Shipping and Selling Plants and Inverts

Hi all!
I hopefully (if my mom says yes) will be getting another 10g soon. I want to grow out plants and shrimp and ramshorn snails (rescued from my 29g) in this tank and sell them for profit. I was considering selling to my LFS since I think I could get a good deal there, but I was also considering shipping them to other parts of the country. I would start off only shipping the plants and eventually move onto shipping the inverts, but this will be farther down the road. What do you guys think the best method for packaging plants is? These will be trimmings from my plants and not actual plants yet. Who and what plan should I use to ship them? I was thinking that the small box on USPS Priority Mail would work best for most shipments. That would be $8.30 for shipping, is that too much? I want to sell these online since that is the only non forum place I know to sell and I really don't want to sell on forums (don't get me started on why lol). How much do online sites take from sales of this type? Vishaquatics Pwilly07? Thanks!

 

Be aware there is a lot of competition online so don't be discouraged if it doesn't kick off for you immediately

Plants - semi rigid cardboard folded into a box shape (think small pizza box shaped without a top or bottom) put your wet plants inside a plastic bag (ziplock style). Add a drop of water. Tape the top of the bag to the cardboard to keep it in place (so the cardboard needs to cover the whole of the plant). Then you can wrap in parcel paper, mailing bag or that black wrap stuff people use thats really hard to get into. If you use an actual box you can skip this step - just tape the box shut. The cardboard method can be cheaper if you aren't buying your boxes in bulk. Boxes are surprisingly expensive.

Snails - wet paper towel in a petri dish, put the snails on it, then wet paper towel ontop of the snails. Add a drop of extra water if you want. Tape the petri dish shut and ship in a padded mailer. Or if they're small enough, stuff the bottom of a test tube with wet paper towel and put the snails into that with some water, ship in a padded mailer again.

I'm in a different country to you so I don't know about couriers.

Im pretty sure online sites takes 10% then if you use PayPal (which most do) they take something like 3%? I'm not 100% sure on this though someone might correct me

 

Yeah it’s tough to sell plants and pest snails. Not many people looking for pest snails. Most lfs will give them away free. Next selling plants and shipping priority is already putting you in a hole. $8.30 for shipping and how much for the plant. By me an expensive plant is $12 at the lps all your average plants are about 3-5. So does it really pay to buy on line? Next yes it takes 10% and PayPal also has a fee. You will need PayPal to sell. Than boxes,tape and address tags. I sold rc car parts for years. There was a profit than. But now online sites always sides with the buyer. And they can say any ridiculous thing they want to avoid paying. That’s why I give away plants and when I mail I send regular mail.

 

Yeah it’s tough to sell plants and pest snails. Not many people looking for pest snails.

This is a good point. If you're selling ramshorns I think to have any chance of doing well it needs to be blue, pink, blue leopard ect not brown ones

 

Yeah it’s tough to sell plants and pest snails. Not many people looking for pest snails. Most lfs will give them away free. Next selling plants and shipping priority is already putting you in a hole. $8.30 for shipping and how much for the plant. By me an expensive plant is $12 at the lps all your average plants are about 3-5. So does it really pay to buy on line? Next yes auction sites takes 10% and PayPal also has a fee. You will need PayPal to sell. Than boxes,tape and address tags. I sold rc car parts for years. There was a profit than. But now they always sides with the buyer. And they can say any ridiculous thing they want to avoid paying. That’s why I give away plants and when I mail I send regular mail.

All of this is correct except just in last month the auction site cut out PayPal and has own payment platform. So that's a 2.9% saving. Huge for me over long run. But yes %10 charge still. I sell shrimp and guppies online and I use medium if it fits it ships boxes usually. And with packing materials, shipping and fees it costs me $20. Then after 20 is profit. So I prefer to sell 2 trios for 49.99 rather than 1 at 35.99 I make same profit but customer gets better price from me. Same with shrimp I sell 20 or 30 packs rather than 10.

So maybe get enough that you can sell a small lot or mini bulk sale. Then people will pay the $8 shipping.

ALSO its proven fact you make more sales and get better metrics and higher on search online if you have FREE shipping. So I just work all cost into price and have free shipping. Fact someone will but $30 free shipping before one that's $15 w $15 shipping weird but proven.

Pest snails wont sell.

Shrimp are big right now, some of the top wholesalers say without shrimp buisness wouod be tough. So just a thought. I have had over 500 shrimp in a 10gal selling out of it on ebay.

Hope that made sense

Hi all!
I hopefully (if my mom says yes) will be getting another 10g soon. I want to grow out plants and shrimp and ramshorn snails (rescued from my 29g) in this tank and sell them for profit. I was considering selling to my LFS since I think I could get a good deal there, but I was also considering shipping them to other parts of the country. I would start off only shipping the plants and eventually move onto shipping the inverts, but this will be farther down the road. What do you guys think the best method for packaging plants is? These will be trimmings from my plants and not actual plants yet. Who and what plan should I use to ship them? I was thinking that the small box on USPS Priority Mail would work best for most shipments. That would be $8.30 for shipping, is that too much? I want to sell these on ebay since that is the only non forum place I know to sell and I really don't want to sell on forums (don't get me started on why lol). How much does ebay take from sales of this type? Vishaquatics Pwilly07? Thanks!

Ps on Ebay it is ALL about GREAT title with correct key words and GREAT PICS... PM me anytime with questions on how to ship or sell online.

 

As a new seller on any sales channel/platform/venue, you're going to get raked across the coals at first. Suck it up and don't let it get personal. The better you handle it in the beginning, the better it will be in the long run. People will lie cheat and steal from you, but once you get a foot hold and learn the online game there is money to be made.
USPS First Class Package is your friend in the USA. People hesitate to spend larger amounts with new sellers.

 

After a year into the hobby, I stumbled into selling and shipping. "Mystery Snails" and "Plants". Mainly through the BSTF thread here. Never sold on E-bay, so no help there. Yes, you will need a "Paypal" account and there is a fee.
As mentioned not much profit unless you do volume sales. You can get most of the supplies for "Free" from USPS. Oh, I did set-up an account with USPS, it helped.
But still a lot of time corresponding and verifying addresses and such.
Many a "Sunday" night spent bagging, boxing, labeling, corresponding and then drop -offs to the PO on Monday. Then tracking the packages. All transactions went well. I suppose I was "Lucky", since I have read of some issues sellers have had with unscrupulous buyers.
After all said and done, it was not for me.
Now, I primarily sell at Local Fish Club auctions (Pre-Covid of course) and to my LFS's.
Really "No" profit but it does cover the cost of supplies and of course more fish purchases.
Lastly, I have purchased from quite few members here:
Vishaquatics 86 ssinit Mcasella StarGirl Pwilly07 coralbandit Dave125g
No problems and "Highly" recommend.
They may be able to help with their packing /shipping practices and experiences.
Just my .02.
It just might work-out for you.
Good Luck!

 

Etsy is as viable an option as ebay imo. I found a couple of plant sites through them (they ran their own site as well) such as Marcus' fish tanks.and Manzanita driftwood.

 

USPS Priority mail and USPS First Class are going to be your go-to methods for shipping. The classic wet paper towel and a ziplock bag is a tried and proven method.

People are willing to pay Priority shipping if you have a good reputation and have good quality plants. PayPal takes something like 3% + some other PayPal fees. I only sell through forums since other websites will take a significant amount of revenue. The online market is a tough place and there is a LOT of competition. It does have it's benefits though, but with an LFS paying $30 for a 12x12 of salvinia, I don't think you'll find the online prices as enticing LOL

I have yet to truly get burned or scammed by a buyer, and what helps with that is to only use PayPal's business platform, which provides seller + buyer protections. Using PayPal friends and family will not provide you with seller or buyer protections, which leaves you vulnerable to scamming as a seller or buyer.

 

Be aware there is a lot of competition online so don't be discouraged if it doesn't kick off for you immediately

Plants - semi rigid cardboard folded into a box shape (think small pizza box shaped without a top or bottom) put your wet plants inside a plastic bag (ziplock style). Add a drop of water. Tape the top of the bag to the cardboard to keep it in place (so the cardboard needs to cover the whole of the plant). Then you can wrap in parcel paper, mailing bag or that black wrap stuff people use thats really hard to get into. If you use an actual box you can skip this step - just tape the box shut. The cardboard method can be cheaper if you aren't buying your boxes in bulk. Boxes are surprisingly expensive.

Snails - wet paper towel in a petri dish, put the snails on it, then wet paper towel ontop of the snails. Add a drop of extra water if you want. Tape the petri dish shut and ship in a padded mailer. Or if they're small enough, stuff the bottom of a test tube with wet paper towel and put the snails into that with some water, ship in a padded mailer again.

I'm in a different country to you so I don't know about couriers.

Im pretty sure online sites takes 10% then if you use PayPal (which most do) they take something like 3%? I'm not 100% sure on this though someone might correct me

Yeah it’s tough to sell plants and pest snails. Not many people looking for pest snails. Most lfs will give them away free. Next selling plants and shipping priority is already putting you in a hole. $8.30 for shipping and how much for the plant. By me an expensive plant is $12 at the lps all your average plants are about 3-5. So does it really pay to buy on line? Next yes it takes 10% and PayPal also has a fee. You will need PayPal to sell. Than boxes,tape and address tags. I sold rc car parts for years. There was a profit than. But now online sites always sides with the buyer. And they can say any ridiculous thing they want to avoid paying. That’s why I give away plants and when I mail I send regular mail.

Ok! Thanks!

All of this is correct except just in last month the auction site cut out PayPal and has own payment platform. So that's a 2.9% saving. Huge for me over long run. But yes %10 charge still. I sell shrimp and guppies online and I use medium if it fits it ships boxes usually. And with packing materials, shipping and fees it costs me $20. Then after 20 is profit. So I prefer to sell 2 trios for 49.99 rather than 1 at 35.99 I make same profit but customer gets better price from me. Same with shrimp I sell 20 or 30 packs rather than 10.

So maybe get enough that you can sell a small lot or mini bulk sale. Then people will pay the $8 shipping.

ALSO its proven fact you make more sales and get better metrics and higher on search online if you have FREE shipping. So I just work all cost into price and have free shipping. Fact someone will but $30 free shipping before one that's $15 w $15 shipping weird but proven.

Pest snails wont sell.

Shrimp are big right now, some of the top wholesalers say without shrimp buisness wouod be tough. So just a thought. I have had over 500 shrimp in a 10gal selling out of it on ebay.

Hope that made sense

Ps on Ebay it is ALL about GREAT title with correct key words and GREAT PICS... PM me anytime with questions on how to ship or sell online.

PMing you in a sec lol

As a new seller on any sales channel/platform/venue, you're going to get raked across the coals at first. Suck it up and don't let it get personal. The better you handle it in the beginning, the better it will be in the long run. People will lie cheat and steal from you, but once you get a foot hold and learn the online game there is money to be made.
USPS First Class Package is your friend in the USA. People hesitate to spend larger amounts with new sellers.

Ok! I like to think that I have thick skin so this won't be a problem...

After a year into the hobby, I stumbled into selling and shipping. "Mystery Snails" and "Plants". Mainly through the BSTF thread here. Never sold on E-bay, so no help there. Yes, you will need a "Paypal" account and there is a fee.
As mentioned not much profit unless you do volume sales. You can get most of the supplies for "Free" from USPS. Oh, I did set-up an account with USPS, it helped.
But still a lot of time corresponding and verifying addresses and such.
Many a "Sunday" night spent bagging, boxing, labeling, corresponding and then drop -offs to the PO on Monday. Then tracking the packages. All transactions went well. I suppose I was "Lucky", since I have read of some issues sellers have had with unscrupulous buyers.
After all said and done, it was not for me.
Now, I primarily sell at Local Fish Club auctions (Pre-Covid of course) and to my LFS's.
Really "No" profit but it does cover the cost of supplies and of course more fish purchases.
Lastly, I have purchased from quite few members here:
Vishaquatics 86 ssinit Mcasella StarGirl Pwilly07 coralbandit Dave125g
No problems and "Highly" recommend.
They may be able to help with their packing /shipping practices and experiences.
Just my .02.
It just might work-out for you.
Good Luck!

Ok. Thanks!

USPS Priority mail and USPS First Class are going to be your go-to methods for shipping. The classic wet paper towel and a ziplock bag is a tried and proven method.

People are willing to pay Priority shipping if you have a good reputation and have good quality plants. PayPal takes something like 3% + some other PayPal fees. I only sell through forums since other websites will take a significant amount of revenue. The online market is a tough place and there is a LOT of competition. It does have it's benefits though, but with an LFS paying $30 for a 12x12 of salvinia, I don't think you'll find the online prices as enticing LOL

I have yet to truly get burned or scammed by a buyer, and what helps with that is to only use PayPal's business platform, which provides seller + buyer protections. Using PayPal friends and family will not provide you with seller or buyer protections, which leaves you vulnerable to scamming as a seller or buyer.

Ok. I think I want to ship USPS First Class since it is only $3.80 and that IMO is much more reasonable. I think I will use that method. Then I can write on the bad what is inside.

Ok. Lol Welcome to the Bay Area! Land of $4.50 brownies! Is PayPal's business platform free? What protections does it offer?

Is there any way that I can send the packages without putting my home address as the return address as I don't really want randos to have my address?

THANK YOU EVERYONE!

 

I've sold some online but I'm not sure it's worth the trouble unless it's a relatively large sale. If you can sell locally I'd encourage you to do that, even at lower prices.

In my experience the chain pet stores aren't allowed to buy from individuals, and locally owned stores only want to give you store credit, but even store credit can be worthwhile. Compare prices too. I had one LFS offer me a little more than twice as much for shrimp as another one a few miles away.

 

I ship plants like Vishaquatics said earlier. Paper towel around the roots in a ziplock bag with a shot (literally a shot glass) of water and send it in a bubble envelope. I think I got some 6 x 9 bubble packs on Amazon for cheap. I only take Paypal and everyone has been happy so far. BUT I have only sold to FL members. I spent $6 on some Vals so It has pretty much been pure profit for me.

 

I ship plants like Vishaquatics said earlier. Paper towel around the roots in a ziplock bag with a shot (literally a shot glass) of water and send it in a bubble envelope. I think I got some 6 x 9 bubble packs on Amazon for cheap. I only take Paypal and everyone has been happy so far. BUT I have only sold to FL members. I spent $6 on some Vals so It has pretty much been pure profit for me.

Can you link the bubble packs? Who and what plan do you use to ship?

 

These are the ones I got. I use mostly USPS. But I ship what I want to also.
https://www.amazon.com/UCGOU-Purple...4368144390201&ref_=sbx_be_s_sparkle_td_asin_0

 

Wait, do you need a business to sell on ebay or Aquabid? coralbandit?

 

Wait, do you need a business to sell on ebay or Aquabid? coralbandit?

You will probably sell more in b/s/t/f IMO.

 

No you don’t need a business. Unless your selling 20+k a year. It may be different now but I don’t think so.

 

No you don’t need a business. Unless your selling 20+k a year. It may be different now but I don’t think so.

Lol only in my dreams

 

Your asking some great questions. I would never have thought about what’s legal or not. I never do but it may also be needed for shipping out.

 

No real business DBA or license needed in NY. I do have a DBA from when I ran my own business .
Know that if you sell enough and receive your money through paypal you will get a 10-99.
That means that Uncle Sam wants his taxes on the money you have collected .Without an accountant it become costly to sell on the regular ..I got my first 10-99 last year from Paypal .
I guess I finally sold enough to be reported ! You have to take the good with the bad .
I don't ship fish 2-3 day anymore at all. All fish go Express now so if they are late the charge can be refunded ..
Shipping 2-3 day or Express is still spinning the shipping wheel.. You never know how it will go ..

 

In CA, you'll need a California sellers permit and city business license to legally sell anything online, especially on platforms like eBay and aquabid. Both are fairly easy and relatively inexpensive to obtain, but you'll likely need to involve an adult in the paperwork process. With that being said, most smaller sellers don't have any licensing at all. Not sure about the legality about that, but it would be best to consult with an expert on that.

 

No real business DBA or license needed in NY. I do have a DBA from when I ran my own business .
Know that if you sell enough and receive your money through paypal you will get a 10-99.
That means that Uncle Sam wants his taxes on the money you have collected .Without an accountant it become costly to sell on the regular ..I got my first 10-99 last year from Paypal .
I guess I finally sold enough to be reported ! You have to take the good with the bad .
I don't ship fish 2-3 day anymore at all. All fish go Express now so if they are late the charge can be refunded ..
Shipping 2-3 day or Express is still spinning the shipping wheel.. You never know how it will go ..

Lol. My mom is a CFO so I think I'm good. Thanks!

In CA, you'll need a California sellers permit and city business license to legally sell anything online, especially on platforms like eBay and aquabid. Both are fairly easy and relatively inexpensive to obtain, but you'll likely need to involve an adult in the paperwork process. With that being said, most smaller sellers don't have any licensing at all. Not sure about the legality about that, but it would be best to consult with an expert on that.

Oh. How much do those cost to get? Do they cost money after you get them?

 

I believe the seller's permit has no fees associated with, but it's been a while since I got it. The business license in my area is under $40 to get and then renew yearly, but that'll probably vary from city to city.

 

I believe the seller's permit has no fees associated with, but it's been a while since I got it. The business license in my area is under $40 to get and then renew yearly, but that'll probably vary from city to city.

Ok. Thanks!