Is there a market for rare seed grown cacti species?

[TheORKINMan]

To be clear I am NOT looking to sell in this post. Just trying to figure out what to do with my extras in the future assuming I can keep them going and start to run out of space haha. I posted recently about getting my Echinopsis coronata seedilings up to a decent size. I also have some (still small) Sclerocactus mesa-verdae and Harrisia fragrans seedlings amongst many others. Do people look for and buy these plants when they get bigger? It seems like many of these types of cacti come up for sale so rarely that I haven't had a lot of success finding a sales history for them.

I do see people apparently go nuts for Copiapoa species on ebay but wasn't sure if that's some phenomenon thats unique to that genus.

[DaveW]

Rarity is often a matter of opinion and can vary county to country depending what's freely available in that country. Also some species are more desirable to collectors than others, therefore a not very attractive species may in fact be quite rare but there is not a widespread market for it. Take for instance Notocactus uebelmannianus, both the purple and yellow flowered forms were introduced in the 1960's at the same time but the yellow form is now rare since nurserymen only propagated the better selling purple form. All the "Gymnocalycioide" Notocactus forms have now been lumped into Parodia under the name Parodia werneri since a Parodia uebelmannianus already existed. Therefore they used Uebelmann's first name Werner since priority of the Parodia already in that genus meant it had to be re-named.

I can only speak for the UK but Sclerocactus would be far more desirable than the Echinopsis or Harissia. In the later case limited heated greenhouse space in the UK means few want eventually rambling Cerei on their staging's. However for those who can grow Cerei outside all year around the market is there.

Also if you pot them up you may be able to sell them to your local Garden Centres or even florists who sell to the general public to whom a cactus is just a cactus and don't expect to grow them to flowering size anyway.

[FredBW]

Not sure what you have. But sounds like you have been watching Ebay. And I believe if you don't want to just give them away,that is the way to go. Depending on how much time and effort you want to spend. I have watched some of Tee Dee cacti go for over a thousand dollars.
I myself will probably just give them a home at a local nursery,and maybe trade for plants or accessories. Because I don't have the time or patience for Ebay. But I am retirement age,and that could change at any time. And if I do retire soon I might just give ebay a try.

[Nino_G]

It seems like many of these types of cacti come up for sale so rarely that I haven't had a lot of success finding a sales history for them.

Lack of certain species on the market is not (for the most part) consequence of them being "rare", but the lack of demand. While Echinopsis coronata might be sought-after by a Echinopsis collectors/specialists, it holds little value on the general market.
As a rule of thumb, plants that sell best and reach highest prices are slow growing and/or difficult to grow, and/or newly discovered species.

[TheORKINMan]

FWIW when I say "Rare" I'm just using the CactiGuide rarity scale listed for species and the ones that appear on the CITES 1 list. I'm not trying to turn this into a side business or make a bunch of money. Just was kinda doing due diligence on if it was worth it to sell vs gift. I appreciate all of the input!

Kinda what set me off on this rabbit hole since I'm from Florida was getting a PM on another platform where I was showing off my seedlings from a couple of other Florida plant enthusiasts wanting those Harrisia fragrans seedings as it only exists in a single county in south Florida in the wild.

[TheORKINMan]

Not sure what you have. But sounds like you have been watching Ebay. And I believe if you don't want to just give them away,that is the way to go. Depending on how much time and effort you want to spend. I have watched some of Tee Dee cacti go for over a thousand dollars.
I myself will probably just give them a home at a local nursery,and maybe trade for plants or accessories. Because I don't have the time or patience for Ebay. But I am retirement age,and that could change at any time. And if I do retire soon I might just give ebay a try.

I just did a cursory search and saw that apparently Copiapoa species can go for $500+ on ebay consistently which is kinda wild to me haha

[TheORKINMan]

Rarity is often a matter of opinion and can vary county to country depending what's freely available in that country. Also some species are more desirable to collectors than others, therefore a not very attractive species may in fact be quite rare but there is not a widespread market for it. Take for instance Notocactus uebelmannianus, both the purple and yellow flowered forms were introduced in the 1960's at the same time but the yellow form is now rare since nurserymen only propagated the better selling purple form. All the "Gymnocalycioide" Notocactus forms have now been lumped into Parodia under the name Parodia werneri since a Parodia uebelmannianus already existed. Therefore they used Uebelmann's first name Werner since priority of the Parodia already in that genus meant it had to be re-named.

I can only speak for the UK but Sclerocactus would be far more desirable than the Echinopsis or Harissia. In the later case limited heated greenhouse space in the UK means few want eventually rambling Cerei on their staging's. However for those who can grow Cerei outside all year around the market is there.

Also if you pot them up you may be able to sell them to your local Garden Centres or even florists who sell to the general public to whom a cactus is just a cactus and don't expect to grow them to flowering size anyway.

You are always such a plethora of knowledge here! Thanks so much for your advice! When these get a little bigger I might just do that and see if any of the non-chain garden centers in town are interested in them.

[keith]

I trade extra cactus I grow from seed for species I don't have . I used to sell on Ebay but new tax laws have pretty much stopped that

[greenknight]

Seems like every cactus sold on Ebay is "rare".

[Nino_G]

Seems like every cactus sold on Ebay is "rare".

True