How people make a living on orchids

[The Orchid Boy]

I'm just curious about how you guys make a living off of orchids and how you got started.

I'm also curious about those of you you don't make your main living off of orchids but sell your extras or flask or buy flasks and sell those. I'd love to do this in the not so distant future.

Just tell me how you do and how you got started. Thanks.

 

[wjs2nd]

The venders/owners I know have a very busy schedule. They usually have to goto shows/events to help make a living and name for there business.

Well others I know sell orchids on the side. Some can be very sucessful at this. I have sold some seedlings on the side before.

The hardest thing with selling orchids: you have no guaranty of selling anything and then you get stuck with the expense. It's not a big deal when you spend hundred dollars here and there but, when you spend a few hundred dollars it adds up very quick.

 

[ehanes7612]

orchidmall.com and slippertalk.com are good resources to sell ..ebay is complicated and i would discourage using it

 

[paphioboy]

IMHO, it would depend if your business is concentrated on one/a few genera with similar needs (say, slippers, phals or cyms) or a more diverse collection. To manage a diverse collection successfully, especially for selling, would need quite a bit of experience in growing the different genera and will definitely be more challenging.

 

[NYEric]

Orchid business is very tough. Import and export headaches, lawsuits, damage from weather, bad business deals, etc. I dont sell any orchids but I trade a lot. I can't imagine selling orchids for a living alone.

 

[nikv]

Marry a rich woman who can support you.

 

[likespaphs]

an old adage is
how does one make a million in the orchid business?
start off with two million...

 

[gonewild]

an old adage is
how does one make a million in the orchid business?
start off with two million...

Not enough start up to make a million.....can't do it starting with only two million.

 

[Rick]

Seems like several established growers went out of business in the last several years.

If you already own the space, and live in a climate where energy costs don't eat you up then its easier to make a profit just growing and selling plants.

Otherwise I think you need to find lots of other ways to supplement your livelyhood.

A lot of folks are moving lots of plants from other (tropical) countries where land, warm weather, and labor is really cheap.

 

[ehanes7612]

Yeah, i think Andy's orchids, Parkside , and Hausermanns struggle and they have huge greenhouses...Andy's has a unique market and conservation in mind , so its definitely a different business plan there...I know Hausermanns depends greatly on phals , vandas and intergeneric oncidiums for their cash cow..and even though Parkside has a lot of paphs i think they depend on phals and intergenerics mostly. My local orchid seller (seattle orchid) really depends on phals also just so he can keep selling hobbyist orchids. Orchid selling/buying is shifting more and more to the internet as less and less people go to shows. I thought about going into the business when sanderianum hybrids were in great demand and supply was low but that's all changed. As far as paphs..the shift is going to Hangianum hybrids (which i think are atrocious, ugly and look too much like hangianum, but that's just me)..and of course the albums. But i dont know of anyone grwoing exclusively paphs (except Sam) who really comes close to making a living , but i think he just uses his sales to pay for his travels and the upkeep of his business (greenhouse)

 

[KyushuCalanthe]

Marry a rich woman who can support you.

I did, but so far she has refused to support me

an old adage is
how does one make a million in the orchid business?
start off with two million...

You mean you start with 2 mil and after a couple years yer down to 1 mil, correct?

 

[likespaphs]

yup

 

[Ross]

Before actually going into business, I spent a few years (11) honing my growing skills, acquiring good breeding stock, and actually figuring out what I wanted to do. I also didn't quit my day job, and my business partner (wife) also works full time and spends time working in the greenhouse. We both love our time spent with the orchids and would probably be doing it even if we didn't sell. So far, what we sell helps pay for our expenses, but does not cover them all.

 

[Ray]

I think Hadley Cash (Marriott Orchids) is another one who makes a living off of slippers.

After my 1994 "Big Freeze" event (failed heater and alarm on a 7°F night) that wiped out a 20-year collection, I started First Rays with the intent of buying plants I wanted, keeping 1 or 2, and selling the rest to pay for what I kept.

That later led to doing the same for supplies, then equipment, books, etc. For 15 years, I did it on a part-time basis, but then courtesy of a no-option "early retirement" package, I went to full-time in 2009, and having the time to dedicate to the business has allowed it to grow significantly.

The business pays for itself and more, but not enough to live off of. I only do one or two shows, and the speaking/selling engagements are a big "plus" - with the wonderful benefit of actually meeting the folks you communicate with online or via email.

Recently, the old company rehired me on a contract basis through the end of next year, so I now have two full-time jobs, requiring me to give up the speaking circuit for the time being.

I guess the bottom line is that if you want to run an orchid business, do it out of the love of orchids, not the love of money, and be prepared to sacrifice to be able to do what you love.

 

[The Orchid Boy]

If I could have just a small orchid business I would be doing it out of love of orchids. If we lived in a world free of money and just did favors and traded and such, I'd love to just grow orchids and give them away.

 

[Linus_Cello]

2 other business models:

Sell to the ultra high end/luxury. OrchidZone sells a lot of his plants to Japanese growers. Terry has a story where he sold a paph for $15 or 20k. It was a good investment for the buyer (who flew the plant on his lap for 20+ hours back to Japan) as the plant won the grand prize- some cash award ($5 or 10k) and a new Lexus.

Make this a hobby that helps pay for itself. One vendor is really more of a breeder, trying to line breed new hybrids. Besides the business tax deduction, the hobby pay for itself with the "rejects" that get sold through a store, at shows, or at farmers markets (the bulk of sales).

 

[annab]

in my zone north west Italy ,( its a rich part of the country) this very hard to live today , there is a huge crisis and much garden are for to fault ,I think when lacks bread is too hard buy orchid or another plant , I think that in this situation the only thing that one can do its stay immoveable.
in this moment you risk uselessly your money .
orchid is for me a passion ,certainly should be beautiful living off the orchid but my dream is another is that one day I can do" baracca e burattini" and go away may be in calabria or sicilia and live there at the shadow of the beautiful sun ,with kind temperature all the year too .
and then finally Built my greenhouse where I can put in my orchid so my heaven becomes real .
I have also another desires when I done all this ,I would like the capacity to involve other people in the fantastic world of orchid I dream that my greenhouse was full of people that admire my beautiful plant .
but I would like say another thing ,remember that if you have a passion but a big passion you should never surrender ,because there are a lot of story of success in the world ,and may be you could be one of this .
all the best ,anna

 

[cnycharles]

very nice. I have heard it said recently that the most 'successful' people were not exceptional or extremely smart students with the very high grades or the highest iq's, sometimes just 'mediocre' students who kept working at something and had more drive and maybe an idea that they wanted to work at until completion. becoming distracted by some things can be a big killer of dreams and passions.

a co-member of our orchid society has moved to another part of the state where he is now studying to become a social worker of sorts; someone who shares with others the joy of orchids and uses that to relieve or alleviate stress and other mental and physical strains

i had thought at one time that I would acquire a collection of phal species, mainly awarded or the more rare ones, and simply propagate and disseminate them here in the u.s.,... life and work has interfered mightily and most of the rare ones I had no longer exist, and some when I do net searches can't even find in the u.s. . now that a very respected phal vendor in virginia no longer sells high quality species, I am not sure if many will be available since his sources dried up. but, someone could have a collection of unusual things, and make seedlings of them and sell the flasks and compots to hobby or wholesale vendors, and be able to support their desire for orchid collecting and growing (maybe not a full income, but not losing so much money)

 

[chrismende]

I concur with most here: orchids as a profitable business are a very difficult goal. My outlays for my small (30 x 55 square ft) commercial space and acquisition of stock are at this point nearly at the level of a nice new car. It takes a long time before the plants are ready to sell and until the public is aware of what one is selling and enough trust and good will are built up for profits to begin to occur on even a small scale. I'm still, after about two and a half years into the development of my business, at the point of less focus on sales than on growing the plants. I'm slowly putting all the pieces together: business license, resale permit, insurance, website and cards, inventory system, recordkeeping system, etc. When I'm further along I will announce my readiness to all of you very happily. Right now, I'm putting one foot in front of the other day by day, happy in the knowledge that I'm doing what I utterly love: being around orchids and orchid people! I'm funding all this out of my pension and social security as a retired R.N, as well as out of my not extensive savings. So - don't quit the "day" job. If you can, make it in a related field! Get a horticulture, chemistry, geology or botany degree if you can! If you simply cannot do that, try to make more than you need on a monthly basis so that your orchid expenditures can be covered!

 

[ericst11]

You won't get rich off orchids you might beable to support your habit . But making a living is getting far and few . The production of Phal and other mass made orchids. Has just smashed the small time orchid vendors. Even the bigger ones are slowly fading away.