Never really seen cheap-o stuff at Menards, unless it is perennials later in the season. I don't look for those.

Anna, that's the difference between Wis. & Fla, those late season discounts? I still got time.

Plantsmylove said:The problem with rescuing plants from places like home deport or Lowe's is it just encourages them to keep doing what they are doing


Educating them is better if it can be done

The rescue is the save them from the trash. I do not know what others are buying but Lowes sell any plant that may no longer be in bloom, moving out the old to make room for a new shipment. I have never purchased or saw any plants that were questionable or needed a proof of life.

There is no lesson to teach unless it would be throw away the plants that are not blooming at this time an sell me the new shipment at full price because it is blooming.

Retailers never lose. I was in the business office of a major retailer. I would bet the plants that they sell at regular price for 20 they purchased at 3.00. Even selling them for 50% there is no revenue lost. Tax right off and profit of the plants they sold at original price puts them ahead.

The plants I mostly see on clearance shelves aren't on the verge of death, but mostly just have stopped blooming or sometimes have some issue with the leaves. Several years ago I scored 5 lilac bushes in 5 gallon pots (all 2-4'tall) at the end of summer. The leaves had mildew making them look ugly. I got them for $3 each!

Another great find a few years ago was a yellow clivia for $5. Those had arrived in nursery pots and sat with the landscape plants (probably destined for a warmer zone). Most folks around here don't recognize them. I got mine after the blooms had faded, but the plant looked great.

Clivia, oh my Neal. You got a huge bargain there! They still sell for like $50 for a decent size start here.

I want to go plant shopping with Neal!

Weedwhacker said:
I want to go plant shopping with Neal!

Neal is going to look like the Pied Piper of Hamelin with all of us following behind him . I want a yellow cliva sooooo bad but I am too cheap to part with the bucks for one.

Cinta said:

Retailers never lose. I was in the business office of a major retailer. I would bet the plants that they sell at regular price for 20 they purchased at 3.00. Even selling them for 50% there is no revenue lost. Tax right off and profit of the plants they sold at original price puts them ahead.

You would lose that bet.I have worked "Big Box" retail for nearly 40 years and their gross margin is no where near your example. A retailer would have to make a 50% gross margin to break even on a plant marked down 50%. Your example would the retailer a 85% gross, but in reality it is closer to 40% on average.

Horntoad said:

You would lose that bet.I have worked "Big Box" retail for nearly 40 years and their gross margin is no where near your example. A retailer would have to make a 50% gross margin to break even on a plant marked down 50%. Your example would the retailer a 85% gross, but in reality it is closer to 40% on average.

What area do you work,,,,,,,Buyer, Accounting?

Cinta said:

What area do you work,,,,,,,Buyer, Accounting?

No I am not an accountant or buyer. You do not need be either or have any kind of degree to understand basic profit/loss, markups and gross margin, especially when you have been in the business as long as I have. The information is readily available to almost every employee in the store, literally in the palm of their hands. I carry a palm size scanner me all day which has all that information at the touch of a button. Before I made my last post I personally scanned a variety of plants from high end to low end and found only one item that had a gross margin of slightly more than 50%. Everything else was in the 40% to 30% range.
If that 50+% item would have been sold at half price, we would have made a whopping 2 cents gross profit, and everything else would have been a loss.

I am an accountant. Worked as a buyer for 15 yrs and retired as an accountant after 20 yrs. I can tell if you are scanning tags on the floor is not what they actually paid in bulk for each item. Items are tagged after they arrive to the store individually. The profit/loss etc. is on the back end not the front purchase end. What you are scanning is a tag that has the profit The only thing you can trust about cost it if you see the books. The books are what count not a tag on the floor.

See if I can explain this......I make a dress material cost me a dollar but add the cost of my time, travel time to purchase, ship the dress, sales clerk. The dress is now 40.00 but it only cost 1.00. The dress is tagged as 40.00. But the dress cost 1.00.

No business is going to operate or not operate for long if they operate at a loss.

All this talk of the distressed racks, I had 20 minutes to kill today and headed for Lowe's directly to the racks.

They had pansies low end at 50 cents each. I bought 2 trays. They weren't even in that bad of shape. They also had some red button gingers in 3 gallon pots. The foliage had gone a bit crispy, still a few small blooms on them to recognize. I bought 2, $5.00 each marked down twice from $30.00. I am smart enough about gingers to know those bulbs are down in the pot waiting for the real spring to come. They evidently were force bloomed for selling during the holidays. We'll take those out of the pots, divide the bulbs and put them in the ground. They will be fine.

I got one other plant I can't remember the name and will get that later when it's daylight.

Got all these and still made my 11:30 appointment!

Absolutely! Most plants in fair condition are worth saving to me.

I used to take full advantage of markdowns! I have gotten some great plants that way!!!!

When my health allows I certainly will do it again!!!!

Love 'em!!!!!!

Molly, it sounds like you found some great buys.

Cinta said:I am an accountant. Worked as a buyer for 15 yrs and retired as an accountant after 20 yrs. I can tell if you are scanning tags on the floor is not what they actually paid in bulk for each item. Items are tagged after they arrive to the store individually. The profit/loss etc. is on the back end not the front purchase end. What you are scanning is a tag that has the profit The only thing you can trust about cost it if you see the books. The books are what count not a tag on the floor.

See if I can explain this......I make a dress material cost me a dollar but add the cost of my time, travel time to purchase, ship the dress, sales clerk. The dress is now 40.00 but it only cost 1.00. The dress is tagged as 40.00. But the dress cost 1.00.

No business is going to operate or not operate for long if they operate at a loss.

We will just have to agree to disagree. I am confident that my number are correct. There are no magic number at the home office that make my $2.00 profit plant a $15 profit plant and I can almost guarantee that big box stores like Lowe's are not making an 85% gross margin on plants. If they are marking plants 50% off then they are losing money probably 90% of the time. The other 10% of the time any profit is miniscule, no more than a few cents. Big Box store make money of volume not margin. In the case of plants they also make money off fertilizer, soil, pots and anything you buy in the rest of the store while you are there.

@Horntoad

Here is a rescue cactus, it looks chopped and torn and was surprised it was alive, but enough healthy bumps are left I guess. We'll see if it improves.

I passed up a $7 orchid at Lowe's last night. It was a white with pink phal. I am actually proud of myself. This is not the year for new plants but the year for managing what I have, taking inventory, then I will start hoarding again.

Cheryl, it takes a huge amount of willpower to pass up some of those bargains! And do you ever pass them up, then another customer shows some interest in the same thing, and you find yourself re-evaluating?

I went to my favorites Lowe's last week after a couple of weeks away, and my vendor guy (the one who pulls the plants that need to be marked down) wasn't there. There was a new guy -- and no great deals. I hope he's just on vacation and will be back soon.