Park Seed 10 for $10

Seven Bends · #1

Park Seed is having their periodic "10 for $10" sale now -- ten packets of seed for $10. https://parkseed.com/mix-and-match-10-f ... =crazydays
At this point there are 60+ items in the sale, including tomatoes (9 varieties), other vegetables, herbs, and flowers.

habitat-gardener · #2

But the shipping for $10 is $9! So it might be worth it if you were going to buy other stuff, but if that's all you're getting, it's almost $2 a packet.

Seven Bends · #3

Ouch, that's a high shipping charge. I think it was around $4.50 last time I ordered from them. Still, the regular prices on the seed packets in the deal range from $3.95 to $6.95, so you'd be coming out way ahead if you want those varieties. Are there any places left that sell seeds for less than $2/pack, other than the dollar stores, Aldi, Walmart, etc. in the spring?

I definitely can see objecting to a $9 shipping charge on principle, though. Out of curiosity I just checked the USPS rates. If I'm reading the USPS chart right, it looks like an 8-oz commercial flat would be $2.37 to $2.87, and an 8-oz commercial parcel would be $3.99 to $4.44. I wish all garden supply companies had a lower, seed-only shipping rate. Obviously, it costs them a lot more to ship $10 worth of potting soil or fertilizer than it does to ship $10 worth of seeds, so why not reflect that in their shipping charges?

habitat-gardener · #4

Several places!
Nikitovka (though you can't get tomato seeds) has very inexpensive and interesting seeds with a low minimum for free shipping (from Ukraine!).
MIgardener has a $12 minimum for free shipping, and seeds are $2/pack. Also some interesting varieties.

Other places have free shipping but the seeds cost more than $2/pack.
Peaceful Valley has free shipping for 5+ packs of seed, but 5 packs come to almost $20. https://www.groworganic.com/collections ... anic-seeds
Baker Creek doesn't charge for shipping. I bet they get a lot of impulse purchases! (At most places, I wait until I have a big enough order to justify the shipping cost.)
Artisan Seeds doesn't charge for shipping (but they are really great seeds).

I occasionally get seeds from Renee's or Botanical Interests when they offer free shipping.

I guess even small orders take staff time, so it's not just postage costs that are covered.

eyegrotom · #5

Renee's is having a 50% off sale going on now. Shipping is on $ 6.95
I got a bunch of seeds.

Seven Bends · #6

The Park sale seeds work out to $1.90 per pack including shipping if you buy 10 ($10 plus $8.95 shipping). Once you buy 10, any additional packs are also a dollar (you don't have to buy in groups of ten), so 15 packs works out to $1.60 each ($15 plus $8.95), and 20 packs works out to $1.45 each. I do think that's a good bargain, if you like the seeds they're offering in the deal. I'm not trying to twist anyone's arm to shop there! Just wanted to restate the deal so it didn't get lost in the well-deserved criticism of the shipping charge.

Nikitovka is super cheap and has interesting varieties, but I've never purchased from them because of the prohibition on importing tomato and pepper seeds into the US.

The only other place I know of with sub-$2 seeds is Sand Hill Preservation, who have numerous varieties at $1.50 and $1.75 a pack, plus a 10-packs-for-$17.50 deal you can use to reduce the cost of the higher-priced seeds. They're extremely generous with their seed quantities, making their seeds an even better bargain.

I liked the Little Shop of Seeds with their $.75/pack seeds, but they went out of business this spring.