BCSS - Forum

Cidermanrolls wrote: ↑Thu Oct 06, 2022 5:04 pm "A modest spend" is a relative term!
Having been at the sale, I was gobsmacked how much some people spent.
There were some spectacular plants and it was in a good cause, but some buyers must have spent thousands. One appeared willing to pay £150 to £300 for every large Ariocarpus or Lophophora going - and there were a lot.
It got to the point it felt rather disturbing to me, almost like some were bidding just to stop others getting the plant. How many large williamsii / retusus can one person need?
It's obviously a different world to the one I live in. Having seen it now at a couple of sales, I dont think I will be going to any more.

It was my first auction and I had no idea what to expect.

My total budget was £150 and I spent £110 total on four plants. I know several came away empty handed. It was obvious pretty early on that one or two bidders had come with serious cash and that bargains would be few and far between. The one you mention must have spent £5000 on the day. Even at the prices he paid, there's still room for profit if he flipped them. Certain plants are selling for silly money. Look at this recent eBay listing of a copiapoa cinerea for example.

There is a peculiar attitude to well grown old plants in this thread. If these were multigenerational bonsai trees they would be revered and economically valued but some seem to think that they should be sold cheaply.

If you want cheap plants sow seeds now, then when you pass over you will have beautiful old cacti.

Certain plants are selling for silly money. Look at this recent eBay listing of a copiapoa cinerea for example.

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What sort of a gambler pays over £500 for a plant from a seller with lower than 94% positive feedback on almost 1000 transactions? The price is stupid. Buying at any price from a seller with that feedback rating beggars belief.

Acid John wrote: ↑Thu Oct 06, 2022 9:32 pm There is a peculiar attitude to well grown old plants in this thread. If these were multigenerational bonsai trees they would be revered and economically valued but some seem to think that they should be sold cheaply.

If you want cheap plants sow seeds now, then when you pass over you will have beautiful old cacti.

No John
Nobody has criticised individual prices. Read again. The concern / comments have been about buying pattern / volume.

TrichoB said,
"He was clearly wanting to flip them. Was really gutted as I was wanting a couple of them but he would just run up to the point where it wasn't viable anymore."


If he was going to 'flip' them then the plants hadn't reached their true value.
I want a Bugatti but if I sold everything I own I still wouldn't have enough, does that mean the seller should sell it to me cheaply rather than someone who can afford it?
I think these plants are the Bugatti's of the cacti world and should be treated as such.
Plus of course the family will benefit from his legacy I believe.

The auction was to raise money for Colin's widow and family, and in that sense it was a huge success. The collection represented a man's life work, and some of the prices reflected that.

If the going rate for a mature loph or ariocarpus is £150-£200+, I'll have to look at buying younger plants, or find another species I enjoy

I don't think he was going to flip them, he paid too much for that. Also some of the plants weren't that good, there was one with scorch that really wasn't worth the price he paid.
I think he was just obsessed with them but didn't really know what was a reasonable price but if you want something & have the funds its your choice.

It was nice seeing some new faces even if one got the copiapoa I wanted , people went knowing that Colins plant were exceptional quality so the prices would be high, a friend went as he likes 'show quality specimens' & that's what most of them were, there was also some VERY rare plants, that you won't find elsewhere.
I quite fancied one of the brilliant blue columnars but my friend wasn't keen on me getting it in his car .