Tomato seeds on EBAY

seaeagle · April 20, 2016

Sometimes I come across some tomato varieties while looking on EBAY that I have never heard of.So I thought I would post some of these here to see if anyone else has heard of them or grown them or maybe just something interesting to look at.This one looks interesting from Croatia, a Bulgarian tomato.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/RARE-Tomato-...0bdpPRe2H5-27Q

dmforcier · April 20, 2016

seaeagle, buying any seed on eBay is a major crapshoot.

There is no effective site protection for seeds purchased on eBay. Once you receive seeds eBay considers the transaction complete and in any case buyer protection expires after 45 days. Unless you're growing magic beans, that is not nearly enough time to determine that what you got is what was advertised. The seller could have picked some old toms out of the supermarket trash, dried the seeds, and sold them as some exotic Bulgarian variety. You won't know until it's too late, and there isn't a darn thing you can do about it.

Stick to well known and respected sources.

To be fair, there are good seed sellers on eBay. I did it once myself. But unless the price is really attractive, I'd steer clear.

ChiliPeppa · April 20, 2016

One of the members here called papdennis, or MrTomatohead still sells on eBay I believe. His website is very nice. I have purchased seed from him but that was through his website.

seaeagle · April 20, 2016

I really wouldn't hesitate to buy seeds from EBAY if the seller had an excellent rating.This seller has 99.9% approval rating out of over 4000 reviews. That's good enough for me, but i know what you are saying.You do have to be careful.I have had positive experiences with EBAY.

This seller is in Croatia so I probably wouldn't order.But the tomato does look interesting

dmforcier · April 21, 2016

Don't be fooled by a good rating. After 45 days a buyer cannot leave feedback. If half his buyers didn't like what they got, it would never show up in his feedback.

That said, it's an intriguing listing. The price is low (maybe) and the shipping is reasonable IF he's charging $1.69 for a packet of seeds, not just one seed. That seems a mite steep on a per-seed basis (plus the extra shipping per item). Worth asking the question, I suppose.

Impressive looking picture, too.

seaeagle · April 21, 2016

Quote:

Originally Posted by dmforcier

Don't be fooled by a good rating. After 45 days a buyer cannot leave feedback. If half his buyers didn't like what they got, it would never show up in his feedback.

That said, it's an intriguing listing. The price is low (maybe) and the shipping is reasonable IF he's charging $1.69 for a packet of seeds, not just one seed. That seems a mite steep on a per-seed basis (plus the extra shipping per item). Worth asking the question, I suppose.

Impressive looking picture, too.

Very good point on the 45 day limit on feedback.They say 10 to 20 seeds per pack, and the seed counts would be included in the feedback.It really only takes a little reading and common sense to separate the good ones from the bad ones.My sense is this seller is a good one and I am pretty sure he wouldn't be doing the global seed business as he is doing by selling bogus seeds.

I read some of the reviews, shipping to California from Croatia in 7 days, that's faster than some in the U.S. I have ordered from.

I did see where he had to reship some seeds, maybe they were confiscated, but he did it free of charge.

His store is really interesting also, many varieties of peppers I have never heard of.

But really the main reason I posted was I thought that tomato was really tasty looking

seaeagle · April 21, 2016

Too late this year, but I am seriously considering ordering this tomato next year.Great prices from this seller with very reasonable shipping and lots of great vegetables to chose from.

Mr Bruno looks like my kind of tomato, maybe some competition for Eva Purple Ball, maybe not.Seller has a 99.9% approval rating and I think some will recognize him from Tomatovile.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Mr-Bruno-Tom...-/171502023961

**carolyn137** · April 21, 2016

For what it's worth I went to e-bay to take a look and ended up looking at all this person is offering..

Everything is listed as rare or super rare,and that includes some Dwarf varieties from the Tville project as well as common eggplants that have been around forever and well,I was not impressed at all.

A rare bulgarian tomato?I think not.

Bulgarian tomatoes are one of my fave kinds,haven't met one yet that I don 't love.

Google doesn't bring up the name of the one being offered,nor does Tania,nor do other places I checked.

From Croatia also is a problem for me since I do know someone in Croatia who does change the names of some varieties,and some of the pictures shown are not what they should be.

So that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Carolyn

fromminou · April 21, 2016

Buying seeds on eBay maybe not the smartest way to go. to many dishonest sellers, just look at the latest "blue watermelon!!! among many others, we have reputable seeds sources at home to go to.

**carolyn137** · April 21, 2016

Quote:

Originally Posted by seaeagle

Too late this year, but I am seriously considering ordering this tomato next year.Great prices from this seller with very reasonable shipping and lots of great vegetables to chose from.

Mr Bruno looks like my kind of tomato, maybe some competition for Eva Purple Ball, maybe not.Seller has a 99.9% approval rating and I think some will recognize him from Tomatovile.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Mr-Bruno-Tom...-/171502023961

Mr. Bruno is quite well known and the seller is Mike of Ohio Heirloom Seeds and I didn't check to see if he's still offering it but his seeds are great.

I suggest you go to the Plant and Seed Forum here at ville,and look for his company,which is listed there.

http://t.tatianastomatobase.com:88/w...b=General_Info

Then above click on seed availability.

Hope that helps, and if you do a search here at Tville I'm pretty sure you'll find others who have grown it since when Adam Gleckler took over from his father many of us sent seeds to Adam, and I know Mr.Bruno was one of them.

Hope that helps and I do suggest staying away from e-bay.

Carolyn

TC_Manhattan · April 21, 2016

I bought some seeds off EBay from a seller whose EBay handle is el_diablo 84. I think he is also a member here on Tomatoville, though I don't recall his name here.
He sells sample packs of dozens of varieties, each for $.99 with free shipping.

I got the seeds earlier this year, and so far all have sprouted and the ones that are supposed to be PL are PL, the dwarfs are dwarfs, the Fish Lake Oxheart is wispy, etc.

He was very helpful in answering questions and also sent bonus seeds for a couple varieties with my order. He is located in TN, and I can vouch for the viability of his seed offers. Can tell you more once they fruit, but so far everything is growing as expected.

Check out his listings. He has over 100 varieties, including dwarfs and some harder-to-find ones (like Margaret Curtain, Fish Lake Oxheart, etc.) It's not an expensive gamble.

I'm happy with my sprouts!

TC_Manhattan · April 21, 2016

Carolyn, that EBay listing for Mr. Bruno seeds IS by Ohio Heirloom Seeds.

I know J&L Gardens also sells many of their seed varieties on EBay, as well as from their own website. I think part of it is either knowing who the seller is, or taking the gamble if the price of admission is reasonable.

There are many merchants who sell on EBay that run legitimate retail businesses as well. It just gives an alternate outlet with great exposure.

That said, I did get stiffed from a couple of vendors two years ago who were selling peony roots which they claimed to have raised themselves and also claimed to be the more expensive intersectional varieties. Well, ha ha on me. By the time they bloomed six months later, they turned out to be very inexpensive, generic, common varieties.
Too late to file a complaint or change the feedback.
(I should have suspected something weird when the packages carried a Brooklyn apt. address on the return label.) Those peonies were big $$.

**carolyn137** · April 21, 2016

Quote:

Originally Posted by TC_Manhattan

Carolyn, that EBay listing for Mr. Bruno seeds IS by Ohio Heirloom Seeds.

I know J&L Gardens also sells many of their seed varieties on EBay, as well as from their own website. I think part of it is either knowing who the seller is, or taking the gamble if the price of admission is reasonable.

There are many merchants who sell on EBay that run legitimate retail businesses as well. It just gives an alternate outlet with great exposure.

That said, I did get stiffed from a couple of vendors two years ago who were selling peony roots which they claimed to have raised themselves and also claimed to be the more expensive intersectional varieties. Well, ha ha on me. By the time they bloomed six months later, they turned out to be very inexpensive, generic, common varieties.
Too late to file a complaint or change the feedback.
(I should have suspected something weird when the packages carried a Brooklyn apt. address on the return label.) Those peonies were big $$.

I know Mike was the seller,please see my post #10

Carolyn

**carolyn137** · April 21, 2016

Quote:

Originally Posted by TC_Manhattan

Carolyn, that EBay listing for Mr. Bruno seeds IS by Ohio Heirloom Seeds.

I know J&L Gardens also sells many of their seed varieties on EBay, as well as from their own website. I think part of it is either knowing who the seller is, or taking the gamble if the price of admission is reasonable.

There are many merchants who sell on EBay that run legitimate retail businesses as well. It just gives an alternate outlet with great exposure.

That said, I did get stiffed from a couple of vendors two years ago who were selling peony roots which they claimed to have raised themselves and also claimed to be the more expensive intersectional varieties. Well, ha ha on me. By the time they bloomed six months later, they turned out to be very inexpensive, generic, common varieties.
Too late to file a complaint or change the feedback.
(I should have suspected something weird when the packages carried a Brooklyn apt. address on the return label.) Those peonies were big $$.

I know Mike was the seller,please see my post #10

Carolyn

dmforcier · April 21, 2016

Quote:

I should have suspected something weird when the packages carried a Brooklyn apt. address on the return label.

All cowboys: "New York City !?!"

Big cowboy: "Get a rope."

April 20, 2016	#2
dmforcier Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Apr 2016 Location: Dallas, TX Posts: 3,825	seaeagle, buying any seed on eBay is a major crapshoot. There is no effective site protection for seeds purchased on eBay. Once you receive seeds eBay considers the transaction complete and in any case buyer protection expires after 45 days. Unless you're growing magic beans, that is not nearly enough time to determine that what you got is what was advertised. The seller could have picked some old toms out of the supermarket trash, dried the seeds, and sold them as some exotic Bulgarian variety. You won't know until it's too late, and there isn't a darn thing you can do about it. Stick to well known and respected sources. To be fair, there are good seed sellers on eBay. I did it once myself. But unless the price is really attractive, I'd steer clear. __________________ Stupidity got us into this mess. Why can't it get us out? - Will Rogers

April 21, 2016	#5
dmforcier Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Apr 2016 Location: Dallas, TX Posts: 3,825	Don't be fooled by a good rating. After 45 days a buyer cannot leave feedback. If half his buyers didn't like what they got, it would never show up in his feedback. That said, it's an intriguing listing. The price is low (maybe) and the shipping is reasonable IF he's charging $1.69 for a packet of seeds, not just one seed. That seems a mite steep on a per-seed basis (plus the extra shipping per item). Worth asking the question, I suppose. Impressive looking picture, too. __________________ Stupidity got us into this mess. Why can't it get us out? - Will Rogers

April 21, 2016	#8
carolyn137 Moderator Emeritus Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Upstate NY, zone 4b/5a Posts: 21,169	For what it's worth I went to e-bay to take a look and ended up looking at all this person is offering.. Everything is listed as rare or super rare,and that includes some Dwarf varieties from the Tville project as well as common eggplants that have been around forever and well,I was not impressed at all. A rare bulgarian tomato?I think not. Bulgarian tomatoes are one of my fave kinds,haven't met one yet that I don 't love. Google doesn't bring up the name of the one being offered,nor does Tania,nor do other places I checked. From Croatia also is a problem for me since I do know someone in Croatia who does change the names of some varieties,and some of the pictures shown are not what they should be. So that's my story and I'm sticking to it. Carolyn __________________ Carolyn

April 20, 2016	#1
seaeagle Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Oct 2014 Location: virginia Posts: 743	Tomato seeds on EBAY Sometimes I come across some tomato varieties while looking on EBAY that I have never heard of.So I thought I would post some of these here to see if anyone else has heard of them or grown them or maybe just something interesting to look at.This one looks interesting from Croatia, a Bulgarian tomato. http://www.ebay.com/itm/RARE-Tomato-...0bdpPRe2H5-27Q

April 20, 2016	#3
ChiliPeppa Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jul 2015 Location: Mojave Desert - California Posts: 368	One of the members here called papdennis, or MrTomatohead still sells on eBay I believe. His website is very nice. I have purchased seed from him but that was through his website.

April 21, 2016	#9
fromminou Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2016 Location: Florida Posts: 8	Buying seeds on eBay maybe not the smartest way to go. to many dishonest sellers, just look at the latest "blue watermelon!!! among many others, we have reputable seeds sources at home to go to.

April 21, 2016	#11
TC_Manhattan Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Apr 2015 Location: Ohio Posts: 457	I bought some seeds off EBay from a seller whose EBay handle is el_diablo 84. I think he is also a member here on Tomatoville, though I don't recall his name here. He sells sample packs of dozens of varieties, each for $.99 with free shipping. I got the seeds earlier this year, and so far all have sprouted and the ones that are supposed to be PL are PL, the dwarfs are dwarfs, the Fish Lake Oxheart is wispy, etc. He was very helpful in answering questions and also sent bonus seeds for a couple varieties with my order. He is located in TN, and I can vouch for the viability of his seed offers. Can tell you more once they fruit, but so far everything is growing as expected. Check out his listings. He has over 100 varieties, including dwarfs and some harder-to-find ones (like Margaret Curtain, Fish Lake Oxheart, etc.) It's not an expensive gamble. I'm happy with my sprouts!