Pricing your Hostas for driveway sale.

9 years ago

So, if you divide up a fairly mature hosta (7-10 years) that is nice and big into 4 big chunks...how much would you price the 1/4 plant for? The buyer would be getting some instant gratification, right? I want to sell some on Craigslist, and I want the price to be fair for the buyer and for me. How does $12 sound? I know that I have sold even more common ones for more than that once they were leafed out in a pot in May...but I'd rather sell 'em quick and be done with it.

These are some of the plants...I'd say they would NOT fit in a gallon container, more like a 2-4 gallon once you get it in there and put the soil around.

Nice, but common ones:

Krossa Regal

Stained Glass

Guacamole

Shade Fanfare

Sunshine Glory

MoonGlow

And what you charge for a huge one (plant at least 3-4' across when leafed out last year)...honeybells, hyacinthina, undulata albomarginata, fortunei aureomarginata? Would anyone want to buy these? $15?

Featured Answer

Mary4b
Original Author

9 years ago

I thought I'd update and share that I've had no problems selling the hostas at these prices...$15 for 1/4th of a mature hosta... These have at least 11 eyes each and sometimes more. Smaller ones I've sold for less. Having good photos makes a difference, as they only have pips right now and most people don't know hostas. But they DO know they won't get good coverage from 2 eyes in a pot for $8 from Walmart.

$20 for a 4' across hyacinthina and another $20 for a 4' albomarginata...these went to people who wanted the large coverage/lots of eyes, and didn't care about the names, etc. I helped them to make sure the plant was right for the site they had in mind. The albo lady is going to divide hers all up and was very happy with the price, and the hycinthina man divided his into 2 pieces. The albo lady also had her hubby dig out 3 mature Diablo Ninebarks, which I advertised as free for the digging.

Just thought I'd say that people like BIG plants and are willing to pay for them. My local nursery charges $39 for large hosta pot, so I think $15 is more than reasonable for 11 eyes of a named hosta. The Moon Glow was the first to sell out, go figure????

Non-hosta: I have made about $100 already just on geranium macrorrhizum starts, which in my opinion, is one of the greatest perennials that ever lived. My pulmonaria and bleeding hearts are in bloom, so everyone wants to buy those, too. I'm "sold out" of those now, don't want to diminish my mother plants. No doubt that blooms will sell a plant.

Long story short...if you have $100s-$1000s invested in your garden, don't assume that people won't pay you a fair price for a good, healthy dig. I do take the time to really help the people who want/need it and it's always a lovely exchange.

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Comments (7)

ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
9 years ago
in your name.. are we supposed to understand this is MN>???

how crazy are MN peeps.. lol ..

think outside your box ... backwards ...

they are worth either ... what someone will pay for them ..

or whether you are at the end of the line with your patience ...

i have seen peeps at markets.. almost giving them away.. at the end of the day .. because they didnt want to put them back in the truck ...

and i have seen peeps paying thru the nose because they had to have them ...

its kinda up in the air ...

as to full huge plants ... whats the deal there.. you going to dig them ahead of time... will they have to dig them.. etc ... who's going to lift them into a car ...

im not sure undulatas are worth anything ... many peeps find them at the curb for free ....

all that said.. you know what p t barnam said ...

https://www.bing.com/search?q=what+p+t+barnam+said&pc=MOZI&form=MOZCON

good luck.. have fun.. and keep us posted on how it all works out ....

ken
littlebug zone 5 Missouri
9 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Well, it's subjective. Do you live in an upscale, suburban neighborhood, or do you live in a small town of less than 1,000?

I love hostas, but in my area $12 for a 1/4 of a hosta is waaaaaaayy too high. Heck, it's too high for a whole hosta. For me, anyway. In my neighborhood, people divide them and give them away to their friends because hostas are everywhere and they are prolific.

Plus I can buy them all day long at my local nursery, in various sizes ranging from $6 to $15, and I know they are not diseased. (Not that yours are, of course. Just sayin.)
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nicholsworth Z6 Indianapolis
9 years ago
Agree with the others that the prices you suggest are high..I have some neighbors that have sold hostas..they were $3 to $5..for good sized ones..
littlebug zone 5 Missouri
9 years ago
Here's a thought: you might have your best luck at a Farmers' Market kind of activity, where people sell their produce (sweet corn, eggs, beets, onions, etc). They are on Saturdays in my area.
josephines167 z5 ON Canada
9 years ago
Specialmn1 - well said - everything you stated is "right-on-the-money" IMO. (just a little pun :)). Never underestimate the desire for a good-sized and mature hosta division. The cost is reflective of the care and maintenance and time spent to grow it to that point. Of course it's the reasonable people who understand this when they shop and don't mind paying for that quality... regardless of nomenclature as you stated.

Since the majority of my hostas average $20-25 per hosta, I would consider anything lower-priced a great bargain. A mature division is a windfall! Way to go...you getting anything special for the $?
ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
9 years ago
My local nursery charges $39 for large hosta pot, so I think $15 is more than reasonable for 11 eyes of a named hosta.

==>>> hmmmm... you cant leave something like above out of the premise.. and then suggest i was wrong ...

anyway.. good work.. you appear to have your audience well within your knowledge ...

ken