Cactus Pricing?

[Echinocactus123]

Hello everyone, I'm starting a small business selling mainly astrophytum asterias, everything from normal and nudum to superkabuto, startype and more. I'm just not sure how much I should sell them for, I want to be reasonable but there really aren't many uk sellers of asterias anymore. What would you pay for these plants, most of them are around 5cm of so.

[Stuart]

Compared with most other plant species,cacti are pretty cheap in relation to the time involved in growing them. I usually price Astrophytums - mostly Asterias and Capricorne/Asterias hybrids at £4 but it's not unusual to list them on ebay and have them sell for the starting price of £2.50. I don't think anyone would complain at £5 for a nicely grown Astrophytum in a 6.5cm pot. I'd suggest taking a tray full to a branch meeting or booking a table at a cactus mart next year to see how they sell.

Stuart

[Echinocactus123]

Thank you, I'll give that a go

[Stuart]

A couple more thoughts after an hour working in the greenhouse. Generally, if a plant looks good, the price doesn't matter too much and people tend to look at the plant before the price. If one of my £4 plants was priced between £3 and £7 it would probably sell just as well. Also, anyone can buy a plant wholesale and sell it at a profit but growing a quality plant from seed is a skill that not many of us can do. Those who produce quality seed-grown plants don't appreciate their own talent and generally sell them for well below what I'd consider their true value.
If you take plants to a show or meeting and a nurseryman buys the lot - it does happen - then it's a sign they were priced too low. At a time when nurseries are closing with more closing soon, it's good to see new young growers coming along.

Stuart

[Echinocactus123]

Ok thank you,.there are curtain plants that I wouldn't sell as cheap as my normal asteriases for example since astros are so variable, you get wierd mutants popping up occasionally. It really depends on the individual plant I think. Thanks again