Selling Bonsai

[Pat093]

Good Evening All

As we all know Bu$$ings sells their bonsai(mallsai) at a ridiculous price and first time bonsai customers leave with very little knowledge & information on how to care for their bonsai.
Anyways getting to the question of my post, i was wondering if any of you guys sell your bonsai to the public? And by that I mean putting up a sign around your area(like a garage sale) advertising bonsai? Also how are bonsai valued?
I have been thinking about this for awhile and I would like to do it for the achievement hopefully spreading the bonsai bug and also for a small amount of extra cash.

Cheers Pat

[Hackimoto]

I think that you will find that most Bonsai people do not want people that they don't know casing the place for a future night time visit. If you are thinking of doing that I would keep your valued ones very well locked up or have your sale at another property. Even the commercial Bonsai nurseries with security have regular break ins and thefts. Sorry to rain on your parade, but better to be forewarned.

[Bougy Fan]

You can always sell on eBay or at the markets - no risk then I wouldn't think it would be a huge money making enterprise - but could pay for pots or stock

[chrisatrocky]

The club I'm with has a sale section at our annual show where we can sell all the bonsai we want. This way you can get a little better price for you work and it helps the club out aswell because they recieve 10% commission on the sales. I make enough to buy some new stock for the next year. I would avoid advertising from your private residence because of the risk of theft and also you may be breaking some local by-laws.
As Bougy said, E-bay and your local markets are a good places to start.

chris

[Jester]

I would have to agree with the comments above, especially about theft. Maybe a one off sale at the local markets might be the go but NEVER tell people where you are based. Pricing IS a difficult matter and without boring you to tears with too much detail, I would focus on the price perception and demographic of the area you plan to sell in.

[Andrew F]

Yer Pat you should know better than to bring shady people [me] to your home

[Pat093]

Thanks for the replies guys.
I have thought about theft but i guess not enough.
Have any of you guys had stock stolen?

Yer Pat you should know better than to bring shady people [me] to your home

BTW Dont invite this guy to you house, he is crazy(jokes)

I might go sell on the side of the road one day? Ebay also sounds like a good idea

Cheers Pat

[chrisatrocky]

If you want to sell on the side of the road, check out the by-laws in your area first. Here in Rockhampton you need a licence. If court $1200 fine.

chris

[Andrew Legg]

Good Evening All

As we all know Bu$$ings sells their bonsai(mallsai) at a ridiculous price and first time bonsai customers leave with very little knowledge & information on how to care for their bonsai.
Anyways getting to the question of my post, i was wondering if any of you guys sell your bonsai to the public? And by that I mean putting up a sign around your area(like a garage sale) advertising bonsai? Also how are bonsai valued?
I have been thinking about this for awhile and I would like to do it for the achievement hopefully spreading the bonsai bug and also for a small amount of extra cash.

Cheers Pat

Pat, a tree is worth what someone is willing to pay for it. All too often I hear complaints by people selling their trees that people are a bunch of cheap-skates.
If nobody is willing to pay your price, then you are too high. If they are rocketing off the shelf, you are probably a bit low. Finding the middle ground is the trick!

[Stewart_Toowoomba]

If you want to sell on the side of the road, check out the by-laws in your area first. Here in Rockhampton you need a licence. If court $1200 fine.

chris

court...... no pun intended??

[Barry1]

Pat just one other thing about selling on Ebay ; thats fine if it's local pickup but if you intend to freight trees you really need to know how to pack them well
Alpineart and Mojo to name a few would be able to give some input into packing trees for freighting

Cheers
Barry

[Damian Bee]

You know what, personally, I am sick of the paranoid Bull S#!+ regarding theft. If you are worried about someone jumping your fence there are more than a few ways to put a thorn in their side.
If the mere spectre of theft is going to stop you from a small venture then you may as well lock yourself up in a safe and rot.
No one wants to be stolen from, its a crap thing to have happen to you. Having a good relationship with your neighbours and limiting access to your property is a good starting point and depending on the quality of your stock (no offence intended Pat ), why would anyone bother jumping a fence and risk injury or getting busted for a starter tree or similar?

If Pat wants to promote Bonsai then what is stopping him? Fear?

At this rate, Bonsai will always remain behind closed doors in Australia and this still does not stop theft.

Back me down if you like but I reckon my point is fairly clear

Ps. I already have a short fuse this morning hence the blunt nature of the post, apologies in advance to anyone I may have peeved.

[Hackimoto]

You know what, personally, I am sick of the paranoid Bull S#!+ regarding theft. .

Old saying: Just because you're paranoid, it doesn't mean that they are not out to get you!

[Damian Bee]

[Anth]

I'm with Damien on this one, my previous hobby was aquariums at one point I had over 50 fish tanks and thousands of $$$$$ worth of fish. I had a few friends that were always paranoid about theft and spend thousands on security system and still had their fish stolen . 80% of the theft were done by people they knew and trusted.
The key is good security and neighbors that will look out for you. It's a sad world when you need to worry about such things but we really need to look at the chances of it happening.
I have had things stolen from me and it is shattering and heart breaking but it was only once in 10 year I was in the hobby.