how do I begin selling palm trees from my house on a small scale(10-14 trees) 3-15 gallon size, and do I need permits

[Maddox Gardening-youtube]

I have coconuts, royals, a king maxima, and Christmas palm in jacksonville planning to sell in about a year. I bought a greenhouse, so i should be fine.

any tips, or legal things that i must go through. This photo was taken a little while ago. most of my palms are from leonardis.

[happypalms]

Palms of that size, you need to do marketing well. Word of mouth, advertising and local pick up. You could take your palms to the them free home delivery in your local area. Mail order yes but the shipping needs to added into that, bare rooted mail order another way. Use social media to advertise what you have, contact a local landscaping company, go see your local nurseries and peddle your plants that way. It’s all about marketing now you have a product to sell, how well you market your product will determine how fast they sell. Advertising is key, and choose palms that are in demand and they will sell. But dont give up keep on trying you may sell the lot in one go, or just a couple in a few months. The old saying if you build it they will come!

[JohnAndSancho]

Use pirateship.com for discounted UPS rates. I love them. Just keep in mind shipping prices are based more on size than weight. The For Sale forum here is a good starting point. Lots of states (including Mississippi) have restrictions on importing coconut palms due to the coconut rhino beetle.

Facebook Marketplace and local farmers market type stuff isn't a bad idea, I'm gonna try the markets next year when I hopefully have lots more baby palms and nanners to sell. 

@aztropic seems to do well with just a craigslist ad. I tried eBay and I think I edited my listing more than anyone saw it. 

I actually just googled the laws and both FL and MS require you to have a nursery license and pass an inspection. I didn't dig much deeper, but with the literally 10 plants I've sold I can qualify as a non commercial grower and it's all free here. 

 

[Las Palmas Norte]

 

... and do I need permits

Contact your city or county office regarding permits. It only take one person to report you before officials start to visit. Ask me how I know.

[JohnAndSancho]

55 minutes ago, Las Palmas Norte said:

 

... and do I need permits

Contact your city or county office regarding permits. It only take one person to report you before officials start to visit. Ask me how I know.

Snitches. 

[Boca Palms]

Our palm society has a big sale twice a year, and members can sell their plants there.  We also have an auction at every meeting, and I always donate something.

[JohnAndSancho]

Okie dokie, if I want to sell at city sanctioned farmers markets I have to have a nursery license and liability insurance and I should probably have a business license and collect sales tax and that sounds like a lot for someone who's made a grand total of 3 sales. And I don't want to ask anyone at the state or county level because I don't want to red flag myself. I'm not opposed to a license as I think it'd give me more credibility if I had more inventory and wanted to expand to like Etsy or something, but the rest sounds like a big hassle and any money I make would go into fees and taxes vs expanding. 

[mnorell]

According to the FL Dept. of Agriculture, if you are growing/producing any plants for sale, you need to register as a nursery...but I think Florida is used to people with backyard nurseries and if you contact a plant inspector, which is always your first step (see https://www.fdacs.gov/Agriculture-Industry/Plants-and-Nurseries/Plant-Inspection/Plant-Inspector-Directory) I think you can just explain what you're doing and they will likely help you to make sure your little operation is safe and free of any vectors that are considered dangerous, etc.

The one thing you will want to avoid is selling any citrus plants, since as most people are aware, they are strictly enforced and best if you don't ever play around with anything in that family. (That includes ornamentals like Murraya paniculata and things many people don't realize are in that family, like Curry.)

The difficulty will come in when you try to ship to states like CA, LA, HI or AZ...they have strict regulations on nematodes et al. and it's a more complex situation. But I have a friend who has a nursery in FL and I believe the Dept. of Ag was helpful in walking him through the process of getting certified for California. These folks want you to succeed and are there to help you, not to bring the hammer down on you or make your life a living hell with red tape.

So I would say, yes, get the ball rolling but don't be worried that it will be a nightmare as there are many, many little nurseries scattered throughout the state and they got permitted, so not such a high bar that you won't be able to satisfy the requirements, I'm sure. Oh, and remember that if you're reselling plants grown by another nursery, then you're a nursery stock dealer, and you need to register for that as well (and this allows you to buy your resale materials without paying sales tax to the wholesale/original grower).

[TropicsEnjoyer]

Yeah the thing with permits is like if you ask you’re kinda making it known you’re doing something already or planning on it. However unless it’s free or cheap I’m not sure how you can be profitable without larger scale. I think I saw it costs like 100$ + minimum and you have to get re licensed every year in florida, I’m probably off on the pricing but unless you know you will sell that much it’s like a dilemma. But then of course what’s also a problem is 1 random tip and your operation gets “found”. I’ll definitely be keeping up with this thread bc it’s interesting.

[Scott W]

To clarify,  you're just wanting to sell what you currently have or are you planning on scaling up and trying to sell on a larger scale???

If it's just the few plants you currently own, Craigslist and FB marketplace will work just fine, or eBay with Local Pickup as the option,  no shipping.  No permits should be necessary...

 

[JohnAndSancho]

34 minutes ago, TropicsEnjoyer said:

Yeah the thing with permits is like if you ask you’re kinda making it known you’re doing something already or planning on it. However unless it’s free or cheap I’m not sure how you can be profitable without larger scale. I think I saw it costs like 100$ + minimum and you have to get re licensed every year in florida, I’m probably off on the pricing but unless you know you will sell that much it’s like a dilemma. But then of course what’s also a problem is 1 random tip and your operation gets “found”. I’ll definitely be keeping up with this thread bc it’s interesting.

Mississippi says I'm supposed to be licensed as a non commercial grower if it isn't my primary source of income, they send someone out to inspect and I get a certificate, total cost $0.00 and as long as it isn't my primary source of income, with no clear limits on dollar amounts or volume listed. If I purchase "nursery stock" from any other sources to resell I am to be considered a nursery dealer.

Anything under $12k/yr is exempt from income tax,.and it's all super vague which - vague in the world of tax collecting usually means bad. By the time you take out what I've made, minus just shipping, it's like maybe $100. Then you factor in soil and fertilizer and pots and seeds and electric bills for the grow lights and water and everything else it's even less. Then it's super vague and ambiguous over what counts as an agricultural product vs an ornamental plant vs a houseplant. 

 

But if I am selling home grown produce I can do that all day long no paperwork no questions asked nobody cares. So maybe I just use the argument that anything is edible if you get hungry enough. Kids eat boogers and paste. Palm fronds can't be any worse than that. 

[Harry’s Palms]

I don’t know how it is where you are . If it is just a few plants to “ word of mouth “ people , I wouldn’t worry about it. If you try to get permits or business license , it could go south . Don’t use the word “business” use “hobby” , ie. “it’s my hobby” . Keep it comfortable and low key . There are quite a few backyard growers in Southern California , not sure how many have business licenses. I have visited a couple and it is a hobby environment , cash and carry . I have a small business , not horticulture , I have to carry two million dollar liability insurance , business license , state and local taxes and income tax , plus annual fire and safety inspection. I would think it would take hundreds or even thousands of sales to be profitable with plants. My advice is keep it as a hobby , have fun! Harry

[Hu Palmeras]

Yes, Harry is right, my friend. That's good advice for you, John, and Sancho. Don't take any chances. There's a lot of competition in this plant business. I grow and germinate my palm trees only for my private collection and to contribute to a future Botanical Garden in my city. For that, I consider myself well paid, friends. Although I've sold and given away palm trees, if it's for me and that project I have in mind, whatever it is or whatever we do with palm trees, we'll continue to be successful on this earth, friends.

Hugo

[aztropic]

As a hobbyist, I grow the palms I want (from seed), always have an example planted in my garden to show that they do survive here, then sell the extras through Craigslist, palmtalk 'for sale' or FB marketplace. (don't waste time on offer up)

If you have the time, it's best to grow your stock up to at least 3/5 gallon size as most people want something big enough to be seen when planted out in the yard. If you can grow it to that size,then it proves that the buyer should also be able to achieve similar results when instructed on the plants requirements in your local environment.

Don't waste time growing material that is commonly available in your area. You will never be able to compete on price with companies that grow a species by the millions. Finally, as a goal, try to make your hobby pay for itself.👍😄🌴

 

aztropic 

Mesa, Arizona 

[JohnAndSancho]

I guess the only thing with me is I can't sell at city or county sanctioned farmers markets without a license, and I was kinda thinking that'd be a cool way to spread the word to people that you actually can grow palms and tropicals here. Plus it might be cool to have cards to drop in boxes and stickers to put on grow bags with a cartoon logo of Sancho. 

 

Crap, I might have to get back on Facebook just for Marketplace. Selling on here is fun and all but I def don't want to step on the toes of anyone that's helped me out and the Sabal market is pretty well covered here. 

[Maddox Gardening-youtube]

19 hours ago, Scott W said:

To clarify,  you're just wanting to sell what you currently have or are you planning on scaling up and trying to sell on a larger scale???

If it's just the few plants you currently own, Craigslist and FB marketplace will work just fine, or eBay with Local Pickup as the option,  no shipping.  No permits should be necessary...

 

I'm just selling these, but i will wait a year when they're bigger. I was thinking of just selling them on my driveway. And posting ads everywhere.

[SeanK]

23 hours ago, Las Palmas Norte said:

 

... and do I need permits

Contact your city or county office regarding permits. It only take one person to report you before officials start to visit. Ask me how I know.

🙈🙉🙊

[TropicsEnjoyer]

22 hours ago, Harry’s Palms said:

I don’t know how it is where you are . If it is just a few plants to “ word of mouth “ people , I wouldn’t worry about it. If you try to get permits or business license , it could go south . Don’t use the word “business” use “hobby” , ie. “it’s my hobby” . Keep it comfortable and low key . There are quite a few backyard growers in Southern California , not sure how many have business licenses. I have visited a couple and it is a hobby environment , cash and carry . I have a small business , not horticulture , I have to carry two million dollar liability insurance , business license , state and local taxes and income tax , plus annual fire and safety inspection. I would think it would take hundreds or even thousands of sales to be profitable with plants. My advice is keep it as a hobby , have fun! Harry

That is exactly my concern. That going through with everything as they want you to is simply unsustainable unless you are making thousands. Hobby growing is fun, and I believe it’s no use stressing growing as a business unless you genuinely have the means (time, land, and some initial investment) to do so. I’m sure it starts out operating on a loss for a while until sales heat up. 

[JohnAndSancho]

I haven't sold much, but I've used what I've made to buy a bigger heat mat and more grow lights and soil amendments. 

[Scott W]

20 hours ago, Maddox Gardening-youtube said:

I'm just selling these, but i will wait a year when they're bigger. I was thinking of just selling them on my driveway. And posting ads everywhere.

Yeah. No permit needed as you're essentially reselling a couple palms purchased elsewhere.  People sell on Craigslist and FB marketplace all the time with no issues.  I assure you JSO has more important things to do that crack down on someone selling a couple plants from their driveway.

[JohnAndSancho]

1 hour ago, Scott W said:

Yeah. No permit needed as you're essentially reselling a couple palms purchased elsewhere.  People sell on Craigslist and FB marketplace all the time with no issues.  I assure you JSO has more important things to do that crack down on someone selling a couple plants from their driveway.

I mean, I've definitely never done this if any state officials are reading, but it's the opposite here. Here, if I've purchased something elsewhere and sell it I'm required to register as a nursery dealer. Fortunately for me I've never sold any palms or plants ever, I've just misplaced a few.