Lucky indidents!
 

I'm sure that buying your orchids from a reputable grower is a surest way to get healthy plants.... However, if you actually take your time and look around, you will find some crazily cheap plants out there that are DECENT, if not more!
One time in the past, I've seen a specimen size of Paph. parishii in 8 (?) inch pot that was sold for under $50 (cant remember the exact value). The tag was bury deep within the pot that I had a hard time pulling it up. At that time I had no idea about Paph, so ... there . Now I'm thinking about that I regret for not buying that wonderful species.
I also had a Phal. Leopard Prince from Lowe's for $5 just because they'd just finished blooming. Fair condition, the leaves were still in very good shape.
Another time I went to Tom Thumb supermarket and I found this nice blooming specimen of Oncidium Twinkle with 12+ bulb and IN SPIKE! It was tucked in the middle of a flower basket along with African violet and Ivy. I asked the florist if I could buy that plant by itself because the whole basket was 45 bucks. So she took the 'chid out and sell it to me with the price of $3.50!!! :scratchhead: :hmm :scratchhead: :hmm ....This is crazy!!! I've just seen it for sale at some website for $20, NOT in spike. Some one please explain this to me lol

I guess that I have just this to say: "YOU'RE ABOUT THE LUCKIEST PERSON AROUND". :D ;)
Keep searching for those great deals :Tup: :Tup: :Tup:

You've got it when it comes to finding orchids for cheap. I don't know what to say.

All I know is that these places buy from a commercial grower in bulk. Most of the times, the plants come in damaged in some way or another. It takes the seller a while to have the plants recoup on their sales benches. Somestimes they die in large quantities, especially when the seller doesn't have someone knowledgeable growing them. So, I guess the mentality is..."Get rid of it, and get rid of it anyway I know how, so I don't get stuck with another dead plant."

But that still doesn't explain $3.50 for an orchid.

So smile that you have this sort of good fortune. :)

You know what...I read your post again and I may have figured out why you got the Onc. Twinkle 'Fragrance Fantasy' for $3.50.

1. The plant was part of a collection of other flowers in a basket.

2. The person wasn't knowledgeable about orchids and really didn't know what the actual price of the individual plant you wanted was.

3. Serendipity is with you and YOU ARE DAMN LUCKY!

Yeah come to think about it, I realize that she is basing the price on the pot size lol. I was surprise to see that much pseudobulb was squeezed into the pot for seedling (2 inch?) Massive root ball when I tried to repot the thing, I hardly saw any bark left among that mass of roots. lol I hope to find other flower basket like this lol....

If you are a serious grower or like to try you hand at hybridizing you would want to have the healthest, mature plants hence a commercial orchid supplier. If on the other hand you are a newbie or just want to add to your collection you take what you can get and the cheap ones are a bonus. However, there are good deals out there when a person is down sizing, or has many of the same kind. Joining a club is another excellant way to add to your collection as I have found that at their auctions the prices are extremely low. But back to your deal, just chalk it up to a VERY, VERY, good deal. Stay on the prowl!!!

I too have bought 'chids as cheap as 25 cents! I also got a NoId Dend from Lowe's for 6 dlls, being marked down from 20, I find it to be lots of fun.

The only thing that made super sad the other day though, I went to Home Depot and found in a corner about 6 pots that used to be phaphs (used as in they were all dried up, knew what they were because of the tag) and I saw one that could've recovered, so I asked for assistance and asked them if they's marked them down (of course at this point I had already saw a couple phals near death that I was willing to take with me) and the buy told me they don't mark it down because they can allways take them back to the mursery.

So sad, they don't care for them correctly and just kill them knowingly and carelessly since they know they can always "take them back"

:(

Often great deals can be had at stores on orchids that are past peak. Once they are out of flower, they become harder to sell. Many people won't buy blooming plants that are not blooming. They want to see what they are going to look like. You can sometimes get great prices if the retailer is of the opinion "any sale is better than no sale".
Guess that it kind of depends on the retailer's supplier. If they will take back any damaged or dead plants, there is no reason to give you a deal.