If we are comparing mega-garden-centres with Tesco, et al, I don't believe we will get good service from them. My view is that the big supermarkets sell a lot of over-priced and under-quality goods and use advertising to brainwash everyone into believing they are getting a good deal. My experiences with big stores like Wyevale & Homebase mirrors that - their stuff can be staggeringly expensive with no increase in quality to show for it. However, small, specialist stores and farmer's markets are picking up the areas that big supermarkets can't do well. Perhaps that is already happening in the horticultural industry if the proliferation of Rare Plant Fairs is anything to go by.

Myself, I'm broke anyway so exchange, barter and DIY is the way I'm going! I've also been very pleased by online plant purchases and wonder how much impact eBay and the www will have on the horticultural market.

In niches such as cacti and the even more specialist mesembs that I grow, almost all serious trade is through a network of amateur and semi-professional growers. We trade, we run seed exchanges, we hold sales and shows, and we pass on the names of quality sellers. Meanwhile the big boys sell plants which are often dead before you get them home, for twice the price, to people who unfortunately don't know any better.

eBay is highly suitable for selling succulent plants which can be bare-rooted and posted without any ill effects. Cacti sell well but usually for more than you could buy the plant at a specialist internet nursery. And of course buying plants one at a time usually means the postage is more than the plant! But its still very busy, take a look at the eBay cacti/succulents category any time and you'll find hundreds of offered plants. I don't necessarily recommend you buy any, ask me for some recommended nurseries if you are interested in that sort of thing.