Has anyone sold seed on ebay?

[Cole_Robbie]

If you have, or have tried, I was wondering how it went for you.

I give away or trade everything I have on tomatoville, but we are a fairly small community compared to ebay. I'm sure I could easily match the quality and price of what is on ebay.

[Captain Neon]

Selling seeds can't be any different than selling anything else on eBay. With PayPal guaranteeing payment, it is essentially wait for order and mail to recipient. An honest seller has few problems. The only problem I ever had as a seller was not getting paid and PayPal solved that problem.

[joseph]

Selling seed on eBay worked well for me for a while. I didn't like that eBay was continuously becoming more and more captured by government spying and regulations, so eventually I stopped using it.

Selling seed to a wide audience requires more care than for local trade, or swapping seeds. For example, I don't care about germination testing for swaps, but I care about it for selling on eBay. I don't care much about labels on local stuff, but I care about them on eBay.

International sales of seeds is a nightmare... So I eventually moved to only domestic sales. With tomato seeds that are quiet, and thin, international shipments don't seem like much of a problem. Just mail them in a greeting card. Corn and beans seeds were a huge problem.

[NarnianGarden]

I have bought seeds off Ebay several times, and the prices vary hugely. Not to mention some unscrupulous and dishonest Chinese sellers, there are many differences in the price range, assortment and shipping fees. There are a couple of sellers I'll happily visit again.
It's obvious that sellers should have their fees covered, but over priced shipping fees are spotted miles away, as well as exaggerated product descriptions: I have come across listings advertizing the so called 'giant tree tomato' seeds more often than I can remember. Sigh... Apparently, that does pay off, why else would sellers attempt such tricks?...
I would say go for it and I'm sure you'll find enthusiastic gardener customers easily, especially if you list not-so-common tomato cultivars. Honest sellers won't be forgotten

[Tormato]

Directly, no.

I once gave several thousand seeds (of several varieties) to someone who said they were for a grow-out project.
I later found them listed on e-bay.
I guess the grow-out project was the thickness of his wallet.

[joseph]

Originally Posted by Tormato

I once gave several thousand seeds (...) to someone who said they were for a grow-out project.
I later found them listed on e-bay.

Same thing happened to me. With seeds that were selling for $1 per seed!!! Oh well, the seeds of a very rare and highly sought after variety got distributed one way or the other.

[Starlight]

If your going to sell on ebay or any site, make sure you have a good disclaimer. Most folks are pretty honest, but there are a lot who take advantage of the sellers too. They may say they didn't get their seed and have ebay refund their money, so always make sure you charge them for the extra delivery confirmation sticker. It used be like 70 cent now I think it has doubled in price.

Make sure you have a solid refund policy. Some folks are bad for getting seed, saying it didn't germinate and it's your fault and they want more seed. They try and get double and even triple batches with you losing seed and paying all the extra postage for replacements.

Have you looked into selling on this place?

http://www.localharvest.org/

I spend lots of time on this site and going through each farmers stuff.

[joseph]

My strategy towards insurance and delivery confirmation was to self-insure, especially on small purchases like seeds where the cost of a delivery sticker costs more than the seeds. It was much less hassle and less costly to send a second shipment -- no questions asked -- if someone said that they didn't get their seeds. But the second shipment got delivery confirmation and/or tracking... And I'm not adverse to banning someone from buying from me again if I think they tried to scam me.

I also liked offering free shipping... Everyone knows that they are paying for shipping anyway, but it's a good way of saying "Not playing games here."

I never had anyone tell me that their seeds didn't grow. I had a few people complain about paying too much for a rare and highly sought after variety... But I didn't twist their arm into buying it...

[carolyn137]

I dislike e-bay and have never bought seeds there and never will, but in Googling for a few varieties I got sent to e-bay, these were Russian varieties, and I can't tell you how many were from Russian seed companies that neither Tania or Andrey or Clara or Ella, or anyone else who is fluent in Russian would ever consider buying from.

All represented themselves as Russian vendors.

Yes, there are some honest folks who do offer seeds on e-bay, I know that, but won't list their names here since I don't know if they are still doing it..

Carolyn

[KC.Sun]

I didn't like eBay too much. Amazon might be an option, but I suspect it may be very similar to eBay.

I used to sell orchids on eBay. It's true, some people are truly honest and some not too much. I had repeat offenders claiming they didn't receive their plants.

Long story short, after the eBay cuts back then, followed by postage fees, it was hard to break even so I eventually stopped selling on eBay.

I don't know what it is about eBay, but as a consumer, I'm more inclined to buy from Amazon than eBay. It must be a trust issue because of bad experiences and what not.

What about setting up on square? https://squareup.com/sell-online
They are allowing people to setup their site for free and square allows for credit card payments making an individual a mobile store.

If you can post on TV that you now have a site to sell seeds, it would help you a lot because people know you here.

[Cole_Robbie]

Thanks, everyone, for the replies and links.

If you can post on TV that you now have a site to sell seeds, it would help you a lot because people know you here.

Nah, everybody here gets anything I have for free. I'm not a very good capitalist

[Wi-sunflower]

I used to sell on eBay for about 10 years. But that was a while ago. I had all the problems listed above and then some.

eBay itself can be a big problem. Mainly all their anti-seller rules. Not to mention the fees. I actually got banned from eBay at a time I wasn't even listing anything. I was never able to fine out why or get reinstated. No clue what their issue was.

While I buy a lot on Amazon I never tried selling there. For something as low cost as seeds, the fees are even worse than eBay. For something pricier it can be a better place to sell. At least that's what I've heard from friends on a biz forum.

BTW, even when I WAS on eBay, my own web site did better than eBay. And that was way before I joined TV. Hopefully I'll get that back up later this year if I feel up to it.

Carol

[gro2can]

i sent money did you send seeds cole or did i misunderstand this was some sort of scam. aki

[carolyn137]

Originally Posted by gro2can

i sent money did you send seeds cole or did i misunderstand this was some sort of scam. aki

Your post bothers me b'c above Cole Robbie had said that what he offers he offers for free.

I do the same with my annual seed offers, but that means sending an SASE for those in the US and I pay postage for seeds I send elsewhere.

I'm very bothered by your accusation of a possible scam on the part of Cole Robbie, so would you please clarify for me?

Thanks in advance,

Carolyn

[barefootgardener]

Originally Posted by gro2can

i sent money did you send seeds cole or did i misunderstand this was some sort of scam. aki

Your message and questions should be sent directly to Cole by a PM! Not here.

If you and Cole have a trade/transaction going on please be aware that it can take weeks or longer to receive any mail that is coming from Canada, or going into Canada.. Patience is a virtue, before you start accusing..



Ginny