【Epoch Times September 29, 2026】On September 28, the price of hairy crabs in Wuhan, Hubei Province, has plummeted by half. Industry insiders revealed that right after the Mid-Autumn Festival, the price of hairy crabs experienced a cliff-like drop.
According to the news from “Jiupai News” on September 28, many market merchants at the Wuhan Xinhua South Seafood Wholesale Market disclosed that this year’s hairy crab market presented an extreme “pre-festival hot, post-festival cold” situation.
Mr. Li, who has been engaged in seafood wholesale for many years, said, “During the Mid-Autumn Festival, the demand for gifts surged, causing a supply shortage in the market. Fine quality hairy crabs from Jiangsu were selling for up to 100 yuan per half kilogram, with individual crabs priced 10 to 20 yuan higher than usual.”
However, right after the Mid-Autumn Festival, prices experienced a significant drop. Ms. Zhang, a resident, mentioned, “The crabs that I was eyeing before the Mid-Autumn Festival were nearly 30 yuan each, but when I inquired today, they were only 15 yuan, more than half off.”
Regarding the stark difference in hairy crab prices before and after the Mid-Autumn Festival, Mr. Li explained, “One of the reasons for the high pre-festival prices is the gift packaging, with packaging premiums reaching nearly a hundred yuan. Most ordinary consumers find it difficult to distinguish crab quality and specifications and end up paying for unnecessary packaging and gimmicks. Some businesses even engage in mixed-size selling practices.” With the decrease in demand for gift boxes after the holiday, prices naturally fell.
Not only hairy crabs, but also the popular horseshoe crabs saw a significant price drop after the Mid-Autumn Festival.
As reported by “Qilu Yidian,” Mr. Liu, a merchant at a seafood market in Jinan, stated that the price of horseshoe crabs reached its peak before the Mid-Autumn Festival, nearly a hundred yuan per half kilogram, but after the festival, both wholesale and retail prices dropped by half.
One stall owner at the market revealed that initially, the overall price of horseshoe crabs was not very high when they first hit the market. However, right before the Mid-Autumn Festival, especially nearing the festival and on the actual day, prices notably increased. On the day of the Mid-Autumn Festival, horseshoe crabs were even selling for over 80 yuan per half kilogram and sometimes over 100 yuan.
In contrast, Mr. Liu, engaged in wholesale business at the seafood market, mentioned that on the second day after the Mid-Autumn Festival, the wholesale price of horseshoe crabs dropped by half in the early morning, and by evening, it even fell to 15-20 yuan per half kilogram.
In response to this, netizen “Riding Dog Accounting” complained, “Crabs are the biggest scam among seafood. The crabs bought at such high prices are basically for show! All shells and bones.”