Good Afternoon!
Have any of you ordered seed from companies outside the US (from South Africa, Australia, UK)? If you have, what kind of experience did you have (would you order again or it was a nightmare!!!)? Did you have any problems with customs? There are many international companies on ebay that have seed (and plants) that look interesting and that I think will do well in South Texas. The cost is minimal for seed and if it isn't too much hassle I may try an order or two.
Thanks.
TexasBelle
Ordering seed from outside US
What are the names of the companies? I would like to see some of their stuff. Maybe I will try it. Jeanette
Hey TexaBelle and Jeanette!!
I have made trades with JonnaSudenius, JOHNTY001 and bartjestuin who are members on here, received wonderful seeds and they were very nice to work with. No problems at all with the P.O. I have purchased seeds from Mauro at www.brazilplants.com. No problem there either and I got great germination rates. Not sure about ebay vendors. Jeanette, are ya lookin' for some "non veggies"? Hehe! (I am watchin' everyday for our neighbor to set out his bales!)
Connie
Seeds aren't usually a problem (ordering plants is what can really cause headaches). I've ordered from Silverhill Seeds in South Africa and B&T World Seeds which is somewhere in Europe and have had a fine experience both times. If it's an established seed company and they say they ship to the US then they would take care of having the right things for customs so you shouldn't have to worry about anything. About the only difference you should see vs ordering seeds from within the US is shipping can take longer.
Thanks for your information.....I'm looking at gladiolus and watsonia from scamptonsucculents and bsquare_1 from the UK, southafricabotanicals and Seeds4Africa from South Africa and wildwood-flora from Australia.....
Think I will try...nothing ventured, nothing gained.....just hope I'm patient if it takes too long to receive them!
TB
Beware of extra shipping costs, and other add-on fees like permitting, or inspection, though. Have not tried ordering seeds, but we do order other stuff from outside the US for our business. We've had the costs mount up from those. Things like the UK has "Value Added Tax" which should not be added to your order as long as its going out of the UK but sometimes they do add it on anyway.
I kind of like the idea of keeping my dollars and my credit card info in the US, myself. Buy local, support your own economy. Are you sure you can't get the same thing from a local grower?