An 18 to 20 foot Christmas tree sold for $700 on Saturday at MacArthur’s Farm in Holliston, Massachusetts. The family-owned farm since 1982 sold out of most of their big trees, so they brought in a fresh truck load Wednesday.
“Regular customers that have been coming to us for years want their big tree and what I’ve told them in the past is to come early,” Peter MacArthur told NBC10 Boston Wednesday, “Because they go fast and nobody has them. The price is high but the quality is there.”
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MacArthur’s is known for their big Christmas trees, but they sell a selection from 4-1/2 to 6 footers starting at $65, ranging all the way up to the 18 to 20 foot Fraser fir that sold for $700 Saturday.
“Actually, for an 18 foot tree, that’s probably pretty reasonable,” Jill Sidebottom of the Real Christmas Tree Board said in an email. “You have to realize that tree is probably 20-plus years old and weighs hundreds of pounds.”
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MacArthur's Farm Manager Katie MacArthur said there are several other factors that go into the cost, including pruning, fertilizing and the freight to bring them down from provinces across Canada, including Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Quebec.
Still, Katie said these prices are unmatched.
“This is the highest I’ve ever seen. I’m 33, so I’ve been doing this my whole life,” she said. “In Quebec, people lost them from the fires too, so there’s that issue. There’s just so many factors in price.”
But customers are still willing to pay to get those priceless holiday memories. And for those living closer to the city, MacArthur’s has a location at the B&M Auto in West Roxbury.
Quinta Andersen and her granddaughter, Abby McAuliffe, bought a 9 to 10 foot tree for $185 on Wednesday.
“This tree’s cost surprised me,” Andersen said. “But it’s a beautiful tree -- there are no bare spots on it and actually it’s my granddaughter, Abby, who encouraged me to go for it.”
The pair were slated to bring the tree home and put it up in Andersen’s Holliston home on Wednesday evening.
“She always gets a big tree, but normally my brother's around to help,” McAuliffe said. “But I’m home this year, so we’re going to do this together.”
