Supply and demand. There are more people into Tiki now and not enough mugs to go around (i'm talking new and small run mugs, not vintage). People selling the mugs, and not necessarily the actual makers but more so the bar/event, are aware that they can ask a higher price and know that they'll get it because there's more people who want the mug, and are willing to pay the asking price, than there are mugs available.
2.) Flippers. Even at the cost of some new mugs within hours of them being released they are up on eBay at ridiculously inflated prices. You only need to do a quick search there to get an idea and most of those mugs will never sell at the prices being asked, but some will because some people just HAVE to have it. The flippers are also a reason that they are selling at a higher price when they first become available because it's also a way to try and combat them. If the mug is very expensive to start with then it's harder for them to make a profit (at least less of one), or at least that's the theory.