why do online seller list sold out cactus

[mikethecactusguy]

I got a beef. Why do online seller list cactus that are sold out. One has to wade through all the sold out listing to see the still in stock plants intermixed with the sold out plants. Its a pain in the buttocks
Just gripping, sorry.

[bartab]

I kind of imagine that low margin, specialized sales like cacti may not worry about having the latest Oracle software or whatever. Do you think they have an IT department at their facility? Head on over to the Shake Shack on Santa Monica Blvd and chill awhile as you go through the listings and enjoy.

PS. If your Mayor will let you.

[Aloha916]

Yeah- some online sites are a little bit behind the times in terms of what you can sort. A few particular sites come to mind, where you've got no choice but to scroll through a ton of stuff unless you really know exactly what you want.

[keith]

I know the site you're talking about, pretty sure its mesa. I actually like it better and amazed at how fast it sells out have cactus become this popular or is it stuck at home COVID19 ? Imitaria muirii got some seeds see if I can grow them ? And some cactus seeds nothing too exciting just to have something to germinate. All the new cactus species I think are in Czechoslovakia ?

Mesa is like Mesembs and more Mesembs which are very cool but I'm pretty new at growing them from seed. tiny dust like seed.

[Aiko]

All the new cactus species I think are in Czechoslovakia ?

That country does not exist anymore for a few decades already. I guess you are a tad over 25 years old...?

[Shane]

This bothers me too! It's a real pain. Even a PDF listing available plants is better

[Shane]

One site that I do like is Phoenix Desert Garden. They're not all bad

[DaveW]

Many lists, particularly seed lists, list species they have in very limited numbers and are often sold out first day the list appears. Why do they list them then? Since these rarer species encourage people to place an order for other species they may still have. If the inducement of the rare species were not there they probably would not bother to order at all.

In some cases those with larger semi-professional or nurserymen sized orders wanting some of the rarer seeds are required to buy enough of the less common species to get them. Therefore if you often just order the rarer species you may not get what you want because they will prioritise those with a general order since that is good business and like all businesses they are there to make money.

If you want some rare species on lists you have to order almost immediately the list is published online. They get so many orders back almost instantly (pre email by return of post), even waiting until the next day before ordering may mean what you want is sold out, particularly with Continental seed lists.

How do I know? I once in the dim distant past acted as an agent for a Continental cactus seed firm.

[keith]

On January 1, 1993, Czechoslovakia separated peacefully into two new countries, the Czech Republic and Slovakia"

I though Czech Republic was short for Czechoslovakia I found this old stamp collection with all kinds of stamps from places that no longer exists especially in Africa. Like Rhodesia. And Czechoslovakia !!

[mikethecactusguy]

I get it. Most of the best sellers are smaller family businesses. Yet, if you have the time to put"SOLD OUT" across the picture, why not just remove the Item. Then when its back in stock put it back in instead of removing "SOLD OUT" .

[DaveW]

You can if somebody is looking at the list online, but if they have already printed out their list as many do the dealer cannot update it. In the past lists were printed and posted out to previous customers or new ones requesting them as soon as published before any plants or seed were sold. Therefore apart from putting a line through out of stock items on lists sent out later they could not update lists already sent. Also plants or seed may be sold out a minute after you email them your order.

Those who sell plants or seed for our hobby are seldom large horticultural firms so often as soon as orders start rolling in it is a full time job just packing and sending orders with little time left to update their online lists.

However many now do confirm your orders on receipt of your email, which is the advantage of email over the old "snail mail" these days.

[bartab]

I'm surprised anybody sends out a list anymore. Seems like a big waste of time and money.

[tumamoc]

I get it. Most of the best sellers are smaller family businesses. Yet, if you have the time to put"SOLD OUT" across the picture, why not just remove the Item. Then when its back in stock put it back in instead of removing "SOLD OUT" .

Maybe the seller wants people to know that they are a source for the plant, seeds, etc., and by leaving it up, folks might check back at a future date. I'm sure some of that stock is extremely limited. I also wonder if it might just be easier to label or update an item as "sold out," rather than to delete or hide the listing. For what it's worth, I like the way Miles2go has a separate page that lists the sold out plants. It gets updated frequently. Simple, yet effective.

[DaveW]

Don't think any do send out lists now Bartab expecting you to download a copy off the internet, so saving printing and posting costs they incurred in the past. Probably for those few without access to computers who contact them they will probably print out a list using their own computer printer and send it. But the days of traditional printed lists being typeset by a printing firm seem so be over.

[Pereskiopsisdotcom]

There is a legitimate strategy for keeping the text for sold out cacti active and that is SEO (search engine optimization). Google's algorithm for search results is private but since nearly the beginning it has relied on the text used on a website for the context of what to show to the user. Quite a few businesses use this strategy to keep potential customers coming to their website and hopefully hook them onto similar products and services.

If a potential buyer is unfamiliar with a vendor and doing a quick Google search: "insert cactus species seed for sale" it is far more likely to show up towards the top in the SERPs (search engine results page) if they simply keep the listing but add the text "SOLD". Then if the website is designed well enough, the potential buyer might see other relevant cacti or seed for sale. At the very least they are likely to bookmark the page and wait for it to come in stock.

It's hard for a lot of us to imagine that this hobby and these sellers are more than just a small community, but cacti and succulents have had a renaissance of sorts with Millenials across the globe for several years now.