What price should I sell my babies for?

[DustyRusty]

Hi,

I'm selling a bunch of my trees. A collector at work is interested in them. I've never sold a tree before and find judging their value very difficult. Most of mine I've developed. They still need work too. I'm wondering if any of you could give me a ballpark figure of what I should aim for on these trees. I don't need to get their full value or charge a high price, i think they should be reasonable considering it saves me a whole of hassle by selling to them to someone i know. But I also don't want to give away these trees for far too little. I'd love your rough guesses or ballpark ranges if you can help.

This one is a PJ Fig developing in the canopy style. Needs some wiring:

c fig.JPG

This is a Shohin Seiju Elm. Has some carving in the trunk to get rid of previous reverse taper. Developing in the broom style.

elm.JPG

This is a PJ Fig with a grotesque and interesting trunk. Developing in canopy style but needs more branches and thickening:

g fig.JPG

This is a PJ Fig that is developing in the sloping style. Very fat trunk, branches with good shape and thickness. Leaves need to be made smaller.

s fig.JPG

This is a White Barked Ficus Retusa. Too tally and leggy at the moment but am attempting to thicken branches. Great nebari, although one front root appears to have some sunburn.

fig ret.JPG

Any guesses on value would be much appreciated.

[BB Brian]

ill be happy to take that seiju elm off your hands

[Raymond B]

ill be happy to take that seiju elm off your hands

How much would you pay for it?

[bonborn]

The best way is to set your prices that you'd sell for and see if people are interested. If not lower a bit and keep doing unless sold. Also list on gumtree or ebay as there is a wider audience.

[DustyRusty]

Thanks. Not after the highest price as such. I would like to sell them to the collector from work, but have no idea of their value. I'm moving state, hence my need to sell them.

[KIRKY]

Ask your collector to make you an offer if your happy with it sell. If not neg a better deal. Only you know what you want for them and what you woud be happy with. Bonsai like anything for sale its only worth what someone will pay for it!
Good luck
Cheers
Kirky

[rodm]

Mate, just had a look on eBay and gumtree,also a few other site. As the above have said basically what your happy with. For mine l would think starting around $200.00 ea won't be unreasonable
Cheers RodM

[tgward]

should also remember to consider the pot in your valuation--

[Beano]

What you see on gumtree is only the asking price. Some of them are quite unreasonably priced. This goes for eBay too, but if you change your search filter to "completed items" you will be able to see what has actually sold and for what price. Sold listings have a dollar value in green. Unsold, red. This way you can see what people on these mediums will pay for crap trees and also how much they'll pay for much better stock. Search "bonsai stock" and "bonsai -seeds -seed" and you'll filter out most of the unwanted listings for seeds.

A lot of what I see on gumtree and eBay are baby trees in a cheap bonsai pot with a token bit of wire and they're asking something ridiculous like $150 for it. This is a way to gauge how good your tree is in comparison but not necessarily a good way to price your own trees.

[rodm]

You could always compare your trees with major nurseries like bonsai south or ray nesci, note only trees then think about the value of your trees