HAVE: My 2 cents Worth!!

Sorry I confused you. Yes. I think we all know as subscribers what we have available to us, so I just asked her to post the non-member or non-subscriber. Whichever. I know she has posted it before, I just don't know where or when. LOL, wonder if the new search engine could find it. Guess I will look.

Ooooohhhh

I have had great trades with people who are not subscribed members and have also had bad trades from people who are paid subscribers, have been here for years & have lots of great feedback. Trading is a risk.

I like the feedback option & try to remember to give feedback to anyone I trade with.

ants

It's just the nature of DG people to try to help others. LOL

so touchy feelie here, wouldn't it be nice if you would all address whether your 'trades' are actually legal to send across state lines or not? Instead of worrying about who sends first, you should be worrying about if its even legal according to the agricultural laws of your state to be sending plants across state lines.

Ohhh geez

I always thought of our trades here as fun and innocent, stupid me!

Well Cgirl, I only trade with people I know (from here that I have chatted with back and forth for a long time) and I don't consider it trades. If I have something they want I send it. I don't try to get things in return, not even postage. They do the same.

When I see that I have something another DGer is looking for and I am not that familiar with them, and I can spare it, I send it to them WITHOUT expecting anything in return, including postage. That way there are no hard feelings.

As far as feedback is concerned, I cannot tell you the last time I even looked at my feedback to see if I am getting any. I try to remember to give feedback, but don't always and now I feel bad about that, because others may be counting on it. I rarely check unless it is a vendor or I feel kind of leery about the other party for some reason. But that is normally when I am sending money for something.

I would much rather just get a thank you for something.

Jnette, you are unique person, I wish I was your friend LOL. And probably you have nearly all the plants you want and need. I could say about myself right now I probably have all the plants I need but not all I want! A year ago I was a newbie with a few plants and bad fever for more. And it was only because of DG and very nice people here that I could enjoy my first iris blooms ever and hug all other treasures I'd never been able to find elsewhere. And also to have that great feeling when you can share something beautiful with somebody who'll enjoy it as much as I do.

Maria

hey i did give points and technically i am on the plant trading forum but didnt mean to highjack the thread but it happens to everyone but back to subject.


when to many variables come in to play like legalities and how stuff is supposed to be and feedback and stuff trades become un fun.

things you cant get in other places you get in trade. things maybe you cant afford you get in trade. its the fun of getting new plants and stuff.

if i gotta worry about where i am sending it and what rights and legal issues all the time then it wouldnt be fun and then no one will trade.

trading should be fun and exciting. newbies learn and old ones do too as time goes on. like i said people make mistakes and just dont jump to leavin bad feedback right off the bat. most try to make it right.

Newbies will always be newbies if nobody ever gives them a chance.

My first trade was before I ever came to Dave's over on that other site. I got cussed out , called selfish, and this lady really laid into me. So bad we both got sent to Disney..

The Problem was: She sent more seeds then I sent here. So she wrote and said How could I be so selfish? blah blah blah
Giving someone ALL that you have is not selfish. I had grew the very plant which I was trading the seeds for. What I sent was all that I had dried, cleaned, and had left. To the point that I didn't have any left for myself. Go figure!

This thing bothered me so bad I almost didn't want to trade anymore or be a part of any garden club. My second trade was not as good because I sent the lady's seeds in a regular envelope.. The difference was her attitude. She wrote me and said that she kinda cringed when she took the seeds out. So I asked Why? Then she explained to me HOW to Send a Seed Trade. I have sent in a Bubble envelope ever since my 3rd trade. We live and learn!

I'm usually so darn happy to receive a plant or seeds I WANT that I don't even think about complaining!

I learn more and more with each trade I make. So far I have been treated mostly fairly by people here on DG. I've had to resend a couple of trades because the first mailing did not arrive, but thats OK. I'm learning how to get confirmation of delivery. I've also just sent seeds and asked for nothing in return as the kind members of DG had been so generous with sending me alot of seeds, so I share when I can.

In more than 13 years of trading, I've only had one box "go missing" to the best of my knowledge and it was outside of the US. Ironically I never received anything from that person either. Seeds do tend to disappear a bit more often but usually if they get stuck in a sorting machine (no matter what you write on them) because the envelope will rip if the seeds get hung up.

Guess what? I got a package of seeds one time 8 months later! It was stamped and dated and I guess the Post Office lost it for 8 months.

Wow! That's *some* service. LOL

I had that happen too. Bought seeds on ebay, the woman swore she mailed them, but the DC info on line said there was no record of it. She refunded my money. And 10 months later, I got the envelope. It was mailed when she said and floating around all that time.
Pam

i have lost seeds due to the fact my po box was mixed up alot of time with the one two boxes down from mine. mine was 6434 heres 6343 and they just didnt look. thats what some of the bad feedback i have was about. now my po box is simple 300 easy.


i had a package go for 6 months. forgot all about the trade and everything. when i first moved here to where i am at now. arrived on christams eve. was from new york . believe it or not Robins bulbs she sent were still in great condition. hehe

oh boy those machines at the post office will eat seeds to no end. i hate they have to go through it or people dont look.

FYI, I got an email from Terry saying she read thru this thread and everyone seems to have a clear meaning of the rights of non-members vs members, so she is not going to post.

Jeanette

I saw bad feedback on someone, because they didn't answer a D-mail. IMO that is not a reason for bad feedback; however, I do think it would be considerate to answer back even if you do not want to trade at the time.

angedawn, I think it depends. If the D-mail was from someone you were expecting seeds or plants from, and there was no communication, then maybe it was warranted. I don't know the circumstances. If, it was merely a question and nothing else involved, you are right. That did not deserve bad feedback. It was just bad manners.

you are right, didn't think of it that way

DG was my first garden club and back when I joined I didn't know much of anything, about gardening or trading or newbie boxes.

Boy didn't I feel terrible for not sending postage back the first couple times. It was brought to my attention of my error. I didn't have a clue as to the cost since the boxes were gone, but searched the forums, got the addresses and sent 10 or 15 to each.

I don't trade too much anymore but one of the last times I did was a poor experience and it was probably my own fault for not looking a little closer at the recipient.

I traded single fan daylilies (named) with someone who was sending heirloom glads. I sent a nice sized priority box and she complained one of the DL's was broken. She sent a small bubble envelope regular mail with tiny corms, which to this day have never shown themselves.

I never did a feedback on her since she put me on the defensive right off the bat. I didn't care to see any retaliation on her part.

So basically, the good feedback is the part that gives you confidence in trading with that parson. Lack of feedback, go forward at your own risk.

I love this thread! This has been so interesting to me to read what so many of you are saying - so much is true.

I've only been trading on here since last year and my problem is that no one leaves feedback for me. I do get a few but not that many compared to the number of trades I do. I consider myself a very fair trader - I'm very generous, pack well, send Priority, and make sure everything is clean and healthy -and have sent out a lot of trades but I just don't have that much of a feedback rating; to someone I've never traded with before it looks like I don't do that much. When I receive something from someone I usually mention that I'll be leaving feedback but I'm just not sure what else to do to encourage them to leave it as well.

Di

I'm glad this thread popped back up and reminded me to leave feedback! My life stays on a constant spin between my home business, seven kids and their social lives (I don't have one!). LOL

Molly, I'm sorry to hear that your last few trades were bummers. I've enjoyed all of my dealings with you. :)

I've had a few people not offer postage for plants and I can't afford to give away the plants and pay people to take them too. I have 7.25 acres and I can find room for extras but I'd rather share. I've also had a few people tell me they'd send postage AFTER they received the plants which I find a bit insulting but I've sent them anyway. I've been here for 9+years and was at 'the other place' for several years before that so I'm not going anywhere...I too, may have inadvertently forgotten to pay postage to someone somewhere down the line but I promise it was an oversight!

Like I said earlier, communicate, communicate, communicate! If something falls through, don't be afraid to send off a friendly reminder. I've only left negative feedback a few times and it was because people would not write back then fell off the face of the earth.

I must admit I often forget to give good feedback. We're not so used to it here in Belgium. Mostly we only give feedback if something is wrong. Will try to think about giving good feedback in the future.

I joined here last summer and have never traded or joined any of the newbie stuff. I'm a big chicken and I find it all so confusing. I wish there was a mentor program where someone could walk me though all the confusion. Maybe that would help us poor newbies from making mistakes. My gardens so new I don't have a lot to trade anyway, but it would be fun to know how when I did have something.

dcart,
I've only been here a month or so. After reading some of the comments members had at the top of their pages I was scared to death to send off my first few packages. When I was ready to trade, I asked the person I was trading with how many would be a good trade, and any other questions I needed to know about shipping. I still have to ask questions, and that's the best thing to do for ex. I thought all bulbs, tubers, and rhizomes needed to be washed and dried out for a day. Because I went ahead and asked what to do, I found out that my Siberian Irises didn't need to be dried at all.
I always try to let people know if their plants don't arrive as they should to let me know and I will reship them. I have learned not to ship on Thursday or Friday even if you send it priority mail. Sometimes the postman is too lazy to walk to the door or they just assume noone is home and leave a note for the recipient to pick up their package at the post office on Monday. That stinks! That happened to me, but all worked out well. In that same trade, I didn't recieve my seeds. Instead of jumping to wrong conclusions, I let the person know and she resent them. I think maybe they might have gotten caught in the mail sorter I don't know. This is why open communication is so very important.
Maybe you could start off by trading seeds and building your garden that way. Some newbies have even contacted me for seeds and plants when they didn't have anything to trade. I try to help them out if I can. D-mail me.

Keep in mind the trading feedback was mainly for flagging "bad" traders. (Not necessarily inept, but those who were found to be deliberately fraudulent in their dealings.)

Morning Terry. Thanks for the comment. I need to get better at giving feed back. I always get so excited about receiving things and getting it planted that I don't go in and give feedback. So to all those people that I have forgotten to give you feed back, I'm sorry. I am more concerned with taking care of your gift.

If I have forgotten anything I promised to people I appreciate it when they dmail me and remind me. I do get sidetracked on a regular basis.

Janaestone, I'm a witness of your beautiful plants and great trades and I was very lucky to have one of my very first trades with you, your plants remind me of you every time I pet them! Well, some people don't pay attention to feedback and sometimes it's a good idea to ask them directly to do so. I'm usually shy to ask but when I have a feeling he/she enjoyed my plants I could mention it would be nice to get their feedback. But I don't mind to leave a feedback twice more than receive it, the plants I get always look better!

see thats where feedback turns a person away.

"But there happens to be one person around here I have never traded with..They have a lot of good feedback. Also Too many Red X's down the page too. And for that reason I would never send my end first."

you can have bad marks for packaging or fights with people on here or postal issues and you get a bad feedback. people look at the marks agianst people first even if those feedbacks were DATED years ago. then had good feedback since. this is where things are unb fair. you cant look at stuff years ago and say well they are still bad. they could of changed things improved people LEARN. but yet most look at bad feedback and make judgements not to trade with that person even if it is like in 2005 or something even though its now 2010

this is where i have always said feedback is bad. people leave feedback for the wrong reasons.

DISCRETION

This is known...I'm not talking about all that kind of nonsense. And I'm not talking about 1 or 2 bad marks. I'm talking about discretion..somewhat hard for me to explain.

If you have 10 people say the same thing...CAUTION (same type of problem)

If you have 1 or 2 bad marks...Of course that can not be used as judgement.

you have 1 or 2 bad marks...Of course that can not be used as judgement. -But people do! And for petty issues. I agree.

If you don't want to trade with someone because they have negatives, don't. I have negs and one was overseas seeds that never made it supposedly, I won't EVER send anything outside the US never! - Another was a horrible expreince I could of handled better but I was fairly new and thought I was doing the right thing. Actually neither of us handled it well at all.

And the last was for not responding to an dmail, we were to trade in spring , my sister died, should I have dmailed her? Probably but trading was the last thing from my mind, she sent nothing and I sent nothing, we were working on the details and had no clear date except spring. Funny her feedback was left in May, maybe her spring ended before mine? Anyway I thought I had time, trading is NOT the most important issue on your mind when you lose someone like that!!!
So after all that I rarely will trade with anyone except a select few or in a group swap, hey safety in numbers!
Don't need the hassles , easier to just go and buy the dang plants really!


Look at system the Lily Auction has you cannot go on and leave a neg or even a neutral like you can on here , it goes through a arbitrary system, there has to be a good reason , if it is a dispute then they try and settle it first. Emotions do play a BIG part when someone is leaving negative fb. And they should not! Cooling period required, really!

I leave feedback now mainly for a good trade, they are the ones who need the reward and pat on the back for a job well done. Even if I buy something off the classifieds or whatever I leave feedback if I am happy. And it helps you remember who you traded with and how it went. We all live and learn through or mistakes, that's life.

I think most importantly, we have to remember that we are all just people and sometimes life takes precedence over that box of plants or pack of seeds that were supposed to be mailed. Sometimes stuff just happens. I think we can learn a lot from a trade or two that has gone wrong and a long trails of mishaps. I think you also have to read the feedback of the people that have left feedback.

I have one strange feedback that I've yet to figure out. LOL I don't know who the person is or WHAT they were talking about??

We are all human. In the end, we all put our pants on the same way. :)

there is good and bad to the feedback system. i have always said on this issue its good if its used for the right things. but poeple dont always use it for the right things. and people get hurt.

just like the above statement about the person having good and bad feedback. we are human things happen and mistakes get made and things out of our control happen. trades go bad. get up dont trade with that person and move on. but dont put their name in the mud because of hurt feeling or something that was out of someones control. plants and seeds arent priority when it comes to lives and more important things. things happen and to make it where others cant trade because of what you leave on someones feedback is wrong if you dont know the whole story.

i was never for feedback when it come and really still aint. i look at it like this.

you go to walmart buy something use it for a week it breaks. ive used it so cant get money back. i just wont buy that product anymore. But will i never shop at walmart agian due to an item breaking . no i will just avoid that brand. you dont go out bad mouthing walmart because of something they couldnt control. they didnt make it.

just like feedback deaths and illnesses take presidence and things happen but to leave bad feedback to those issues is what makes things hard for people to trade and turns people away.

feed back from 5 years ago 4 bad marks well ill never trade with them. but yet at same time they have 12 good marks that out way the bad ones since the last bad mark. but people dont look at that they see bad ratings and dont give a chance.


feedback isnt always a good thing to have because it can hurt and it does hurt.

I don't know if it's all that deep or if I look that deep into it. I try not to give people reasons to even get all emotional and fighting within a trade.

I communicate.

Maybe the Admin will Remove Bad Feedback for some of you. And I will tell you why..If that person is no longer a subscriber and hasn't been for a while. And yet you are STILL actively a subscriber. Maybe this can be a RULE to remove bad feedback if requested. Therefore with the person not even being around here anymore their negative feedback wont be warranted.. ya know what I mean??

What cha think Terry???

I left bad feedback once for someone because it was an extreme case. She initiated the trade. I sent her a very large box of lots of healthy large plants. She sent me nothing til a month later, after she kept telling me every week she was sending them, and then it was a very tiny box (maybe 5 inches square) with a few dead tubers in it. When I complained to her, she said she couldn't find the rest of what she was supposed to be sending me, and called me something that rhymes with witch.
Then, to top it off, she gave me retaliatory bad feedback and said I sent her nothing. She also said she was sending in the spring, which she never did. I still have her email acknowledging receiving what I sent (after I had to ask her if she received my box).
The rest of you may forgive and forget, but I will always think of this person as a really rude self-centered liar and thief. If anything should be removed, it's the lies she left about me (my only bad feedback). And I think it's very important to be able to warn people about people like her.

I know how you feel perenniallyme, I had the same Bad experience with a certain someone on here! I can pretty much take just about anything, But, One thing I really can't tolerate is a liar and Con!!
I hate leaving bad feedback for anyone, But, I Will leave it when I believe it is truly deserved!! And I highly do think that feedback is a good thing ( In most cases) so that others can see and be warned so that they don't have to go through the same bad experience! It's there ( In most cases) to help others, Not hurt them. I have been a Daves Garden member for over 9 years and have done plenty of trading, But have not always given or recieved feedback as I usually stick with trading with ( Good) known members that I have traded with in the past and don't leave feedback everytime we trade. There is only ONE bad mark on my feedback, Which is totally unjustified and UNTRUTHFULL ( And I am still thinking about legally pursuing this Slander as I have plenty of proof to do so) If I was left bad feedback and deserved it or someone wanted to write that they were upset with the trade for whatever reason, Or not happy about what I wrote, I could live with that and move on, But, To out and out lie and Slander my feedback is a bit much! There are many decent people on Daves that I have come to know and respect through the years and after what I had done to me , And watching this person after she did it, and seeing that others could be taken the same way, Especially those I've come to know on here, I highly felt that a warning was warrented! This person couldn't handle the Truth in the feedback so she wrote Untruthfully in the feedback she left me! A box of plants is just a box of plants, I got taken on it, And I can let that go, It's Not something that sticks with me, But, The Emense DISHONESTY/Slander is what I have a problem with! Bad feedbacks matter a lot when you had a bad experience with someone, Not so much in the way of late deliverys or not the best packing, Minor mistakes Ect.These things can usually be worked out most times with a little better communication, But, People who out and out cheat people and take advantage need to be known to others! I would also suggest to always keep a journal for yourself of who you traded with, what the date was, And what EXACTLY it was you traded for ( And watch the size of plants your giving for what your getting) so that if plant/s that you get in don't bloom untill the following year and you come to find out that it's NOT the plant/cultivar you were expecting, You will know exactly who it came from! Beware, Because that Does happen on here!! Another words, If you send someone a $50.00 daylilly and they were suppose to send you a different daylilly at/around equal value and it doesn't bloom untill the following year and you discover what they sent you was really a ditch lilly, If you keep a journal, You will know exactly who the person was that did this to you!! People DO do this! They plan on you NOT Remembering what was sent the year before and by who, And most people that don't keep a journal, Wont remember, And thats what they count on! So sometimes you totally do not get what you thought you were getting, So down the road a month or two or even more when you have a plant that you really didn't want or is some odd color that you didn't expect or some invasive plant that you really don't want in your garden, ( All in return for the nice package of plants you sent) Your not going to remember who sent it if you don't keep a journal and thats what certain people rely on ..Be carefull
I keep a journal of EVERYTHING I get, Who sent ...what.. when ..All the dates and what was recieved and photos of what was recieved and if it was certain plants I take photos of how they bloomed and if they were True To Name! ( And watch the size of plants your giving for what your getting!) Most newbies don't think about these things when they are starting, It's all new, Interesting, seems like a lot of fun ( And it usually is) But, Once you have done it for a while, Your going to start noticing things like.. You sent big sized plants when you started out and got small ones in return, Or you sent a huge box for a trade and the other party you sent it to says they never recieved it and would like it if you sent another one, Or the plants you got in where not what they were suppose to be Ect. ... Think about it for a while, Watch posts, Learn, Ask questions if unsure, Best to enjoy and have Good trading experiences and Avoiding the bad ones! Daves garden is A great place! But, Like most all other sites, There are risks and you do need to be carefull. I also want to add, To the newbies, Be carefull what you write, Especially about resending seeds or whatever if your party says they never recieved it, There ARE people that look to take advantage of what you write! Be carefull of the D-mails! I know all is new and exciting and you would like to do your best if trading, And many people on DG ARE Great people! But, I have seen/watched others on here through all my years of being here and there are some that I would call Less Then Shamefull in the ways they take advantage, So, Just be carefull, Trading is fun and works out nicely here most of the time!