In the last two days (and tomorrow, too) I have gotten so much plant material. Except for some wonderful strep leaves that were crispy and nice (but I couldn't read the writing on the zip lock bags so it has been a long day having to look them up). The episcias I won for 28.00 aren't stolons at all..........little cuttings.....what a disappointment.
Then I won 7 streps........I have never even seen streps that small and pale green malnourished plants. The Kohleria rhizomes are such a disappointment........just tiny............
Then I won The Sorcerer (a very much wanted av wasp)which is in a 1OUNCE CONTAINER as are many of the others..............what a waste of my money. I will not give names.......just telling you.
THE GOOD NEWS: I did order from Gary Mikita a big box and every single plants looks great and I more than got my money's worth................
LESSON LEARNED: I will be ordering from the vendors I know and stay off of ebay as much as possible. I also will keep my eyes open for the DG Marketplace where I have never gotten a bad plant!
I edited the wrong message
This message was edited Oct 3, 2008 12:47 PM
This is just my opinion! about ebay!
I just figured out how the streps could be this small and flimsy...........they must be growing them by taking the mid vein out and you get so many plants this way. But they are always not as strong and take much longer to develop into pretty plants.
I whole-heartedly agree with you on ebay plants. I HAVE gotten some nice plants from certain vendors--but the others--wellll. This is a pic of episcia stolons I bought on DG marketplace from you, gessiegail. Every single stolon struck roots and I am in the process of hardening them off now. Note the plant in the bottom left: this is an ebay purchase, a $3.95(+6.95 shipping) "plant". I live in an area bereft of nurseries(Wal-mart & Home Depot do not even count) and just wish I could find more Episcias on DG. The quality of everything I have bought from Marketplace vendors is superior to ebay, better priced and no gouging on the shipping. Way to go y'all!!
Good for you. Isn't it fun growing. Propagating and growing is such a passion with me. I couldn't live my life without sticking something every day that will grow. Thanks for sharing.
Nice plants Gail and Hillbilly
Im wanting to get a few veined ones like kee wee and that type
JIM
now if I can just think Gail in to putting some on daves garden for sale
ok consatrating really hard now
is it working?
I just old my friend who is here that I am so busy potting up plants, etc............that I ordered and traded that my goal is to aim for next week sometime..............I may even take 4 trays of baby streps and pot them up and sell them................I am running out of room. I even ordered from Park Seed two big giant bio domes and some flimsy black trays with 8 of the 36 inserts that fit in them. I have found that if I put 1/2 perlite in the bottom of each cell and then my regular mix, it works like magic.........and so fast..........
I'm sorry you had such bad experience on Ebay.I always check the sellers feedback and if I ever receive anything I am not happy with,I contact the seller.Most of them will make it right.
Lynn
Some of the very worst have a 99.1 rating. Don't ask me how they ratings are all high......it doesn't matter who the seller is.
You have to take into consideration that feedback as a buyer as well as a seller is also incorporated into that average--and until recently--last couple of months or so, if you left negative feedback for a seller, they could reciprocate leaving you negative feedback as well. (Even if you paid immediately, etc). Neutral feedback is not counted at all. If you notice, most sellers will not even leave you feedback until AFTER you have left them feedback, no matter how quickly you pay or how good your communication is. It is sad because buyer feedback should not be based on seller performance.
Thank You, Hillbilly_Gran
You said it beautifully and very accurately. It will take months and years for the whole truth to come out about the lousy sellers. There are some very good sellers but looking at their ratings means absolutely nothing right now.
That's why I have my one negative feedback . . . I had left negative feedback for a seller, and they left me negative as retaliation. Never mind that I was the buyer who paid right away. Never mind that I waited a week after the purchase was completed to send a message asking when shipping would be. Never mind that it was another week after that before I sent a second email. It was not until 3 weeks after the item was paid for that I sent another email stating I would like a refund. What do you know, that I got the refund within 2 days of having to threaten to report them to ebay as a non-selling seller! For a listing that said priority shipping within 2-3 days of auction end, I'd say waiting 3 weeks to request a refund was pretty patient - and that's after the seller did not answer 1 email!! In the end I still left negative feedback, because the seller didn't fill their end of the bargain, and made no efforts at communication.
Ok, end of ebay rant! whew!
That being said, I will still purchase an item there, if I think it is a good deal . . . AND based on feedback history. I may even continue to list an item or two . . . but with the fees lately . . . .who knows?
they did the same to me,I paid for some bandanas(yes I love them) and waited over a month for them,when I finallly got them ,i left a neg feedback, well they called me a stupid buyer who paid with a check,and it was my fault for not reminding them
JIM
I just wanted to add that a positive feedback number can be deceiving, it may not be relative to the type plant you are buying. Personal experience with plants from a vendor can be misleading too, if you are buying a different type plant. The vendor I bought the teensie episcia from has sold me gorgeous begonias in the past, and the feedback is high. Knowing this, I bid without hesitation. As we all know, Begonias & gesneriads are 2 very different puppies. So, while I might bid on her begonias, I will not bid on her episcias again. It also seems the higher the feedback, the more attitude some vendors have. I bought several "buy it now" plants from an ebay store. The vendor was out of one specific plant, but took my money, and then without contacting me, just arbitrarily substituted something else. Same Genus--but completely different cultivar, also a duplicate of something I already had. I ultimately received a refund, but doubt that I will buy from them again since I do not feel "valued" as a customer. Did I leave feedback? 2 of the plants were gorgeous, as was the substituted plant. So I left positive feedback for 2 but since the money for the third was refunded, I left no feedback at all.
I've only had one bad ebay experience. Someone who didn't take paypal, and wanted a check or money order. Since checks have my routing number and other info on them, I got a MO. Mailed the MO. It was returned, the address provided was wrong. I asked the guy again for his address. He said that he gets mail at home all the time, and I scanned the envelope and emailed him the scan. I remailed the MO at his request, and got it right back. I asked him for another address, and he said he'd give me a friend's address, and I sent the MO *again*. A month later, he said the plants were unsalable (aka, sold to someone else, I'm sure), and filed a strike against me with Ebay. Their decision was against me, because technically I didn't pay. Even if I TRIED to pay, and they suggested that if Paypal was my preference, to use paypal in the future.
Everyone here has been fantastic, I've been thrilled with the quality of plants. The feedback is an excellent idea, too.
I ordered something from ebay last week. The seller told me Sunday night that he was shipping out Monday morning. I have seen nothing..............nothing.............or heard from him. This is live plant material. Several friends told me after I had already bought 4 plants that he was horrible about shipping. One friend on DG waited 6 months after begging him for the plants. She never did get her last two plants and he has a 99.1 percent rating.
Go to ebay to that item and find the button for items not received, if you paid with paypal you will have to file it thru them, but it will walk you thru it. There is a waiting period, I think 10 days. It will tell you when you can open the dispute if it is too soon now. You can then tell the seller you are going to open a dispute if you don't receive your plants. If you don't get them, open one. It is easy to do. If this seller has a rating that high has a result of a lot of feedback, he will most likely respond. In any event it it is good to let ebay know what is going on. I have filed disputes as both buyer and seller. In my case both folks had a feedback rating of 2. Neither ever responded to the dispute. I am sure they probably closed those accounts and are back under new id's.
It is easy, Gail . . . that is one of the things I did to that one seller. It really does get their attention.
I just wrote him and asked him why he would tell me he was shipping if he weren't. And.........if something came up to prevent his shipping, why wasn't he in contact with me about it.....................we shall see what happens next...........he first tired to charge more for shipping that the plants cost. When I refused he said it was ebays fault for figuring it wrong. He still charged way to much for shipping but I just want my stuff and never go back to him again.
Gail can you tell me who it is privately?
thanks
JIM
No............that would be bad judgment on my part!
I bought streps off a person who I never bought from before... Well those are the ones with the snails and weeds growing out of them... After I emailed her she did refund my money but I will never buy from her again... I did not leave negative feedback as I was afraid she would leave that for me also... I don't think it is fair how they can do that, negative feedback I mean...
Susan
Ebay policies have been changed. Sellers can no longer leave negative feedback for buyers. It only took them 10 years to figure out that was a lousy system!
Really? Cool then I am going to post she sent bugs in her plants? No I can't she made good of the buy so I won't.
Thanks for telling me that.
Sue
Yes, ebay made changes. From a buyer AND seller standpoint, though, I'm not sure the changes are for the better.
True, sellers cannot hold threat of negative feedback over a buyers head - as a buyer, I'm glad. But is that fair? I'm not too sure. Just as we all know there are some lousy sellers on that site . . . on the opposite side of the scale there are some fairly lousy buyers as well. Is it fair to remove the capability of the seller to let other people know of a bad experience with a buyer?
While it was not a bad experience (yet), I recently sold an item on ebay . . . and the buyer actually threatened me . . . (ok, I say threatened . . . that may not have been how it was intended) . . . but the morning after payment was received, I emailed that buyer that the item had been shipped, and thank-you-very-much. The reply I got back was "just make sure you leave feedback" - which I had, but I have yet to receive feedback from the buyer. As a seller, I now feel that I am unable to ask for return feedback, because a buyer can now leave negative feedback without fear of reprisal.
The way I think it should be: Seller lists item. Buyer purchases item. Buyer pays for item. Seller ships item. Seller should leave feedback for the buyer, based on whether payment was made within assigned parameters. Buyer should leave feedback for seller once item is received - or contact seller with any issues prior to feedback. THEN leave feedback based on interaction at that point.
This message was edited Oct 1, 2008 10:18 PM
Now I get to name names...........this what what I got in a notecard box with one piece of old newspaper about 6 inches long............he, David Barber from Plants n Such, is so tight he only charged me 11.95 for shipping and he didn't even send it priority. The post office said it costs him less than 2.00 to ship. He is so tight he wouldn't even pack them in zip locks for the rhizome or the cuttings and no pots at all........just squashed baby plants as there was no protection for them.
Someone tell me what I do to let ebay know that he wanted to charge me over 22.00 at first until I told him I would report him. Then he said he would charge me only 11.95 but what he didn't tell me this picture will say it all. Sorry I don't have his 40 year old note box and 40 year old one 6" by 3" piece of newspaper just lying in the box. Just so you know where you can go to spend a total of 37.75 it is Plants n Such on ebay.
Edited to say that I thought plant material was a cutting and not a plant if it doesn't even have a hint of a rhizome on a Kohleria........
This message was edited Oct 3, 2008 12:48 PM
I'm just one of those lurkers, but WOW...that is a mess! I buy plants on ebay all of the time and I've had a few bad experiences, but nothing like that!! If I were you, I would contact this seller and let him know you are very unsatisfied and see what he will do, then contact e-bay if he refuses to make the transaction right.
I order from e-bay when there is a plant that Lyndon Lyon (my fave) or some other commercial doesn't have. I'll e-mail you my list of e-bay vendors that I use. E-bay also feeds my winter withdrawal when the commercial sellers don't ship.
Stephanie
Gail - Here's a link that may help as well: http://pages.ebay.com/help/buy/protection-programs.html
Like Tommie said, it doesn't say anything about shipping gouging, but it does take you step by step thru the process. I do believe that there is a place in that process to state your case, and you can put there the shipping issue as well. Don't forget to tell them that you have photo's to show the condition of the items when they were received, etc.
Here is the link for the paypal dispute process: http://pages.ebay.com/help/buy/paypal-buyer-protection.html
Oh Gail..now that IS bad...I would definitely be contacting him about it...most sellers are usually pretty quick to make things right..hoping he is one of those sellers!
You all are pointing out the experiences I have had on eBay which is the absolute reason I will not go there again without personally knowing the dealer. Meanwhile I have a horrible no pay refund no ship with a dealer right here on DG. I inquired and found out that the management uses a very strange ballance to determine who may stay and who gets the boot. This bothers the heck out of me and sure raises questions about the DG rating efforts too.
That happens here on DG too docgipe? I never thought that would happen here...Scarey thought! Sure hope something gets done to weed the bad ones out....that would steam me too!
Gail,
I would tell the man you are not happy.. I had to do that two times this past summer.. One person was out of Canada and other was Taylor Greenhouses... I paid allot of money and one sent bugs and awful plants and the one lady from Canada sent these tiny, tiny plants and I told them for what I paid I did not want bugs and the other I did expect to see a plant, not a leaf... I got my money back from both including the shipping... I am so sorry Gail that this happened to you.. We all have to live and learn... It is hard when we are the ones who gets screwed from the sellers...
Ok going to plant a few things then check the forums... Sorry again Gail...
Hugs,
Susan
I HAVE USED "PLANT SCOUT" a DG attempt to permit company ratings. Go here to see what is lurking based on inhouse reports: http://davesgarden.com/products/gwd/c/6026/
If two or three more negatives were posted with out additional positives this account would be unable to continue activity. If two or three of the NETURALS had been negative that account would be out of DG dealer activity. Problem is with eBay there is hardly any policing. Problem with both site methods anyone can be prompted to leave a rating. This enables anyone to post in favor of or against. In neither on line sellers situation does the site have much if any control. The favorable rating can be easily engineered by anyone. For instance............how would anyone know if I am tellling the truth in my report?
Now if I had an answer to this with a workable solution both sites would hire me to fix this. It can not be fixed. As in real life you have no real protection from a worthless crooked business person lurking in real life in your home town. You can do research and maybe avoid some difficulty but the references are most often provided by the seller.
I have just about quit shopping on ebay. Very difficult, when you live in an area with out access to a good nursery and the plant bug bites. Many hard to find varieties are available there. What has put me off more than anything are the shipping charges. One seller wanted $8 to ship Episcia stolons,+ $2 & higher shipping if you need a heat pack. Kinda steep when you take into consideration that the USPS provides boxes for free. I have been shopping more and more here on our own DG Marketplace.(Isn't that right Cedarnest;). As the word gets out I am sure that eventually this will become "The" place to buy plants, which will lead to more vendors and more variety. I like the caveat about not gouging for shipping, that keeps it real for everyone.
The bottom line is that another private grower saw my difficulty and flat out gave me what I was trying to buy just for the shipping. This has happened twice. As soon as I have excess I will do likewise. This is what is very nice about a lot of DG site persons. I attended one RU and came home with a whole bunch of interesting violet leaf cuttings. They are up and running with plantlets averaging two per cutting. There will soon be plants to share. I can now forget the one turkey that gobbled up my cash and did not send the plants or refund the payment.
I read this thread with interest as I am a frequent violet buyer via both ebay and online vendors.My buying experiences have been quite positive. First, let me emphasize that the first step when there is a problem with a purchase, is to attempt to workout the problem with the seller. Most sellers are accommodating and want satisfied customers. Second, there is a new website for both buyers and vendors -- www.violetvendorverdict.com. or
http://z4.invisionfree.com/VioletVendorVerdict/. On this site you can post both good and bad experiences , and it is a good resource when you want to know if a vendor is reputable via the experience of others, and we name names, whether the feedback is good, or bad. You can post photos, and there is an area for off topic discussion. It is a good resource in addition to Dave's Garden Forum.--Jan in Ct, aka: plantlady052847
Well, confession time...................no one on DG had streps and I had a strep compulsion today...........just got 10 new streps on ebay. (laughing as I type).......
Oh, Gail! For shame! Which ones did you get?
I would have to go back to ebay and see..............be back in a minute.....(LOL)
Hmm, maybe on second thought, it would be cheaper for you if I didn't know . . . ^_^
I have some of these leaves down but some of these were large plants and i want to propagate them.......one was two starter plants of the same plant
Silvia
Papermoon
Blue Network
Persian Carpet
Caitlin
Victorian Brocade
Crystal Charm
Cape Baby
Pink Cloud
Wild Irish Rose
Crystal Beauty