How To Sell Plants Online?

Do you have a unique passion for growing plants? Are you a green thumb? Or do you simply love plants and want to earn while you do your hobby? If the answer is yes, then, this article is for you! This is where you can learn tips and tricks on how to sell plants online and actually make money from it.

plant shop

Plants have been one a lot of people’s breathers, a unique hobby, a collection, a stressbuster, and to some—a business. They also have great ways of giving us beautiful landscapes, keeping our home alive, and our air healthy.

Since the pandemic, many have been interested in growing plants. Aside from its health benefits, it helps kill time, and reduce stress. This is one good opportunity to sell plants, whether you are disposing of them due to lack of space, buying another variety, changing some collections, or simply just want to declutter and earn. And yes, selling plants can increase your income, depending on the quality.

In this article, we will be giving you some guidelines on how to sell plants online.

Things to Consider Before Selling Plants Online

Growing Conditions

Plants grow in different environments, seasons, shapes, lengths, and sizes. We couldn’t possibly just sell any plants without considering its needs as it stays in our greenhouse, there are lots of things that a plant owner should know before owning a plant. When you own plants, you are entitled to doing research about the proper way of taking care of them.

Time and Effort

If you decide to sell online, be ready for spend time and effort. Imagine the work and perseverance you have to invest. Selling plants online can be a handful but you can always turn up here for free tips on how to sell plants. It is also relevant that you know how to manage your inventory and while doing that creating a strategy to sell plants more.

Cost of Operation

Plant costs are also one thing to consider when it comes to selling plants online because with every business, comes with a cost. It is important to know the low maintenance plants, the high maintenance plants, the high-quality starter plants, and the rare and delicate plants. The best indoor plants to start with are the low maintenance ones, they are easy and they are very common to find. Customers and plant lovers would want something common to add to their collection of the plants.

Online stores such as plant businesses are not new to the market, but what can you do to make them unique? Well, research about all these things mentioned below, and quick as a lightning bolt, I’m sure you’ll be able to come up with an idea.

Knowledge about Plants

Not every plant only lives with frequent watering and spraying fertilizers. Every plant has its unique needs from the right temperature too, amount of sunlight too, pots, or containers to use. Does your plant need pruning? How can the buyer propagate the plant? What pesticides are best to use when the plant catches diseases or pests.

You need to know these basic needs when selling plants because not every buyer knows about the plant’s details. Knowledge about the plants you are selling is important so you will be able to share it with your customers or answer queries about a certain plant that they are interested in.

knowing your plants

Species that are low maintenance and cheap to buy are the best thing to start with when setting up your own plant business. Then there are the high maintenance plants, which require more effort from plant sellers and more plants costs because of how they are taken care of.

If you have plans to sell plants, it is better that you grow your own plants and own branding as a plant wholesaler so that it will be unique from all the other plant businesses.

The Source

So you are planning on selling plants step by step, but the main question is where are you going to get the plants that you are about to sell? Where are you gonna restock if you run out of best-selling plants? It is important to know the source of your items because this is where your supplies are coming from.

Growing plants and selling them is one of the good sources, whether it is from your little garden or greenhouse, it is best to choose the plants you are about to sell, and place them somewhere where the sun shines generously. There are lots of plant species to dive into if you are planning to own a plant business or start selling plants online, for instance, rare and delicate plants are hot in the market for your target customers of plant collectors, it will be a good choice for an online plant store.

Having sources such as nursery gardens, greenhouses, or those that offer wholesale, it is best to know where to get your plants if you want to add different varieties and when you run out of stock.

Location to Where You House Your Plants

plant nursery

So you have looked around, listed every possible source, and studied the basics about your plants. The next thing you have to decide is where to place your plants and sell them. Since we are aiming to sell plants online, it is still important that we place our plants in spaces where they will have enough room to breathe and grow.

You may build your own little portable garden, or greenhouse, or portable plant storage or shelter, but make sure they will be able to get enough sunlight.

Creating a Page or Site Online

Since we are planning to sell online, you have to build your online store. Creating a page or a website will be one of your assets for your plants to sell. You have to treat your page or site as if it is ‘another’ you. You have to take care of it and give it as much attention as you do to yourself because this is how you personalize it. From choosing templates, themes, citing an introduction, uploading photos, and creating captions, all of these matter, because this is how you attract your customers.

creating website for your for sale plants

Social Media apps and other useful applications such as shopping apps may also help. Groups on social media or creating your own groups through messaging apps with the people you know are also a good stepping stone for starters.

It is also important you study the basics of search engine optimization and as well as the basics of handling a business account for your small gardening business and plant business. One of the things you should also consider is learning more about the type of plants and the quality of each of them, some of them are high-quality starter plants that would help beginner plant moms and dads own a plant that’s luxurious yet cheap.

Do You Deliver or Pick Up Only?

Not every item you sell online can be done through deliveries. You may choose to have your items picked up or delivered, but it is wise to know when you will deliver or have the plant picked up. For pickups, there are certain customers that would like to visit your physical store, and there are customers that live nearby, or pass by your location as they drive, or customers that simply want to pick up the plant for assurance or safety of the plant.

plant delivery

Shipping plants isn’t is for the weak because imagine how delicate a flower can be, one wrong move and the stem may be cut off from its body. There is a specific plant that would really need extra care when carrying outside.

Aside from customers that order overseas, if you choose to ship overseas, there are some customers that wouldn’t have enough time to drop by, that live far from your location, or would like to have the plant delivered in some places like their office. This is where deliveries fit in.

When doing deliveries in any business, you should be aware of the shipping costs and a few things a seller should know so that you may be able to sell your plants, the easiest way possible.

Types of Payment Used

If online is easy, payments may also come easy to both the customer and the seller. There are modes of payments that can be used for easier transactions such as online bank transfers, cash upon delivery, or payment first. These are some of the modes of payments that must be observed before finally opening up your online business because customers love convenience.

After-sale Service

After-sale service is one of the few ways to keep your customers loyal and consistent. You may also use this service as a marketing strategy. Offering a hand when the plants aren’t delivered with much care, suggesting fertilizers or tips on how to get rid of pests or diseases, and consultation once the plant bought isn’t in a good shape is one way of telling your customers that they bought their item in a store that offers quality services. You may inform your customers about contacting you or your site for support.

Easy Steps To Sell Plants Online

There are lots of things to consider when selling things online, especially if you are in the plant industry. It won’t be easy but I promise you, the online plant business that’s inside your mind right now is surely gonna be the bomb once you ace all these tips and tricks on how to start selling plants online.

Quality of Plant Images

plant image quality

The images of your plants are your “front liners”, so you must give them what they see, and this is the quality of your plant’s images. You must organize your plants in a photo-worthy or in an “instagrammable” way. You may arrange them properly and take a photo of them together, or take a photo of each with different styles and backgrounds to be able to capture your buyer’s attention, yet all must be done with proper lighting because filters are best not applied in this type of photoshoots.

Site Navigation

To avoid the buyer getting annoyed with scrolling and browsing, your site must be user-friendly, and easy to access. Your site can be organized according to the plant’s origin, type, or family. Search tabs must be easy to find, dropdowns of types of plants such as home decor plants, indoor plants, outdoor plants, or houseplants must be visible upon browsing. Plant suggestions can also be placed in a small space of your website for further reference.

Payment Processing

Payment processing should be hassle-free but security-wise. Some customers would really prefer payment upon delivery for assurance, but some customers prefer to pay after placing the order for less hassle. Online banking, or even using Paypal can help with regards to the easy payment process.

Shipping

Courier has one of the most important roles in online selling, for the safety of your items are in their hands. It is best to find couriers that can assure the safety of your pants when being shipped, and you are also responsible for how you hand this item to the courier in a way that it wouldn’t be easily destroyed.

Management

Management of your business is one crucial decision. For beginners, you manage your own plant selling business especially if you are the expert when it comes to plant care. Assisting your customers personally can also add up to their assurance that the quality of the plant is the best.

plant management

Doing the inventories and deciding on which plants to add, which plants are the best selling, and which plants to order less when you start to buy stocks isn’t very much of a chore if you are still on the start-up stage.

Listing seasonal plants is also one of the things you have to look forward to. Asking for help with management, especially online orders can be done by the people you most trust with or your not very busy family members. This way, everything you do, every sale, order, and service will be organized.

Final Thought

Growing plants is one of the good habits to enjoy, and selling plants is one way of doing your passion while earning. When venturing into this kind of business, it is imperative that we know the basics of plant care. We should take a good look at all of the well-being of our plant before we choose to venture into this business.

One plant can change your life quickly, and you will notice how much positivity the green colour is bringing you into your life. When you grow plants, you give meaning to a certain thing, making it a better one.

There can be few challenges in online selling but this is one way of selling items easily and hassle-free for both seller and the buyer. This can also be a good source of income, or extra income. By learning the first few steps of online selling, and reading or asking for some tips, the online selling of plant can be a good start for a small business to a growing one.

Whether you want to buy, sell or simply reach out to other plant enthusiasts, Plantly is the right place to be!

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