• If you need help identifying a pepper, disease, or plant issue, please post in Identification.

Selling Superhot Seedlings Locally To The Public

Tim in Tucson

Tim in Tucson

I'm hoping you all can give me some helpful advice and your opinion.

A little while back, a local hydroponics store that also sells plants offered to purchase chili starts from me for a dollar a piece. That deal went South when they played games with me and tried to get a huge discount. I've been in sales most of my life, and I can tell when someone is trying to pull something on me.

Meanwhile, another local nursery would like to buy my Superhot and Habanero starts, but is also offering me only $1 per start. This nursery has difficulty getting any of their Superhot seeds to sprout, and last year sold out of their 180+ Ghost Pepper plants before the season ended (the manager told me he only has a 16% germination rate).

And yet, just in my daily life I hear things that make me wonder if I should sell my starts to the public instead. A worker in one of Home Depot's Garden Dept. told me that he has a couple of friends who couldn't find anyplace to buy Ghost Pepper plants locally, so they are going to try to grow some themselves with seeds bought over the Internet. Just a few days ago after work I went over to World Market to purchase a bottle of Melinda's Naga Jolokia sauce to try. The cashier loves hot peppers, and when I told him what I'm doing, he asked if he could buy a plant from me.

By the way, I have a few hundred hot pepper starts that I need to do something with soon!

So, here are my questions:

Should I sell my starts for a buck a piece to the nursery? I paid $0.20 a seed, $0.19 per 3 1/2" plastic pot, and had one H*ll of an electric bill last month from running heaters in my greenhouse and grow room. Should I ask for more than a buck a piece? How much more?

Should I place an add on Craig's and other resources and sell direct to the public? Again, how much should I charge per start?

I value your opinions!

Thanks
 
I think the answers will vary a bit depending on your area. I tried selling seedlings through the local online buy and sell, and was not able to get rid of the few superhots I had left. Having said this, I sold off all of my extra tomato plants and all of the sweet peppers.

When you are dealing with superhots the market is smaller than if you are selling, say, jalapenos. If you are in a big city there are definitely going to be enough people who want them, but the trick is to be able to reach them.

As a suggestion, have you thought of selling most of them to the store for a buck a pop but holding back a quarter of them or so to sell privately? That minimizes your own risk, and you can test out the market while slowly building up a buyer base who will come back to you year after year.
 
Thanks Stefan! I like your advice. By the way, I also have a few hundred Heirloom heat-tolerant Tomato starts, and I have plenty of Italian and Spanish Sweet Pepper seeds.
 
Tim do you have Chiltepin starts? What kinds of others might you have? Plenty of folks got a late start on seeds and will be in need.
 
I have some Chiltepin starts, and I've just put down a few more seeds last night, including Chiltepin Amarillo and Chiltepin Tarahumara from Native Seed Search.

I'll have to make a list when I get a chance (I'm not at home right now).

I have Bhut Jolokia Strain 1, Bhut Jolokia Strain 2, Bhut Jolokia Yellow, Trinidad Scorpion, Trinidad Scorpion Butch T, Trinidad Scorpion Moruga Yellow, Trinidad Scorpion Moruga Blend, Trinidad Douglah, Jamaican Red Hot, Jamaican Hot Chocolate, Habanero, Habanero Caribbean Red, Habanero Surinam red, Habanero Mustard, Habanero Ivory, Hot Paper Lantern, CGN 21500, St. Lucia Island, Guadalupe Black, Trinidad Perfume, Tobago Seasoning, a few Rocotos, Devil's Tongue Red, one or two Explosive Ember, one or two Royal Black, Serrano Huasteca, Serrana Tampequeno, Early Jalapeno, Sinahuisa....And that's just off the top of my head. I'm sure I've missed a couple.

About a week ago I planted some Naga Morich, and a few have already popped up. I'm about to do my last planting of Superhots, and they'll include Trinidad Scorpion Moruga Red, Black Naga, and Chocolate Jolokia.

Most seeds came from Semillas La Palma, Native Seed Search, and Baker Creek.

Most of my Chilts are from my "walk in the park" (see article at this site), and they're the Sonoran variety.
 
You could always retail half of your stock to a nursery but try to get at least 1.25 a peice and sell some privatly on your own. Greenhouses/nurseries understand production cost go over yours with them and they might make you a more reasonable offer. Adding an marketing edge to your start is also an excellent way to get more value. I knew a lady who grew organic heirloom innuculated with mycorrhize and the retailer was able to sell a single tomato start for $4, she also did some hot peppers. She was getting twice what they would pay her for regular starts, however my area is heavily infulenced by organic/sustainable anything really.
 
I got my plants from a guy on craigslist for 5.00 each.. that was butch t's and bhuts. So i really think you could do well. Its surprising that his germ. rate was so low.. im getting over 80% on my bhuts.
 
howardsnm1 said:
I got my plants from a guy on craigslist for 5.00 each.. that was butch t's and bhuts. So i really think you could do well. Its surprising that his germ. rate was so low.. im getting over 80% on my bhuts.
Click to expand...

I hear you! I'm getting close to 90% on the Superhots, and about a 50% on the Chilts (no worries about the Chilts, as I have over 5,000 seeds left!). I'm pretty sure I know the reason he doesn't have a good germination rate. But why would I share that with him if I plan to sell him starts? I found out how to germinate them by researching this forum and other websites with a simple search query.

Thanks for the suggestion. Having worked retail sales most of my life, I realize how price points can affect how quickly the inventory moves, yet I don't want to leave any money on the table, so to speak.
 
I'm going to try to sell my seedlings at a local farmer's market and yard sale. Kinda small scale for you probably, but it kind of tests the waters if you're just looking into it. I wish I could get local spots to sell my seedlings. I asked around before this winter but everyone, even the local places had contracts with specific nurseries.
Super hots being a niche product, you would need more tomato and other popular type veggies to bring people in for a Farmer's Market type setting. If you could target advertise to the niche customer via Craig's list or something, to bring them to your table, you might do well. I don't know much about online sales and shipping plants and stuff, but I'm sure there's a retailer or two on here who you reach out to for that sort of advice
 
If you have any overhead...utilities, soil, chemicals, containers...etc. You have to take all under consideration. I don't sell starts but I sell plants in 1 and 2 gal containers. Somebody once asked me why I grow Orange Habs. Two good reasons, the folks in the Chi-Land area don't like paying $4 a lb at markets for the peppers and my main reason is those plants are usually the 1st out of the Habs to throw out flowers and pod up before the plant sales. Why sell small when you can make a profit. What I make covers alot of the indoor grow, but I enjoy when the chileheads come out and talk...shop.
To be honest, I sell more Tomato and sweet/ medium heat pepper plants. It's a blast to see folks expressions when they see how large the plants are....You can't by them like that at any greenhouse.
 
Food for thought, PIC 1! I work long hours five days a week, and only have Mondays and Tuesdays off. Maybe in addition to Craig's List I can find someone at a local farmer's market to help me sell them....I'll have to ponder this idea some more.
 
Be careful not to post your address on Craigslist. I know of people who listed plants for sale with their address in the post only to have their plants stolen when they were away from home or late at night. They had the plants outside in their backyards. Only provide your contact info when you have their contact info.
 
Tim in Tucson said:
Food for thought, PIC 1! I work long hours five days a week, and only have Mondays and Tuesdays off. Maybe in addition to Craig's List I can find someone at a local farmer's market to help me sell them....I'll have to ponder this idea some more.
Click to expand...
There are numerous options, but I see time is an issue...I'm a member in a couple of garden clubs. ( Check out your area's Horticultural Society).

Through the years of garden circling I've picked up contacts of other folks in my District.It's very easy to send out emails when it comes to the plant sales.

Besides 2 Conservatories I also have a plant sale at my home and elsewhere. The window is short when it comes to the sell. You don't want to be late to sell as folks may have bought elsewhere.If its only starts that you'll be selling find a Nursery that will give you a good price for the lot.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top