Buying From Ebay

GermanStar · Post by **GermanStar** » Tue Apr 05, 2011 4:41 pm

I agree, run don't walk from those guys. They're not hard to spot. But there are hobbyist sellers there just like you and I, who have plants to offer that you may not find elsewhere. As an example, I found the nicest Agave utahensis v. eborispina I have ever seen on eBay. I've seen tiny ones around now and again (also on eBay), that would have to be potted up for a couple years, but this was large enough to go in the ground, and that's where you'll find it right now! I was one happy camper! I'll add that this was the finest packing job I've ever seen, this extremely delicate plant showed up without a scratch. Just brilliant!

One last point, most retailers are not going to offer plants on their websites unless they have a suitable quantity to merit doing so. eBay guys might only have 3-4 specimens of some rare plant or another and offer them up. That's an important difference.

peterb · Post by **peterb** » Tue Apr 05, 2011 5:00 pm

eborispina is fantastic plant! It is indeed rare to find one large enough to go in the ground.

If you contact sellers directly (or even visit in the case of Miles to Go, with an appointment) you can get incredible deals on specimen plants sometimes.

peterb

peterb · Post by **peterb** » Tue Apr 05, 2011 5:07 pm

I guess I have just been turned off by stuff like this:
http://cgi.ebay.com/TRICHOCEREUS-PERUVI ... 35a82bfe76

$115 for peruvianus? Ridiculous. It grows like a weed.

and this:

http://cgi.ebay.com/HARDY-SPINELESS-OPU ... 563b4c804f

And that is from a top rated seller!

I know it's not fair to just single out the ridiculous scams, but it does reduce my trust. The specialist growers I know, I have worked with for the past 25 years.

peterb

PS- I'll add this one: http://cgi.ebay.com/HARDY-PINK-SANTA-FE ... 563e4633d2

It is definitely not Cylindropuntia viridiflora.
This is the other pattern I notice on eBay: the plants are either intentionally or unintentionally misnamed.

GermanStar · Post by **GermanStar** » Tue Apr 05, 2011 6:24 pm

Well sure, you have to wade through the shite, probably a far more daunting task with Cactus than Agaves. But you're no noob, you certainly aren't going fall prey to those clowns. I'm just saying, if you're looking for something particular that you can't find from the usual sources, eBay is definitely worth a look. I also found a 5-gal sized A. shawii ssp. shawii on eBay. I had never seen one outside the DBG, and it was on my want list. It's been in the ground since January and hasn't established yet, but it looks good. I have no idea where else I might have found one.

peterb · Post by **peterb** » Tue Apr 05, 2011 6:36 pm

I did find a few species of Pereskia for sale. I haven't found a source for Pereskia from any of my trusted growers.

I assume you know Greg Starr and Starr Nursery? Nice selection of Agave. http://www.starr-nursery.com/

Interesting that shawii isn't in cultivation. It is absolutely one of the dominant plants along the coastal fog zone in Baja.

peterb

GermanStar · Post by **GermanStar** » Tue Apr 05, 2011 6:47 pm

Sure I know Greg. A. shawii is endangered/highly protected in CA (isn't everything?). There is no other Agave quite like it, forming stems, pupping, and rolling on the ground -- what a freak... You could recognize an A. shawii patch from a block away. That's why I wanted it!

SnowFella · Post by **SnowFella** » Wed Apr 06, 2011 5:01 am

Same thing down here, wade through either severely overpriced stuff or all the "rare" plants.

One local seller has everything listed as rare but the funny thing is that everything he sells I can find at the local cactii nursery cheaper....and that nursery is in his suburb!b

Peterthecactusguy · Post by **Peterthecactusguy** » Wed Apr 06, 2011 7:26 am

lol probably buys them at the local nursery and sells them to Ebay addicts that are too lazy to go there?

I love how they slap RARE onto everything.

And $115 for a pervianus? That's crazy?
$70 dollars for an Opuntia???
I hope people are smart enough not to pay that much for plants.

SnowFella · Post by **SnowFella** » Wed Apr 06, 2011 7:54 am

More likely that folks don't know it's there I'd say, not like they advertise heavily. To find it I had to add 2 and 2 together to figure it out, noticed all the plants I got from the local bigbox store had a nursery name on the labels and googled it..turned out they were 2 suburbs over from me and also has a retail section. Not much of a saving buying there when it comes to small plants but they have a bigger variety and larger plants come in at half the price.

As for overpriced, spotted an according to the seller 100+ year old "queen of the night" on ebay here for $200. Image however showed a large corked over root section of what looked like a C. peruvians with all old growth cut off...just a number of new 5inch pups as new growth to show for.

Plus there's some $600 golden barrels for sale down here aswell, fair enough they are biggish but still.

CactusLover · Post by **CactusLover** » Wed Apr 06, 2011 9:41 am

There is one seller of cactus seed whose every listing mentions that they are "rare cactus seed", even the most common, run-of-the-mill species.

I know whom you are talking about. I noticed it too. I just ordered Pereskia grandiflora seeds from him, but only because I couldn't find them anywhere else and just had to have them. The shipping on the seeds was free, but I find his shipping fees on plants redicuolus.

I did find a few species of Pereskia for sale. I haven't found a source for Pereskia from any of my trusted growers.

Bob Smoley has a lot of Pereskias. I just got a bunch of plants from him and happy with my purchase.

Ocotillo · Post by **Ocotillo** » Thu Apr 07, 2011 3:57 am

I've had nothing but good experience with ebay growers. On the other hand, I've had my credit card information treated carelessly by a commercial mail order grower, which caused a lot of problems.