General rant

No cash=no plants
No guarantees. You're a very small producer and you can't afford this. Big box stores can afford this. I know of no independent garden store that can afford this. You can't guarantee that some guy isn't going to drive around for a week with plants in his truck. You can't guarantee that someone isn't going to leave the plants on the deck for a day.... and that'll kill them in hot weather. You can't guarantee that people will water their plants.

This guy was probably humoring you about wanting them.

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Moms don't look at things like normal people.
-----DD

In God I trust, everyone else - CASH.

Worst we were ever ripped off... $4500

Moved to Hawaii (husband is army) and needed a car. Bought a 06 Dodge Neon (30,000 miles on it) from a dealership for $6500 cash... Five weeks later it started accelerating by itself. We had to literally ride the brakes to stay below 30mph. Took it back to the dealership because it was in the 90 day 3000 miles window to have it fixed for free, but their mechanic wasn't there so they said to bring it back the next day. This went on for a couple weeks with multiple trips to the dealership in an unsafe vehicle. Finally, we hired our own mechanic as we desperately needed the vehicle. They ordered the dealer part from the dealership and three weeks later, still hadn't received it. We made a final attempt with the original dealership requesting they let us trade the Neon for what we paid for something better on their lot and they tried to sell us a new car at six grand over suggested retail! We ended up trading the car at a different dealership and got $2000 for the trade. We could have taken them to court, but in order to win our case and get our money back, we would have had to keep the car to return to them when we won our money back, which would have taken another couple months... and since we emptied our savings buying the car, we needed to trade the car as a down payment in order to get something that ran and was safe...

The guy that sold us the car died a month or two after all this. We turned them in to the BBB, but they never even attempted to resolve the issue.

Joshie I can offer a gaurantee on my plants as they are hardy. It costs me 8.5 cents per plant. its not a great loss really just the arrogance of him not planting it then saying I grow sick plants. If he would have tod me he couldnt pay for them I would have given them to him or traded some for goat or cow manure.


Most of my customers have larger gardens and plant right away and have enough sense to water daily and protect when they are in the cells.

The old man did come by work today to get some shavings for his goats and horses. I told him we were out. He said I see a whole pile there. I told him I couldnt gaurantee them to him and his credit was bad there to.

I guess it took 3 months but it came back to get him.

priceless!!

Hey Taylor. I grew up in Iuka and went to high school there back when it was still in Iuka. Moved away at 18 and just moved back here in 2008. We live in Savannah, Tn now though.

Tenn Farmer Its changed here alot a couple years ago they tore down the old auditorium and built a new metal building there. I graduated from the new school. Other than the audittorium and Sonic being moved it hasnt changed alot here lol. All the old dozers acroos from piggly wiggly got scrapped a few years ago to.

The occasional customer at our little farm market makes "remarks" about folks' produce or prices. From my side of the table, I know that I & the other vendors already make many concessions since many of our customers are elderly folks & young moms or families, many in slim circumstances. But sometimes it just gets to us. Like taking a pin to a balloon. Very late one day a woman offered me $1 for a big bundle of Swiss chard. Well, it was late, it was very hot, it had drooped some but it was fine. Besides which, we wilt it when we cook it. I wish I was a faster thinker and had said, sorry, not for sale, I meant to pull that back for my supper tonight. Sue

I once grew and sold plants in our garden center with a guarantee on all our inventory. So one day a well dressed woman came in with a plant that was in a walmart container that had obvoiusly not been watered or removed from the pot. She told me she had purchased it from me last week and wanted a refund or she would tell everyone in her garden club that I ripped her off...So I asked her for the reciept for the plant so I could give her the refund. She told me she didn't save reciepts. I asked her if walmart had the same policy and that she came here after being turned down from them... She cursed and left the store never to return..

Wow! I thought my sister was the only one who did that! She sold plants and planted a bed for a guy she knew. He repeatedly refused to pay when requested. One day she showed up, asked him in person for the money, and when he refused she poured roundup on the plants. He stood there with his mouth open. I'm surprised the police weren't involved.

This thread reminds me of my parent's flee-marketing experiences. They traveled extensively and would occasionally set up in big markets in the southwest. There was always someone, usually an older female, who would carry on loudly about how much cheaper "the same thing" was at Walmart. Mom got fed up and started telling them that they needed to go to Walmart then!

From experience, don't save an animal (or plant, in your case) for anyone who is not standing in front of you with money in hand. Always let it be known, up front, that you want cash at time of sale.