Re: [aroid-l] Let the--. Mitch. and others.

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>From: "Mitch ." <iamwhatiam52@hotmail.com> >Reply-To: aroid-l@lists.ncsu.edu >To: aroid-l@lists.ncsu.edu >Subject: Re: [aroid-l] Let the buyers beware. >Date: Tue, 27 Jul 2004 23:42:27 -0400 >

Dear All,

Obviously there are some GREAT deals and VERY honest dealers on auction sites, I know many.  Some Amorphophallus sps., seeds, etc. are available nowhere else, go for them.    The 'buyer beware' posting was a caution against OBVIOUS (to most of us) rip-off artists, a caution to the new-comers to look more closely, and in a manner of speaking to "sort the wheat from the chaff" as it were.   For those who fail to do so, learn to like the taste of chaff is all I say.  

The auction at Fairchild where over $1,000.00 was paid for a Philodendron can NOT be compared to what I am discussing, as the Philo. sps. in question belongs to a species which exists in the wild consisting of a population of less than ten plants, and maybe twenty or so plants (most from cuttings from three  plants collected in the 70`s).   The proceeds from this auction also go as support to the IAS, the group that helps support ( I think!) this web site.

To contact a seller on the site I mentioned is not possible unless you register on that site as a customer, this I choose NOT to do, I do not work w/ auction houses, this is my choice.

Good luck all!    For those who pay big bucks and end up with a Syngonium podophyllum or Epipremnum pinnatum, or a common Anthurium sp. from K-Mart instead of a 'rare Philodendron', take heart---all of these are rare in Alaska or Russia.

Good Growing.

Julius Boos

WPB, FLORIDA

>Yes.  Buyer beware.  But be open minded.

>Having bought dozens of plants on ebay, my experiences have been >sometimes worse, but often better than with commercial nurseries.   >Having sold hundreds of plants on eBay, my opinion on the prices >being paid is admittedly biased, but the supposedly high prices >sometimes paid are usually for plants of a variety or SIZE not >available elsewhere.   Also, as many amateurs are starting to sell, >prices are coming way down.   You simply cannot get an Amo corm   >bigger than a walnut for love or money from a commercial nursery, >but softball sized corms for common types can now be had at auction >for not much more than the walnuts.     And who is to say what a >fair price is for a real monster, like the size of a bowling ball?   >Why don't the nurseries sell five or ten pound corms? > >There is no substitute for a good, reliable professional nursery, >and you are going out on a limb when you buy at auction or from any >new source.   But why not go out on a limb? > >That's where the fruit is! > >Mitch > >