# Most expensive and best deal?



## Carkin (Mar 27, 2013)

What is the most expensive orchid in your collection...and what was your best deal?
You don't have to share the price if you don't want to but pictures would be nice! 

Mine is Phrag. Sergeant Eric ($75) and Phal. violacea v. coerulea ($5)


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## SlipperKing (Mar 27, 2013)

I guess my stupidist purchase had to be the jungle collected sanderieanum the late Richard Topper was selling after its re-discovery for 310.00 and it died 7 months later! Of course that was back in the 90's when I was younger and dummer:sob:


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## NYEric (Mar 27, 2013)

Hmm, I have a couple of expensive OZ and EYOF Phrags. maybe $100 each.  Best deal is freebies!


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## SlipperKing (Mar 27, 2013)

Yep, I've gotten lots of feebies over the years too.


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## Carkin (Mar 27, 2013)

SlipperKing said:


> I guess my stupidist purchase had to be the jungle collected sanderieanum the late Richard Topper was selling after its re-discovery for 310.00 and it died 7 months later! Of course that was back in the 90's when I was younger and dummer:sob:



Ouch!:sob:



NYEric said:


> Hmm, I have a couple of expensive OZ and EYOF Phrags. maybe $100 each.  Best deal is freebies!





SlipperKing said:


> Yep, I've gotten lots of feebies over the years too.



Of course freebies are the best...but besides that!oke:


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## NYEric (Mar 27, 2013)

I have lost a sad number of the seedlings from our Taiwan order but if the survivors bloom out the album paphs will make up for the value of th lost ones.


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## eggshells (Mar 27, 2013)

A sanderianum for $225 was my priciest. My cheapest would be 4 -5 growth argus for $2


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## Justin (Mar 27, 2013)

most expensive rothschildianum 'Canadian Club' GM/JOGA ...and also best deal as it actually lived as compared to most of my other roth divisions.


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## cnycharles (Mar 27, 2013)

probably most expensive was for a yellow besseae or rare phal species and the best deal was for four compots on sale from royalorchidclub for our orchid club; total order price for four compots and shipping was around $25

I can't show pics for yellow besseae or the other expensive, rare things, because they aren't alive 

I could list the most expensive as a collection of flasks from thailand that mostly eventually died due to improper care, and the phal speciosa flask from thailand that was left in my kitchen when I went to work, and the sun creeped in just enough to touch a corner of the flask and cook them all :sob:


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## ehanes7612 (Mar 27, 2013)

a charlesworthii album (w FCC parents) that was completely damaged in transit ..$400 US and many other flasks..but i think i have finally learned the best way for me to keep them alive, thousands of dollars later (remove all agar with a dental pick, rinse, place in compot with bark and lots of perlite, and leave alone for couple years)..the best purchase from one seller ... 7 monsoon Temptations($35 each) and 8 Wossner Kolarmi ($20 each) and 3 Gloria Naugle ($75 each) that i received from one ebay seller ..three of the MT's are incredible(one awarded so far) and one of the WK is incredible (probably awardable) and 1 awarded GN (waiting for one to bloom) ..i sold the rest and recouped my money..sadly, that ebay seller doesnt sell anymore


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## Ray (Mar 27, 2013)

This was not MY deal, but I think that the most expensive and still best deal I've ever heard of happened when I was living in SC, almost 30 years ago.

A mature Phal. violacea and single seedling - coerulea - were wild collected and offered for sale for $35,000 by Kolopaking of Indonesia, and that wiped out the natural population. I have no idea what the actual purchase price was, but if you consider that pretty much all blue phals originated with that plant....


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## SlipperFan (Mar 27, 2013)

Well, I just bought an andreetae...

My best deal has been trading with Rick H.


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## cnycharles (Mar 27, 2013)

SlipperFan said:


> Well, I just bought an andreetae...



heeeyyy dooooot...... I think I just came up with 'something' you could trade to me for all my phal keikis 

actually, noo, don't because I'd just kill it


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## The Orchid Boy (Mar 27, 2013)

My most expensive plant was a Paph. sanderianum for $125 and $15 shipping.






My best deal (that wasn't a freebie) was a 15-20 growth Dend. lindleyi for $3.





My second best deal was 3 BS Cyp. pubescens for $15 each. We'll see how I do with them...
(Pictures coming later in a new thread.)

Best freebie was a Paph. Wossner Kolosuk v. album, a large seedling from Orchid Inn. (On the right.)


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## SlipperFan (Mar 27, 2013)

cnycharles said:


> heeeyyy dooooot...... I think I just came up with 'something' you could trade to me for all my phal keikis
> 
> actually, noo, don't because I'd just kill it


Oh, Charles... I hope I don't!!!


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## cnycharles (Mar 27, 2013)

well i'm pretty sure you'll do better than I would


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## Eric Muehlbauer (Mar 27, 2013)

My most expensive (relative to value) was a concolor I won on ebay. I was sloppy, and didn't check that my $16.00 bid had been typed in as $1600. I won a very ordinary concolor for $60.....I explained the situation to the seller, who said that it was OK, but he'd have to report me to ebay as a non-payer...I just bit the bullet and paid. It was my fault. On the other hand, my specimen sized B. cucullata was purchased maybe 30 years ago? I asked the guy in a plant shop how much the plant in the ashtray was. He was so embarrassed that he gave it to me for $5........


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## limuhead (Mar 27, 2013)

Best deal was actually a transaction of a Paph topperi alba. I got a plant given to me by my friend and when it bloomed out it was an alba. I told him about it and he said good for me. Very few came out of a large crop, maybe 5% were alba. About 6 months after it bloomed he called me and told me he had someone who wanted to buy it. $1500 for a plant that I got for free. Not bad if you ask me....


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## Rick (Mar 27, 2013)

Seems like I haven't paid over $150 for anything, But several in the $80-$150 range. 

Generally I consider everything a good deal if I at least learn something from it. (though some lessons are hard learned as they say).

Actually I think the worst was sending money (~$150) for an adult P randsii that never materialized, and the seller disappeared/filed for bankruptcy. So that's about as worthless a lesson as I can think of.


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## The Orchid Boy (Mar 28, 2013)

Maybe my best deal was a Paph. liemianum flask for $45 that contained 45+ seedlings, so less than $1 per plant.


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## quiltergal (Mar 28, 2013)

My most expensive plant is Paph. William Ambler @ $65. My best deals are a Phrag. Grande (or Paul Eugene Conroy depending on who you talk to) and a Paph. Lynleigh Koopowitz @ $ 3 ea. I'm kind of cheap and have never paid more than $75 for a single plant.


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## JeanLux (Mar 28, 2013)

My by far most costly was a Fritz Schomburg from OL (250), and I was stupid enough to kill it! Nevertheless found another one now in Dresden for 55 euro  ! Jean


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## John Boy (Mar 28, 2013)

Without much doubt I'd have to say my Cattleya mendelii coerulescens select, and yes, even as a 3 bulb piece I gave substantial $$$ for her... But now, that she's huge, you can tell I was right, right?







Besides next to my very best striata coerulea purpurata...


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## Dido (Mar 28, 2013)

My most expensive one was a cyp Hybrid till now for 150$ wich till now did not flower it should be a natural hybrid of farreri, when I got it it had the biggest roots I ever seen on a cyp beofre and it had 3 growth but it had problems to establish, so I hope for a bloom this year, but at least it did not pass away, I hope as it is under the snow. He think that it could be a wenqing but who knows. The best deal was some of the plants I got for free from some vendors. 
One of them from Popow are now going to put a bud on, it was a pot with 2 nearly dead vietnamense X emersonii, one I could save the other I loosed after 1,5 years of fight. So I hope I will have a good flower soon


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## Clark (Mar 28, 2013)

One of the lovely ladies on the forum, has sent me a bunch of goodies for free

$100 for each- Pk seedling(pathetic size), Allison Strohm(pathetic size), Paph. sanderianum(decent size seedling).
Two are compost. AS grows like a weed, but always blasts on me.


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## Heather (Mar 28, 2013)

Cool! My most expensive has to have been my mexipediums. Best deal - probably not orchid related but the irises I got from Diane in our first auction for about $6.00 which now are extremely abundant and I really need to divide this year!


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## nikv (Mar 28, 2013)

My most expensive orchid was a Laelia anceps var. vietchiana that I purchased from Santa Barbara Orchid Estate when I visited them a few years ago. I paid $100 for it. Here is a photo:






The plant is doing well in my greenhouse and I'm very pleased with it. I was told it was "award quality" but I've never submitted any of my orchids for judging.

My best deal was a bunch of Cymbidium divisions. All I had to do was to help a friend divide his clumbs a few years ago. I went home with several divisions.


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## NYEric (Mar 28, 2013)

i know, the best (non-freebie) deal for me was those specimen size plants I got for $1.00/pot inch for the clearence in Amish country a few years ago.


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## Carkin (Mar 28, 2013)

Thank you for those photos, The Orchid Boy, John Boy (yes, you were right!) and nikv! Gorgeous blooms!!!


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## Carkin (Mar 28, 2013)

Thank you for all the fantastic replies! I am really enjoying all the stories that have gone along with your purchases. Even though some of them are very sad...but there are lots of great success stories too! And what a great variety of plants too! 

Keep them coming!!!


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## Carkin (Mar 28, 2013)

NYEric said:


> i know, the best (non-freebie) deal for me was those specimen size plants I got for $1.00/pot inch for the clearence in Amish country a few years ago.



:clap: What a deal! Thank you for thinking about it and coming up with that!


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## Shiva (Mar 28, 2013)

Most expansive is a kovachii I just bought from Glen Decker for $600. Best deal was three huge multi paphios I got for free from my family doctor. Among them Bel Royal who is in spike for the second time now.


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## Carkin (Mar 28, 2013)

Shiva said:


> Most expansive is a kovachii I just bought from Glen Decker for $600. Best deal was three huge multi paphios I got for free from my family doctor. Among them Bel Royal who is in spike for the second time now.



Outstanding!!!


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## koshki (Mar 28, 2013)

Most expensive so far was a phal violacea in bloom for $100 (hey it was my birthday). I haven't killed it, but it has done practically nothing since Sept. 2011. Best deal...got a great phal equestris keiki in bloom for a box of cookies! (Wink, Dot!)


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## cnycharles (Mar 28, 2013)

Shiva said:


> Most expansive is a kovachii I just bought from Glen Decker for $600.





probably one of my most expensive that wasn't a horror story was the mexipedium from bloomfield orchids, that flowered so nicely two years ago and I just repotted (tough plant - it's still alive and looking okay)


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## likespaphs (Mar 29, 2013)

i convinced an old boss to spend about $600 on a Paph that died in short order....


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## NYEric (Mar 29, 2013)

And you wonder what happened to your raise!


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## Trithor (Mar 29, 2013)

It is difficult to compare with exchange rates, as our currency fluctuated so wildly, but in all honesty, nearly every purchase from outside of South Africa is very dear in real terms. Many years ago I purchased 3 sanderianum for USD800 each, but in real terms would be at least double that. Of the 3 I have one plant which nearly died along with its brothers and sisters, it has sulked and refused to grow for the last 10 or so years, but last year finally agreed to flower and make a new growth. So in reality it was both my worst and best purchase all in one!


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## SlipperFan (Mar 29, 2013)

koshki said:


> Most expensive so far was a phal violacea in bloom for $100 (hey it was my birthday). I haven't killed it, but it has done practically nothing since Sept. 2011. Best deal...got a great phal equestris keiki in bloom for a box of cookies! (Wink, Dot!)



...and the cookies were delicious!


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## Silvan (Mar 30, 2013)

Well my most expensive orchid (yet) was a division of a Phrag. Frank Smith, that I bought for 300$ and my best deal yet was a mature Phrag. Andean Tears that I got for 45$ from the Jardin Botanique de Montréal (and no, it hasn't flowered yet..but God does that plant likes to make babies..lol)


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## Ozpaph (Mar 30, 2013)

Well, you cant buy anything above seedling size in Australia for under a few hundred $A (same as $USD nowadays). So I 'regularly' spend $200-$300 on NFS imported roth seedlings or divisions of nice species/multiflorals/maudiaes.
I've spend thousands on flasks as the ONLY way to get anitum/sanderianum/roth seedlings and finally (last 2 years) having good success with growing them on - many years to flowering, though.


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## 2Toned (Mar 30, 2013)

Glad you responded to this thread. I was reading through and thought. "these guys have got it good!"


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## Ozpaph (Mar 31, 2013)

2Toned said:


> Glad you responded to this thread. I was reading through and thought. "these guys have got it good!"


'they' sure do.


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## Trithor (Mar 31, 2013)

Not just price, but also availability. If we order plants from overseas, not only is it expensive, but the plants take ages to arrive via the postal service, so you have to use a courier which ends up doubling the price again. As a result you end up 'batch ordering'


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## Bjorn (Mar 31, 2013)

Most expensive could it be a certain flask of five micranthum album? Or should i say those dead hangianums? its ok though. Cheapest, no idea


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## emydura (Mar 31, 2013)

Two growth division of a Paph Bel Royal at $265. Pretty good price actually for Australia. Up to 4 growths now and hopefully should flower again later this year.

http://www.slippertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=22495&

As for a bargain I did get a parishii division for $20 but then I rotted it.


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## Justin (Mar 31, 2013)

that's a nice Bel Royal.


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## SlipperKing (Mar 31, 2013)

That is very darn good Bel Royal. I would've paid the same if I'd known the quality David. Maybe I'll get lucky with the one in spike now.


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## emydura (Mar 31, 2013)

SlipperKing said:


> That is very darn good Bel Royal. I would've paid the same if I'd known the quality David. Maybe I'll get lucky with the one in spike now.



When I saw a photo with 6 flowers on it, I had to have it. 

That was an eBay bid too Rick. I was expecting and prepared to go a bit higher.


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