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magical9

State of the Cactus Scene - rant

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So ive been trying to source cactus cuttings from all over the place. Specifically Trichocereus cuttings. The main thing I have run into so far has been the attitude i receive from these wholesaler/nursery types. I am merely looking for bulk offers of tricho cuttings at wholesale pricing. Am i dense or is that not an offensive thing to ask a cactus dealer? I understand that its maybe not a request often heard but still Ive gotten so many negative put off responses when asking. Everyone tells me that the cactus biz is dead, or that they only get a few cuttings every so often and someone buys them right away. Though, again the attitude from these people is as though ive demanded from them that they supply me with 500 super rare tricho cuttings per month for free. Instead of just saying "no we dont carry tricho's or cuttings thank you for the interest". I just got off the phone with a well known cactus nursery in Arizona. I asked him if they offered cuttings of trichocereus and if so if they offer any type of bulk discount as im trying to start a business. His response was "ya know man.. i get a call just about every month from some guy starting a cactus biz trying to sell online .. blah blah blah..theres no money in it.. blah blah if thats what you really wanna do then go ahead but theres a reason everyone is closing up shop etc etc blah blah" essentially turning me completely off. Basically saying im wasting his time. Of course this was followed up with a long diatribe of how his nursery is huge and they normally take 5000+ cuttings a year and how they dont have any now since they always sell so fast etc etc blah blah. Anytime i tried to just ask if they offered any tricho's even potted.. his response was that of someone who was super offended at the thought. it just blows my mind. None of these people seemed to think i was using these cactus cuttings for nefarious reasons either. again it was as though i offended these people by just simply asking "do you offer bulk discounts on any trichocereus cuttings for cactus dealers". Oh another thing the guy said to me finally was "ya we do have potted trichos but were selling them retail. why would i sell them wholesale when i could make 7 times wholesale selling them retail!?!?!" all pissed off and offended sounding. Mind you they advertise as a wholesaler........................I stopped the guy in mid-diatribe finally and straight up asked him why i get such ass hole responses from dealers like him when asking such a benign question and he basically just talked out his ass and didnt explain anything. Though i think he got what i was getting at.. hey buddy stop being a prick.

Edited by magical9

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Many Cactus Sellers are arrogant Pricks. Not sure what it is...i guess the pesticides are fucking with their Brains.

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Well, I guess a more plausible answer is: they don't want competitors. You might want to start up a new nursery with all those cuttings, right? No, that doesn't excuse them for giving you a hard time, but it might explain their behaviour.

By the way, there are no nefarious ways to use a cactus :)

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You probably aren't contacting truly wholesale operations if they'll even talk to you when they find out you don't have a business license. It's that sort of place that you want to contact once you have a business license. Then you can buy Trichocereus in bulk and quite cheap. Even in the wholesale nursery trade TBMs for example do get snatched up as soon as the lists are published though.

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Call up zircon6 and get some "Real deal cactus kate pachanoi" I'm sure he'll give you a "great" deal.

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Call up zircon6 and get some "Real deal cactus kate pachanoi" I'm sure he'll give you a "great" deal.

Made me lol...

I wish there were more nice retail websites rather than all the weirdos on the bay :P

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The main thing I have run into so far has been the attitude i receive from these wholesaler/nursery types. I am merely looking for bulk offers of tricho cuttings at wholesale pricing. Am i dense

In a nutshell, yes. Actually beyond dense, borderline stupid.

You want bulk orders & wholesale pricing from someone who has never heard of you, let alone you offer proof you are a licensed wholesaler, or even worthy of wholesale pricing or even continuing a conversation.

Your business model could be much more rewarding growing your stock from seeds rather than buying every mislabeled cactus plant you can find. Grow thousands and thousands of seedlings & start selling them as a business model.

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That's what I would say as well. Not that you're being stupid or anything ilke that, but that you should start a ton of seeds. It's a long term plan but the rewards will be great. You can choose your favorites and start cloning those. Name those clones and sell them. It takes a ton of dedication though. Also you could grow some cuttings in the ground and let them get huge and you will have a cutting factory basically. As for vendors, I have no clue where to find bulk deals of trichs. I think the most viable option is to grow your own or find a personal connection for the cuttings you need with somebody that knows/trusts you.

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It´s rare that i agree with everyone in a Thread. At least so far. :) Go start a business from seed. You will be blown away by all the great Plants you get! Hybrids, Variegates, Crests, Monstroses, you name it!

And yeah, you might have asked the wrong people. The true wholesaler sells stuff in very large quantities and are not really that accessible through typical webstores. The guys you asked were most likely interested to scare away possible competitors. Certain areas that are very profitable, they usually tell you, it´s not worth the time to scare you away. They are not stupid and everyone in a sane mind that´s interested not to go bankrupt would probably do the same! Morally, wrong, but last time I checked, being a moralist man didn't pay out in this world. Again, they are dicks, but try to see things through the eyes of others.

Edited by Evil Genius
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so did each of these persons you contacted actually refuse to sell to you? Or did you instead find yourself swallowed up by the incessant ranting and were put off sticking it out and sealing a deal? Persistence pays off but if they really are refusing to sell wholesale bulk then maybe you are better off growing your own

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Here in Australia its quite different: there are numerous well-established cacti farms (private and open) with pretty awesome people owning and running them that will gladly put up bulk sales of their stock. Have you tried only the Arizona area? maybe that particular state is prone to fuckwits not giving you a chance.. you could have better luck in other states.

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wow guys. lots of great info. insights i didnt really consider. my whole idea is to be able to provide properly labeled tricho's to the community since as we can see its kind of a bitch to find decent stuff often. I plan on trying to get my foot in the door with selling cuttings/potted plants from nurserys ( i have one connection so far ) while i start tons of seeds. that way im kinda sorta up and running when my seeds get going. but it really does seem like i should just focus on seeds for the next 2 years and hope to have somthing badass in 5 years. if this is my path it will become clear what i should do ;)

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It´s rare that i agree with everyone in a Thread. At least so far. :) Go start a business from seed. You will be blown away by all the great Plants you get! Hybrids, Variegates, Crests, Monstroses, you name it!

And yeah, you might have asked the wrong people. The true wholesaler sells stuff in very large quantities and are not really that accessible through typical webstores. The guys you asked were most likely interested to scare away possible competitors. Certain areas that are very profitable, they usually tell you, it´s not worth the time to scare you away. They are not stupid and everyone in a sane mind that´s interested not to go bankrupt would probably do the same! Morally, wrong, but last time I checked, being a moralist man didn't pay out in this world. Again, they are dicks, but try to see things through the eyes of others.

EG you really opened my eyes with this comment. it never even occurred to me that starting tons of seeds would not only produce awesome cactus cheap but.. all the variations! DUH. :) cant wait to start mah seeds. i have so many freakin projects going right now and now that i have a live in gf i have a whole new person to assign projects to me!

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This thing has nothing to do with the cactus scene

if you are in this forum and cannot source a couple properly IDed trichocereus, then you are definately doing it wrong

wtf cant you source bulk trichos in california?

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troll alert.. carry on folks

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I'd stress the trust factor that others have mentioned - I'd been buying seed/plants from a retail source for over a decade - despite the reality of money exchange, the feeling is that I became somewhat part of a family of plant concerns, such as germinating rare cacti from seed, preserving diversity by home-growing, etc. So recently I was pleased to have been sent a wholesale price list, in which TBMs, for example could be purchased for a little less than retail. Once trust is present, it's not really competition but the continued livity of the plant itself that has trained us primates to provide adequate environment for their continuance.

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troll alert.. carry on folks

I know magical9 personally and he's no troll.

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I know magical9 personally and he's no troll.

i was referring to mutant :P hi mutant!

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Oooh, LOL.

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Come to nz and buy all my trichs from me Magical9 :P

I have heard this is a problem in the US.. But I bet you'll find a way around it in time. I used to be frustrated with the lack of trichocereus available in New Zealand, but over time I realised there's no real lack, you just have to hunt around a bit and find the right people to talk to. Now I have too many and wish I could more easily pawn them off to other mad folks who want them as bad as I used to.

Get sowing seeds in the mean time, if you want some trich hybrid seeds pm me, you can have em for free.

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"you just have to hunt around a bit and find the right people to talk to"

exactly

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