@Dahliadelights I have always been pleased with my orders from SGC apart from one time when one plant wasn't up to standard. Sent them a photo and I was refunded immediately.
I appreciate this is an old thread however, I've just been on on SGC's website to browse and possibly order. I was shocked how much their prices have up! Cheapest plants were £2.99, but there were few of them. Vast majority of the plants are now £4.99. Seems alot to me for a small plant in a 9cm pot especially when you know have to spend £50 to get free postage! Think i might look elsewhere.
Ouch...that's a shame. Wonder if it's a by-product of Covid and people are prepared to pay silly prices for the convenience of online ordering? Spending £50 on tiny plants seems unrealistic to me.
I suspect it may be due to several factors, increased demand, Covid and cost increases of postal charges in general. I've had several emails over the past few weeks from companies (not just those selling plants) informing me of cost increases which seem to be mainly due to the couriers putting their prices up. SGC have obviously decided that they can factor in that increase and still have plenty of customers. There are a lot of people self isolating still who can't get out to garden centres, B&Q etc. A lot of people these days shop around and look at feedback before placing an order, so if the demand falls they may think again. Also it's still early in the year so they may have more smaller pots sizes available in a few weeks time. I think they may be victims of their own success perhaps.
@amancalledgeorge and @AnniD you are probably both right. Just seems such a shame, i have bought a fair amount of plants from these guys, and they haave always been good quality. But they are now more expensive than my local garden centre.
I agree @gjautos, I've been quite disappointed by the prices they are asking for what are teeny plants. It's just not cost-effective when you could buy in multiples from somewhere like Brookside or Southeastern Horticultural, both of whom I order from regularly now. And for the same price, if you only wanted one, you could get a more mature plant from somewhere like Ballyrobert for less than their £9.99 price tag. That said, every so often they do have something of interest in the lower price range still and as @AnniD points out, it is still early in the season, so perhaps they will increase their stock in the coming months.
@gjautos This thread may seem like an old thread but it is still used for posters to share discount codes. SGC is affiliated to GW. I have looked at their latest plant offers and there are over 70 priced at £2.99, some at £3.99 and nothing more expensive than £10. I am sure paying the postage wouldn't put people off their purchase. There are very few GC's that offer any kind of "free postage" no matter how much you spend. If you were able to buy locally I doubt you would see any plants at the prices quoted above. Plants in 9cm pots can be well established. Any that I have purchased have flourished well. In defence of SGC I have always been happy with the service they provide and if you read previous posts you will find that other posters have been as well. I hope you find something to your liking elsewhere.
Posts
SGC have obviously decided that they can factor in that increase and still have plenty of customers. There are a lot of people self isolating still who can't get out to garden centres, B&Q etc.
A lot of people these days shop around and look at feedback before placing an order, so if the demand falls they may think again.
Also it's still early in the year so they may have more smaller pots sizes available in a few weeks time.
I think they may be victims of their own success perhaps.
I have looked at their latest plant offers and there are over 70 priced at £2.99, some at £3.99 and nothing more expensive than £10. I am sure paying the postage wouldn't put people off their purchase. There are very few GC's that offer any kind of "free postage" no matter how much you spend. If you were able to buy locally I doubt you would see any plants at the prices quoted above. Plants in 9cm pots can be well established. Any that I have purchased have flourished well.
In defence of SGC I have always been happy with the service they provide and if you read previous posts you will find that other posters have been as well.
I hope you find something to your liking elsewhere.