Ebay gone mad
- Thread starter ehanes7612
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Ebay is a funny place. There are stuff I thought would worth more and sold for less, and there are times when I thought "no way" for that price and the plant was sold for even more. I was watching a nice Sukhakulii alba listing last night, and boom it was gone this morning, apparently sold for the asking "buy me now" price. Same thing with a Phalaenopsis hieroglyphica item over last weekend. I was watching it and then noticed there was an aggressive bidder whom would bid higher and higher. That item was listed at 50 but sold for 700 with 79 bids total. It was insanity in full display. Some Cattleyas on Ebay are known to get bid aggressively due to the value of rarity or so tightly held that practically just a couple of people on the planet has a division of those historic plants. The JB in the current listing here is nice, but IMO, the price is way off, maybe 4-10X off. I saw it was initially listed at half the current low price then got bump shortly afterwards. I would purchase a top class JB with awards or high potential of such at a modest fraction of listed here, but then again, I maybe the cheapskate in the orchid world when it comes to expensive plants.
Happypaphy7
Paphlover
Gilda
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We bought a lot of Breckenridge Orchids stock that went out of business years ago and resold several on Ebay.
Mark Rose had a lot of desirable awarded orchids paphs , phrags and phals and as we were astonished to find out watching the first auction end ,and a paph ( I'd have to go look at records to see what it was) brought $350 !!! We were shocked and made trip after trip to NC to buy more to Ebay ! I kept a few for myself ,too !
Mark Rose had a lot of desirable awarded orchids paphs , phrags and phals and as we were astonished to find out watching the first auction end ,and a paph ( I'd have to go look at records to see what it was) brought $350 !!! We were shocked and made trip after trip to NC to buy more to Ebay ! I kept a few for myself ,too !
Shipping cost gone mad?
I have been looking at phrags on e-bay lately and have noticed one vendor charging $25 dollars to ship one plant. Now I understand if its a large plant,
but has shipping plants really gotten that expensive?
I have been looking at phrags on e-bay lately and have noticed one vendor charging $25 dollars to ship one plant. Now I understand if its a large plant,
but has shipping plants really gotten that expensive?
troy
Well-Known Member
No it doesn't cost that much, unless it's over 10 pounds or a huge box
The seller probably considers the actual cost of shipping to include the packing materials and labor to prepare and package the plant. If the seller has a real business that depends on profit and has an employee then $25 is close to his cost. Postage is only a part of the actual shipping cost for a real business.
PaphMadMan
phytomanic
I've seen cases where vendors pair high shipping costs with low plant prices, quite obviously hoping that low plant prices attract attention but they still make a profit. It could make a difference in the fees that eBay collects too, but I know eBay policies have changed on that over time.
Possible, but the Vendor I was looking at is well respected and running a bunch
of auctions on his plants and the price of shipping went up from one week to the next. His plants regularly bring good prices because they are good plants.
It may depend on which service is being used for shipping. OZ charges more for shipping than is typical, but they use Fedex 2-day rather than USPS like most eBay vendors. Fedex and UPS are going to be substantially more, but they're a lot more reliable.
JAB
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Well let me say this... UPS is a complete joke and is not only unreliable, they could give a rats ass about your goods. Why anyone uses them is beyond me.
Fedex is pricey, but they are also the most professional and reliable.
USPS... what can I say!? Have you seen the people that work there?? And on the flip side of that coin... have you seen what they pay postal carriers? USPS 2nd day I have had zero issues with when it comes to orchids. It does seem to me that you have to pay at least 2nd day to get good service.
In the end I think the lesson is you get what you pay for! Oh... and UPS is garbage.
JAB
Fedex is pricey, but they are also the most professional and reliable.
USPS... what can I say!? Have you seen the people that work there?? And on the flip side of that coin... have you seen what they pay postal carriers? USPS 2nd day I have had zero issues with when it comes to orchids. It does seem to me that you have to pay at least 2nd day to get good service.
In the end I think the lesson is you get what you pay for! Oh... and UPS is garbage.
JAB
PaphMadMan
phytomanic
Exactly the opposite of my experience. Rarely a problem of any kind with USPS beyond an occasional 1 day delay. If UPS or Fed-Ex manage to get an undamaged box to me those are the ones they abandon at the door in a high foot traffic area in hot sun or below freezing temps. Requiring a signature or not is random relative to the service specified, and if a package is not delivered and goes back on the truck it may be days before they can locate it again.
The plants that OZ (I assume abbreviation for the Orchid Zone) has on E-Bay
are USPS shipped 2 day delivery and they are charging $25 for them.
Recent USPS deliver
I recently bought a nice orchid from pupsi-dog off e-bay and it was shipped USPS 2day express and it got here in 2 days with the box perfectly intact.
By the way the packaging job by pupsi-dog was first rate.
I recently bought a nice orchid from pupsi-dog off e-bay and it was shipped USPS 2day express and it got here in 2 days with the box perfectly intact.
By the way the packaging job by pupsi-dog was first rate.
I buy off eBay a lot. Bid what I think I can afford. That's all you can do.
troy
Well-Known Member
I also got a paph from pupsi dog and I'm happy with it!!
The way I see eBay is it being a platform to fit multiple segments of interest in the marketplace. There are plenty of common varieties with decent prices for the common buyers. Then there are occasional "rare" finds with significant price tags. I still marvel at rare finds such as the Sukhakulii alba, which was practically gone with hours of the listing even at a "buy me now" price of 500. I was watching a rare dark form of Malipoense x Fanaticum, which I considered interesting yesterday, it too went out with multiple bids at pretty high price points. To me, it indicates there are serious interests of "special" plants out there for significant price tags. The key is to bid what you think is the fair price that you can afford. I have experience no bad packaging or bad postal service so far from my purchases over eBay. Count myself lucky so far.
trdyl
Well-Known Member
Yep, there are orchids on Ebay to match everyones budget. One of the best rules to go by is knowing what the fair market value is for what you want. Too many times bidding wars get out of hand which is great for the seller, but not so great for the buyer.
