eBay insanity

[JohnAndSancho]

https://ebay.us/m/ayanVO

 

$1k for 3 tiny strap leaf bare root palmettos? 

 

And they've apparently made sales?!?!? 

 

My whale fin pups are available for $640,000 each and I have Bermudana seedlings pushing their 4th and 5th strap leaves for $2 million each. 

[Merlyn]

@JohnAndSancho I've seen this on lots of listings.  When an eBay seller runs out of stock (or is on vacation), instead of deleting the listing they just change the price to something completely absurd so no one buys it.  That way when they are back in stock (or selling again) they can just change the price back to normal.  This keeps the sell record and avoids the hassle of delisting and remaking a listing.  It was really common years ago when eBay refused to allow "vacation mode" unless you were some premium seller, and they charged big bucks to list new items.

[JohnAndSancho]

1 hour ago, Merlyn said:

@JohnAndSancho I've seen this on lots of listings.  When an eBay seller runs out of stock (or is on vacation), instead of deleting the listing they just change the price to something completely absurd so no one buys it.  That way when they are back in stock (or selling again) they can just change the price back to normal.  This keeps the sell record and avoids the hassle of delisting and remaking a listing.  It was really common years ago when eBay refused to allow "vacation mode" unless you were some premium seller, and they charged big bucks to list new items.

Makes sense since all of her other items were Bath and Body Works stuff. 

[happypalms]

I have seen an anthurium go for $5000 on e bay. In the COVID pandemic they got into a bidding war and thought the world was going to end and they could take it with them as the world ended! 

[JohnAndSancho]

4 hours ago, happypalms said:

I have seen an anthurium go for $5000 on e bay. In the COVID pandemic they got into a bidding war and thought the world was going to end and they could take it with them as the world ended! 

There's still some apparently very rare stuff that's up there. The most I've ever paid for anything was a $200 order from Jungle Music - tbf about half of that was shipping - but there was a 5 gallon Chamaedorea Benezeii in there that I really should have brought inside during a heatwave. That one ran me around $100 and by the time I brought it inside, it was already cooked. 

[happypalms]

42 minutes ago, JohnAndSancho said:

There's still some apparently very rare stuff that's up there. The most I've ever paid for anything was a $200 order from Jungle Music - tbf about half of that was shipping - but there was a 5 gallon Chamaedorea Benezeii in there that I really should have brought inside during a heatwave. That one ran me around $100 and by the time I brought it inside, it was already cooked. 

It’s not far fetched to see plants going for $800 to a $1000 and more, a lot of the rare stuff that is prized by collectors usually goes for around $200 to $300. It’s a cutthroat collectors market out there where money is no object. Some sellers target that market, others are just simply selling quality rare plants at a respectable price to start with, it’s the buyers who jack up the price in wanting that special plant. The sellers win and the buyers happy to get a rare plant. It’s a win win situation for both parties involved. And rightfully so with rare palms a lot goes into getting the opportunity to grow rare stuff. Seeds well that’s another story in obtaining them and stock plant material can take years to grow to a sellable size. I believe the grower deserves the right to get whatever he can for his plants, a lot goes on behind the scenes to produce rare plants! 

[JohnAndSancho]

35 minutes ago, happypalms said:

It’s not far fetched to see plants going for $800 to a $1000 and more, a lot of the rare stuff that is prized by collectors usually goes for around $200 to $300. It’s a cutthroat collectors market out there where money is no object. Some sellers target that market, others are just simply selling quality rare plants at a respectable price to start with, it’s the buyers who jack up the price in wanting that special plant. The sellers win and the buyers happy to get a rare plant. It’s a win win situation for both parties involved. And rightfully so with rare palms a lot goes into getting the opportunity to grow rare stuff. Seeds well that’s another story in obtaining them and stock plant material can take years to grow to a sellable size. I believe the grower deserves the right to get whatever he can for his plants, a lot goes on behind the scenes to produce rare plants! 

Oh absolutely. I've been on here long enough to see the treks people make to get some of these rare seeds, and seen the investments in time and infrastructure to get things to a marketable size - like your Joeys have taken what, 5 years to get to that size? In this scenario though, it's probably Merlyn's point - this posting was over $1k for sprouts she literally pulled out of a ditch in her yard. 

[TropicsEnjoyer]

There’s someone who has a variegated Phoenix reclinata for sale for like $9999 and I think they’re legit trying to sell it for that price 😂. 

[happypalms]

6 minutes ago, TropicsEnjoyer said:

There’s someone who has a variegated Phoenix reclinata for sale for like $9999 and I think they’re legit trying to sell it for that price 😂. 

Like the man said, if you got the money we can do anything you want!

[SeanK]

Interesting. I was just at Etsy and some B.armata are way overpriced also. 

[JohnAndSancho]

21 minutes ago, SeanK said:

Interesting. I was just at Etsy and some B.armata are way overpriced also. 

It's like so many people prey on people who don't know any better and the real ones have bargains. I'm not paying $20 for 10 sabal seeds let alone $3000 lol. And I've learned "organically grown" means "it popped up in my backyard " I just hate it when people.know what they have and know it's rare. Then you get taxed. 

[Johnny Palmseed]

The internet is people. And some people prey on others. It can be easy for unsuspecting people to make mistakes or not catch things that might be apparent to others. I see oddball stuff like this all the time. And it’s not just on eBay. It’s everywhere. For example, I was on Walmart.com checking to see if they had peat moss in stock. I knew that their price was about $16 for a 2.2 cu.ft. bag. When I saw the product on the website, I noticed immediately that the price was not right as it was $36. This was from a vendor, not Walmart itself but somehow it came up as the first choice. I wasn’t buying it online and having it shipped so I didn’t fall for anything. I finally found the in stock product and saw that it was available so I went to the store to get it. For $16.