buying orchid from ebay
 

hey everyone

I wanna ask who is your favorite ebay seller (USA).
or overall shopping experiences there?

and I wanna ask has anyone buy any orchids from a seller called "marblekg"? This seller has a lot of items and all look pretty good in pic; however, the price is usually more than double compare to other sellers with the same size and same var such as a phal. stuartiana is $100 USD on his list.

nothing good or bad, I'm just curious.:biggrin:

Thks.

I can't help you personally, but have you read the section of the forum titled "Vendor Feedback" in the Classified section?

yes i did
I'm not looking for a vendor or their feedback
I want to know the ebay experiences and feedback for buying orchid
but I think I should prob post it there instead, thks
hmm....how can I delete this post?:roll:

You just screwed up! He definitely watches this forum, and this subject came up a few years ago. He obviously saw what was posted, didn't like what was said, and later refused to sell to one of the participants in the conversation.

haha nothing good or bad I just mentioned, and I don't want anything from this seller atm. I just see his items a lot and curious about the price. If it's more expensive I believe he has a reason and that's good enough for people to buy it.

I'm always a little wary of eBay after a few bad experiences. However, there are a few vendors I don't hesitate to purchase from: naomim320, pupsi_dog, diamondorchids, and laorchidjonh. That last one is the eBay account for one of my favorite vendors, Louisiana Orchid Connection, and a lot of times it has different things than what is listed on their website. I like all of these vendors because they are people who actually grow most, or all, of these orchids and are not just buying a bulk order from a nursery, turning around and selling them a week later for massively inflated prices. I see that A LOT. A simple google search has turned up these exact same orchids from, sometimes, the exact same nursery at 1/2 to a 1/4 of the price on eBay. From those vendors I trust, I've always received healthy plants, with fair shipping, and the orchids were exactly as described. Unlike the time I ordered a 10 pseudobulb bulbophyllum division and it came in 6 pieces, or this Epc. Rene Marquis that was not even the same plant listed- the one I received looked like it had gone though a furnace and was D.O.A.

While the customer service was ok in both of those cases, I prefer hassle free. Just be cautious.

I prefer to skip ebay and buy from vendors I know...Hausermann's, Andy's Orchids, etc.

I've bought a few things on eBay, but if I see something I want, I always check to see if I can find it at a nursery I am familiar with first, and I only buy on eBay if I really want it and can't find it anywhere else.

Don't buy if there's not a picture of the actual plant you will receive. Look very closely at the picture. Sometimes I see sellers describe plants as "healthy" or "well grown", but you can see from the picture that the plant is in very rough shape. Look at the feedback. If the seller sells a lot of items, even a 99% positive feedback rating can mean that they have a lot of negative ratings. 99% sounds pretty good, but if they sell a thousand items in a year, that means ten people were dissatisfied enough to give a negative rating. Look at how they respond to negative feedback ratings. The only acceptable response is, "I'm sorry you were dissatisfied. Contact me directly and we will make it right." If they respond with hostility to negative feedback ratings, you can't expect good customer service, and I wouldn't buy from them.

Some of the things I have bought on eBay have not been quite as nice as I had hoped, but I've never gotten totally ripped off there, but I know a lot of people have, so you have to be careful. Read their feedback details, look really closely at the pictures, and read the listing carefully.

I used to but I've stopped. The last time I got cheated big-time, and I won't put up with it. I have made complaints, but all I get in return are whiny "Caveat Emptors." No one takes responsibility for their bad behavior anymore, and they'll get no more money from me.

I give a big thumbs up to pupsi_dog as well. I've gotten several plants from her and they never disappoint.