Orchids Buying Secrets

This guide is intended to help the average orchid collector make better orchid purchasing decisions. Wasting no time,  we start by describing two very powerful internet research tools.

The first of these tools is Wayback Machine, an internet archive that, in effect, lets you travel in time.  You can use Wayback Machine, which is found at archive.org on the web, to visit your favorite sellers web pages and see them as they looked in the past.  Use this tool to look at flower photos from the past and see what sellers sold in the past and may still have available in limited quantities. Some sellers, such as sborchid.com,  have redone their photos in recent time and have had more accurate photos in the past.

The second web tool many readers will find useful is the condensed eBay ratings available at Toolhaus.org. Toolhause.org lets you see just the negative and neutral feedback of an eBay seller in a condensed list, eliminating the need to go through pages of ratings at eBay to find it.

If you are about to make your first visit to one or both of the above sites, you may want to bookmark this document so you can find it again.  Many people spend several hours exploring these sites the first time they use them.

Now that the quick start with these two great tools is out of the way, the rest of this document covers orchid purchasing in more detail. The first section describes the impact of recent trends in the orchid selling business. The remainder of the document is where you will find many of the other secrets referred to in the guide title.

PART 1 - The Context How Orchids are Sold

For good or bad, the internet and a proliferation of new laws have radically changed how most goods are sold. Few products have been more affected than Orchids.  The mandates of CITIES now prohibit growers and collectors from acquiring new species and new stock by collecting from the wild.  As a result, most orchids are now cultivated with very few collected. Several types of orchids are now cultivated in Asia and sold to the US as commodity plants with extremely low prices. These "supermarket orchids" put tremendous pressure on prices in the US. Unable to compete, a large numbers of US orchid sellers have been phasing out their breeding of these commodity orchids.  With demand for orchids worldwide increasing year over year huge numbers of new domestic and foreign orchid sellers have appeared.  These new orchid sellers include supermarkets, online catalog sellers, eBay sellers, and thousands of individuals.

A. The Proliferation of Small Internet Sellers.

The internet makes it possible for anyone with the collecting bug or living near a large supplier to become an online orchid seller.  A catalog with hundreds of selections can be offered by a seller without an inventory. The seller need only make purchases from this local greenhouse for delivery each week. These sellers may be  very small, or they may have hundreds of items for sale. The hobbiest-seller tends to be less inconsistent in their delivery of product.  They have no oversight, which leaves the buyer with few options should there be a problem with the transaction.   As these sellers follow a lifecycle from starup to loss of interest many leave their catalogs online tempting new collectors to send money with unpredictable results.

A. Changes in Ebay Orchid sales.

Only a few years ago eBay orchid suppliers were few in number and virtually all were individuals relatively new to orchid sales. Over the last few years three things have happend to make eBay one of the best places to find exceptional plants.  

1. Many of the largest and best orchid ranges in the country now sell their products on eBay
2. The earliest eBay orchid sellers are now veterans very skilled, knowledgeable, and professional in how they conduct business. It is no longer true that you must accept what a seller sends you.  
3. It used to be that the large greenhouses and a few connoissuer collectors were the exclusive holders of many of the most desirable orchid clones. Those on the "inside track" would trade almost exclusively among themselves. Two things have changed this:
• Many of the old commercial greenhouses are closing. This has made it possible for previously unconnected growers to aquire many previously unavailable orchids.
• eBay has become the only place buyers can go to find a large selection of these previously unavailable plants.* 

We recommend that new collectors avoid sellers they know little or nothing about and limit their purchases to the sellers they know well or where evidence is available to establish the seller's reputation. There are both good sellers and bad sellers both on and off eBay. The best and worst sellers on eBay can be easily identified, where the good and bad ones not on eBay are hard to identify. Further, we've learned the hard way that being big, popular or well known does not ensure that an orchid seller is honest. One very large and well known Californian orchid range has a reputation with some of its suppliers and other sellers for misrepresent their products.** As people in the orchid trade, we’ve purchased from many orchid sellers both on and off eBay. In our estimation the level of safety buyers can expect buying on eBay is now significantly greater than for off eBay transactions.

A. Look for a Return Policy that Allows You Time to Evaluate the Orchids Received.

Recent trends among eBay orchid sellers include pro-consumer changes such as increases in the length of time afforded buyers in return policies. Where in the very recent past there were no return policies, you'll find that many sellers offer them now. We strongly recommend that buyers choose a seller who allows at least a few days to evaluate the orchid received***. 

B. Use the Leverage eBay Feedback Gives You to Assure Your Satisfaction

When you buy from an unfamiliar seller off eBay, you have little or no recourse if things go wrong.  eBay provides oversight and structure for transactions while eBay feedback gives buyers considerable leverage over the seller. That leverage puts the seller at a significant disadvantage in the relationship because even a single negative feedback can be harmful to the seller’s reputation.  The buyer’s advantage is retained as long as feedback has not been given.  Even though sellers usually request immediate feedback, buyers may wait up to 3 months to give feedback if necessary. 

C. Use Sellers that Give you Either an Example Plant or Actual Plant Photo Both On and Off Ebay.  

Oversight and feedback are not the only reason eBay transactions are safer for consumers.  Nearly all orchid sellers on eBay provide a photo of the actual or a representative plant, a practice that is virtually nonexistent among off eBay orchid sellers. We reiterate the often heard warnings in list discussions; it is risky to buy from a seller who does not provide a photo that illustrates the product to be delivered. Our biggest purchasing disappointments have been with certain large off-eBay sellers who consistently misrepresent the size of the orchids they will deliver.  When buying either on or off eBay, buyers should look for a seller who provides a photo that clearly illustrates the product to be received.  As the next section illustrates, many orchid sellers describe their plants using common industry terms that are very misleading for those new to orchid collecting.   

D. Be sure you understand the seller's use of terms used to desribe orchid sizes.

If no photo is given, the buyer should ask the seller to describe the physical size of the plants. Descriptions in terms of pot size Blooming Size (BS)  or Near Blooming Size (NBS), while common, do not mean what many reasonable peope would assume. Most Blooming Size plants are not blooming size and can be as much as a year from large enough to bloom.  Near Blooming Size Plants are generally nowhere near large enough to bloom and can be as much as 3 years from blooming, what some sellers call large seedling sized.  If a sellers uses these terms you need to understand their meaning.  Because the meaning differs between sellers you need to ask or read the sellers fine print to find the  definition. Unfortunatly, in addition to their inherently misleading definitions, many sellers stretch the meaning of the terms BS and NBS and sell plants that are even smaller than the defintions.  This all underscores why we recommend buying from sellers who provide a photo.

PART 2- EVALUATING EBAY SELLERS

This section is intended to help buyers identify and buy from only the best sellers on eBay.

A. Set a limit on the Feedback Score you Find Acceptable.  

Number one, and most obvious is the seller’s feedback rating. eBay requires that power sellers maintain a feedback rating of 98% or better. We see this as a reasonable rule of thumb for buyers as well. Sellers with a rating greater than 98% have a proven track record of customer satisfaction that is strong enough to assure that the buyer is likely to encounter very few problems, and when problems occur they should be easily resolved.

B. Look for Withdrawn Feedback, Evidence the Seller Cares about Customers and Will Work to Ensure Satisfaction.

 In our experience removed feedback is mostly neutral feedback. Negative feedback is relatively rare and more difficult to remove.   Regardless, removed feedback represents the seller’s ability, willingness, and skill in problem resolution. Some sellers don't care about neutral or negative feedback and do nothing to correct the problems buyers feel were present in these transactions. You want to choose a seller proven to stand behind their products and with the abilities necessary to turn a neutral or negative situation into a positive one. 

C. Assess the Meaning of Negative and Neutral Feedback – Some is Meaningless.

Most negative and neutral feedback occurs because of a misunderstanding that is easily resolved if the seller has the skills and willingness to work with the customer to find a resolution. The customer must also be willing to work with the seller, and not all are.  Not all negative feedback is meaningful for this reason.   Some buyers seek to exploit the seller through feedback, or blame the seller for their own failure to read listings carefully (this is not uncommon). There are also buyers who, for whatever reason, don’t want to be satisfied with the transaction and refuse the sellers’ efforts to help.  To know the significance of a neutral or negative feedback you need to take the time to read the comments made by both parties.*** 

D. Consider how Recent Negative Feedback Was Given

It is not uncommon for sellers to have negative feedback due to a startup problems or disaster in the greenhouse. If no negative feedback has been given in recent times, the seller current delivery is most likely trouble free and the negative feedback can be disregarded. 

As small businesses, some eBay sellers experience problems meeting their obligations as a result of problems such as failed heaters, pesticide contamination, weather, family sickness, loss of staff, travel delays, or similar problems that temporarily interfere with their ability to meet customer expectations. When temporary disruptions to business occur it can result in a flurry of negative feedback which may not accurately represent the sellers current ability to deliver and committment to cusomer satisfaction.  

PART-3 OTHER FACTORS WHEN EVALUATING SELLERS

The comments in this section do not apply to very low volume sellers, but do apply to orchid sellers with a regular and continuous presence on eBay.

A. Is the Seller Legitimately Licensed to conduct Business?

First and foremost, we feel that regular eBay orchid sellers should be licensed to do business as a nursery and should have passed the nursery inspection required by law in their home state. Most states require licensing if a person has more than a few hundred dollars in sales per year. 

In the absence of a license the seller is most likely operating outside the law in several ways: conducting business without a license, failing to pay appropriate state taxes, and sending uninspected plants all over the country.  These illegal operations may be shut down by state government at any time. The willingness of the seller to operate outside the law reflects poorly on the integrity of the unlicensed businessperson.

B. Is the Sellers Focus of Attention on their Business, or the Business of other Sellers.

Some sellers on eBay attempt to further their own business interests by contacting the buyers of other sellers to warn them off or to win over new customers.  Such practices may also be engaged in by gerneral eBay members who have a grudge againts the seller for reasons that may or may not have to do with their performenace as eBay sellers. This kind of contact is a violation of fundamental torts that protect businesses and is a violation of eBay policy, which forbids eBay members  from contacting the buyers of a seller at any time, both during or after the sale. Buyers should report this unethical conduct to eBay and forward a copy of the unethical contact to the targeted seller.

This document and three others we provide form a set which together are a well rounded set of beginning resource for the new collector. You may wish to read each of these, so we suggest clicking each link and adding them to your browser's "favorites', or 'bookmarks'.

• Orchid Collecting Mistakes - Ten Common Mistakes Often Made By Orchid Collectors and How to Avoid Them
• A New Collector's Guide to Orchid Education - A list of resources a new collector can use to learn faster.
• Growing Cattleya Orchids in the Real World  - A practical guide to successfully growing Cattleyas. 

It is our hope that these documents will help just a few new collectors avoid making mistakes, experience quicker successes and ultimately enjoy collecting more.  Some of the information we provide in the above guides is very unpopular with sellers whose sales benefit from the mistakes made by new buyers. Since we began publicizing this information seeking to educate collectors about two years ago, the points we seek to make have been mischaracterized, misquoted, and sometimes outright attacked by those seeking to discredit us and prevent accurate understanding of what we have to say.  

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

* Some sellers, such as Neo Orchids, specialize in locating and reselling these highly sought after but hard to find plants.

** The day of this writing we had a conversation with a well known grower who told of a sale he made to this company and how the company was blatantly misrepresenting his product as they resold it. We contacted the attorney generals office about this same company two years ago after they switched the plants we purchased during a visit with less valuable plants, which they mailed to us.

*** We've been leaders in this area and now offer a full two weeks for returns, longer than most orchid sellers either on or off eBay. 

**** A good example of a meaningless negative feedback is the only negative feedback we received in the last year. On April 28 a customer accidentally gave us a negative feedback while complementing our products and calling us their main eBay source. The feedback was, of course, removed.

Copyright 2006
Emerald Exotics LLC
All rights reserved.