Selling Plants on E-Bay

martinsoton

Hi all

I am new to this board but was thinking about getting myself in gear for next year and sellig plants on E-bay.. what do you all think?

Any thoughts on what would sell best at all?

Thanks in advance for your help.

Martin

frivolous_fay

I wondered about selling seeds so I'm interested in the answers

loulou88

WELL I JUST THOUGHT ID LET YOU KNOW I BOUGHT STRAWBERRY PLANTS OFF EBAY (SORRY CAPS ON IM NOT SHOUTING) and the plants are doing fine I bought 5 small plants for £5 plus postage,
They came well wrapped in a small amount of soil around the roots and wrapped in plastic then wrapped in corrigated cardboard, stapled around edges.They also has a small piece of paper with care and planting instructions (great for newbies) printed on it. They arrived safely even to the scotish island where i live and came from the mainland.Hope this helps. I think with the credit crunch more people will be looking at growing food plants,
good luck.

olly300

I suggest that you go to the listings and see which plants sell and how much for. I was looking at getting rid of some of my excess plants on ebay and because lots of the plants I had didn't seem to have anyone interested I just found people to give them away to.

Most of the seed sellers do a "buy it now" and do discounts for buying multiple packets..

The thing that stops me buying plants on ebay is the postage compared to buying it locally or from large postal plant sellers.

However I buy seeds from ebay as often you can get a larger amount or more unusual seeds for less including postage then from other places.

peter_the_piper

Whatever you decide to sell make sure its of a decent size, would you be pleased to get it? Pack it well and post by 1st class only, plants do not last long in the dark of a postal pack. Sell only in the correct season and all should go well. Best of luck.

louise_1981

Depends on if it s hobby or to make money to live on.

I sold quite a lot of lily of the valley from my garden as it was over run, and made a good 100 pounds or so

plants sell better than seeds, but of course plants take up more space.

Look at was has been selling well on ebay this year and buy seeds. one 8 ball courgette went for 6 pound a few weeks ago. more unusual beans are good sellers, so too are staples such as mange tout tomatoes. Heritage breeds are good sellers too

Starting early, indoors, is a one good way you get a head start on the season

jaquivander

Hope I may be able to help out a little with a few points, have sold (and bought) many plants and seeds on ebay.
The main thing is the POSTAGE if you are selling a plant I would suggest actually packing it before you calculate the P&P charges. You would be amazed at how much a plant (with soil and pot) costs to post.

As Peter said, only send by 1st class and DON'T post on Saturdays! (I actually post only monday to friday to make sure they're not sitting in a depot for the weekend)

I always have part of the packaging where the plant can be seen (i.e plastic PET bottle for the lid, a postie friend of mine gave me that tip. He reckons it's less likely it will be squashed through a letterbox or put at the bottom of a sack that way

I have found the plants which sell are the rarer , or quirky , ones.
Also good ones to sell also seem to be the "windowsill" kind of plants esp. veg which can be container grown

If you are selling multiple lots of the same type of plant, photo them all individually so the buyer knows exactly what they are getting

The best seed bargains for the rarer plants seem to be on worldwide (esp. Australian ) sites...that's ebay.com
Hope the tips help a little

louise_1981

personally I send my plants bare rooted, and buyers seem to appreciate me trying to keep their costs lower. I have found through trial and error that pop bottles split around the middle and put back together and cellotaped around the middle makes a great package. I also tend to stick urgent (don't know if that workes) and live plants (again not sure of impact)

alanobrien

I have bought lots of plants on ebay 99% are ok.
Two things to be sure of, 1) make sure the photo is of the actual plant and 2) make sure the plant name is correct. These are the only things i have had issues with in the past.

martinsoton

Thanks to everyone for their advice. I will look to do some research on e-bay as to what is selling this year and get the seeds all ready to sow to sell next year...

Will also remember all your tips about postage!

Thanks - I may be back again for further advice....

Davesnave

loulou88 wrote: »

WELL I JUST THOUGHT ID LET YOU KNOW I BOUGHT STRAWBERRY PLANTS OFF EBAY (SORRY CAPS ON IM NOT SHOUTING) and the plants are doing fine I bought 5 small plants for £5 plus postage,
They came well wrapped in a small amount of soil around the roots and wrapped in plastic then wrapped in corrigated cardboard, stapled around edges.They also has a small piece of paper with care and planting instructions (great for newbies) printed on it. They arrived safely even to the scotish island where i live and came from the mainland.Hope this helps. I think with the credit crunch more people will be looking at growing food plants,
good luck.

I think Lou Lou's post sums it up well. She got a bargain & someone else got a lot of hard work for a fiver!

If you are going to be doing this as a hobby, well and good, but as someone who's been in the trade, I'd say dont expect to make serious money. I was fully legit, kept books, had insurance, paid tax etc, which may not be things uppermost in your mind at present, but that is only half of it. The fact is, unless you have quite a sophisticated set-up, producing good quality plants in quantity, then shifting them is a difficult undertaking. Also, the postal/courier service in this country has driven many nurserymen/women to abandon long distance sales, as so much time can be spent chasing up things that (inevitably) go wrong. That said, others, especially in out of the way places, still do it.

Remember there are always car boot sales to experiment with at minimal cost. They are not the place for esoteric things, so I'd agree with those who say simple edibles and seasonal plants would be best there.

Mind you, if you do find a really profitable way to grow & sell plants, on E-bay or anywhere else, please come back & tell us. Id love to know where I went wrong!