VFT on EBAY

[Jay]

I am wondering if anyone has purchased any VFT on Ebay in the past, or for that matter any plants. I am considering the 4 VFT at this link but have never purchased plants from ebay. I would hate to get them in poor condition. Any suggestions either good or bad would be appriciated. Thanks in advance.   http://cgi.ebay.com/ws....hosting

 

[PlantAKiss]

I would be wary of purchasing a VFT (or any native U.S. CP) on eBay, not for condition reasons, but because it MIGHT be poached from the wild.  That has happened before.

You can write the seller and ask where they obtain their plants from (a nursery, seed, leaf cuttings, tissue culture) but there is always the possibility, if guilty of poaching, the seller will lie.

There has long been suspicion of poached flytraps being unloaded via eBay.  Personally I would not want to contribute to "demand" for flytraps on eBay because it will only encourage more poachers.

HOWEVER...if you want good healthy flytraps AND plants you know were grown legally, ethically and under proper conditions, this is place to get them.  

  Check out the storefront for Exotic Gardens and you'll see they offer a good selection of flytraps and other CPs.  IMHO, a far better option than eBay.  

Suzanne

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I just checked out the link. That's a nursery, so the plants are probably TC. However...if you plan to buy these VFTs through eBay, its kinda NOT COOL to ask about buying plants from another company when THIS company, who supports and offers these forums, sells them.

 

[Jay]

Thanks

I would also hate to get plants that were taken from the wild.

 

[Capslock]

Jay,

The best vfts are purchased from here! I have bought a lot of cps on ebay, including from the source you posted above. I've had very good luck, and am pleased with every one so far, particularly one nepenthes vendor from Hawaii. But aside from the fact that this forum is here because of the generosity of the owners of petflytrap.com, they really do have the best vfts right here! In fact, if they carry it here, my choice will always be to buy it here, not only because they're a good deal, but because I've learned so much, and so enjoyed my time on these forums, thanks to them.

Capslock

 

[Cynic81]

I got an S. Leuco Tarnok from a grower in Florida. I don't think it was poached, since the auction featured a picture of the exact plant they were selling and it was happily growing out of a green pot (there was no wilting that would have suggested a recent transplant). It came in great condition, but the shipping was killer (about 8-9 bucks). My advice: Be careful of low auction prices and keep an eye on shipping costs.

But why go to eBay when you've got good 'ol Phil right here?

 

[Ozzy]

I have to agree with PAK. In most cases on ebay you never really know where the plant comes from. People who say that poached plants are not really a problem on ebay, don't know what they are talking about. I have seen poached plants sold on there first hand.
It doesn't matter what plant you're buying, it's your responsibility to know that the plant is not poached.
Here's an post I made about a suspected poaching case on ebay.

http://s98622558.onlinehome.us/cgi-bin....7;st=10

Quote[/b] ]There is a lesson here. I hope everybody remembers it. When a large number of cps are poached they are going to end up in one place, our collection. Who do you think these people sell the plants to. Us. There are two types of people that buy cp's. One is the type that don't really care about the plant and buys it as a spoof or just to actually have a legendary venus flytrap to show their friends. That plant will be dead in two months. The other type is us. The people that collect as many cp's as they can care for or get. I'd say 80% of cp buyers are the collectors. I'm sure almost every one of us has at least one plant that has been poached. I bought some vft's a couple of years ago, nice mature vft's. He even threw in a mature S.purpurea free. Since I am from NC I know some of the locals. I found out from one of the locals that he was a well known as a poacher. Should I have known better, yes. Any time somebody offers you mature plants, that should send up red flags. I just didn't think that this person would do that. Anytime we see somebody on ebay selling mature plants you have to stop and think about it, they are probably poached. I'm sure that some of us have some of these plants that were stolen from this site in SC in our collection. If you have something to sell, you take it to a market that will buy. Who is the best market for cp? Us cp collectors. I can't say that the plants were sold on ebay, but I'm sure that some us have been targeted by the poacher in one way or another, It could be on ebay or it could be a website on the cp webring

It's something to think about before you buy any plant. Why take a risk of supporting further destruction of what left of our wild cp sites, when you have a cheap source of quality plants right here at Petflytrap?

 

[joseph]

Those plants originated from TC in Czech.  I have many of them myself that I purchased directly from the company.  

However, I have never ordered from that reseller on ebay.

Joe

 

[Dyflam]

I buy all my flytraps here.

 

[Kirkscoastalcarnivores]

I've bought a N. Alata from that exact guy, It came in small, but is now having its first pitcher, and growing very nicely

 

[peter]

The guy who's selling those plants owns www.equilibriocarnivorousplants.com which is a reputable dealer of many carnivorous plants. But I have to say that the plants are a little over priced when you could get them for the same price here for eight dollars including shipping on the sale Venus Flytraps on this site!