Sellers shipping diseased plants

[bums_mik]

Recently moved, got some plants to liven up the place.  Plants from Walmart, Home Depot, local nursery, and 4 plants from ebay.  All 4 plants ordered from ebay arrived diseased or dead, I've gotten a refund on two.  I was one day too late, or all 4 would have been refunded.  All my other plants are doing fine, except for a brown turkey fig tree I placed too close to the plants from ebay, so is now succumbing to disease.

I order a lot of things online and almost never have to return or refund.  This cannot be a coincidence, and it also was not an accident that the sellers intentionally sent plants that were diseased before being shipped, hoping the buyer would not be motivated enough to seek a refund, or the plant would live just long enough to be outside the return window.

This is a violation of postal code law, that states diseased, infected, or dead plant material cannot be sent through the mail.  Essentially, ebay is encouraging sellers to break the law, and contaminate the postal service with diseased plants, for a ten-spot. 

If this were another category of creature, say a seller that was shipping diseased animals around that  caused the deaths of other people's animals, or tainted medicine or food product that made people sick, then the situation would be dealt with pretty quick and in a hurry.  People are breaking the law, because they know the repercussions aren't as severe, and ebay is aiding them in doing so.  Sellers are sending plants they know are diseased, with no concern for the financial damages those diseased plants might inflict on arrival.  Highly deadly and contagious stuff like Anthracnose, which the farmer's almanac suggests immediate destruction of the plant in order to get rid of, the plant version of anthrax.  It's hypothetically the case that it's impossible to receive a healthy plant through USPS because of all the ebay plant seller scammers shipping diseased plant matter.

One possible solution would be to require sellers of plants to upload pictures of the specific plant they are sending before it's shipped.  I predict eventually there will be a lawsuit to force ebay to change it's policy concerning plant sellers.  What ebay is encouraging sellers to do is unlawful, and dangerous.

[stainlessenginecovers]

If they were diseased when you received them, how did you miss the return date by 1 day? 

[bums_mik]

I mean, we're not taking percentages, or ratios here.  If I had the funds to throw away, I'd order something like 10-20 plants to see if any of them arrived in condition healthy enough to stay living.  As an experiment.

[kensgiftshop]

@bums_mik 

It's not just on Ebay, it can happen an any site.

I bought a couple trees a Amazon, one was dead when it arrived and the other one never did anything, until it finally died.

[stacy_1971]

I have no doubt you received diseased plants, and I agree it probably violates some postal rules.... but how does that equal "Essentially, ebay is encouraging sellers to break the law, and contaminate the postal service with diseased plants, for a ten-spot."?   I don't think when you list a plant, that in the listing options it says *please feel free to list and sell diseased plants, we don't mind!*

[bums_mik]

Anthracnose has a month getation period takes a month to appear after infection.  It's clear to me that's what the disease was based on descriptions and the symptoms.  It was a blueberry, arrived with 2 tiny little growth shoots, shipped with another blueberry.  As a cutting, I figured I just needed to give it time to start growing.  But, by the time it did start to grow it became obvious the plant was diseased.  I wasn't immediately sure as I'd never grown blueberries before.  That's why a picture taken by the seller of the plant before it shipped would have been useful, it would have proven the plant was shipped in extremely premature stage of growth. and the disease killed both plants as they were shipped together.

All three sellers, when i could prove and it was obvious the plants they sent were so ill they were nearly dead, or were DOA, became extremely hostile.  One going as far as to message me with insults and cursing, closing the return immediately one day after due, or making the refund process as arduous as possible by making impossible demands.  I had ebay call me on 3 or 4 separate occasions to get it sorted and it's clear they were stalling in hopes a normal person would have just given up. 

In every way these sellers behaved like scammers, who knew they were caught scamming, and responded with the open hostility and degeneracy of criminals who knew they wouldn't be punished even if caught.

[bums_mik]

Ebay is the business front whereby these sellers are contacting buyers to exchange goods for money.  Ebay is the facilitator of the exchange.  it acts as a storefront that gives these sellers an appearance of legitimacy, that they are abiding some kind of rules that are being enforced that is preventing them from actively engaging in unlawful, potentially illegal behavior.  I'm sure there are individual persons passing off their page as if they are a business, and labeling the product as if it came from a plant nursery when it's actually is a personal home business. 

It seems clear to me as a bait-and-switch scam, whereby sellers are getting rid of product they couldn't sell in stores, or in person, and using photostock pictures of the plants they are selling diseased version of.  Just to unload them asap before the plant dies and is unsalable.  If I was hit by the same type of scam, 3 times in a row all simultaneously, the one time I ordered 3 live plants, then this kind of activity is occurring site-wide.  Plus the way these sellers are so well-practiced in the methods of stalling ebay and frustrating buyers to attempt making their scams successful.

[bums_mik]

It's a simple scam, and I'm sure there's a lot of sellers on ebay running it.  Seller shows photostock images of plant, and sends out something that's barely started growing or already dying.  Plant takes a month to die, maybe is outside return window already.  If not, seller demands buyer return plant for a refund.  It is illegal to ship a dead or diseased plant so the buyer must break postal code regulations to get refunded.  in order to not be required to break the law, the buyer needs direct intervention from ebay, requiring multiple customer service contacts.  This is more than most buyers will struggle through, as they'd be better off working an hour at their job than spending it on the phone with ebay, so it's likely most often the scam is successful.  Which is why it's being used.

It's wrong, it's illegal, it's being facilitated by ebay.  Idk what should be done, but needs to change.

[bums_mik]

Even if the buyer returns the dead plant, the seller can refuse the refund based on the fact the plant had died of the disease they had shipped it out with.  I had a seller tell me they were going to do exactly that.

[maxine*j]

Are these the sam four plants plants you posted about before?

Previous thread:

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Home-Garden/buying-live-plants-on-ebay-a-no-go/td-p/33270617

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[luss_368]

That is true 9.5 times out of ten is people selling there so called healthy plants. But they don’t soil test or treat their plants. I’ve bout so much we’re  I get them and they just die. Or they use soil suitable for them and not the buyer. 

[fab_finds4u]

eBay can't  know in advance if a plant is diseased.

Why not just not buy from sellers who use stock photos if you want the actual picture?  

Why not pay with your credit card or PayPal? You have at least 60 days to file a chargeback and 180 days to dispute the charge on PayPal.

[janet9988]

Plants and seeds from other counties are not allowed to be shipped into the USA.

Do not buy from the sellers who list those fraudulently.

Plants and seeds located outside the U.S. are not allowed due to U.S. import restrictions

https://www.ebay.com/help/policies/prohibited-restricted-items/plants-seeds-policy?id=4287

[krazzykats]

I would like to add that you never, ever introduce a new plant to your existing or other plants immediately after purchase.  Just a general rule to follow until you are sure there are no travelers or diseases.

I had trouble with the packaged soil I purchased at Lowes last year, it was full of bugs/eggs in a sealed plastic bag from the garden area.  Bugs and bug eggs can travel unnoticed even at the big box stores.  

Anyway, my hands broke out in super, itchy tiny bumps hours after using it, and all my repotted plants now had bugs.