Ordering plants off ebay

Ok ... this might just be me. Maybe this is what is expected .....

Have been looking at plants on ebay for quite some time now as they always seem to have certain things that I cannot get locally. So this week I decided to order Red Valerian as have been emailing around and cant get any within any sort of driving distance.

This is the photo of what I ordered ....




This is what arrived today, posted through the letterbox (and in the mouth of the dog when I caught her !!!!)




Rather thin looking box ....












Squashed flat exposed roots ....








Now fair enough, it wasnt expensive ..... but nothing like the photo of the one they were advertising.

Is this the norm for mail order plants ???

 

Sam, I saw your comment last night about what you had bought on eBay so I went to have a look to see what red valerian items were on sale and saw that very item.

TBH it looks healthy, well packed and what they advertised it as. It's normal for plants sold on eBay to arrive minus the pot so save postage...plus with red valerian, it'll grow in no time. Get it in a pot asap and nurture it, you'll be rewarded I'm sure.

I've received worse specimens than that one from gardening websites and they came in pots (naming no names)...and with a heftier price tag as well.

 

Hi JWK

Am not bothered about the money really, or disputing with paypal etc.

Am just wondering if this is the norm for plants arriving through the post ..... before I ever order any more

But no the description never said anything about it being half the plant shown or anything else, so like everything else I have ever ordered from ebay, I pressumed it was as per photo shown.

Just more curious than anything else, to anyone elses experiences

 

Hi Aaron,

You been spying on me huh :wink: lol

The reason I went for that one, out of the couple that were listed ... was because all the others showed you massive big plants already in bloom but then stated you were getting a small one not in flower. That one though didnt say that you werent getting the item as per photo.

This is where I live and learn i guess. All said and done it was only a few quid, and like I said I am not remotely bothered about the money. I just wanted a fairly established plant and thought the one in the photo was fairly.

If I could have brought one locally then I would have done, regardless of how much they wanted for it. Driving around (well .... being a passenger lol) have noticed a lot of Red Valerians in people front gardens and thought how stunning they were.

Had it arrived as per photo (with more than one shoot) I would have been impressed.

Doesnt look like it will be getting planted out this summer anyway

 

You might be surprised - they're very hardy and grow like crazy once established.

I've ordered quite a few bits and bobs by way of plants off eBay and had a 50/50 success rate. The secret is not to pay a huge wad of money for them (or get involved in a bidding war) and then you aren't disappointed if they do fail. Looking at that plant, I think you have one of the winners rather than losers

Yes, they're beautiful. They grow like weeds around here. A very kind member on here sent me some root stock which I have in pots waiting for them to send forth sprouts and prosper.

 

Two types or seller on eBay.

Professionals
Amateurs

The Professionals may have slick information, and slick order processing. Or they may be con-merchants ... or anything in between I suppose.

Amateurs, in my experience, are good plants-people but often fairly lousy at selling! So descriptions unrepresentative and so on. I expect they expect Gardener-Gardeners to know what they are getting! and even to be able to bring them back from the dead if need be!!

The last thing I bought was some Achimenes Corms. It was a Dutch auction. I think it was for 5 corms, or some such. I got a note saying that because 3 people had bid she was dividing them between the three bidders and hoped that was OK. Like you say, it was only for a couple of quid and I though a couple of corms would do me. I kid you not I have 10 x 5" pots of Achimenes from what she sent me!

Then there is an Aquilegia seller I bought some seed from. Clearly nuts about Aquilegias, on the Royal Committee for Aquilegia Growers, or whatever it is called, respected all around the world as a breeder ... at that jazz. She sends me a newsletter now-and-again. About 500 email addresses are in the CC list, visible to all recipients, and have caused me to be the target of Spam, Viruses and all sorts as a result (I have a means of tracing via the email address I used). I have written to complain, asked to be removed from the mailing list ... Zilch! No reply etc.

most of the time I get a little torn off half piece of paper with comprehensive growing instructions loving printed on the family Ink Jet ... two per page and then fairly carelessly ripped down the middle!

its all good fun, really :D

The plant you have has a plastic preprinted label, so is clearly commercial rather than loving-Amateur. But as others have said, its a healthy looking plant, posting soil and pots jacks up the price, so few if any do that, and getting it into a flat-pack probably keeps the cost down too.

I always check the feedback - even if it say 100% positive I still read them - positive feedback may still say "Smaller than expected" or "Sorted out to my satisfaction after long delays" which gives me a heads-up.

 

personally i only buy plants if i can see them before paying and i used to work for the royal mail and have seen how plants get handled in transit.

big no for ebay i'm afraid.

 

Have potted it up into a 1 litre pot. It came from a 9cm pot.




I still think there is a huge size difference lol

 

Its interesting to see how everyone elses purchases etc have turned out

Its not that I am disappointed with what I got, nor do I want a refund or to complain .... I was just expecting .... well ..... 'more'.

Like I said before, have never brought plants off ebay before. Have brought plenty of other stuff mind! Am not sure if it has put me off now or not though to be honest. Guess I will have to wait and see how this one grows.

I did though think the packaging with strange. You would think they would send it is a taller, fatter box ..... like one of the box things you buy to put wine in for a pressie ... know what i mean ?

I, like you Kristen always have a look at feedback too. This guy has 99.9% and is a 'powerseller'. Its probably not even his fault ...... he cant help it that I was expecting more can he :hehe:

Guess us women are just hard to please :wink:

 

too bloody true you are:hehe:

 

No point in being too easily pleased .... men wouldnt have to work so hard at it then :wink: :hehe:

 

I think your plant looks more healthy than the original picture.

True, the original plant picture is more branched and bushy, but I think yours is un-checked and will get away quickly. Personally, if I had received it I would be happy

That was what I was alluding to by "Professional" eBay sellers. One picture, taken from a stock photograph (I don't mean from a stock plant! I mean from their supplier's photograph library "stock").

Stuff I get from T&M et al doesn't look too much like their photograph on their website, or paper catalogue, either! Plants are different shapes and sizes ...

Amateur eBayer would more likely photograph each plant, same as they would if selling their beloved Kidney Shaped Dressing Table :hehe:, and thus you would be getting exactly what the photo showed.

However, having said this, they could easy put "This is not the actual plant we will send you" etc. in the description.

 

"men wouldnt have to work so hard at it then"

Men work hard to please women? Blimey ... learn something new every day :hehe: