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How much do you markup your plants, trees, etc.

39K views 28 replies 19 participants last post by  Blakeserve 
#1 ·
I'm just wondering how much you guys markup your plants, trees, shrubs, etc. when you sell them to customers.

What do you tell your customer when you come to thier property and sell them a plant for 50% (or however much you mark them up) more than they could go buy them for themselves???

This doesn't make much sense to me...it just seems like you are ripping off the customer. I can see maybe a 10% or 20% markup because you do spend time buying, and transporting the plants, but I know of some companies who mark plants up by 100%? I don't get how they stay in business.
 
#4 ·
It (profit) all comes down to what YOU pay for said plants. Personally, I use wholesale nurseries, who only sell to landscapers. THIS is how you mark up 100% and more on some. I can buy, plant, fert., and garantee a plant for a year for the price Joe Homeowner could pick up the plant at local plant store. I get 15'+ Cleveland Select Pear trees ( for example) for $65.00, B8B'd. I can sell them with an install for $300 each. At least. Go to where the plants are cheap, not where everyone else shops.

~Nest
 
#5 ·
This has come up before. Percentages are misleading, everybody has different ways of pricing what they sell. All that should matter to the customer is, what are they getting for what TOTAL price. It doesnt make a difference if that price derived from simply a percentage of the total material cost, or plant markups plus labor, or however. Also, some people base their pricing on what they pay wholesale, and some on full the full retail price that the average Joe would pay at the local nursery.

When I started out, I simply double my total material cost. In other words, whatever the material cost was, that was also my profit. That is a pretty common way of doing it in my area, mostly by people starting out, or LCO who mainly do maintenance. I have since developed a pricing method that works for me now that experience has told me how much I need to make on each aspect of what I do. Others may not think much of my method, I really dont care, and neither should anyone else. Nor should the customer. The method of pricing doesnt rip him off, his inability to compare services and coresponding prices might, though. But thats his problem.

Bryan
 
#7 ·
Kevintree...

1) I never said I had a 50% markup...that was just a random figure to use for an example.

2) I don't lose my shirt or anything else on my plantings or any of my other services.


I see what I am missing...there aren't any wholesale nurseries real close to my area. I can see how you can markup wholesale costs by so much...that makes sense.

Do you guys have a certain amount that the nursery makes you buy, or can you just buy as you need?
 
#8 ·
Mine is buy as I need. I can get 3 trees, or 600 plants. I've never left my nursery without getting something for free also. They always show me new stuff and ask if I like it, then say "Take it!" They also deliver, and will have my order ready for pick up if I want to pick it up. They also have someone load it for me. I love them! lol
 
#9 ·
That is how we do it in TN because we have so many nurseries not far from us. Their prices allow us to mark up the plant, and the customers does not realize that it is a mark up. We also can buy as much or as little as we want. The only problem with ours is most are ran by Mexicans, and it is really hard to understand them.
 
#10 ·
I think Kevin put it pretty well. I just give the customer a total price. I dont say well Mr. So and So, it will cost you $30.00 for this plant and another $15.00 to plant it. If you do then he may compare cost to Lowes or someone else. But tell him $ 45.00 and your done. It covers all of your costs plus warranty and profit.
 
#15 ·
Kevintree...I appreciate your input and opinions. BUT just because it works for you doesn't mean that your way is the right way or the only way to do it. At this point in my area if I stuck to your guidlines I would be out of business.

Thanks again for your help...I really do appreciate your posts...they let me know how some of you others are doing things.
 
#16 ·
100% plus planting. Price for plant includes 1 year warranty. Extended warranty can be purchased. Most retail nurseries either don't include a warranty or only offer six months at most. My customers are very happy about paying a little extra knowing that for 1 full year regardless of reason I will replace any dead tree or shrub free of charge for one full year
 
#17 ·
Regardless of reason? You mean like over-watering, under-watering, dogs, hurricanes, cars, floods,home owner fertilzer? Wow, you're braver than me. I give one year, minus what I stated. If they die of disease( i must be notified at first notice), I'll replace them. The other reasons will put you out of business.
 
#19 ·
Just because you dont have a wholesale nursery near by is no reason to not buy wholesale plants. There are plenty of highly reputable large nurseries throughout the United States that will deliver you plants anywhere, even to the job site. I buy from a place out of North Carolina from time to time, and their minimum order is only like 2000 or 2500 I think. Just get some jobs lined up in a row and buy all the plants at once for the job. If you are worried about having alot of money setting there in plants dont. I have two nurseries I work with where The send me a huge shipment in late March and all I do is pay a thousand bucks down and the rest of the payment for the plants is not due till August 15 and no interest charged. I dunno if they would do it for brand new customers or not, but I have only been buying from them a couple years, and they offered it to me. Not having a local wholesale nursery is no excuse. If you have a state association you should try to get a member list from them. You would be suprised how many might be within a four or five hour drive.
 
#20 ·
Well where I come from $2500 is quite a bit of money. I HAVE to worry about having that much money just sitting there in plants. And where do I keep all these plants until I'm ready to plant them?

Not having a local nursery is no excuse for what??? If you go ahead and read my post again you'll see that I'm not looking for excuses I'm looking for answers as to how you guys can charge so much markup.

I do see your point, and I thank you for posting, the closest bigger town is about a hour away, and I'm sure that they probably have a few wholesale nurseries. I didn't really even think about that. I'll be looking into that before spring.
 
#21 ·
Like you said, you have to find a wholesale nursery, and let them know that your a landscaper. usually you get a better price when you buy more plants, keep that in mind and possibly look into setting up a greenhouse to keep your stock in. and it really does come down to what people are willing to pay. if someone says" I can go down to home depot and but it for cheaper", remind them that you are in business to make $, and if you didn't make a profit you wouldn't be in business very long.

Personally, I don't mark up plants very much, but I make money doing other parts of the job like clearing, excavating, and grading.
 
#22 ·
Originally posted by CoachLinz
I quote it something like-
The job will come to $600. That will include delivery and installation of x number of shrubs/flowers/plants, etc. That will also include x and y work as you requested.

I never quote a job piecemeal.
I love bidding jobs piecemeal! on a 2k job I will piece meal it at 4k gotta keep running back, get a bigger dicount if I buy all your plants at once and will pass that savings on to you my dear customer that wants to waste my time trying to figure if you can afford that i-2 extra trees you requested. I love explaining how I'm saving them money buying the packagepayup And after all that I usually end up selling about 90% of the packages.

Mac
 
#25 ·
piecemeal, buying 1-2 plant this month and 1-2 the following month. There is no benefit to the customer because I'm gonna charge twice as much as if they just bought the package. You just have to point out how much $$$ you can save them if they buy the plant package. Think of it as buying a car 1 piece at a time it would cost a fortune compared to just buying the finished product.

Mac
 
#26 ·
If you get a bunch of stuff delivered from one of these wholesale nursuries, say 10 trees and 30 plants, etc.... how do you store them until it is time to plant them on a job? How long can they remain in storage? What I mean is, do you have to plant them in the ground at say your shop or home, or can you leave them outside in the buckets that they come in? Thanks !
 
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