Selling exotic palms .

[karl66]

This is just testing the water really, i wont be able to keep roofing forever & in a few years time i would like to get into importing palms etc , are there any special regulations or licence's you need to obtain?. karl.

[Yorkshire Kris]

Good luck.

I think you fine with anything bought within the E.U.

[Nigel]

Importing from the EU is free trade, and there is freedom of movement of plants. You cant import from outside europe, because even if you got the right paperwork DEFRA will just burn everything ,they already put all the UK importers out of business.

[Ste]

I suppose you'll need to start with trying to find a good contact/supplier. The guy I buy my Trachycarpus's off in Sunderland, well his supplier makes the trips to Italy himself to arrange the deals then sends them back on a container. I would start off with getting a few palms at a good price and try it on the sideline, see how it goes. Carry on with your roofing job as yor main job and try and sell a few palms on ebay or make yourself a website. See how it goes before importing quite a bit of stock. Hopefully you will get regular customers who will give your details to their friends and you could be a big palm supplier in a few years. I know the supplier from Sunderland nearly went bust last year as most of his stock died during the winter (thousand's of pounds worth) he had container loads but no where to store it so make sure you have somewhere they can go so you dont end up out of pocket.

[karl66]

Ste, i'm a million miles from doing this in reality, i know from speaking with several nursery men/women, they have a lot of sleepless nights.

[Las Palmas Norte]

Check your local county or district by-laws. Over here selling from your property requires certain specifics, ALL of which involve money and red tape.

Cheers, Barrie.

[acphm]

Hello karl66,

if you need a palm supplier you can visit:

http://www.medipalm.com
http://www.palmter.com
http://www.viverosmaier.com
http://www.palmasur.com

[Adrian]

Not done it myself but if you did go down that road then you might start off with exotics but you would need to go more mainstream because thats where the money is.
Just imagine trying to sell to this lot on here, everyone wants a bare bones bargain, you'll stock to the hilt (like B+Q and the likes) and everyone will hold off until you are almost on your knees and cutting prices to the bone to get rid of stock before winter wipes everything out and in they come like vultures laughing but its true.
Nige will come back with a better set up Im sure (not that there was anything wrong last time) and Daniel knows the business world from the start so they could make it but coming in from the cold isnt going to be easy.
I remember a mate telling me that he was in it because he loved it, not because he was going to make a fortune ( ).
Have a look around Akamba (your neck of the woods) and see the stock that was wiped out, could you take that ?

[redsquirrel]

keep it as a sideline Karl,you can always take less roofing bookings but you cant force more palm sales

[Yorkshire Kris]

I think the best way to go about it would be to sow a load of palm seeds or get hold of loads of seedlings and grow them on. Try Trachys as these will sell to everyone.

[karl66]

Thanks for all the feedback. Despite me spending far to much time on here, my roofing company still takes up a lot of man hours & would not give me enough time to divert yet!. I like to be fully commited to anything i take on & i've still got my L plates on growing exotics let alone selling them . I can just imagine some of you reading this thinking " wait till he has some big loses, he wont be so keen then". Also i have no experience in propagation or mixing seeds etc, IF i did venture into the market in the future it would be just straight selling on of palms . karl.

[Conifers]

Ditto to Kris on Trachys - might be a good idea to start them now, so that by the time you stop roofing, you've got some good-sized palms ready to sell straight off.

[Kristen]

How long from Seed to Sell? and what would they fetch?

3 years and then sell them for a £5 do you think? or would they make more than that?

[Nigel]

I remember a mate telling me that he was in it because he loved it, not because he was going to make a fortune ( ).
?

That just about sums it up, and what else could I do at my age

[Adrian]

Ah but would you go back to the insurance stuff or are you happier now