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Considering selling a few plants on eBay

OK, if this violates forum rules, feel free to lock/delete, as i certainly don't wish to compete with PFT.

I plan not to sell any plants PFT sells, and I am NOT offering to sell plants here to PFT forum members. (They can all trade with me for free, anyway...)

My question is:

Of the plants on my growlist that PFT does NOT sell, which sell the best on eBay for the highest value?

Is there a significant difference in price paid for Utrics if an established 3" pot is offered, as opposed to a 1.5" square starter plug?

I am not looking to sell a lot; just enough so that my plants "pull their weight and pay their rent" to satisfy my wife. If I can recoup about what I paid for plants and plant growing supplies, it should satisfy her enough.
 
[b said:
Quote[/b] ]Of the plants on my growlist that PFT does NOT sell, which sell the best on eBay for the highest value?
You can easily do a search on completed sales to get an idea (although they only go back a few months(?))

Although it's probably obvious - shipping now may not be a good thing...

Also - people there tend to have very high 'standards'. I guess when they're paying good money for something, they expect something close to perfection (packaging, plant condition, timeliness, communication, etc).
 
Nepenthes - most fetch 15+

Sarracenia - Not all that interested in these so I don't look at prices, but I would assume they do well ?10+?

Pinguicula - some do well others don't 5-10

Utricularia - again some do good others don't, not many full pots get put up for auction. Most plugs go for 2-5.
You have a few that might get over the 5 mark.
Groups of Utricularia do better then if sold individually, you get more bidding wars on them.

I would assume (you know what they say about assuming) that offering collections of Pinguicula, and Sarracenia would fetch a better price as well.

[b said:
Quote[/b] ]Also - people there tend to have very high 'standards'. I guess when they're paying good money for something, they expect something close to perfection (packaging, plant condition, timeliness, communication, etc).

Packing I'm not to picky about, plant condition is a must as well as timeliness. Even slight lapses in those 2 are ok, as long as communication is excellent.
 
[b said:
Quote[/b] (Gawd_oOo @ Jan. 06 2006,5:47)]Utricularia - again some do good others don't, not many full pots get put up for auction. Most plugs go for 2-5.
You have a few that might get over the 5 mark.
Groups of Utricularia do better then if sold individually, you get more bidding wars on them.
I assumed I'd do better selling them in sets rather than individually. Plus, since they're getting them all in one shipment, they'll pay more per utric, since shipping for the set would likely be constant (assuming I'm offering plugs, and not pots).
 
lol my wife keep threatening to do this to me. i may give it a try this spring summer. when i purchase plants off ebay im want them to get to me ASAP and want them to be in good condition when they get to me which usually means good packaging. if you have any delays in shipping contact the buyer ASAP and this goes a long, long ways twords keeping them happy. personally i dont mind paying extra to make sue they were shipped with a tracking number so i can conferm they have been sent and are on their way. but this is me. good luck Scott. ive been contemplating doing simmilar around here. start a bunch of D. capensis from seed and sell hem to the local greenhouse or sell them myself
 
SS, sell the wife. Get more for her than the plants anyway, and the nagging goes away. OR!- Find a new woman who supports both you and the hobby, and be happy! OR- I will shut up and you can handle it any way you want too!!!! LOL!!!!!
 
[b said:
Quote[/b] ]SS, sell the wife. Get more for her than the plants anyway, and the nagging goes away.

And when she takes all your stuff with her , you'll have more room forthe plants.
 
[b said:
Quote[/b] (Bugweed @ Jan. 07 2006,11:07)]SS, sell the wife. Get more for her than the plants anyway, and the nagging goes away. OR!- Find a new woman who supports both you and the hobby, and be happy! OR- I will shut up and you can handle it any way you want too!!!! LOL!!!!!
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Maybe that should be the other way around for us ladies with hubbies that need to go and then we will have more room for our plants... LOL!!!!! Atleast the plants dont yak back at us or give us a hard time..
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Besides they also dont trash the house and we dont have to clean up after them nor do they leave the darn toilet seat up... "CP's gota love um"...
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Selling plants on ebay is easy.

Just put your plants on individually, set starting bids of $0.99, $1.99 or $2.99 depending on how much they're worth and make sure you have photos and some growing instructions up there.

As long as you are capable of sending plants in the post, it's a cinch.
 
  • #10
You looking for some cash too huh
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. Nepenthes will nab you the most on ebay. I guess I'll have to learn how to sell there after I get these plants from Australia.
 
  • #11
[b said:
Quote[/b] (lol @ Jan. 07 2006,2:02)]You looking for some cash too huh
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.  Nepenthes will nab you the most on ebay.  I guess I'll have to learn how to sell there after I get these plants from Australia.
Problem for me with selling Neps is I've so far only propagated the most common hybrids... my others have grown so slowly, i haven't yet been able to take cuttings.

I bet if i had a number of N. bicalcarata cuttings, they'd sell well!
 
  • #12
Well, I can only speak from a buyer's point of view, but I think that'll help you see what you should include. Pictures and intstructions are a must. If a straightup picture doesn't wow people, then include some pictures of the traps (even if they're microscopic.) Having some nice pictures is a way to motivate people to stick around and read what you have to say. If they like what you say (they should propably be able to say "Hey, that sounds easy enough, I could do that!") then you've got it.

Assuming that your target market is people new to these types of plants, having these plants be cheap is a good thing.

While utrics (etc) wont sell for as much as a Nep, that can be a good thing, and you should use it to your advantage. As a cheap plant, there's much less at stake, so if a person buys then, they don't need to cry for their wallet if the plants die.

Since people are less intimidated by the price and/or size, you can probably sell your plants to newbs more easily than you could a Nep. Since they are small, there will probably be a fair number of 'em, this gives you the opportunity to sell to a bunch of different people and get a good satisfaction record for people to look at.

All in all, having them be cheaper and smaller isn't really a bad thing at all.
 
  • #13
You should try to target both newbs and serious collectors. The point of using ebay is to get as much money as you can
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  • #14
I think we all realise that the idea is to get the most money, but that may require targeting a specific group (like in real life marketing.) The point is that he doesn't really need to worry about the "serious collector" group because they know what they're doing. The point is to include text that appeals to newbs; the serious collectors know what the plant is, and either they already know everything in which case any information you could give is useless, or they benefit from what is already written (growing conditions and the like.) Targeting new growers as a sales group doesn't prohibit long time growers from purchasing the items, it just means that you're making sure to include information which will encourage new growers to bid on the product. Make sense?
 
  • #15
ss- well cephs are selling in the 60s for adults and 30s for lil ones.

If your darlingtonia is large, break a side shoot and sell it they'll go for 30-40s if mature and you'd have to put them as "sarrecenia : cobra lilly darlintonia" so they are spotted.

Utrics sell for more if they are large plugs- typicly in the 10s
but if you sell them in kits they can go into the hundreds, ive seen them go for 120.

helias sell for huge amounsts if they are mature.
HAS ANYONE SEEN THE AMAZING HELIAS THAT ARE SELLING RIGHT NOW!? they are $60 right now and belive be they'll fetch $200-400! they are heliamphora chimantensis and follicularis.

Sarrecenia do horible.

Nepenthes always go for 20-30s if its a cutting from a mature plant.
 
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