Eisei-En summer sale

[pandacular]

I thought “first come, first serve” was the way to do business…

Personally, I think an auction is kinda the way to do it. But at the end of the day, there's no way these public onsales are the best any nursery has to offer--those all get sold privately.

 

[BobbyLane]

The time that a competent bonsai practitioner spent caring for and developing the material is literally the thing that makes up the lion’s share of the price of bonsai and pre-bonsai material.

Good, fast, cheap. Pick two. The big Zelkova cost me £230, the grower had grown it over a period of 30 years, go figure...

End of the day the reasons or criteria why people sell will vary greatly across the board.

Yamadori Elm £335 from a private seller

Hornbeam £70 from a landscape nursery

 

[BobbyLane]

Yeah search online. I found a local grower by browsing this forum. All I am saying is look hard enough and you will find solid deals. The JBP below was $150. The JM was $80 and the Stewartia was $100. I dug them out back in 2020.View attachment 499780
View attachment 499781
View attachment 499782

THIS!
Do your research, use google, get in your car and drive!

 

[BobbyLane]

Its pretty clear that with many sellers youre not just paying for time and effort, you are also paying for name brand. To think youre only paying for time, with the quoted price tags on the maples would be a bit delusional.
I sold the big Zelkova for £1700 after having it less than 2 years

 

[BobbyLane]

It's Bjorn. He's got a reputation for extremely high quality trees for a reason. You can trust the reputation or you can bet against it

He's not the kind of guy to grow out a mop of foliage just to hide a couple of chops

I Know who he is lol, why are people @ing me with this stuff like im a newbie or something
Again, deciduous trees are prized and valued on their leafless images. Buy one whilst in leaf and you are taking a gamble, unless the vendor can provide you with more photos of course. You dont get a pass on providing more info just because youre a big name. Its my money being spent.

 

[rockm]

I thought “first come, first serve” was the way to do business…

It is, but online that can be a very relative thing. Look back at some of the complaints about the Mirai sale and you'll get a feel for what I'm talking about.

 

[BobbyLane]

The flash sale is a common sales tactic, weasels out the serious buyers from the ones who just came to browse.

 

[Paradox]

He probably doesn't want to damage the trees after putting in a lot of work on them, it's a big hassle to ship trees, and he's already heading to Nationals. I'm familiar with a handful of these trees and they're mostly bigger than they look in the pictures

Also, some of these trees are a bit large and heavy. Probably so much so it would require freight shipping. UPS and FedEx probably won't handle something so big and heavy.

I wouldn't want to trust a potentially big, heavy and fragile item to that system.

Plus trying to get fast freight shipping = $$$$$

 

[Paradox]

End of the day the reasons or criteria why people sell will vary greatly across the board.

Yamadori Elm £335 from a private seller

Hornbeam £70 from a landscape nurseryView attachment 499796

I don't know what the conversation to American dollars is for that hornbeam but a tree with that truck caliper here would be at least $500 at a landscape nursery before you chopped the trunk or did anything else to it.

 

[BobbyLane]

I don't know what the conversation to American dollars is for that hornbeam but a tree with that truck caliper here would be at least $500 at a landscape nursery before you chopped the trunk or did anything else to it.

Similar here, but depends where you go. This particular batch had been sitting around for a while in air baskets. Without my discount card its double the price.
Even at the $500 price you quoted for a stump of that caliper, its a great investment if you know what youre doing and the money is safe. The options are numerous.
Those tilias what Ryan picked up I think were around $300 or something? Thats a bargain and a great investment. Something worthwhile you can have on the bench and pass down to the kids or sell on and get your money back and then some.
This nursery since closed down and they auctioned off everything that was left, I know where a lot of their stuff went. Why I say its good to travel a bit and strike up relationships with workers. Email correspondence etc and people will look after you as best they can.

 

[Paradox]

Similar here, but depends where you go. This particular batch had been sitting around for a while in air baskets. Without my discount card its double the price.
Even at the $500 price you quoted for a stump of that caliper, its a great investment if you know what youre doing and the money is safe. The options are numerous.
Those tilias what Ryan picked up I think were around $300 or something? Thats a bargain and a great investment. Something worthwhile you can have on the bench and pass down to the kids or sell on and get your money back and then some.

I wish I could find trees here with that kind of root flare. Even at the price I mentioned, it would probably be a 10 foot tall tree, straight trunk with little to no flare/nebari.
As we know landscape trees are grown for fast growth, biggest size in as short a time as possible and probably quite a bit younger than what you've pictured.

 

[rockm]

THIS!
Do your research, use google, get in your car and drive!

BWAHAHA, sorry, but yeah. "Get in your car and drive" is easy when you live in the U.K. A "long-distance" is what? a two hour drive there? Here in the states it gets you to the next county, or if you're in Texas, the next town over .

I'm all for getting out and looking (and that entails sometimes a two or three day commitment--or longer if you're driving from Fla./Texas/points west to the Nationals in Rochester where the best of the best will be all in one place for a couple of days). Shopping around is a very very good thing to do. Some folks make a destination trip to Bjorn's...However, the vast majority of people in the U.S. are NOT within a two or even four hour drive of something like Bjorn's or Ryan's place. You can sift through endless landscape nurseries for years and come up with maybe two or three really good trees, but that's a time-consuming process. I gave that up years ago after selling off the dozens of mediocre trees that came from those sources.

I get the resistance to buying from people like Bjorn or Ryan. If you don't like it, don't buy it. I have a feeling anyone considering one of those is probalby very aware of what is available locally to them...However, Some feel the need to criticize endlessly about why it's not worth it, they can get better for less, and on and on and on....This resistance always comes up whenever a thread like this is posted. It's mostly stating the blindly obvious--SURE you can shop around (anyone with any sense does), SURE you can get cheaper stuff (all of us have it). That's not really news, is it?

All of that is not really the point in posting about sales like this. It's about seeing what is available from some of the "big names" in bonsai. Simple as that.

Yeah, you can get cheaper, locally if you look around (And congrats if you do, but sometimes deals/low prices can be blinders). Sometimes-- SOMETIMES--what you find is even in the same ball park (but mostly it ain't, no matter the bitching that it is). I don't plan on buying any tree from Bjorn or Ryan.

I just like looking at what they're offering.

FWIW (and I've said this before) I think most of the stuff posted for sale is at the far end of the pricing scale for what it is. However, I also understand that looking at pics online can be extremely misleading. My opinion might change if I had more info (specific photos) or better than that, seeing it in person.

 

[BobbyLane]

I wish I could find trees here with that kind of root flare. Even at the price I mentioned, it would probably be a 10 foot tall tree, straight trunk with little to no flare/nebari.
As we know landscape trees are grown for fast growth, biggest size in as short a time as possible and probably quite a bit younger than what you've pictured.

These are £300 and fatter ones can be £500, that range would be too big for me even after chopping down. I can get better ones than the one with 300 on the bag for £285 thats with 20% vat already added and they dont mind me going there with my tools, and reducing top n bottom on the spot. First Ill go and make sure it has a nebari, ill get my fingers dirty and stick the root hook in, take the price tag back to the till, buy it, then go back outside and begin sawing and chopping and hacking away at the rootball, once its a managable size I bag and tie it and pot it up at home.

I wouldnt buy the pictured ones though

 

[BobbyLane]

BWAHAHA, sorry, but yeah. "Get in your car and drive" is easy when you live in the U.K. A "long-distance" is what? a two hour drive there? Here in the states it gets you to the next county, or if you're in Texas, the next town over .

I'm all for getting out and looking (and that entails sometimes a two or three day commitment--or longer if you're driving from Fla./Texas/points west to the Nationals in Rochester where the best of the best will be all in one place for a couple of days). Shopping around is a very very good thing to do. Some folks make a destination trip to Bjorn's...However, the vast majority of people in the U.S. are NOT within a two or even four hour drive of something like Bjorn's or Ryan's place. You can sift through endless landscape nurseries for years and come up with maybe two or three really good trees, but that's a time-consuming process. I gave that up years ago after selling off the dozens of mediocre trees that came from those sources.

I get the resistance to buying from people like Bjorn or Ryan. If you don't like it, don't buy it. I have a feeling anyone considering one of those is probalby very aware of what is available locally to them...However, Some feel the need to criticize endlessly about why it's not worth it, they can get better for less, and on and on and on....This resistance always comes up whenever a thread like this is posted. It's mostly stating the blindly obvious--SURE you can shop around (anyone with any sense does), SURE you can get cheaper stuff (all of us have it). That's not really news, is it?

All of that is not really the point in posting about sales like this. It's about seeing what is available from some of the "big names" in bonsai. Simple as that.

Yeah, you can get cheaper, locally if you look around (And congrats if you do, but sometimes deals/low prices can be blinders). Sometimes-- SOMETIMES--what you find is even in the same ball park (but mostly it ain't, no matter the bitching that it is). I don't plan on buying any tree from Bjorn or Ryan.

I just like looking at what they're offering.

FWIW (and I've said this before) I think most of the stuff posted for sale is at the far end of the pricing scale for what it is. However, I also understand that looking at pics online can be extremely misleading. My opinion might change if I had more info (specific photos) or better than that, seeing it in person.

Yeh true, some of you folk would be driving 2-3 days to get to the next state. Fire up the SUV, or that old chevy in the yard, we are going on a road trip!

 

[AshleyMammal]

These are £300 and fatter ones can be £500, that range would be too big for me even after chopping down. I can get better ones than the one with 300 on the bag for £285 thats with 20% vat already added and they dont mind me going there with my tools, and reducing top n bottom on the spot. First Ill go and make sure it has a nebari, ill get my fingers dirty and stick the root hook in, take the price tag back to the till, buy it, then go back outside and begin sawing and chopping and hacking away at the rootball, once its a managable size I bag and tie it and pot it up at home.
View attachment 499809View attachment 499810
I wouldnt buy the pictured ones though

Where in the UK are your magical tree places Bobby?

 

[Paradox]

BWAHAHA, sorry, but yeah. "Get in your car and drive" is easy when you live in the U.K. A "long-distance" is what? a two hour drive there? Here in the states it gets you to the next county, or if you're in Texas, the next town over .

I'm all for getting out and looking (and that entails sometimes a two or three day commitment--or longer if you're driving from Fla./Texas/points west to the Nationals in Rochester where the best of the best will be all in one place for a couple of days). Shopping around is a very very good thing to do. Some folks make a destination trip to Bjorn's...However, the vast majority of people in the U.S. are NOT within a two or even four hour drive of something like Bjorn's or Ryan's place. You can sift through endless landscape nurseries for years and come up with maybe two or three really good trees, but that's a time-consuming process. I gave that up years ago after selling off the dozens of mediocre trees that came from those sources.

I get the resistance to buying from people like Bjorn or Ryan. If you don't like it, don't buy it. I have a feeling anyone considering one of those is probalby very aware of what is available locally to them...However, Some feel the need to criticize endlessly about why it's not worth it, they can get better for less, and on and on and on....This resistance always comes up whenever a thread like this is posted. It's mostly stating the blindly obvious--SURE you can shop around (anyone with any sense does), SURE you can get cheaper stuff (all of us have it). That's not really news, is it?

All of that is not really the point in posting about sales like this. It's about seeing what is available from some of the "big names" in bonsai. Simple as that.

Yeah, you can get cheaper, locally if you look around (And congrats if you do, but sometimes deals/low prices can be blinders). Sometimes-- SOMETIMES--what you find is even in the same ball park (but mostly it ain't, no matter the bitching that it is). I don't plan on buying any tree from Bjorn or Ryan.

I just like looking at what they're offering.

FWIW (and I've said this before) I think most of the stuff posted for sale is at the far end of the pricing scale for what it is. However, I also understand that looking at pics online can be extremely misleading. My opinion might change if I had more info (specific photos) or better than that, seeing it in person.

I agree.

Some day I'd like to buy a tree like many of those posted on Eisai-en or Mirai. Maybe when I retire and have more time to devote to my trees, I'd consider it.

I'd be concerned with those western pines and juniper doing well in my humidity. It would have to be a species I know I can keep healthy.

 

[BobbyLane]

Where in the UK are your magical tree places Bobby?

No point me revealing because theyre not online, these types of places are either large garden centres that cater to people within maybe a 30m radius in areas where maybe they know that folk have big houses and large gardens and so require large trees, ornamentals etc. Or tree nurseries. You can do your own research for your specific area like I did. While they may have websites its not the type of site where you select a specific tree and they have it waiting when you get there. These places are run like cash n carry, they have rows n rows of material.
When I was on the old IBC forum there was a guy id be jealous of from the midlands, he would always be posting these massive hornbeams from nurseries, at that time I was green and didnt know where to get anything!
You can start by googling tree nurseries close to me. If youre serious that is

 

[Srt8madness]

Bonsai gatekeeping, awesome.

I'm sure the people doing the selling love when their customers don't share their location Who wants to sell more stock anyway

 

[Cajunrider]

BWAHAHA, sorry, but yeah. "Get in your car and drive" is easy when you live in the U.K. A "long-distance" is what? a two hour drive there? Here in the states it gets you to the next county, or if you're in Texas, the next town over .

I'm all for getting out and looking (and that entails sometimes a two or three day commitment--or longer if you're driving from Fla./Texas/points west to the Nationals in Rochester where the best of the best will be all in one place for a couple of days). Shopping around is a very very good thing to do. Some folks make a destination trip to Bjorn's...However, the vast majority of people in the U.S. are NOT within a two or even four hour drive of something like Bjorn's or Ryan's place. You can sift through endless landscape nurseries for years and come up with maybe two or three really good trees, but that's a time-consuming process. I gave that up years ago after selling off the dozens of mediocre trees that came from those sources.

I get the resistance to buying from people like Bjorn or Ryan. If you don't like it, don't buy it. I have a feeling anyone considering one of those is probalby very aware of what is available locally to them...However, Some feel the need to criticize endlessly about why it's not worth it, they can get better for less, and on and on and on....This resistance always comes up whenever a thread like this is posted. It's mostly stating the blindly obvious--SURE you can shop around (anyone with any sense does), SURE you can get cheaper stuff (all of us have it). That's not really news, is it?

All of that is not really the point in posting about sales like this. It's about seeing what is available from some of the "big names" in bonsai. Simple as that.

Yeah, you can get cheaper, locally if you look around (And congrats if you do, but sometimes deals/low prices can be blinders). Sometimes-- SOMETIMES--what you find is even in the same ball park (but mostly it ain't, no matter the bitching that it is). I don't plan on buying any tree from Bjorn or Ryan.

I just like looking at what they're offering.

FWIW (and I've said this before) I think most of the stuff posted for sale is at the far end of the pricing scale for what it is. However, I also understand that looking at pics online can be extremely misleading. My opinion might change if I had more info (specific photos) or better than that, seeing it in person.

From where I am I can drive 2.5 hours to Houston TX and fruitlessly spend a day or two going through giant nurseries with acres of trees up to 30 ft tall in 500 gallon containers or small nurseries with just handfuls of mallsai. That time would be better spend attending the bonsai meet in Houston, I would be paying a bit more for trees but the quality would be better.

Or I can drive 1.5 hr to North Louisiana and fruitlessly spend another day through the dozens of wholesale nurseries that grow trees for those stores in Houston. All I will find are straight trunks anywhere from 1/2" caliper to 10+" caliper depending on the money I have. Lucky for me, those times that I went there I was just buying a bunch of landscape material for my house and not bonsai. That time would be better spent going to the New Orleans bonsai meet and talk to people like @BillsBayou, I am sure whatever trees I get from people like Bill would be worth the money I spent.

When I am ready for better quality bonsai trees and have settled in my new place, I will drive to bonsai meets, to specialized bonsai nurseries, have some connections with the sellers and find the trees I want. With that level of time spent, the price for the bonsai will only be a small part of the whole price.

Back to the original intent of this thread, I think the prices of Bjorn's trees include his service culling out the trees for the buyer.

And my best choice for getting trees? Go to @namnhi house and raid his trees in Houston. I am also angling for going to @vp999 house and do the same.

 

[BobbyLane]

Bonsai gatekeeping, awesome.

I'm sure the people doing the selling love when their customers don't share their location Who wants to sell more stock anyway

85% of the time people asking, have absolutely no intention of buying! They just want to browse, as most of us are doing on this thread