There was little sign of the shock in store for Wolves in the early stages as Adam Proudlock and Mark Kennedy had shots saved by the Seagulls on-loan keeper Ben Roberts.
The home side then seized the initiative with two goals in the space of 14 minutes before half time.
Bobby Zamora put them ahead on 31 minutes with his ninth of the campaign, volleying in a Paul Brooker cross at the far post after Wolves' defender Joleon Lescott thought the ball was running out for a goal kick.
The visitors were penalised for more poor defending just before the break, the unmarked Dean Blackwell heading his first goal for Brighton from a Richard Carpenter free kick.
Brooker stretched Brighton's lead further in stunning style two minutes into the second half. He finished off a four-man move that stretched the length of the field by sweeping in Zamora's low cross at the far post.
Kenny Miller briefly brought demoralised Wolves back to life with a diving header from a Kennedy cross on 65 minutes, his fifth goal in four games.
The fightback was short lived however, as just two minutes later Gary Hart held off Lee Naylor and rounded keeper Matt Murray to slot his fifth of the season.
Coppell said: "I am delighted that our mentality in the second half was to push on and get more goals.
"At 3-1 not so long ago we would have sunk back and tried to protect that, but we kept going forward and creating things."Dejected Wolves manager Dave Jones said: "It was a poor performance. Too many players didn't do their jobs."