Get Great Deals & Finds on Plants Online

Over the course of my newest obsession with plant collecting…I’ve discovered the hot spots of where to find good deals on very popular and rarer plants. Although keep in mind you are often getting what you pay for so if you are paying less for a plant it is often because it is cutting or a starter plant. I’ve never gotten a full-sized large plant online because I’ve never found a price point where I would feel comfortable spending yet. Mind you I’m still learning plants as this new venture in my life so all of this is still fairly new to me. I’ve just happened to learn a lot in the short time I’ve started collecting this year.

Enough Babbling…onto the good stuff that you came here for…these may be pretty obvious for you but I currently alternate among these apps specifically as I search for a specific priced plant.

Etsy – Website & App

My first go-to is Etsy. You do have to be careful because there are ones that are way overpriced but they do have quite a selection. It is a good mixture of small Greenhouse Businesses and people that are selling from their own private collection. If there is a trendy plant that you are looking for you will almost surely find it here and with many options of cuttings to starters to full adult plants. Prices will vary but it seems once there is an “Etsy” established price rate you will see prices will be pretty comparable from one store to the next in which case the next variable is to take a look at shipping rates…see if they have free shipping…low rate shipping or high shipping rates with no breaks. Always check to see what the shipping costs are…there are a lot of shops that will provide free shipping for typically anything spent over $35 from their shop (not always). In which case, I do consider this even if it is only a $12-15 plant because the shop may have other plants I have been considering which makes hitting that free shipping rate mark fairly easy and save you a good amount of money or what I consider gives you a free plant.

The other thing to consider are their reviews…just because their prices are great doesn’t mean that you are getting a good quality plant. In which case, can mean a loss of money if they are ones that they do not refund or do replacements because of shipping damages or end up dying shortly after getting them at no fault to you because they didn’t have a chance, to begin with. You must place this into consideration. I’ve lost money because the quality of my cuttings was basically junk (no growth nodes to be found) and or damaged during shipping and didn’t replace or refund. I will say the majority of shops out there go up and beyond to fix issues with orders. Which is the nice thing about Etsy and the review system as it helps keep those shops that have quality customer services reputable and open for business.

Mercari – Website & App

My second Fave and currently one of my most used places to find excellent deals. Often because there isn’t quite a standard of pricing of trending plants although it’s starting to show. You can however often times find deals on a plant that haven’t been priced to fit the majority and are shops that sell at rates that they find are fair to them they are basing it off of what they feel if fair to what they will get out of it which is great because these are the ones that you know you’re getting a great price on typically. These shops are ones that usually are trying to get rid of overstock of cuttings or cut down on their own personal collections or just people that enjoy sharing their collections with other plant lovers so they don’t price gouge as other ones do. I’m not saying you will not see inflated prices but you will see more of these gem sellers that are not out to get a random amount for what they are selling.

Next of course, you always want to check the reviews on them…see how long they have been selling for and view what items they have sold and how many. This will get you to be comfortable with who they are as a seller to determine whether you want to consider making them an offer or not.

The big part that I like about this is that you can often set an offer price…meaning that the majority of these listings are set where offer a price that you are willing to buy at. The seller has the right to decline or counter…in which you can either resend another price or accept or pay the amount they are asking. It makes it fun…one thing you want to consider when studying a seller is to see the rates of which they have sold other similar or same items to see the lower range they have accepted if any. They will usually state on there if they are not accepting any lower offers. Just of course do not be offensive with your offers. Also, contact the seller if you are looking to purchase more than one plant from them to try to save on shipping and even save more overall.

OfferUp

I’ve used this only a couple of times and gotten some good deals on it. It is pretty much identical to Mercari. I do find there usually isn’t as big of a selection because there aren’t as many users. There are sellers that overlap between these two apps and there are some on here that only do pickup and do not accommodate shipping without asking first. It’s a good one to have though and check regularly. But like I said Mercari between the two is the far better option.

E-Bay – Website & App

I typically use this as one as a last resort…I never do the bidding war/auction ones and only purchase the ones that have the buy now options. I feel like with bidding there is too much time loss where I could possibly be finding this plant somewhere else for cheaper and lose out because I’m tied up in a bidding war as it can take up to several days. You definitely don’t want to be tied down to a bid that you may or may not get at the end of 5 days all while you had come across one that is less than your current bid that you have to pass up on because you don’t know if you will be the highest bidder. I will say I’ve made a handful of purchases here and have gotten some really great plants and worked with some great sellers! I wouldn’t say the best pricing but some of my rarer finds that I wasn’t able to find on Etsy or Mercari I found here.

Last and Not Least Facebook Market and Groups

This is actually one I’ve not found plants I own on with. I do know others that participate in groups or are able to find some great deals through Facebook but I, unfortunately, have not. Some due to the fact, I’m rarely on there anymore, being most of my time is now on TikTok. I wish I could give you more advice on this one…I’d just say you need to be on top of the finds you have here because they go quick. The one I do regret not jumping on right away was a$ 6,000 sunroom that was being sold for $300 locally. I’m still kicking myself over that one.

Local Swaps – I’ve never been a part of any but I do also know there are local swap groups where people will do free exchanges of plants from other plant owners. It’s a neat concept but I live in an area that isn’t diverse enough in the plant realm, I feel, to make this a viable option for me anyhow.

Additional Tips

Using this as a combination of apps and sites that I use regularly, it helps me gauge the going rate of what plants go for. I can see which app houses the best deal for any particular plant that I’m looking for. Also, a good tip is that most of these you can save the specific searches and types of plants you are looking for so that you will get a notification the second they are listed to these sites. This has worked out to my advantage before.

Also, there are many of the sellers that may have plants available that are not listed so long as they are currently active, simply shoot them a message with the request of the one you are looking for. Especially if you have seen it’s been sold recently from them. They will typically let you know if one is available or not or how soon it will be…again a lot of these are from private collectors so they don’t have a surplus typically speaking of specific plants. It all depends. Some are going from what is available at their local nursery. But again, it never hurts to ask.

A warning which I’ve gotten played the 2 times I did this, is if they ask for money outside the app through PayPal…DO NOT DO IT! EVER. They will state the fees are a lot but I’m telling you it is for your own safety because both times I did this neither seller full-filled the order and I never got the plants I ordered. I don’t care how much of a good deal it is or how great of reviews they have…it is not worth it.

These are my main ones…basically one almost every day or so. The good deals go fast so you have to be on top of them when they do come up otherwise you’ll miss out. Good luck with your plant hunting! Wish you the best deals and finds! Also, feel free to share ones you love to use or online shops you like to buy from.

I plan to create a more specific list of online plant shops I do like to shop from when I get some more time.