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As a sequel to our popular guide, How to Start an Orchid Collection, here are some guidelines that you can follow when buying an orchid on eBay.
Step #1 - Decide on the Orchid
Step #2 - Search for the Orchid
c) Combine Keywords - By combining specific keywords in your search criteria, you can narrow down the search results to find the orchid that you want. For example, if you want a multifloral Paphiopedilum with red flowers, you can combine specific keywords such as paph red multifloral for the eBay search engine to find all the auction listings with those keywords in their title or description. Note that the keywords should be separated by blank spaces but they do not have to be in a specific order and are not case sensitive. Also, make sure that you have checked the Search title and description button before initiating the search.
Ignore the pot size as some growers will use a large pot to make you think that you are purchasing a large plant. If the seller does not provide a plant photo or plant measurements in their auction, politely ask for one. If the seller does not want to bother sending you a digital photo of the actual plant or to measure it, you may want to reconsider doing business with the seller.
b) What to Look for in a Plant Photo
If it is a seedling with sympodial growths, look for the plant that exhibits a consistent, stair-step growth pattern that clearly shows its year-over-year progress. We prefer plants with shorter, stronger growths over the taller, floppier growths but be careful not to equate weak, small growths as short growths.
If it is a seedling with monopodial growths, look for the plant that exhibits a consistent growth pattern of larger leaves on top of the smaller, older leaves. Note that the new, emerging top leaf is often smaller than the near mature leaf below it. For example, Vandas that grow straight up are preferred versus those that ramble or topple all over the place.
If you are purchasing a mature plant or division, look for the plant that has plump, front-lead bulbs or large new growths. No matter how tempting the price can be or how rare the plant is, do not be tempted by offerings of 1 or 2-bulb (front-lead or backbulb) divisions of sympodial orchids as their survivability rate is extremely poor.
c) What to Look for in a Flower Photo
If you are purchasing an orchid division, make sure that the flower photo used by the seller is from the original plant and not some better looking, awarded plant to entice you to bid. Also, beware of unusual colors of flowers especially the so-called coerulea or blue orchids. The blue pigment is notoriously difficult to photograph so some sellers will enhance the color intensity to make it more appealing to get higher bids or to sell more plants.
d) Check Seller's eBay Store - Sometimes, the seller will offer the larger plants in their store so take a moment to check out what they may have to offer that is similar to what you are looking for.
Because you don't see who is bidding against you in a private auction, the risk is much greater for you to get shilled (bidders who intentionally bid up the prices but have no intention to purchase) by ghost bidders. Also, if you won a private auction, you have no recourse to file a complaint because the entire eBay community will NOT be able to warn you if you have purchased an item that was misrepresented by the seller since no one can see what you purchased. Be forewarned that some sellers will try to present all kinds of explanations to justify their actions but if you look around, even one of eBay's largest PowerSeller, with more than 150,000 positive feedbacks, do not offer private auctions on all their items!
We strongly believe in eBay's open auction approach as it builds integrity and trust amongst sellers and buyers. So, we ask that you only bid for an item that is offered as a public auction.
c) Buy-It Now Items - If the seller has an eBay store, you will find a lot more orchids and other orchid related items that are offered as Buy-It-Now (BIN) items. These items are usually fairly priced and you will sometimes even see items that allow you to present a Best Offer to the seller. If you see a seller offer the same item in a open bid auction and also as a BIN item, you might want to consider purchasing the BIN item than to wait for the auction to end in the hope of getting a bargain. Warning: BIN items can also be offered as a private auction item, which means no one will ever know what you bought or paid for an item, so the risks for fraud is greater.
It is our hope that these guidelines and tips will help you become more savvy and successful in buying your orchids on eBay. Good luck on your bids!
Step #1 - Decide on the Orchid
If you have not read our guide on How to Start an Orchid Collection, we recommend that you read it to get some practical ideas in building your orchid collection. Once you decide on the type of orchid you want and know that you can provide the growing environment for it, you can then begin your orchid search on eBay.
Step #2 - Search for the Orchid
After deciding on the orchid(s) that you want, use eBay's Advanced Search tool to sort through the thousands of orchid species and hybrids offered by the growing community of orchid sellers on eBay. Here's a few general tips when doing your searches:
These are some abbreviations that you can use:
b) Use Abbreviated Names of Man-Made Genera - For those who have been growing orchids for quite some time, you probably have seen and used the abbreviated names of man-made orchid genera such as Blc. (Brassolaeliocattleya), Odbrs. (Odontobrassia), Dtps. (Doritaenopsis) and many others. By using these acronyms in your search, you will find specific orchids that fit closer to what you are looking for. For those unfamiliar with orchid nomenclature, the American Orchid Society (AOS) has an excellent publication on the topic.Bulbophyllum = Bulb.
Cattleya = C.
Catasetum = Ctsm.
Cymbidium = Cym.
Dendrobium = Den.
Laelia = L.
Masdevallia = Masd.
Oncidium = Onc.
Paphiopedilum = Paph.
Phalaenopsis = Phal.
Phragmepidium = Phrag.
Vanda = V.
Cattleya = C.
Catasetum = Ctsm.
Cymbidium = Cym.
Dendrobium = Den.
Laelia = L.
Masdevallia = Masd.
Oncidium = Onc.
Paphiopedilum = Paph.
Phalaenopsis = Phal.
Phragmepidium = Phrag.
Vanda = V.
These are some abbreviations that you can use:
Ascocenda = Ascda.
Brassolaeliocattleya = Blc.
Doritaenopsis = Dtps.
Sophrolaeliocattleya = Slc.
Laeliocattleya = Lc.
Odontobrassia = Odbrs.
Odontocidium = Odcdm.
Odontonia = Odtna.
Vuylstekeara = Vuyl.
Wilsonara = Wils.
Brassolaeliocattleya = Blc.
Doritaenopsis = Dtps.
Sophrolaeliocattleya = Slc.
Laeliocattleya = Lc.
Odontobrassia = Odbrs.
Odontocidium = Odcdm.
Odontonia = Odtna.
Vuylstekeara = Vuyl.
Wilsonara = Wils.
d) eBay seller ID - If you had a good experience with a specific eBay seller and wanted to check if they have an eBay offering of the plant you are looking for, you can find them again using eBay's Advanced Search tool. For example, if you want to look for us, all you need to do is select eBay's Advanced Search tool and choose the Find a Member option and then enter Orchidnuts.
Step #3 - Select the Best Plant and Seller
If you did a thorough search using the suggested methods from Step #2, the eBay search engine would have provided you with several eBay listings of orchids that meet your selection criteria. But how do you
select the best plant and seller when purchasing on eBay? Before bidding, here's a few tips to follow:
Ignore the pot size as some growers will use a large pot to make you think that you are purchasing a large plant. If the seller does not provide a plant photo or plant measurements in their auction, politely ask for one. If the seller does not want to bother sending you a digital photo of the actual plant or to measure it, you may want to reconsider doing business with the seller.
b) What to Look for in a Plant Photo
If it is a seedling with sympodial growths, look for the plant that exhibits a consistent, stair-step growth pattern that clearly shows its year-over-year progress. We prefer plants with shorter, stronger growths over the taller, floppier growths but be careful not to equate weak, small growths as short growths.
If it is a seedling with monopodial growths, look for the plant that exhibits a consistent growth pattern of larger leaves on top of the smaller, older leaves. Note that the new, emerging top leaf is often smaller than the near mature leaf below it. For example, Vandas that grow straight up are preferred versus those that ramble or topple all over the place.
If you are purchasing a mature plant or division, look for the plant that has plump, front-lead bulbs or large new growths. No matter how tempting the price can be or how rare the plant is, do not be tempted by offerings of 1 or 2-bulb (front-lead or backbulb) divisions of sympodial orchids as their survivability rate is extremely poor.
c) What to Look for in a Flower Photo
If you are purchasing an orchid division, make sure that the flower photo used by the seller is from the original plant and not some better looking, awarded plant to entice you to bid. Also, beware of unusual colors of flowers especially the so-called coerulea or blue orchids. The blue pigment is notoriously difficult to photograph so some sellers will enhance the color intensity to make it more appealing to get higher bids or to sell more plants.
d) Check Seller's eBay Store - Sometimes, the seller will offer the larger plants in their store so take a moment to check out what they may have to offer that is similar to what you are looking for.
e) Check Seller's Feedback - As buyers, we often just look at the seller's negative feedbacks. We recommend that you also look at another eBay metric known as the Mutually Withdrawn ratings. This number is often associated with situations in which unsatisfied buyers gave the seller numerous negative ratings (which can dramatically affect the seller's ability to keep its PowerSeller status) and was later mutually withdrawn after the seller provided some resolution or "incentives" to the buyers to make them agree to remove the negative feedback. In most instances, you can still read the negative comments of those unhappy buyers to understand what really made them irate.
Step # 4 - How to Bid and Win the Auction
a) Public Auctions - This is the most common and preferred method of all eBay auctions. Here's a few tips for bidding and winning your orchid in a public auction:
- Decide on your Purchase Limit
This is the most important part of bidding. Set a mental limit on how much you want to pay for the orchid. Be very disciplined with your limit. This may be difficult but be prepared to convince yourself that if you did not win the auction, there will be a similar or better item offered later.
- Use eBay's Watch This Item feature
With eBay's Watch This Item feature, a lot of interested buyers nowadays do not bid on the item until the very last day, hour or even last minute before the auction expires. This feature helps you keep track of the items that you may want to purchase in the next few days or months (for Buy-It-Now items). The only drawback to this approach is that you may be indisposed or not available to place your bid when the auction is about to end. But, in most cases, it has worked very well for a lot of people.
- Study the Bidders
One of the most important feature with public auctions is that you can see who is bidding on the plant that you want. Take the time to check out what the other bidders have bought in the past. If you see a very aggressive bidder that has never bought an orchid or very few orchids but have purchased other unrelated items, take extra precaution. If you also see aggressive bidders with 0 feedbacks or very few feedbacks, be extra careful as
they could be shillers. When you see a bidder with multiple bid retractions, this could also be a telltale sign of a shiller working with the seller to bid up an item for top dollar and then later retracts the bid to enable the seller to offer you the same item at a "lower price" than the highest bid.
There are 0 feedback bidders who are newbies to eBay and are legitimately bidding on the item but in those instances, you should expect the final bids to be much higher as the newbies tend to be more excitable when someone outbids them and will attempt to win the item at all costs.
Once you get an idea on the bidding history of these bidders, you can then decide if you want to participate in the bidding near the end of the auction. This will allow you to adjust your purchase limit if you think you will have a bidding war with a specific bidder.
There are 0 feedback bidders who are newbies to eBay and are legitimately bidding on the item but in those instances, you should expect the final bids to be much higher as the newbies tend to be more excitable when someone outbids them and will attempt to win the item at all costs.
Once you get an idea on the bidding history of these bidders, you can then decide if you want to participate in the bidding near the end of the auction. This will allow you to adjust your purchase limit if you think you will have a bidding war with a specific bidder.
- Be Patient but Aggressive
A lot of savvy eBayers now wait for the last minute to bid on an item. Allow the eager bidders to sweat over the price during the auction period and then bid as aggressively as you can or as high as the purchase limit you have set for the item, during the last few minutes before the auction ends. Your chances of winning the item will be pretty good since the bargain hunters will usually shy away from a very aggressive bidder or won't have enough time to put in another bid.
- There's More Where They Came From
If an aggressive bidder still outbids your maximum purchase limit, you have to determine if the orchid is a rare, unusual, or one-of-a-kind plant that warrants a higher price. If you followed the guidelines we pointed out in our other guide, Is it Really a Rare Orchid?, you will probably come to the conclusion that the plant is not rare, it is overpriced or there's more where they came from.
b) Say No to Private Auctions - When
you encounter a private auction, stop and ask yourself what is the
reason for it and what are the risks associated with it? If you look
around eBay, the purpose of most private auctions are for items that have
adult content or could be embarrassing to the bidders so the seller takes an extra effort to keep their customer's identities private. The above situation is an
understandable circumstance but to have a private auction for an orchid? One can only wonder what is in the mind of the seller...Because you don't see who is bidding against you in a private auction, the risk is much greater for you to get shilled (bidders who intentionally bid up the prices but have no intention to purchase) by ghost bidders. Also, if you won a private auction, you have no recourse to file a complaint because the entire eBay community will NOT be able to warn you if you have purchased an item that was misrepresented by the seller since no one can see what you purchased. Be forewarned that some sellers will try to present all kinds of explanations to justify their actions but if you look around, even one of eBay's largest PowerSeller, with more than 150,000 positive feedbacks, do not offer private auctions on all their items!
We strongly believe in eBay's open auction approach as it builds integrity and trust amongst sellers and buyers. So, we ask that you only bid for an item that is offered as a public auction.
c) Buy-It Now Items - If the seller has an eBay store, you will find a lot more orchids and other orchid related items that are offered as Buy-It-Now (BIN) items. These items are usually fairly priced and you will sometimes even see items that allow you to present a Best Offer to the seller. If you see a seller offer the same item in a open bid auction and also as a BIN item, you might want to consider purchasing the BIN item than to wait for the auction to end in the hope of getting a bargain. Warning: BIN items can also be offered as a private auction item, which means no one will ever know what you bought or paid for an item, so the risks for fraud is greater.
It is our hope that these guidelines and tips will help you become more savvy and successful in buying your orchids on eBay. Good luck on your bids!
Guide created: 06/17/06 (updated 09/01/09)
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