anyone know who these people are?

[nctomatoman]

http://raleigh.craigslist.org/wan/2352494432.html

So, this is someone from an Arizona seed company that wants people to purchase plants from me and mail them - so they can save seeds and sell the plants - instead of ordering seeds from the three suppliers. What is the major issue is that I have a very limited selection of very early generations just so that people can try them out and provide feedback - so any one who sends them plants will result in offering of unstable seed....

Has anyone dealt with craigslist - in terms of them taking down posts???

[Lee]

WOW! Very bizarre, and kind of odd. Since they know your
info. why not just contact you directly about mailing the plants?

Personally, if you get any requests for 1/4, 1/2, or all of this
assortment, just tell the buyers you don't deal with resellers.

As for the Craig's list thing... maybe just flag it as violating
their terms of use...????


Lee

[Chucker]

Wow - that's creepy.

[salix]

I think I would either be phoning Jo Allen at the provided number or going on their facebook page and asking publicly why they would jeopardize an ongoing project and risk selling unstabilized plants...

[nctomatoman]

I sent a strongly worded comment to the seed company telling them to cease and desist (and other things...) - also, I am done at the market - they won't get their plants (no one bought the full set as far as I know). The world is an odd place...!

[salix]

Good for you Craig - and I hope that's the end of it. Funny how a company who subscribes to the slow food movement is so quick to jump on the bandwagon to make a fast buck...

[mrdoitall]

We could all just go to the craigslist link and flag the add to get it off craigslist. It only takes 10 people to flag it to get it off. But they will most likely just re-post it again.

[brismith70]

Craig:

A couple of things. I did a WHOIS search on the domain name of their website, www.aravaipa.com. The domain owner's name came back to one Mr. Lee Martin. I have never heard of him before. According to his site, he is in southern Arizona.

So, I went to the Arizona Corporation Commission and searched for Arizona Heirlooms. I found Arizona Heirlooms listed as a Trade Name, so I went to the Arizona Secretary of State's website. According to their registration documentation, the business is located in Winkelman, Arizona. The trade name is registered to a Ms. Joanna Martin. This application was made on 2/4/2010 with the Arizona Secretary of State.

I then went to Google Maps and input the address. There is only one home located anywhere near that address on their Secretary of State filings. I assume that it is them. They are about 65 miles north northeast of Tucson, AZ.

That is all I know about them from the public documentation and tools at my disposal. I suppose I could keep looking if you wanted me to.

If, at some point in the future, you require any assistance at all, please let me know. I am a licensed Arizona attorney, and I would be more than willing to help you out.

Brian

[brismith70]

I also searched for Aravaipa Heirlooms and found that it is a registered Trade Name. Again, I went to the Arizona Secretary of State's website and found that it also s registered to a Ms. Joanna Martin. This application was made on 5/5/2009 with the Arizona Secretary of State. It also lists a Winkelman address.

[Lee]

Funny thing is, they could call Victory Seeds, TGS, and Sandhill to buy most of the seeds on their list.
They could then grow them out this season and have seeds
ready to sell next year for less than the cost of shipping all
of these plants.

I'm guessing/hoping there was nothing underhanded intended.... I guess we'll see based on their response to
your email Craig.

Lee

[nctomatoman]

My view - the world is full of people who want it all, yet don't want to do the work. I think it is a seed company that wanted "in" on the exclusive and saw this as an easy way to jump on the train. I don't always default to negative intent (I rarely do, actually) - but at 55 years old, my cynicism function is a bit more active!

I am going to flag the ad on craigslist as well.

[tam91]

OK, maybe I'm missing something...

I think it's very odd also - as others have said, why not just contact you and ask you to ship the plants? Certainly would seem easier and cheaper. So I completely don't get it.

But as far as doing something wrong, or illegal, or not allowed on Craigslist - this is what I'm missing - what rule/law have they broken? They seem pretty open about who they are, and are asking someone to do a service for a fee. Why can't they? I'm sure I'm having a "blonde" moment here...

I do understand why you don't like it of course, I think it's wierd and a bit creepy too.

[carolyn137]

A few questions.

First, were you selling plants at the farmers market for all the varieties they wanted plants of? I didn't check your farmers market list b'c it's easier to just post in this thread.If so, what's the chances that anyone would read that Craig's list and send them plants they bought from you.

Second question. What might be their source on information such that they posted what they did on Craig's list? Are they members here with a user name we don't know? Did they read about the Dwarf Project at TGS or Victory or Sandhill? I doubt that b'c I don't remember anything in the verbiage you provided to those places that said anything about selling plants at the Farmer's Market.

Do you look at Craigslist yourself from time to time, as in how did you become aware of that Craigslist request.

I'd run quickly in the opposite direction b'c I'd want nothing to do with them. If they couldn't contact you directly via here or there or from your own website, then ignore them.

Can I assume that any plants you sold at the market would now be inground and that the folks who bought plants from you know you well by now and would contact you about it if they did seed the craigslist request?

Sorry so many questions but that craigslist request is just WAY out of bounds in my opinion.

Edited to add that I just read it again and see that they did link to your website for information about you and what you offer at the Farmer's Market, so it's someone who knows and has been reading your website which again begs the question of how they even knew about it. So they knew about the Dwarf project from somewhere and only posted that on the 29th of April and aren't you already through with plant sales this Spring, like a week ago?

[ContainerTed]

Holy Greed and Skullduggery, Batman. Get'em, Craig. Sounds like the kind of folks that will steal you blind and then, when caught, will tell the world that they are going to give it all to a worthy charity.

My caution light is blinking brightly.

"Danger, Will Robins .... er uh, Danger, Craig, Danger"!!!!!!!

Ted

[nctomatoman]

Hey Carolyn - I suspect they could be someone who knows about the Dwarf project either via Garden Web or Tomatoville - would be interested in knowing if they are non-posting members (calling Mischka!). But it would not be hard to hear about the project these days, I suspect.

As to how I found it, I was just curious as to how many people in the Raleigh area were now involved in selling heirloom tomato plants (lots, it turns out! It took many years, but I now have healthy competition - which is just fine!). The WANTED post caught my attention - so finding it was serendipity! Noting the date was a relief, since this past weekend was very slow (in fact, we are done going to market now) - so I think we've caught it in time. Anyone purchasing the dwarfs knows that they are still works in progress and the whole aim was trying them out and getting feedback to me.

The only plants I have going of final selections are ones that I am growing myself for evaluation and seed.

I suspect that there is all sorts of stuff going on out there that we are not aware of - the electronic world is huge, and each of us only dabble into the surface of it! Probably best that way....

So I think everything is fine - it was just quite a shock when I ran into that post late last night, really tired and a bit brain addled due to a really busy weekend!

Thanks to everyone for your views and insights - it is appreciated!