I would only pay that if it was in support of a friend or family member.
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I had an online order made out for rootstocks at $2.95 back in Dec. from Burnt Ridge.
The price jumped while in my shopping cart. (I left them in the cart and bought elsewhere!)
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Those may be 33 dollar trees if purchaser isnāt careful about the sawdust in the bagā¦unless they keep their receipt and get a refund for the dead ones.
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There is a large group of one time buyers out there that doesnāt know what this group does about purchasing trees. We have a group that in most cases that would not pay this price with a few exceptions. New and patented varieties are sometimes the exceptions. I didnāt buy the Nadia but I did buy the Oh My seedless muscadine at a premium price. I think your like myself and are thrifty buyers but sometimes people sitting on the couch and see an $85 tree on the internet might go for it. There is a large audience out there and it only takes a small % to make the high price offering work. Just my opinions.
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Iāll say, if I could sell my 300 or so trees Iāve grafted in past 3 years for $80 eachā¦
Iād feel ārichā.
Of course, gas at $6, loaf bread at $4, ground beef at $10ā¦then an $80 apple tree may be a common price in a couple years. Inflation hasnāt been too bad since about 40 years agoā¦but itās revving up.
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Purchasing that tree depends on a customer with plenty of money and not much time to evaluate alternate sources.
As far as purchasing trees as cheaply as possible, when my wife goes to Costco it involves about 30 minutes of extra driving, extra time walking through the huge store, perhaps purchasing some things she doesnāt really need because the price is so enticing and spending for an annual membership.
Even without the membership, big box stores tend to require extra time to make purchases and are set up to induce people to buy stuff they donāt need. They commonly sell a lot of items that are not reduced in price, focusing on items the public isnāt savvy about the pricing of, such as fertilizer (home depot charges a fortune for that).
Anyway, for most middle class folks the best way to purchase fruit trees IMO is from a reputable fruit tree nursery bare root. However, the well branched 1" caliber ones now available in pots are a decent way to get a few starter apple trees, perhaps to graft to better varieties later. Otherwise they donāt really give you a big jump over bare root trees. Canāt get much root in a 5 gallon pot.
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there is a major discrepancy though between when the avergae buyer wants to buy the tree, and when itās best to buy the tree.
Most people donāt start thinking about planting a fruit tree in winter. when you can do it bare root. But in spring. When the stored supermark fruits are few and far between and not the best. And the weather is getting better so they want to do some gardening.
If also seen lots of more reputable sellers here switch away from honestly mentioning rootstocks and the size the tree eventualy gets. To not mentioning or even knowing what rootstock it is on. Pruning it low and calling it a ādwarfā or ābushā tree. Especially with cherryās and also other members of the prunus family. Where the true dwarfing rootstocks are expensive.
If also told a few people that cherry or plum they planted 5 feet in the row, would need more space. But they are convinced it wil work, since it was sold as a dwarf. And then especialy cherry. when it flowers a little the 1 and 2e year (since it was rootbound in the pot it was sold in, which reduced itās vigor/ made it more precosious) they seem convinced itās fine. 3-4 years after planting though. they discover why itās a problem. A real waste. Since if theyād done it right. Thats around the time your hitting close to full harvests.
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It depends does it have a lifetime warranty? Is it certified disease free? Is it properly grown? 1 good fruit tree will out produce 10 bad ones. Let me provide an example: someone goes to a nursery sees 5 jujubes hanging on a jujubes tree. We now know the type of jujube is true, we know the tree has a lifetime warranty. Would I spend that? Ofcourse not but I see why many would.
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Now, this is where we would differ. If I pay 85.00 for a tree, I better be able to take scion from it and produce it hundreds of times over if I want. No way Iām paying that much for a patented variety, but then I usually try to avoid buying things under patents unless the patent will be expiring soon. As a side note, you have me thinkingā¦ Iām still somewhat young (46) and if thereās 10 years left on a patent, Iāll only be 56 (assuming that I survive) when the patent is up. I might start buying patented varieties with super good reputations for my areaā¦ but Iām still not paying 85.00 for them! 
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Itās all about knowing your niche and marketing effectively. My wife sold chickens (blue partridge Brahmas and Kikirikis) for years and brought unthinkable prices because she was very good at marketing to those folks who were new and wanted something special, reliable, and in small qty.
If I were an inexperienced, well intentioned, and successful suburbanite looking to plant two apple trees in my yard, the difference between $85 and $45 might seem trivial, and if one is labeled ānon GMO, heirloom, heritage, uber good for the environmentā and one is labeled āapple - Honeycrispā then the choice might be obvious.
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Our local nurseries will sell trees for 120 dollars in a 7 or 10 gallon pot and people not only buy from them but recommend them. Buy local they say. Meanwhile I get a dwarf bareroot cherry tree online for 30 dollars plus shipping. Like others said people are willing to pay it with the shortage and people donāt understand what a bear root plant is. They also are not thinking of planting in the spring but in the summer and spring because that is when conventional gardening happens. Even sellers now are increasing their prices. I bought a Gold Nugget Mandarin tree around December or January when Four Winds Growers was selling them for 31 and 51 dollars. Now it costs something like 34 and 56 dollars for one plant plus shipping. Nurseries are cashing in now for sure in terms of price in general.
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I will buy zero at that price.
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True it is all about labeling. Some of those labels mean nothing because with non GMO everything is sold as non GMO so when everything is non GMO it means nothing, heirloom just means it it a older variety so as long as you buy that variety it means nothing. Something I have noticed too is a lot of nurseries will sell trees in number 7 containers or number 10 containers for $120 dollars and justify it by saying it is a established tree but my bare root trees I got for 30 dollars had more of a root system than it would in a number 10 container.
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You and I know what those labels mean, but theyāre not there to sway you and I.
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Very true
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Eighty five bucks? Wow thatās cheap! Try buying rare figs trees. Right now I have three of these.
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How can something so easy to propagate be rare? Looks like a con to me.
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Itās not! Eric who is selling is very well known. Fruitnut can confirm this is 100% legit. Steve has sold some for well over 100, maybe 75 times? Itās crazy!
Hereās a cheap one only 227.00 ongoing right now. 42 bids so far. Where you been? This has been going on for years now. Why we never see fruitnut he bought a small island in the Caribbean 
Only 4 hours left, better bid soon!
I canāt do this. yesterday i sold 4 small trees, and I asked 25.00 each for three of them, and 15 bucks for one. I probably would have got triple on Figbid, but I enjoy helping growers out. I have a good source of income, my own investments, it took a lifetime, but now Iām all set.
Although I have no problem with this kind of thing. I usually sell a few a year, but none this year.
I do have three Boysenberry Blushes as you said easy to propagate. A member here gave me two cuttings as it is a great fig and wanted to share his find of this wild fig. The cuttings had a lot of nodes, so I cut them in half and all four rooted. I have and will trade the others for other desirable figs, the deals are all set and in motion. I will also give a couple away next year to pay it forward.
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I remember when people were giving away bitcoin. The world has gone mad.
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Iām not that interested in exotic figs because around here, people share cuttings for free and Iām happy with the quality of the figs. They are the best varieties from Italy brought here by people who have been improving on them for centuries.
By con, I mean a seduction based on exaggerated claims of superiority. But itās all in the mouth and eyes of the beholder, so to each their own.
I have the same attitude about extremely expensive wine- I think at some point itās more about feeling special than the actual enjoyment of the product. There is nothing on this earth more exquisite to my palate than a sun warmed, tree ripened nectarine off the tree. No fig, no glass of wine, and no ruby or emerald more beautiful.
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