Are plants the new property? Rare houseplant sells for nearly $ 7,000 on Trade Me

The enthusiastic bidder who missed out on buying the nation’s most expensive houseplant to sell on Trade Me (a mixed low of $ 8,150) has won the top pick.

A furious bidding war between two people on Wednesday night turned a rare type of philodendron into the second most expensive houseplant sold on the site.

The philodendron erubescens plant, described by the seller as “super rare” with “really good roots,” was listed with a reserve of $ 1, but 235 offers raised that price to thousands.

The list of the plant known as “white princess” had 6456 visits and 446 observers.

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The variegated lows sold in August raised the same price as a 2010 Suzuki Swift, and a good $ 1,650 more than a variegated hoya that sold for $ 6,500 in June, and a monstera in Auckland that raised $ 4,930 in January.

“Since 2015, houseplant sales have grown by 2543 percent on the site as more and more kiwis look to bring greenery into their homes,” said Ruby Topzand, a Trade Me spokeswoman.

Even in the last year alone, Trade Me has seen a 213% increase in the number of indoor plants sold.

The seller of the motley minimums had offered to exchange a second floor for a white princess.

“I have two plants, so you might be interested in swapping the other for the correct plant (a veitchii, ‘White Princess’ philodendron or ‘Florida Ghost’),” wrote the buyer.

Perhaps the new owner of the white princess will now be able to make an exchange for the minimums they coveted.

The reactions of plant enthusiasts are divided.

“Lol, this is crazy,” one person posted as a question on the list.

“These prices seem crazy to me,” he said. New Zealand gardener editor Yo McCarroll.

“As a plant lover, I encourage people to stop and look at each and every plant as it rewards their interest exponentially. You can get great pleasure out of a new frond on a fern that costs a few dollars. “

However, commenters on houseplants Facebook groups said they would be happy to part with that amount of money.

“One hundred percent would buy that if they had $ 7k to spare. Not even a blink of an eye,” said one person.

McCarroll said the only reason he could understand that it would lead people to spend so much on a single plant would be the hope of making more money by propagating and selling future plants.

“And that’s fine, but it’s not the reason I’m interested in plants and I seem to lose consciousness.”