Will Plantbid save me money? Yes.
For all other questions, browse our list of frequently asked questions below.
Tutorials
Looking for a detailed walkthrough?
| Searching, in detail |
For nurseries:
| Manage your inventory | Video |
| Your inventory, in detail | |
| Picture App! Upload images via you phone |
Can't find a tutorial you think would be really helpful? We'd love to hear how we can help.
General Questions
What makes Plantbid different from other plant search and broker services?
Plantbid started out two years ago as a collaboration between a Landscaper and a Nursery with one huge goal: to revolutionize the horticulture industry and make plant sourcing easier, faster, and cheaper than ever before.
We're not a plant broker. Or another one-plant-at-a-time search engine. Plantbid's proprietary search algorithm and procurement software recommends the best way to source all of the plants you need for a specific job.
Visit our Features page to see what Plantbid can do. Then take Plantbid on a risk-free test drive today.
How does Plantbid work?
Give us a list of the plants you need and our proprietary search algorithm recommends which growers to order from and how much of each plant to purchase from each. Take our recommendation as is, or make a few changes. Then submit your plant request electronically to each nursery. Confirm your shipping information with each and you're done!
Plantbid searches availabilities from all over the country, or just in the region that you specify, even from growers you've never heard of. So you can be sure that you're getting the lowest prices possible.
Prefer vendor reputation over low costs? Have special discounts and relationships with specific nurseries? Don't worry, Plantbid factors all of that information into your search results, too.
I am using Internet Explorer and I’m having difficulty viewing the website. What can I do?
Unfortunately, if you're using Internet Explorer, especially the older versions, you may experience problems on our site unless you switch to a better browser such as Mozilla Firefox or Google Chrome.
Pricing and Billing
How does Plantbid charge for their services?
We don't charge anything to the nurseries and growers, which gives our database a boost from more growers: there's no reason for them not to list with us.
We do charge a small fee to search for plant material. Since our algorithm finds the best way to buy your entire order, letting us do the work of estimating shipping and worrying about nursery minimums, we think it's worth it.
Don't take our word for it. We give you completely free and unlimited access to our search algorithm for 14 days. Put in your own past plant orders and see what nurseries we recommend and for what prices, and see just how fast our system works. We're confident you'll love it.
At the end of your trial period – and not before! – we'll ask you for a credit card.
How much does Plantbid charge for their services?
The amount we charge is described in detail on the pricing page. But in short, we charge a small percentage of the cost of the plant material you're searching for.
And to make sure we're giving you the best deal, we base our fee on the absolute minimum possible material price that matches your search terms, while ignoring shipping and any fees whatsoever. And we ignore pickup and delivery minimums, too. So we can guarantee that when you do buy your plant material through Plantbid, the amount we've based our fee on will always be less than what you actually pay for your plants.
We stand by our 100% money-back guarantee. If you're ever unsatisfied with how Plantbid has performed for you, let us know and we'll do our best to make it right.
For Buyers
On the Search results page, what do the different colored columns represent?
There are a few possible search result flavors.
Basic Search - These are the best results that you can achieve on Plantbid using all of your search criteria.
Favorites - Lists only results from your list of Favorite Nurseries.
Unrestricted, Pick Up Only - Lists the lowest possible cost of the plant material you are searching for. This ignores all search criteria. You cannot submit these results. They are listed so you can see the lowest possible cost of the plant material in your order. This is the amount that determines how much Plantbid will charge buyers without subscriptions.
For Nurseries and Growers
How can I make sure my nursery will appear in search results?
Nurseries need to make sure that on their nursery account page, in the search settings section, that the "Inventory is searchable" box is checked.
If this box is not checked, then your availability will not be visible in buyers' search results!
If I email Plantbid my nursery's availability, how can I make sure my inventory is properly updated?
If at all possible, Nurseries should email Plantbid their availabilities as Excel (.xls or .xlsx) files. Plantbid can also read some PDF and Word (.doc or .docx) files, but Excel is best. We are unable to read other types of files at this time. It is also important that your columns are consistent throughout all the files you send. If one week you list size in the second column and price in the third, and the next week you switch them around, it may cause items in you inventory to appear incorrectly or not at all. Also, if you have a group of plants that have the same size and price, you need to include a new row for each plant. If you include multiple plants in the same cell or row of your file, we will only be able to read one of them.
To ensure that our system reads your file perfectly every time, you can download your inventory by using the "Download Inventory" button on your Dashboard. The file that you get will be in the format that we prefer. Then you can just update that file and email it back to us. That is the quickest way to make sure your inventory is updated properly. And of course you can always just edit your inventory directly on the website if that's quicker and easier for you.
I emailed Plantbid my nursery’s availability, but when I check my inventory online, there are some items or some specs missing. What’s going on?
If you’ve sent your file in the proper format, and you are still having trouble, it might be that our system has trouble reading the format of your specs. For instance, all one gallon container sizes should be properly marked as #1, 1G, 1 gal or 1 gallon. All specs in inches should include a “ mark or be listed as in. or inches, and all specs in feet should include a ‘ mark or be listed as ft. or feet. Ideally, you would include a different column for each spec (size, height, spread, caliper, etc.), but if you include all your specs in one column, make sure they are divided by an x or comma, never a dash (-) or slash (/). You may use a dash to indicate range or a slash to indicate fractions. If you have fractional specs, please always include a space between the whole number and the fraction. It is also helpful if you label your specs such as 2” cal. if it is a caliper or 4.5’ c.t. if it’s clear trunk. For instance if you have a plant that’s 4 to 4.5 feet tall by 18 to 24 inches wide, you can list it as 4-4 1/2’x18-24” and our system will be able to read it correctly.