what do you think?

[Renegayde]

ok I bought a couple of plants off e-bay they are Paph Grassau which is Paph Victoria-Regina x Delenatii which I was a bit disappointed in when I opened the box....they were advertised as Large Multi-Growth seedlings and this is what I got....2 seedlings that both have 2 growths and leaf spans of about 8"-10" on each of the larger growths....think I have a right to be upset?

Todd

forgive the one sitting on top of newspaper....after paying $19 for shipping I opened the box to find most of the medium spilled out of that one....FYI those are 5" pots they are in

 

[Candace]

Well technically they are multi-growth seedlings. And 'large' is in the eye of the beholder.. I guess I would have to ask what they are and what you paid for each. I wouldn't be thrilled at the shipping cost and how they were packed. I don't buy plants sight unseen on ebay. Maybe consider this a lesson learned.

 

[biothanasis]

You could ask half refund if you can grow them well in the condition they are and apparently you are not pleased with what promised by the seller!!!! So you should leave feedback with adequate ratings in the details of the transaction...! Good luck...!

 

[Renegayde]

Normally I do not buy plants without pictures of the actual plants but in this case I thought they were reputable and there would be no problems....sorry I forgot to put that they are both Paph Grassau=Paph Victoria-Regina x Delenatii....as far as what I paid for them.....I realize that at $5.01 apiece they are not that expensive however as they were advertised as large and multi-growth I could have ended up paying more.....there were 5 plants in the auction and I won 2 of them.....I e-mailed the seller and expressed my dissatisfaction.....also adding that to me when you use multi growth and large to describe them that I was expecting 3-5 growth plants.....price wise yeah they are worth the money though the shipping was a bit much and then being forced to buy insurance that brought the total per plant to $16.00 each.....

Todd

 

[nikv]

Todd,

Bummer! I purchase a lot of my orchids on eBay and haven't had too many problems. I think it's a gutsy move to bid on orchids that don't have a photo. Practically everyone has a digital camera these days. As for a remedy, I would wait and see what the seller does in response to your dissatisfaction. If nothing, then I'd consider giving negative feedback. Surely, the shipping charges couldn't have been anywhere close to nineteen dollars. And to require insurance on a 5.01 item is bogus. And the plants should have been taped up enough so that the potting medium didn't spill out. Anyway, good luck to you! I'd like to see photos of them when they bloom!

Best Regards,
Nik

 

[goldenrose]

Well technically they are multi-growth seedlings. And 'large' is in the eye of the beholder.. I guess I would have to ask what they are and what you paid for each. I wouldn't be thrilled at the shipping cost and how they were packed. I don't buy plants sight unseen on ebay. Maybe consider this a lesson learned.

Sorry I have to agree with Candace on this one. Anything more than a single growth, can be called multi-growth. Honest people would state 1 mature growth & 1 start or NBS.

Normally I do not buy plants without pictures of the actual plants but in this case I thought they were reputable and there would be no problems....sorry I forgot to put that they are both Paph Grassau=Paph Victoria-Regina x Delenatii....as far as what I paid for them.....I realize that at $5.01 apiece they are not that expensive however as they were advertised as large and multi-growth I could have ended up paying more.....there were 5 plants in the auction and I won 2 of them.....I e-mailed the seller and expressed my dissatisfaction.....also adding that to me when you use multi growth and large to describe them that I was expecting 3-5 growth plants.....price wise yeah they are worth the money though the shipping was a bit much and then being forced to buy insurance that brought the total per plant to $16.00 each.....Todd

$5 a plant is a steal. Shipping & insurance is absolutely ridiculous BUT you knew this before you bid?

 

[gonewild]

I think considering the cross they could be considered as large seedlings.
Multi growth? Not really. One growth with a new start, yes.

In the old days a paph growth was considered to be a plant with 1 old growth and 1 new mature unbloomed growth and one new growth starting. But in those days even the cheapest (ugliest) paph was worth way more than $5.

As far as shipping, you got ripped off. Not for the amount you paid but for the sloppy job they gave you.

All said and done the plants you got are worth the $15 you paid (assuming you wanted the hybrids), even if they were bare root.

 

[Renegayde]

yeah I knew the shipping charges up front....although I thought for the $$ they were going to be shipped fedex and not USPS priority mail flat rate box.....they had some sort of grab bag Cat, Phal, I think Den and something else for like $1 a plant but the combined shipping was so much that I questioned it and knew up front what the shipping charges were going to be for the Paph auction....in this case $12 for the first Paph and $7 for the second Paph......LOL I wish I had taken pics of them in the box....they were shipped in a flat rate box that is suppose to be 3" thick I guess....so the 5" pots were squeezed into a oval shape to get them in the box.....and I agree that the plants were worth more than $5.00 however they started the bidding on this auction at .99 cents per plant.....I think that no matter if the plants were worth more than 5.00 my problem is they were in my opinion misrepresented......the seller is a e-bay vendor with 11,400 feedbacks and a feedback score of 99.4% so I felt that it was worth the risk buying them with no pics of the actual plants just a bloom pic....... and as I say they were listed as Large Multi-Growth plants and "These are nice sized multi growth plants. Most have bloomed before and will bloom again their next cycle. They are sequential bloomers so will have a few flowers at a time. " and I cannot see that these have bloomed before.....this again goes back to me being a newbie but normally there are remanents of the blooming spike left sticking up correct?.....anyway LOL the reason for the orginal post was to see if anyone else thought the listing was misleading or a misrepresentation of the plants.....I am waiting to hear from the seller.....perhaps based on what you guys have said I will just let them know it is my being new and assuming the wrongly that multi-growth means 3 or more growths

Todd

I am not questioning what I paid for these.....what I am questioning is the way they were advertised

 

[nikv]

Todd,

I'd have a bigger issue with how they were packaged and shipped. Squeezing the pots out of shape so that they fit into a 3-inch box is unacceptable. Especially for $19.00 shipping and handling.

Best of luck to you.

Best Regards,
Nik

 

[gonewild]

Squeezing a 5 inch pot into a 3 inch box is really very poor service and plain stupid.
There is no excuse for that especially since the USPS has a 5.5 inch deep flat rate box.

 

[SlipperFan]

It looks to me like the shipping and insurance costs were inflated to make you pay more for the plants. You may "think" you got a bargain at $5 ea, but in reality, you may have gotten a decent buy, but no bargain.

 

[Eric Muehlbauer]

I always check out the shipping before I bid on Ebay. I've passed on many a reasonable plant because the shipping was too high. Eric

 

[Renegayde]

had these been 3-5 growth plants even with the shipping cost....which I knew about upfront....I would have been happy with them.....I just feel a 2 growth plant is not really what I would call a multi growth plant....again just my opinion....incidently I heard back from the vendor.....and all they would say is..."Todd these plants have bloomed for us in the past and that's pretty much what we all want. If you're not happy with the plants you can always send them back to us for a full refund. We will not cover your shipping costs back to us but we will refund the shipping cost you paid already.".....so now I have to decide whether to send them back or whether to just chalk it up to experience....leave neutral feedback and just move on....

Todd

 

[goldenrose]

It's nice they offered a return.....Hmmm ...... Do you know you can reuse a flat rate box, at the flat rate fee? If it's the small box, I believe it's $6.95. If you decide to return, I'd recommend tracking or confirmation so they can't say they didn't get them.

 

[Renegayde]

if I decide to return them I live just a few blocks from the PO so picking up a new box is not a big deal and yeah I will get delivery confirmation if I return them......like I said before my only disappointment is they are only two growth plants......right now I am leaning towards keeping them......although I guess I should check out Oak Hills website as both seedlings have OakHill tags so I wonder if they orginally came from Oak Hill......and I am still not convinced these are previously bloomed plants

Todd

 

[goldenrose]

Oak Hill definitely has them, I've seen them there before. What I don't recall is size or # of growths.

 

[Ernie]

Squeezing a 5 inch pot into a 3 inch box is really very poor service and plain stupid.
There is no excuse for that especially since the USPS has a 5.5 inch deep flat rate box.

And also considering the flat rate is about $9. It's ~$13 for a large size FRB which these did not require.

All in all, though, you got what you paid for plant size wise.

-Ernie

 

[Renegayde]

I am not doubting that the plants are worth what I paid for them.....my problem is the fact that I feel the vendor in this case portrayed these as bigger plants than what they were......again just my opinion....perhaps more seasoned growers would have thought when they saw the words multi growth and large used to describe these, would have been expection 2 growth medium sized plants......there was at the same time a listing for another Paph Grassau from another vendor and while it was a 2 growth plant and more expensive size wise it was more inline with what I was expecting for a large plant http://cgi.ebay.com/Paph-Delenatii-...ItemQQimsxZ20080926?IMSfp=TL080926151007r8350 ...I almost bought this one instead but took a chance on the other 2 that I bought......again I am not saying the plants I got were not worth $16 apiece just saying I felt they were misrepresented....if there would have been more bidding on the plants I did buy I would have paid $26 for them as my max bid on them was $15....would you still feel they were worth what I paid for them and portrayed correctly?

Todd

 

[Candace]

Todd, I think it boils down to coulda, woulda, shoulda. In the future, no photo...no bidding. Learn from it. I don't think the plants were inherently misrepresented. But the shipping costs were completely inflated and shipping quality was substandard. Of course, if this was in the stated auction it's not like they pulled a fast one last second. Many ebay sellers are doing this to avoid paying the percentage of ebay fees. And if they are screwing ebay....well, you have to question ethics.

I say, give feedback that states your disatisfaction with the high price vs. shipping quality you received. But, buying plants unseen will always be a risk.

As for the reason they didn't go for more money and get bidded up. Many people would have looked at the shipping charges and ran :>

 

[NYEric]

I was initially going to say, "I try not to!", Secondly I was going to say, "It depends on what they are supposed to be.."; but you answered that. IMO the plants are a little puny for what they were described as, but you did get what you paid for. I always try to confirm from photos and only buy from limited amount of vendors who I have good experience with, John Chant, Springwater, OrchidsTN...