So you want to start a palm growing business, by mail order

January 22

I see a few out there in palm land want to start selling plants. It’s quite simple really, you don’t need a degree in business management!

Step one choose quality stock to send, the customer is always right.

Make sure they are aware of what you’re sending, seller communication is critical.

Package your plants well, this is critical for a couple of reason, it’s nice to receive well presented plants, and if there are delays in shipping your plants stand a better chance of arriving in better condition.

Post immediately express postage,
there are various methods of packaging choose one that suits your taste, but remember you should be able to shake the packaging and nothing move around.

And if all goes well you will have yourself a nice little hobby business that can grow as big as you want.
Remember quality plants packaged well, seller communication and your in the business of supplying plants!

January 22

Oh wow @happypalms are you really out in Halfway Creek? And I thought I was in the middle of nowhere!

January 22

5 minutes ago, lafifille said:

Oh wow @happypalms are you really out in Halfway Creek? And I thought I was in the middle of nowhere!

The further away from the rat race the better, sometimes I wish the world would leave me alone just to grow my palms and live in my garden paradise.
Richard

January 22

1 hour ago, happypalms said:

I see a few out there in palm land want to start selling plants. It’s quite simple really, you don’t need a degree in business management!

Step one choose quality stock to send, the customer is always right.

Make sure they are aware of what you’re sending, seller communication is critical.

Package your plants well, this is critical for a couple of reason, it’s nice to receive well presented plants, and if there are delays in shipping your plants stand a better chance of arriving in better condition.

Post immediately express postage,
there are various methods of packaging choose one that suits your taste, but remember you should be able to shake the packaging and nothing move around.

And if all goes well you will have yourself a nice little hobby business that can grow as big as you want.
Remember quality plants packaged well, seller communication and your in the business of supplying plants!

Wow, this is so useful for those who want to start a business! @dimitriskedikogloy are you taking notes??

@happypalms do you mail to Europe by any chance? 😁

January 22

1 hour ago, Than said:

Wow, this is so useful for those who want to start a business! @dimitriskedikogloy are you taking notes??

@happypalms do you mail to Europe by any chance? 😁

First thing is first you need stock, 3 years at least for a lot of varieties. But I will say you can germinate and sell seedlings and you will make just as much doe as the next person. One person in Australia god bless him may he rest in peace Merc psillakis known as the germinater sold germinated seedlings to many a grower. And he had the good stuff, i purchased many seedlings from him. Oh and yes I do international mail orders. Pm me!

January 22

10 minutes ago, happypalms said:

First thing is first you need stock, 3 years at least for a lot of varieties. But I will say you can germinate and sell seedlings and you will make just as much doe as the next person. One person in Australia god bless him may he rest in peace Merc psillakis known as the germinater sold germinated seedlings to many a grower. And he had the good stuff, i purchased many seedlings from him. Oh and yes I do international mail orders. Pm me!

Yes, I know Psillakis, I guess everyone on PalmTalk knew him. Perhaps a relative of mine, since we have the same surname.. may he RIP.

Do you have a list of your available seedlings somewhere?

January 22

2 hours ago, happypalms said:

The further away from the rat race the better, sometimes I wish the world would leave me alone just to grow my palms and live in my garden paradise.
Richard

Ditto! I also moved to the middle of nowhere with only two neighbours. Of course, one of them is very loud, respecting nobody. Lesson learned: one neighbour is one neighbour too many.

January 22

1 hour ago, Than said:

Yes, I know Psillakis, I guess everyone on PalmTalk knew him. Perhaps a relative of mine, since we have the same surname.. may he RIP.

Do you have a list of your available seedlings somewhere?

Yes the germinater, he could germinate a rock.
You pretty well much know what I have, it’s all available, some in limited quantities and others as many as you want, a few things are staying in the collection and not for sale!

January 22

Nice guide for those that want to do this. Germinating seeds is sometimes very slow unless you have the facilities to move it along. I guess it would be easier to buy seedlings as I did when I started in the early 1990’s. Harry

January 22

1 hour ago, Than said:

Ditto! I also moved to the middle of nowhere with only two neighbours. Of course, one of them is very loud, respecting nobody. Lesson learned: one neighbour is one neighbour too many.

The more isolated and remote the more I like it.
I live in a community on a hundred acres with a 5 acre share, the idealistic hippie community that works!

January 22

3 minutes ago, Harry’s Palms said:

Nice guide for those that want to do this. Germinating seeds is sometimes very slow unless you have the facilities to move it along. I guess it would be easier to buy seedlings as I did when I started in the early 1990’s. Harry

A lot of collectors want seedlings, simply because they want that certain variety of palm, once you understand the market you can target for those sales, one disadvantage to mail order you need small stock so you can post it cheaply. So germinating and selling the seedlings has its advantages, but you also need a good supply of seeds.

And then that has its own advantages and disadvantages, low germination rates push’s the price up and then other growers don’t want to purchase at those prices, but what is price when you’re a collector the sky is unlimited with what you will pay!

Richard

January 22

7 hours ago, happypalms said:

I see a few out there in palm land want to start selling plants. It’s quite simple really, you don’t need a degree in business management!

Step one choose quality stock to send, the customer is always right.

Make sure they are aware of what you’re sending, seller communication is critical.

Package your plants well, this is critical for a couple of reason, it’s nice to receive well presented plants, and if there are delays in shipping your plants stand a better chance of arriving in better condition.

Post immediately express postage,
there are various methods of packaging choose one that suits your taste, but remember you should be able to shake the packaging and nothing move around.

And if all goes well you will have yourself a nice little hobby business that can grow as big as you want.
Remember quality plants packaged well, seller communication and your in the business of supplying plants!

Yes, Richard, the first thing is to be very serious and competent and honest. If you only knew how many times they gave me another species instead of the ones I ordered.

January 22

7 hours ago, happypalms said:

The further away from the rat race the better, sometimes I wish the world would leave me alone just to grow my palms and live in my garden paradise.
Richard

Richard, I'm lucky, I live in the suburbs, there's only my brother's house, what a peace to be alone and look at the plants

January 22

9 hours ago, happypalms said:

You pretty well much know what I have, it’s all available, some in limited quantities and others as many as you want, a few things are staying in the collection and not for sale!

You've got pretty much everything! However, I bet the Aussie and Greek customs would be a bog obstacle unfortunately

January 22

Richard is the master of packing and sending plants, Never had a plant arrive that was not perfect

regards

Colin

January 22

3 hours ago, Than said:

You've got pretty much everything! However, I bet the Aussie and Greek customs would be a bog obstacle unfortunately

Yes it depends on customs, some countries are fine with it others not so fine. It basically comes down to are you willing to risk it, myself for one no way would I attempt to smuggle or get anything sent. One strike and my importing days would be over in the seed business, I respect our bio security for good reason, Australia is a beautiful country with an amazing ecosystem, I most certainly don’t want to be the one individual who stuffs it up! Oh and there’s a lot of palms I haven’t got, and there has been a lot of dud seed batches that prevented me from having more varieties, it’s not from lack of trying trust me!

January 23

10 hours ago, gyuseppe said:

Richard, I'm lucky, I live in the suburbs, there's only my brother's house, what a peace to be alone and look at the plants

I haven’t lived in suburbia for at least 40 years always on rural property’s, I purchased my first block of land at age 21. At least in a rural situation you play music and make as much noise as you want.
Italians are always a close knit family, are there any farmers in your family?

January 23

2 hours ago, palmtreesforpleasure said:

Richard is the master of packing and sending plants, Never had a plant arrive that was not perfect

regards

Colin

One advantage to buying so many plants, apart from increasing your collection, you soon learn what works with packaging plants.
Richard

January 23

12 hours ago, gyuseppe said:

Yes, Richard, the first thing is to be very serious and competent and honest. If you only knew how many times they gave me another species instead of the ones I ordered.

And I bet you don’t buy from those sellers anymore after a bad experience with them receiving the wrong plants, it’s all about quality and keeping the customer satisfied.
After all if you go out for dinner and get a good meal you go back to that restaurant.

January 23

5 hours ago, happypalms said:

I haven’t lived in suburbia for at least 40 years always on rural property’s, I purchased my first block of land at age 21. At least in a rural situation you play music and make as much noise as you want.
Italians are always a close knit family, are there any farmers in your family?

Richard, no one is a farmer here anymore. Being a farmer here would mean starving to death; you don't earn anything.
But my brothers have a piece of land where they grow lots of fruit trees, and my sister's husband (with whom I get along very well) makes olive oil, wine, and tomatoes at home, and he grows a vegetable garden.

January 23

7 hours ago, happypalms said:

And I bet you don’t buy from those sellers anymore after a bad experience with them receiving the wrong plants, it’s all about quality and keeping the customer satisfied.
After all if you go out for dinner and get a good meal you go back to that restaurant.

Not entirely so, it depends largely on the available options. Besides some occasional identification mistakes are part of the game too. Besides many of those vendors, especially from northern countries (in northern hs of course) have absolutely no idea how seeds from genuine parent plants should look like! This makes them more susceptible to deception by the local suppliers. This is the most favorable excuse I can think of...

January 23

2 hours ago, gyuseppe said:

Richard, no one is a farmer here anymore. Being a farmer here would mean starving to death; you don't earn anything.
But my brothers have a piece of land where they grow lots of fruit trees, and my sister's husband (with whom I get along very well) makes olive oil, wine, and tomatoes at home, and he grows a vegetable garden.

Farming is a good career choice for me, I like working on a farm, ask anyone in my family when they asked me what I wanted to do when I grow up, I want to be a farmer I said as a child. I love working with plants I find it very rewarding. If I wanted to grow vegetables and fruit I would make a living on a small scale. If I went commercial and large scale growing I would make a fairly decent living. The one problem in Australia is you have to choose the right fruit or vegetables to grow. Seasonal fruit and vegetables the price drops when there is a glut on the market and sometimes you don’t even pick the product. But choose the right crop and try to grow out of season you do very good. Italians are very well known in Australia as good fruit and vegetable growers.

January 23

11 minutes ago, Phoenikakias said:

Not entirely so, it depends largely on the available options. Besides some occasional identification mistakes are part of the game too. Besides many of those vendors, especially from northern countries (in northern hs of course) have absolutely no idea how seeds from genuine parent plants should look like! This makes them more susceptible to deception by the local suppliers. This is the most favorable excuse I can think of...

Europe is a lot different than Australia in regards to buying and selling, have the right product at a fair price and it will sell. I guess it doesn’t really matter wherever you go in the world it can be a buyer beware thing. I myself personally cannot deceive anyone, honesty is the best policy. But I guess if they are the only seller and you cannot purchase anywhere else something is better than nothing at all.

January 23

1 hour ago, happypalms said:

Farming is a good career choice for me, I like working on a farm, ask anyone in my family when they asked me what I wanted to do when I grow up, I want to be a farmer I said as a child. I love working with plants I find it very rewarding. If I wanted to grow vegetables and fruit I would make a living on a small scale. If I went commercial and large scale growing I would make a fairly decent living. The one problem in Australia is you have to choose the right fruit or vegetables to grow. Seasonal fruit and vegetables the price drops when there is a glut on the market and sometimes you don’t even pick the product. But choose the right crop and try to grow out of season you do very good. Italians are very well known in Australia as good fruit and vegetable growers.

Yes, Richard, in Italy there are many agricultural companies, where they export their products to central and northern Europe (where it's freezing and practically nothing grows), but if you're honest, you don't earn anything at all.
In my small town there are over 300 factories, which pollute a lot. There's also Coca-Cola, I can't say, but guess where they get the free water, turn it into Coca-Cola, and take all the money they earn to America.

When I'm in contact with the earth, I feel great.👌

January 23

1 minute ago, gyuseppe said:

Yes, Richard, in Italy there are many agricultural companies, where they export their products to central and northern Europe (where it's freezing and practically nothing grows), but if you're honest, you don't earn anything at all.
In my small town there are over 300 factories, which pollute a lot. There's also Coca-Cola, I can't say, but guess where they get the free water, turn it into Coca-Cola, and take all the money they earn to America.

When I'm in contact with the earth, I feel great.👌

Italian farm machinery is some of the best in the world, I have used a lot of equipment manufactured in Italy, top quality stuff.
Corporate companies are here to stay unfortunately.
One of the greatest things we have in our lives at our age is we have experienced a world that was totally different than today.
We will never see another time like we had again. Technology is here to stay unfortunately!

The greatest feeling I have is living in my garden away from it all!

January 23

Well said , Richard . I started in manufacturing right out of high school ( 1972 ) , completed a full apprenticeship and earned my journeyman . I stayed with that aerospace company for almost 13 years before going out on my own. A lot has changed ,that old company that once employed almost a thousand people is gone . My little shop is still going and I get by .
Your idea about a business selling small plants or palms could work but it will be a lot of work for passion more than monetary gain. I could be wrong but I saw a thriving Kentia farm that was second generation finally close down . The owners saw a 40% decline in sales and that was enough to force the sale of the greenhouses and land . They came out of it ok but it was a shame to see it go . Harry

January 23

6 minutes ago, Harry’s Palms said:

Well said , Richard . I started in manufacturing right out of high school ( 1972 ) , completed a full apprenticeship and earned my journeyman . I stayed with that aerospace company for almost 13 years before going out on my own. A lot has changed ,that old company that once employed almost a thousand people is gone . My little shop is still going and I get by .
Your idea about a business selling small plants or palms could work but it will be a lot of work for passion more than monetary gain. I could be wrong but I saw a thriving Kentia farm that was second generation finally close down . The owners saw a 40% decline in sales and that was enough to force the sale of the greenhouses and land . They came out of it ok but it was a shame to see it go . Harry

I left school at age 16 and got a job.
Having worked in the horticultural industry pretty well much all my working life. I do t want that big corporate business, iam happy working for the man so to speak.
It is my passion and love of palms for my business venture, and hopefully in ten years time and longer I will have enjoyed growing my plants and selling them doing what I love in life and making a few bucks on the side.
And the best

part is I get to choose all the best of the best palms for my garden, a win win situation for me!

Richard

January 23

59 minutes ago, happypalms said:

Italian farm machinery is some of the best in the world, I have used a lot of equipment manufactured in Italy, top quality stuff.
Corporate companies are here to stay unfortunately.
One of the greatest things we have in our lives at our age is we have experienced a world that was totally different than today.
We will never see another time like we had again. Technology is here to stay unfortunately!

The greatest feeling I have is living in my garden away from it all!

You do understand however that phytosanitary restrictions even within Australia itself, have also sort of the effect of protectionism...

January 23

4 minutes ago, Phoenikakias said:

You do understand however that phytosanitary restrictions even within Australia itself, have also sort of the effect of protectionism...

We even have quarantine states, for plant borders within Australia. Very strict regulations!

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