Nancy: I don't e-bay, for reasons including and beyond those you mention.
Nor do I ship flasks, retail (same -- and I always plan for the likelihood
that I may have to de-flask all 1000 within a day of arrival, if I have
flasks shipped to me). The 1000 plants per clone or seed pod flasked can
break down in varying amounts, but the usual around here for
grower-nurseries is 20 flasks of 50 plants each. That's why I said that
selling off 2 flasks would only get you down from 1000 to 900. There may be
labs out there which would do smaller runs or smaller bottles, but I haven't
found them yet and in any event, the per-plant or per-bottle cost would have
to be higher.

The earlier expressed view (I forget the author) that _flowers_ rather than
plants are the sellers is mostly correct. Flowers are relatively easy to
sell. The market for plants out-of-flower is very limited, but it does
exist, and we do try to use it to supplement our sales of flowering plants.
Holding even 100 plants from flask to bloom would be a big task for most
hobbyists ... It also costs $$ to the pro growers, to raise 1000 of them
(less mortality), which is why whomever said our lives would be easy and our
wallets fat, if we quit trying to sell plants and just sold flowers, is
seriously wrong. Even a mature plant spends x% of its time out of bloom
(varies by type of plant, rarely less than 50%), but it still costs $$ to
maintain that plant till it blooms again ...

Marketing/hype is an art; we try (and yes, we have flower pictures, but no
lab pics as we do not do this in-house). I suspect I could do better if I
were less honest (a sad state of affairs).

As for the quality of the product, so far we have done mostly species (what
the hobbyist customer says s/he wants) and a couple of clones -- one
awarded, the other might well be if I had time to take it to judging,
assuming it bloomed at the right time of the month to get it there in prime
condition. But I have also long maintained that the AOS judging system is
way out of step with the wants of the orchid-buying public. The plant may
have an FCC, an AM, or an HCC. None of those awards give any points for
most of what hobby-customers say they want: long flower life, frequent
blooming, fragrance, etc., etc.

Best of luck with your own flasks! Kenni


"Nancy G." wrote in message
ups.com...
We started e baying different stuff available locally and one orchid
that didn't sell. There's a lot more that goes into it than meets the
eye at first glance. The listing charge, final value fee, Paypal fees,
packaging and shipping. The value of an e bay store v cost of
individual listing, etc.

The break points for product acquisition (price break for quantity and
cost of shipping to your location). You said 1000 plants per flask
order on your end. (Don't anser, comes under the heading of NUNYA)
That could be 10 flasks @100 or 50 flasks @ 20. You know the flask
style, your cost, condition, and have a pretty good idea of the shelf
life of the flask before it breaks down and has to be potted out. Do
you have enough time to sell before the expiration date? Do you take a
chance and sell at auction or for a fixed price with a margin for your
time?

I"m trying to grow from flask. Stupid me, but I've received deflasked,
jumbled, overgrown, small plants, as well as really premier quality and
condition. The first 3 have to be dealt with immediately, the small
plants might be held for a while, recipients option. The last gives
the best results for survival obviously. Now I'm suspicious of the out
of flask or overgrown. It's bad enough that the estimated mortality is
25% without adding the extra handling 4 days apart for the deflasked
(one order deflasked was very nice) or plants that are already
deteriorating in flask. Jumbling is outside the control and a chance
you take. Heck, even you take that chance unless you can pick up your
order and drive them yourself.

Then there's the hype. In your case the uniqueness and objective of
the cross. Are the parent plants awarded, were they clones, blah blah?
Can you provide an off site link of the photos to minimize the price
of the ad? Do you have photos of the parent plants and blooms, pod
development, maybe a photo of the lab? You are selling dreams in
addition to orchids. You know the hype, limited availability, every
plant will have a different bloom, etc.

Here I am back in the fray.

Nancy