$1400 for a Bonasi!

Mr. Bonsai

Mr. Bonsai

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Definitely not my add but I happen to see this add on CL, selling a Japanese Black Pine bonsai tree.

Would you be willing to pay the asking price for it?

austin.craigslist.org

BONSAI JAPANESE BLACK PINE - general for sale - by owner

I have decided to sell my favorite Japanese Black Pine. I have been working with this tree since...
austin.craigslist.org
 
I’ve seen many listed for multiple thousands - people pay big money for well refined trees. Not my cup of tea. I’d rather have a so-so tree that I grew myself than a masterpiece that someone else created. But that’s just me.
You can look at Bonsai just as any other art form - people pay tremendous amounts of money for paintings or other forms of art. Some people collect, others create - and some do both 🤷🏻‍♂️
 
Honestly seems going rate really....just have a look at brussells bonsai specimin page
 
Check out Bjorn’s site as well... and def look at Bonsai Import Company for sticker shock.....those are trees ready for major shows....
 
The tree is certainly heAlthy, and has good potential. They know how to manage foliage well. The faults are a relatively thin trunk, and the canopy is too uniform. That is, there are no defined pads. An afternoon with some good copper wire can fix that.

Is it worth the money? If you are good with wire, and don’t mind the trunk caliper, then yes.

personally, I prefer a better trunk because I know I can grow out the branches I need.
 
Pretty sure this tree belongs to a member of Bnut...
 
Adair M said:
The tree is certainly heAlthy, and has good potential. They know how to manage foliage well. The faults are a relatively thin trunk, and the canopy is too uniform. That is, there are no defined pads. An afternoon with some good copper wire can fix that.

Is it worth the money? If you are good with wire, and don’t mind the trunk caliper, then yes.

personally, I prefer a better trunk because I know I can grow out the branches I need.
Click to expand...
Agreed, a very healthy tree. Im not sure if its that the trunk is thin so much as the foliage mass ( and pot) is too large, making it look thin. There's no measurements or references for size that I could tell. Price really isn't bad compared to others online.

There's a better, more graceful tree in there...

But yeah while this one has a big price tag the one juniper on Bjorns website blows this one out of the water. Huge tree, collected, lots of good character but... not sure how they arrived at that price. Would stress me out too much to have a $10k+ investment on my benches....
 

JBP- DFW and Surrounding Areas

I've decided to sell my large JBP that I have been working on since 2012. The tree is in perfect health and has been repotted with Boons mix and decandled recently with nice new buds coming in. This will be a pickup only sale , no shipping so if you live within a couple hundred miles or closer...
www.bonsainut.com www.bonsainut.com
 
I am known for assertively not being a cone head—I have trees that make flowers, and I personally find many conifers to be boring at best. My own aesthetic bias notwithstanding, I think $1,400 for that tree is absurd. If it is intended to be an upright styling and not a contorted trunk, the bulge in the middle of the exposed trunk is unacceptable. The nebari simply sucks, with little, wimpy, spurious crossing roots. One could buy a better tree at at least two nurseries with which I have personal experience for $175 to $300. Apparently the seller thinks he’s doing someone a great kindness by bestowing upon them the opportunity to overpay for this tree.
 
i've been meaning to ask about this sort of thing as well- pricing. i recently made my first field trip to an actual bonsai nursery. they had some really awesome specimens, but this one stuck out to me as "approachable."

IMG_3135.JPG

IMG_8032.JPG

and then i saw the $975 price tag. i'll be the first to admit, i'm very new to this, but i was baffled. any insight into how this price was reached? about 18" high, about 7" pot.

i did walk away with this little $20 chinese elm though! about 7" high, 4" pot.

IMG_1257.JPG
 
A tree is worth what somone is willing to pay for it.

Its a nice tree has nice bark but I agree with Adair.
I personally wouldnt buy this tree at that asking price.
I have 2 JBP with bigger trunks that I paid less than 1/4 the asking price of this one.
Someone else might think the tree is worth $1400, but to me its not.
 
shinmai said:
I am known for assertively not being a cone head—I have trees that make flowers, and I personally find many conifers to be boring at best. My own aesthetic bias notwithstanding, I think $1,400 for that tree is absurd. If it is intended to be an upright styling and not a contorted trunk, the bulge in the middle of the exposed trunk is unacceptable. The nebari simply sucks, with little, wimpy, spurious crossing roots. One could buy a better tree at at least two nurseries with which I have personal experience for $175 to $300. Apparently the seller thinks he’s doing someone a great kindness by bestowing upon them the opportunity to overpay for this tree.
Click to expand...

most casual enthusiasts will be quick to say its far too much for a tree because most casual enthusiasts will rarely spend over $50.
$175-$300 what trees have you bought at that price? do you have pics
only asking out of curiousity..
 
tainoson said:
and then i saw the $975 price tag. i'll be the first to admit, i'm very new to this, but i was baffled. any insight into how this price was reached? about 18" high, about 7" pot.
Click to expand...

A $900 pot perhaps? Top of tree not bad but trunk straight, thin, boring. Trunk is focal point of tree. Paying $750-$1500 for Randy Knight collected conifer is nothing if money available. Like buying Rembrandt for bargain price🤩.
 
Last edited:
BobbyLane said:
$175-$300 what trees have you bought at that price? do you have pics
only asking out of curiousity..
Click to expand...

On here you must have seen nursery trees from Telperion farms of infinitely more potential in grow bags $250 you dig on open house day. Trunks 3-5" no big deal:eek:.
 
Potawatomi13 said:
On here you must have seen nursery trees from Telperion farms of infinitely more potential in grow bags $250 you dig on open house day. Trunks 3-5" no big deal:eek:.
Click to expand...

have you bought any for that price from telperion farms, can i see?

serious enthusiasts will spend $250 upwards without blinking an eye...
 
I share the previous opinions and I will certainly not put such a sum even, if I had the means.

The tree is certainly perfectly grown and in excellent health, but I don't feel anything looking at it, no emotion.
I love trees that tell a story, that evoke difficult environments ...
But that's my personal taste and my own feelings.
 
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