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How come CP vendors don't discuss the age of the plants
- Thread starter ps3isawesome
- Start date
First of all, unless the seller germinated the plants themselves, they have no idea the actual age of the plants they are selling.
Secondly, it is entirely up to the grower / buyer (you) to take proper care of the plant and grow it to adulthood. This can take anywhere from a couple years to decades depending how it's cared for, if it's fertilized, if it gets set back from pests or bad weather, improper care, etc. There is just way too many variables to honestly say conclusively "this plant will be a flowering adult within 2 years".
My aunts garden center / greenhouse job has a "1 year customer guarantee" that the plants you get from them will survive a year or you will get your money back or new plant of equal or lesser value. I think that's simply ridiculous, since someone could seriously abuse a plant over the course of a whole year.
Secondly, it is entirely up to the grower / buyer (you) to take proper care of the plant and grow it to adulthood. This can take anywhere from a couple years to decades depending how it's cared for, if it's fertilized, if it gets set back from pests or bad weather, improper care, etc. There is just way too many variables to honestly say conclusively "this plant will be a flowering adult within 2 years".
My aunts garden center / greenhouse job has a "1 year customer guarantee" that the plants you get from them will survive a year or you will get your money back or new plant of equal or lesser value. I think that's simply ridiculous, since someone could seriously abuse a plant over the course of a whole year.
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Age is somewhat meaningless. A lot depends on growing conditions. Grower A can grow from seed to maturity in 1-3 years but Grower B with seeds from the same batch takes 3-5 years. And what about divisions or Tissue Culture clones? if you take a division from a 20 year old seed grown plant that took 5 years to reach maturity how old do you say the division is? 20 years old? 5 years old? What if it takes two or three years for the division to put up flowers - is it two, three, five or 20 years? And why do a lot of book/record keeping when an experienced grower can just look at a plant and judge the maturity of a plant with a reasonably degree of accuracy.
I see. Thanks
As far as your aunt's garden center. The "1 year customer guarantee" most likely will increase sales and decrease returns. This is an over simplified explanation.
Let’s face it, your aunts customer will make the decision of whether or not to buy from her based on two factors:
The degree to which they believe that her product or service will solve their problem
or
The level of risk (monetary, likelihood of getting a result, ease of use, level of satisfaction, etc.) associated with buying the product.
The first part of the equation has everything to do with her marketing, how well she articulates her message and unique selling proposition
The second part of the equation is directly correlated with the guarantees and her ability to REVERSE customer’s risk.
If she can reduce or even totally eliminate their risk in doing business with her, then converting the prospect into a buyer is exponentially easier!
Money Back Guarantee: The most common form of this type of guarantee is the ever-so-popular “30-day money back guarantee.” Though, this is a good start (average at best), an even stronger guarantee would be a 45-day, 60-day, 90-day, 1-year or lifetime guarantee. In fact, the longer she extend sthe guarantee, chances are her sales will increase and the returns will decrease! This strategy also accounts for customers who chooses not to go through with the return process.
And, the stronger your guarantee is when compared to your competitors – the more you will dominate the market and make your competition completely irrelevant!
As far as your aunt's garden center. The "1 year customer guarantee" most likely will increase sales and decrease returns. This is an over simplified explanation.
Let’s face it, your aunts customer will make the decision of whether or not to buy from her based on two factors:
The degree to which they believe that her product or service will solve their problem
or
The level of risk (monetary, likelihood of getting a result, ease of use, level of satisfaction, etc.) associated with buying the product.
The first part of the equation has everything to do with her marketing, how well she articulates her message and unique selling proposition
The second part of the equation is directly correlated with the guarantees and her ability to REVERSE customer’s risk.
If she can reduce or even totally eliminate their risk in doing business with her, then converting the prospect into a buyer is exponentially easier!
Money Back Guarantee: The most common form of this type of guarantee is the ever-so-popular “30-day money back guarantee.” Though, this is a good start (average at best), an even stronger guarantee would be a 45-day, 60-day, 90-day, 1-year or lifetime guarantee. In fact, the longer she extend sthe guarantee, chances are her sales will increase and the returns will decrease! This strategy also accounts for customers who chooses not to go through with the return process.
And, the stronger your guarantee is when compared to your competitors – the more you will dominate the market and make your competition completely irrelevant!
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bluemax
Lotsa blue
I like to call them, FS (flowering size), NFS (near flowering size), and with Mexican Pinguicula, that is a fairly accurate description, but still depends a great deal on the ability of the customer to understand and follow growing instructions, or develop growing skills. I do like the NFS plants to be well enough along that many will still reach FS despite many environmental shortcomings they may experience in their new home. In other words, they have the resources to reach FS, in desperation, especially if their new environment isn't optimal enough to help them to easily reach it.
I have learned to grow Mexician Pinguicula from seed or leaf-pullings to FS plants in six months or less (usually much less). But in my earlier days, with lesser cultivation experience and skill, I had seedlings sit there for several years, barely growing larger, at all. These days I can help my plants mature quickly, or let them grow more slowly (my choice), with virtually no harm to the plants. Drosera, Dionaea, Sarracenia, and many others can also be moderated in this way, with cultivation experience and technique.
I like having the experience of TC, but the know-how to propagate many plants, efficiently without the need for TC.
But I don't think a lifetime of experience with propagating plants is essential to understand this. Just a good book, website, or someone willing to explain some of the possibilities. The details, however, only seem to come with practice and experience.
Perhaps some growers have trouble explaining these issues. I know that for most of my earlier years of growing, I would have had trouble doing so.
I have learned to grow Mexician Pinguicula from seed or leaf-pullings to FS plants in six months or less (usually much less). But in my earlier days, with lesser cultivation experience and skill, I had seedlings sit there for several years, barely growing larger, at all. These days I can help my plants mature quickly, or let them grow more slowly (my choice), with virtually no harm to the plants. Drosera, Dionaea, Sarracenia, and many others can also be moderated in this way, with cultivation experience and technique.
I like having the experience of TC, but the know-how to propagate many plants, efficiently without the need for TC.
But I don't think a lifetime of experience with propagating plants is essential to understand this. Just a good book, website, or someone willing to explain some of the possibilities. The details, however, only seem to come with practice and experience.
Perhaps some growers have trouble explaining these issues. I know that for most of my earlier years of growing, I would have had trouble doing so.
Tell that to companies like REI who have recently dropped their lifetime returns due to abuse. There's more to it than mitigating customer risk. You need to take into account that some people just want free stuff. A long guarantee is subject to abuse especially in the case of plants where durability is completely determined by the end user.
As others have mentioned, age isn't necessarily an indicative metric. You can have a plant that is one year old and still basically a seedling. Or you can have one that is tissue cultured and far more advanced. As mentioned above, other metrics such as size or maturity relative to flowering are more useful for everyone involved.
you left out the other sentence that is part of that the first quote "This strategy also accounts for customers who chooses not to go through with the return process. ".
Ya, you're def right. I've seen cases studies of customer abusing return policies that just blew my mind. Someone tried to return TIRES at Nordstorms when they had a ridiculous we'll take everything return policy. However, your assumption doesn't account for many post purchase behavior and you also assume customers are 100% utilitarian and rational or (cognitive) consumer which is not the case. We know people are also hedonic consumers (feeling based needs). This is really what the strategy targets. Which is why on average, sales of increase is higher than the total of return.
Though, when it comes to plants, I don't know. I've never read any psychographic analytics, AIO statements, or VALS to really say I know who they are and what they're thinking.
I haven't read the REI case, do you have any articles or information on the analytics of that policy? I"d love to know what happened.
Ya, you're def right. I've seen cases studies of customer abusing return policies that just blew my mind. Someone tried to return TIRES at Nordstorms when they had a ridiculous we'll take everything return policy. However, your assumption doesn't account for many post purchase behavior and you also assume customers are 100% utilitarian and rational or (cognitive) consumer which is not the case. We know people are also hedonic consumers (feeling based needs). This is really what the strategy targets. Which is why on average, sales of increase is higher than the total of return.
Though, when it comes to plants, I don't know. I've never read any psychographic analytics, AIO statements, or VALS to really say I know who they are and what they're thinking.
I haven't read the REI case, do you have any articles or information on the analytics of that policy? I"d love to know what happened.
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That certainly makes sense and it is what I want to know when contemplating a purchase and/or trade. If possible or an unknown person or quantity. I have heard of things like a person on an aquarist forum bought four "one inch" portions on plastic screen of U. graminifolia for a pretty penny and each portion contained two or three tiny threads covering perhaps 2% of the one inch. A picture tells a thousand words, especially if taken next to a ruler. Not always possible, but great when it does.
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Costco used to have such a policy. You could even return stuff without the receipt since it sales is in their database. However, electronics now can only be returned within 30 days (or perhaps it is 90). People were abusing the policy when they would return expensive wide-screen TVs after a year or so to upgrade to a newer model.
