I just wanted to let you all know that a known hoya seller on Ebay is now selling tons of rare hoyas. But here are the issues I have. First, many of the listings do not have pictures of the hoya - instead, this seller uses the same picture of a table full of hoyas for most of the auctions. I guess she/he is too lazy to take individual pictures for each auction?!
Also, I have bought from this seller before, and although the hoyas have been healthy, they have all been one rooted cutting in a 4" pot. She/he sells them as a "well established plant" that is "growing in a 4" pot", but if you plan on bidding make sure you ask what she means by "plant"!
For the auctions that this seller actually took the time to take pictures of, please note that these are not the actual plants you will get! Again, you will most likely get ONE rooted cutting (unless she has gotten more generous - but I'd be sure to ask before bidding). And for the price she is starting the bidding at, you'd expect a full plant - maybe even a blooming plant!! They are all starting at either $10, $20, and $35, and shipping is $7.95.
Just wanted to make this known for all those that might get tempted with all the rare hoyas - I know I was!
Gabi
Ebay listings
Thanks for the "heads up".
Dee
Ok, I just got a reply from this Ebayer when I asked her about the size of the plants (I had asked about 2 of the hoyas she had listed). This is what she said:
"THey are single cuttings in a 4" pot."
I informed her of how outrageous it was to basically fool buyers into thinking they are getting a "well established plant" (as written in her auctions) in a 4" pot, but instead they are getting a SINGLE cutting (I'm not even sure if the cuttings are rooted). I wish there was something we can do. I feel horrible for someone that spends that much money on a CUTTING, thinking that it is a "well established plant".
Gabi
Here's a link to another thread about the same seller (I can tell because I remember reading this post and it sounded like a similar situation - and then when I looked at the link to their website, the email address is the same as the one that replied to my question).
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/674475/
I have also bought from the person/'s in question and though like Gabi says they advertise well established plants in a 4" pot. BEWARE!!!!! All I got when I received my plants were single stem barely rooted cuttings.
Just an update..
After informing the seller that misleading potential buyers is wrong, they continued to lie and say things like "I do not try to fool anyone. I list my plants as rooted cuttings, not established plants." I of course told them that nowhere in their listings did it say "rooted cuttings" - it only said "well established plants". Well, finally, after I told them that I would be warning potential buyers of this, they wrote me back and said they have corrected all their auctions. So they have now decided to be honest and call the so-called plants "a rooted cutting".
I'm happy that nobody will be mislead THIS time (except for the people that unfortunately already bid). Although as Dmichael said, who knows how "rooted" the plants will actually be! I'm still in awe that they have 100% feedback!
Gabi
YOU GO GIRL!!!!!!
I just checked some of their listings and sure enough they have changed them all. Some of you may remember that over the past 2 years there have been several talks on here about this seller and their misleading descriptions of their hoyas on ebay. I even contacted them myself about it last year but they didn't do anything about it then.
I have been reading this post and the previous post with great interest. I currently have a contest with an Ebay seller who misleads potential buyers with her titles and holds firm that it is written just to attract buyers who are expected to read between the lines.
I too have received rooted cuttings that are misrepresented that die in the summer and/or winter shipping process as they are not established plants. These sellers pad their sales during the winter especially, charging $8.00 to $12.00 for packages that cost $4.60 or $7.20 to ship - Plus $1.00 to $2.00 extra per plant for poorly packaged plants that spill dirt all over the place when you open them. I am sure you all know who I'm talking about. I came across one auction where the seller charged $14.95 to ship and states up front "if you don't like it, don't bid."
As badly as I would like to have the plants on Ebay, I refuse to pay the high shipping fees now. I wish there was a way to notify Ebay that these sellers are making a lot of money padding their shipping fees because those fees are not part of the final value fees or the listing fees.
Thank you Gabro for being pro-active. I noticed that the "poorly packaged/no communication" Ebay seller has dropped his shipping charges. I'm sure he's read our complaints right here on DG.
Edited only to correct mispelling
This message was edited Jan 28, 2008 6:51 PM
I have come to the conclusion that the feedback system has become almost worthless when evaluating whether to buy from some sellers. Buyers are afraid of a negative feedback reprisal from the seller to be honest in their evaluation of the transaction. I'm guilty of it as well. Over the summer I paid way too much for H. albiflora and some other Hoya whose name escapes me now, and all the plants arrived pretty much destroyed because of very poor packaging. I didn't want to jeopardize my perfect feedback to tell the truth. After that incident, I've pretty much relegated myself to cuttings only.
Doug
So true Doug. When the seller that I was referring to asked me "then why have I never gotten a complaint and why is my feedback 100%", I told him he only has 100% feedback because buyers are afraid of retaliation if they leave negative feedback. And this is true. There has NEVER been a time when I left negative feedback and haven't gotten negative feedback in return. I haven't left much neg. feedback - but the few times that I did (for legitimate reasons and after trying several times to communicate with the seller and work things out), they would "get back at me" by doing the same to me, even though I did nothing wrong. That's why I just remind myself that feedback ratings mean nothing.
Gabi, I think that if you are a buyer only, a little negative feedback should not be of much concern. However if you are a seller, it means much more and can really affect how much you can charge for an item. Customers are always willing to pay a little bit more to deal with a seller that has 99% or better feedback. I think that is why sellers really need to try to go that extra mile for the customer, but sadly many won't.
Doug
Here from Malaysia. I know that seller. His names is Jim Jacobs. He should be sent this thread. I have warned him about his reputation but it seems not to bother him....
Takes all kinds.....
His shipping is outrageous!!!!
Yes Carol, his name on the email was James Jacobs. How do I send a thread to someone who is not a member? I would love to send it to him! Maybe I'll just copy and paste it.
Gabi
What is his name on E-bay so we all know who to look out for. Seems to me that if you can tell us all his name, surely you could also reveal his ebay entity.
Interesting information! I've never bought or sold anything on e-bay. My husband has bought a couple of computers and sold a couple over the years ... just recently got himself a used laptop so I got this one I'm using now that used to be his and he sold my old one on e-bay. About 5 or 6 years ago I got really excited bidding on something that I really wanted (can't for the life of me remember what it was now, LOL) and I was so disappointed when in the last seconds of the auction, I was outbid! That was the first and last time I tried e-bay. I had no idea that folks even sold plants on there until joining DG. Now I realize you can actually buy most anything on there. I thought if it showed great feedback it meant they were really reputable and good! I have learned something from you Gabi and I thank you for posting this information. I had thought about looking for a few plants on e-bay, but have now changed my mind. I think someone should copy and paste this thread into an e-mail to that guy. He's not using honorable business practices by stiffing customers on those outrageous shipping charges and then not packing the plants well.
I got my Hoya on ebay, a small rooted cutting, its doing very well, growing nicely, but I wish I could remember who I bought it from.
True about the name. At first, I didn't want to give his seller name (I just figured that with all the information I gave, you could figure it out if you took a look at ebay).
Anyway, the seller's name is "special-edition1"
Lin, you don't have to worry about buying plants from ebay, just make sure you're buying from someone reputable - I'd come here and ask about the seller if you're unsure. There are many great ebay plant sellers, but there are a small few that you'll need to stay away from.
And I did go ahead and copy this thread on an email to him.
Gabi
Gabi...have you heard back from him? I once told him his reputation was dicey and he said he didn't know....now he does and that's good. Wonder if he will change? He should if he wants to be successful.....but only his 'fans' can control that. Garden Watchdog is a good posting place.
Carol
No Carol, haven't heard anything back from him. I'm sure he got the message this time though.
GREAT NEWS!! Just read an article on CNN about Ebay changing it's feedback system. Now, only buyers can leave feedback - so sellers can't leave negative feedback to retaliate. Here's the article:
EBay's tweaks to feedback system have sellers worried
SAN FRANCISCO, California (AP) -- EBay Inc. says it's changing its user-feedback system to keep buyers from leaving, but the plan has sellers worried they'll no longer be able to weed out untrustworthy shoppers.
Buyers and sellers have been able to rate each other at the online auctioneer since its birth in 1995, when eBay founder Pierre Omidyar envisioned a virtual marketplace built on trust among buyers and sellers.
Come February 20, a full spectrum of feedback is welcome from buyers about sellers,while sellers can no longer give buyers negative star ratings.
The shift was announced Tuesday among a complex series of pricing changes and initiatives that eBay hopes will improve buyers' experiences as it struggles with stagnant user numbers.
It's a fundamental change to create trust and tackle fraud in a marketplace where buyers and sellers never lay eyes on one another. Steve Grossberg, a Florida-based top seller of video games and president of the Internet Merchants Association, said the ban on rating buyers is a good thing.
"When the seller leaves a negative feedback for a buyer, it drives them away from the site," Grossberg said.
But eBay needs to work harder to stop bidders who don't pay up, he said. The site does not require immediate payment,and sellers complain they are just as exposed to fraud as buyers on eBay.
Sellers have long used feedback to alert one another about fraudulent practices like nonpayment. Sellers earn good ratings by delivering quality products and using timely and reasonably priced shipping methods. Buyers earn poor ratings by not paying for an item or threatening the seller with a bad rating if they don't lower the final auction price.
Gabi,
Thanks for posting that information. That is one of the most interesting things that I have seen in awhile. It is about time!! Just this week I've started selling off a few of my collectibles on eBay, but before that I was strictly a buyer and was always intimidated to leave negative feedback when it was deserved. I would always try to work it out first with the seller, but at least now the buyer has some kind of recourse.
I also noticed that eBay is significantly increasing their final value fees to sellers, and dropping the insertion fees. It will be interesting to see how it works out for them.
Doug
Yes, I hope this works out. It sounds really promising, but I hope buyers don't abuse it. It would be in their best interest not to, because people can read the feedback that an ebayer has left for others, and if it's mostly negative, that would be a good sign to stay away from a buyer like that! But all in all, I think it will help buyers. Instead of people like Jim Jacobs having 100% feedback due to buyers being afraid to speak out, he will now be going down.
Gabi
This feedback issue is much bigger than I first thought. To kill some time this Sunday morning, I've been perusing eBay message boards and various online newspaper reports of these changes. 95% of sellers seem to be furious over these changes, and I guess 25,000-30,000 of them have signed up to begin boycotting eBay when the changes take effect. After reading some of their statements, and just beginning to sell on eBay (not plants!) I guess I will have to change my position on the changes being made. Overall I think it will really hurt many of the small sellers most, and drive them right out of eBay, which will end up hurting the buyer most in the long run. To appreciate how bad, unreasonable, and dishonest some buyers can be, I invite you to read some of the seller horror stories. It is interesting stuff, and a veritable minefield to travel. As DG, now prepares to enter the online auction business, I hope much careful thought go into the details.
Gabi, is this the thread you are referring to? I did place an order with Jim Jacobs, but specifically asked for cuttings.
I have had to restart rooted plants so many times, as the roots were either dying, or the plant just wouldn't grow in my environment, yet with new roots would almost immediately take off, that I don't care to purchase potted plants anymore.
I have lost so few plants now that I am comfortable with hacking off nonproductive roots, that I simply won't bother with paying for potted material now when cuttings are quite a bit less.
Thanks for the reminder about this thread. I will be interested to see what kind of material he sends from his website, not ebay.
S
Yes Sara, this is the thread I was referring to. I'm really interested to know how his cuttings are. Hopefully they are nice and healthy (since they are just cuttings, I would think that wouldn't be too hard for him to pull off!). I just didn't like that he was blatantly lying on his auctions - there is a huge difference between a full size plant and a single rooted cutting in a 4" pot!
Gabi