When you see an orchid listing that says RARE, VERY RARE, ONE-OF-A-KIND or some other superlative words, how do you distinguish seller hype from the real truth?

Step #1 - Read the Auction Description Carefully

Read the entire description of the listing and learn why the orchid being offered is rare. If you have any questions about the listing description, do not hesitate to ask the seller the tough questions. The more questions answered by the seller, the easier it will be for you to corroborate truth from fiction.

Step #2 - Research the Facts

Once you have the information from the seller, check out the facts with other sources outside of eBay. A little homework goes along way in stretchng your hard earned dollars. Here's a few tips on how to do this:

• Use orchid databases such as Wildcatt, OrchidWiz or the AOS Awards Quarterly to validate the claim if an awarded plant is being offered. If you do not have access to these databases, check with another grower or orchid society member if they have the program or publication.  If you know that you will be buying a lot more of these rare plants, then it is a worthwhile investment to buy one of these software programs before you continue to spend hundreds or thousands of dollars on these expensive plants.
  
• Use search engines like Google, Yahoo or MSN to find out more about the plant being offered. Be very creative in coming up with appropriate keywords to use with the search engine as it will affect the search results. Misspelled words will have a negative impact on your search so make sure that you have the correct spelling of the plant.  If a seller is offering a "rare" division of a well-known cultivar and your search leads you to near floweing size (NFS) seedlings offered elsewhere, this is a telltale sign that the plant being offered might be a mature mericlone plant and not a division of the mother plant.
• Refer to orchid books that might pertain to the plant being offered. If it is an orchid species, read up on the species and get an understanding of what a rare color form or variety should be, instead of just relying on the seller's claims.
  
• Check with orchid vendors or experts that you trust and get their opinions. This is similar to getting a second opinion when you are shopping for an expensive car or some high ticket item.  The more opinions you can get, the easier it will be for you to validate the seller's claim.
  
• Post the link of the offering in your favorite orchid forum and ask the members what they think. You would be surprised how helpful they can be but beware that some forum members might also be eBay sellers. When you get a positive or negative comment about the plant, ask for the reasoning behind the forum member's comments.
  
• Defining Rarity - What is considered rare for someone might not be rare for other growers or collectors who have access to the plant. Just because a seller can't find a plant for the longest time does not equate to the plant being rare! For example, a Paph grower that has hundreds of blooming size Paph rothschildianums won't consider them to be rare while a new Paph grower, would be ecstatic just to even find this blooming size "rare orchid" offered by a seller.
  

Once you have all the facts and you are ready to buy the plant, we recommend that you read our other guides, Orchid Buying Guide on eBay and How to Start an Orchid Collection to help you become a more savvy bidder and orchid collector.

We love to hear from you if you enjoyed reading this guide and any suggestions you can give us to improve this guide will be appreciated.