Post: #1

I know there are some guys in here with experience in the xmas tree business and I would like to know if anyone has any tips or advice on how to set up a successful lot. I was thinking about trying it this holiday season but I'm not really sure what I would be getting myself into. Namely, how much money is needed and if I have a good chance of selling off all the trees. Any help guys?

Post: #2

I don't know it's in the US but in Europe people in cities pay crazy money for xmas trees.
Now I'm not talking about only selling them but also growing them and cutting them down. AKA all the way.

I know some guys that use to grow xmas trees under powerlines because this land is useless for anything else than crops or xmas trees.
The negative factor here is that might take about 10 years for these trees to grow and you also need to invest money in buying plants.
And of course you need to own some land also....

Then they are heading into bigger cities and selling them on the streets to city people. It's not a goldmine, but you'll get your bucks for the work.

Post: #3

Last year one of my friends in Lima, Peru bought a little Christmas tree and it was like $60 USD. Since the nearest Christmas trees are far away, they need to be trucked in to be sold. Probably a huge business opportunity for someone in Peru if you can get your act together. Buy the trees cheap, rent the trucks, find temporary retail space in Lima, and hire cheap labor. My guess is the cost per tree is about $10 to $15 each, so a huge potential profit on each tree. I imagine it is the same in many other countries as well.

Post: #4

yes, the profit margin is good. The middleman/marketing section is where you can get made, as in orchestrating where to sell and how to get it there.

Doing it right requires some serious technical knowledge of what trees to plant, what chemicals to use for pest control or fertilizer, how to do tree shearing/shaping or where to hire people that know how to do it right, harvesting and baling.

There are christmas tree grower associations that can help with much of this information for free. You also need land, the midwest or northwest, further south has more insect problems. Returns come in 10-12 years.

Shortcuts = low quality trees. If you want to get into the business early find an existing plantation to buy or try to get in at the middleman stage first, just buying and selling the trees.

Post: #5

Yeah I was thinking of going the middleman route of buying trees from existing farmers and then selling it to consumers rather than starting a farm from scratch

Post: #6

Go the middleman route. Without checking my old books I think I was running a $42 dollar average sale price against a $11-$12 buy range.

Sold out all 1,000 trees I bought last time I did it.

I'll try to drop a better data sheet on it within the next week or so.

Post: #7

Man I would fund a christmas tree deal if those numbers are right...crazy profit in a short period of time. Just need to be able to lease a spot. I am guessing guys in this business are not friendly to each other.

Post: #8

(08-23-2013 07:52 AM)AntiTrace Wrote:  Go the middleman route. Without checking my old books I think I was running a $42 dollar average sale price against a $11-$12 buy range.

Sold out all 1,000 trees I bought last time I did it.

I'll try to drop a better data sheet on it within the next week or so.

Please do. I actually sent you a pm a few weeks ago but you never replied so I was hoping you would see this thread.

Post: #9

(08-23-2013 07:52 AM)AntiTrace Wrote:  Go the middleman route. Without checking my old books I think I was running a $42 dollar average sale price against a $11-$12 buy range.

Sold out all 1,000 trees I bought last time I did it.

I'll try to drop a better data sheet on it within the next week or so.

The buying price seems about right for the great lakes states and provinces.

Post: #10

Ah sorry about missin the PM, last few weeks have been really hectic and unpredictable. hopefully by next weekend I'll have access to my own laptop again an will post it.

Post: #11

Bumping this in case anyone else has any insight.

Post: #12

Grade A datasheet AntiTrace wrote awhile back about selling Christmas trees:

(09-22-2012 04:23 PM)AntiTrace Wrote:  Any industry that has short seasonal activity

Selling Xmas Trees:

Ive made 20K profit in one month doing this, but it requires you to work about 12-14 hours days every day from about Dec 1st to Dec 25th (yes, I have sold trees on Xmas before)

Process is pretty simple:

1.) Find a location that allows enough room to setup around 40-50 trees and has road frontage on a busy street.
2.) Get a vendors permit from the city your selling in.
3.) Find a supplier in the form of a tree farm. The pricing is based off the quality of trees, but around 5-7 dollars will get you an average tree, 10-15 for premiums. an Average tree can sell for upwards of 30-40 bucks, a premium can go for over 80. You can grab giant 12-14 footers (about 4-5 a year is normally the most you want) for 25-40, Ive sold some of those for over 200.

Try to get the trees on credit, but you better pay that back.
4. ) Ship them yourself or pay for shipping.
5. ) Deck your tree stand out with signs by the road, lighting so you can work at night when people are out of work, xmas lights, and some xmas music playing.

Ive heard of guys pulling upwards of 100k profit by selling premium fraser firs in NYC.

Behind the fat and jolly curtain is an extremely dirty and cut-throat tree industry. Be careful of what toes you step on, and be ready to pay all your debt at the end of the season.

A young smart guy could be out there selling Xmas trees, travel for a while, come back for the gator season, rinse and repeat.

From "The Official Guide on Hustling" thread.

Too late for myself to do this year but I'm considering it for next year.

Post: #13

(10-03-2013 04:08 PM)MSW2007 Wrote:  Grade A datasheet AntiTrace wrote awhile back about selling Christmas trees:

(09-22-2012 04:23 PM)AntiTrace Wrote:  Any industry that has short seasonal activity

Selling Xmas Trees:

Ive made 20K profit in one month doing this, but it requires you to work about 12-14 hours days every day from about Dec 1st to Dec 25th (yes, I have sold trees on Xmas before)

Process is pretty simple:

1.) Find a location that allows enough room to setup around 40-50 trees and has road frontage on a busy street.
2.) Get a vendors permit from the city your selling in.
3.) Find a supplier in the form of a tree farm. The pricing is based off the quality of trees, but around 5-7 dollars will get you an average tree, 10-15 for premiums. an Average tree can sell for upwards of 30-40 bucks, a premium can go for over 80. You can grab giant 12-14 footers (about 4-5 a year is normally the most you want) for 25-40, Ive sold some of those for over 200.

Try to get the trees on credit, but you better pay that back.
4. ) Ship them yourself or pay for shipping.
5. ) Deck your tree stand out with signs by the road, lighting so you can work at night when people are out of work, xmas lights, and some xmas music playing.

Ive heard of guys pulling upwards of 100k profit by selling premium fraser firs in NYC.

Behind the fat and jolly curtain is an extremely dirty and cut-throat tree industry. Be careful of what toes you step on, and be ready to pay all your debt at the end of the season.

A young smart guy could be out there selling Xmas trees, travel for a while, come back for the gator season, rinse and repeat.

From "The Official Guide on Hustling" thread.

Too late for myself to do this year but I'm considering it for next year.

Yeah I saw that post. Biggest thing stopping me from doing it is that i see lots every year with trees unsold around where I live. What's stopping them from selling? Is there low demand for real xmas trees? I wish I had more information so I would be able to go into it more confidently.

Post: #14

How far in advance do people start buying Christmas trees? i.e. when should you be up and running? Right after thanksgiving?

How long do bundled trees stay good for? i.e. if I setup shop on Dec 1 and buy a truckload of trees, will those bundled trees stay good for 4 weeks leading up to Christmas?

Post: #15

(10-19-2013 03:28 PM)Pyre Wrote:  How far in advance do people start buying Christmas trees? i.e. when should you be up and running? Right after thanksgiving?

How long do bundled trees stay good for? i.e. if I setup shop on Dec 1 and buy a truckload of trees, will those bundled trees stay good for 4 weeks leading up to Christmas?

Maybe worth a look:

http://www.amazon.com/Christmas-Trees-Gr...e+business

http://www.amazon.com/Christmas-Trees-Pl...e+business

Beyond All Seas

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