FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

Carnies wrote: ↑Fri Nov 25, 2022 3:55 pm I have an Etsy shop (Panman does too), once you get those first few sales, the algorithm or something starts putting your products on search results, tip: more products = more sales. It's super easy to list items but you need to pay .20 cents per listing and you can't get sales without at least $1 a day in Etsy ads. I would suggest to start propagting sundews via leaf cuttings b/c it's super easy, you get a ton of plants, and they grow pretty fast. I would list each product pretty low maybe 8.99, then increase by a dollar every 5 or so sales. Venus Flytraps are take a while so honestly I would just wait for divisions. On Etsy, you do get a good discount on shipping prices but you would need to get boxes, plastic wrap, shipping tape, and cups. It's an investment but the ROI is worth it. If you want more sales, when a customer contacts you, be super nice and give lots of tips, they'll recommend your shop far and wide because of it. That's just a few things I've learned, maybe Panman can chip in. You can also list plants on Nextdoor, and Craigslist for people in your area.

dont forget to turn off offsite ads (if you have didn't yet)... oh boy did i took a hit from that

Great info, Carnies!!!

If you ever want to buy bulk typical capes, I have tons.

Sundews69 wrote: ↑Fri Nov 25, 2022 1:44 pm ...but it seems like to much work

LOL. Yes it is work -- no matter which route you take. No one is going to show up at your door with a fistful of $ saying "Hey, I was just in the neighborhood with all this cash going from door to door checking if anyone happened to have a bunch of cps to sell me." No matter how you slice it, it will be work. Time involved with propagation & plant maintenance, establishing & maintaining a sales presence/site, promptly responding to potential buyers, packaging and mailing out sale items quickly can take up a lot more time than one might expect. And there will be expenses involved such plant supplies (media, pots, possibly extra lights, et cetera), & packaging materials, and fees like paying for a table should you go to a fair/farmers' market and/or all the various fees places like EBay or Etsy charge you to advertise and on your sales.

Also, keep in mind, especially when trying to sell online, the competition. Anymore, you can't swing a dead plant without "hitting" someone selling cps. And most of the plants offered will be the common things like D. capensis, rotundifolia, and so forth. This will limit what you can reasonably charge and therefore what kind of profit you can make.

If you want something a little easier than shipping, I would recommend going to a local Farmers Market and signing up as a vendor, there's a usually a ton of foot traffic going on so you'll make some good sales.

Carnies wrote: ↑Sat Nov 26, 2022 3:57 pm If you want something a little easier than shipping, I would recommend going to a local Farmers Market and signing up as a vendor, there's a usually a ton of foot traffic going on so you'll make some good sales.

Do you do that?

I used to until the local farmers market got built on top of. Large office building decided to build on top of it.

In my area, people sell fruits/vegetables out of the back of their car in the Walmart parking lot, or put up a roadside produce stand where there's a wide shoulder. It's like a pop-up farmer's market. I wonder if you could do that with CPs.

If I remember correctly, @Sundews69 is a young kid. You can totally use that to your advantage when selling in person.

I mean, I'm not that young...(13)

Yeah, the only problem is I would need my parents

Sundews69 wrote: ↑Sun Nov 27, 2022 5:37 pm I mean, I'm not that young...(13)

Yeah, the only problem is I would need my parents

Dude, that is perfect. Put on some OshKosh b'gosh overalls, tousle your hair a little, and have the parents drop you off with a folding card table in the parking lot of a grocery store. Wave to all the geriatric folks who walk out. People will not be able to resist buying from you.

Hmmm, ok. It'll be probably be over a year though before I start doing that because I need to actually get the plants.

@PlanT640847401 how much would you sell them for and how big are they?

@Sundews69 AG3 sells tissue-cultured VFTs in 72-cell flats for $1.90 per plant: https://www.ag3inc.com/PlantDetails.asp?ID=13

Sundews69 wrote: ↑Sun Nov 27, 2022 5:37 pm I mean, I'm not that young...(13)

Yeah, the only problem is I would need my parents

Trust me, 13 *is* young and needing your parents is not a problem. Enjoy being that age…while you’re that age, it won’t last long.