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It was a rare and desirable variegated monstera plant with a high price tag that left a Trade Me buyer almost speechless.
A Christchurch vendor was asking for nearly $ 1,400 for his Thai Constellation monstera, featuring “ one of the prettiest variegated leaf and stem patterns you’ll find on Trademe ” and similar to one from a well-known online plant vendor for $ 500 .
Outraged, the interested buyer took the question-and-answer session to vent. How could they justify that price?
“Looks like a $ 1,399 plant to me,” was the vendor’s cool reply.
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(In the rather entertaining series of posts that followed, it became clear that the plant grower was well versed in the current value of potted plants.)
It’s an example of the current greenhouse plant craze that has commercial traders challenging those who buy from resellers for “crazy prices.”
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Daniel Kubler says that New Zealand’s rare pot plants are among the most expensive in the world.
Daniel Kubler, a group buyer for specialist plant retailer Kings, said the revival of domestic plants started about five years ago internationally.
But it was only about three years ago that the selected plants, especially the green monstera, began to command “crazy prices.” And currently it is the sun time of the variegated monstera.
The thing is, $ 1300 is not even remotely the highest. You’ve seen the other recent articles and Trade Me stuff where the plants have been selling for $ 6000 or $ 8000.
” It’s just because they are not widely available. Five or ten years ago people threw them out. I spoke to collectors who had them growing in the backyard or at home, and they liked them. But nobody wanted them. They couldn’t gift them to their friends. ”
Now they’re all the rage, there are very few of them, and some lucky homeowners are cashing in on the situation, says Kubler.
The plant at Trade Me may be a resale from someone who was prepared to queue at an unusual pop-up for a well-known online plant seller, he says. And this is not unknown.
” Classic refereeing situation! Because there are fewer specialty plant stores on the South Island, many things are bought from Kings and other garden centers and then resold on Trade Me, fetching much higher prices for buyers who can’t get their hands on it. ” normal retail price ‘.
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Even ordinary pot plants are now being sold at higher prices than usual.
Such is the demand that online plant store The Plant Project recently took to social media to urge its customers not to pay “crazy amounts at Trade Me” for the Thai constellations, especially since they were getting a new shipment in early 2000. new Year.
Before a pop-up store last week, the company briefed customers on the rules, including a limit per person at particular floors.
He anticipated queues in the morning, “so if that’s not your vibe, we suggest you come later in the day.”
Even if it is not a rare speckled monstera, the prices of the most common pot plants are much higher than they used to be, and the reasons are not very clear.
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Peperomia, a common but fashionable houseplant.
Kubler has heard a few theories: New Zealand’s shrinking backyard, the difficulty of renting with pets, and the need to take care of something, given the high cost of houses and children.
Or maybe it’s just the cyclical nature of fashion. ” When I was young, hydrangeas were very old-fashioned, it was your grandmother’s plant, and these days everyone wants a hydrangea in their garden. It could be the 70s revival of an inner jungle feel. ”
But there are also some unique practical reasons why rare plants are so expensive, including the slow growth of some varieties (it can take a year or two to grow a variegated monstera).
Another factor is our strict biosecurity rules. ” New Zealand houseplants are the most expensive houseplants in the world, ” says Kubler.
” It’s very difficult to introduce new things to New Zealand so when something becomes popular abroad and … then only the two or three people who could have brought it in 20 years ago still have the plant, suddenly their plants are worth tens of thousands. dollars to cut and sell. ”
However, eventually, market forces come into play when people take cuttings, garden centers catch up, and the price drops.
Another good example, he says, is a variety of calladium, which for six months sold for several hundred dollars a bulb on Trade Me. Last month, a shipment sold through major hardware stores cut the price last year to $ 20.
The popularity of pot plants has led to a rise in private online pot plant sellers, some informally on Trade Me or Facebook, others officially establishing themselves.
But investing several thousand dollars in a product that, by its very nature, is fragile, means that buyers must be careful.
Issues such as theft or damage during transport have come into play. A seller warned that if a plant was damaged, the buyer had to take a photo and send it to them so that they could claim the courier service.
While potted plants aren’t as fickle to care for as some believe, Kubler says the ranking of what’s hot in the plant world is highly changeable and evaporates when a ship finally crosses the border.
“Personally, I would be reluctant to spend a couple thousand dollars on a plant that could potentially go bankrupt. You certainly don’t want to go on vacation for a while. ”
