Seed/Plant Scams

eBay Scam

'Tis the time of year for scammers to rip you off. Flush with Christmas cash and plant supplies, many of us go out and buy some things to supplement our current collections. Be wary. Many of you have learned that no Chinese seller can be trusted. A number of good, trusting people have ordered seeds from Chinese sellers (whether on eBay, Etsy, Amazon, or another online marketplace) and discovered that the seeds aren't carnivore seeds, but there are a number of other scammers out there, too.

Bizarrely Photoshopped Pygmy Drosera

Some scams are pretty easy for a savvy buyer to uncover quickly. The unnatural colors of the "bonsai sundew" above plus the use of the term "bonsai" is a good indicator that the seller isn't really selling carnivore seeds and/or doesn't care if they're selling seeds which germinate.

Scam Seeds from China

Alright, now take a look at the top photo. It doesn't look like a scam, right? It links to what looks like a legitimate website, killerpflazen.com. Yet, once you find the link to the seed store you're directed to a different website, which is kinda weird, but not too suspicious. Then, you find the same photo as on the eBay post on that website, also with the title "Nepenthes gracilis". As as you browse around, you should notice some other interesting name techniques.

Let's look at the eBay page again

How do I know that it's a scam? Well, first of all, it's using two of my photos. Neither of them are of Nepenthes gracilis. They are, in fact, Nepenthes (lowii x veitchii) x (boschiana x campanulata). And, if you're read this blog over the past year, you've seen that plant a fair bit. And, if you've read this blog over the past year, you've probably seen Nepenthes gracilis enough to know that it looks nothing like that hybrid. So that's a problem.

Now look at the number of seeds offered. 10. Nepenthes seeds are never sold this way. They are always sold by the pod. A pod contains 60 - 150 seeds. Although only 10 may be viable, no seller is going to spend the time and effort to go through a pod to make sure you only get the 10 viable ones. That's a lot of time. They're going to send you the pod and let you deal with it.

Ooh look, after I reported this scam, the owner changed the name. Now it's Nepenthes maxima... 

(Since I started complaining about the scam at Killerpflazen (registered by Andreas Schulz, btw), the page with my photograph on it has now been relabeled to be "Nepenthes maxima" seeds, but the tag at the top still says "gracilis 'Black'"...)

So here's my guide to avoiding scams -

• Is the Wrong Plant in the Photo? 
• Are you trying to buy one plant which looks nothing like the plant in the photo? It's probably a scam. Yes, it is possible that someone with some knowledge would mess up closely related species, Nepenthes tentaculata and Nepenthes murudensis or all those Utricularia species which used to be lumped under Utricularia dichotoma, for example, but no one who knows anything about the plants would mess up a lowlander like Nepenthes gracilis with a highlander such as my (lowii x veitchii) hybrid. Do that and you'll not only kill the plant with the wrong conditions, but you'll prove that you really don't have enough knowledge about the plants to distinguish between two of them. If that happens, it's more likely than not that it's a scam.
• Color of Plant in Photo. 
• Do you look at the photo and think "those colors aren't found in nature"? If so, you almost certainly have a scam.
• Origin of Seeds/Plants. 
• Is the seller from Israel or China? It's a scam.
• Is the seller from an area where the plants are native? The seeds/plants may be taken from the wild. Investigate. Don't buy plants taken from the wild.
• Is the seller from a foreign country and offering seeds/plants for a lot less than you see other sellers offering the same seeds/plants? Be suspicious as it may be a scam. 
• Number of Seeds. Legitimate sellers typically offer the following:
• Byblis - 10+ seeds
• Drosera - 25+ seeds (D. regia is the exception at 10+ seeds) (It is rare to count most species).
• Drosophyllum - 5 or 10 seeds (These are quite large and easily distinguishable).
• Nepenthes - 1 Pod (50+ seeds)
• Pinguicula - Not often available, so be suspicious.
• Sarracenia/Darlingtonia - 20+ seeds (amounts of 25, 50, 100 seeds are also common).
• Utricularia - Let's be honest, no one really sells these pin-dot sized seeds. Occasionally, someone will, but most people don't bother.
• Date of Seed Collection.
• I have yet to meet a single person serious about growing carnivorous plants who couldn't tell you the date of seeds collected for sale. Sure, at home, I don't label my bag of D. capensis seeds with a date, but I don't sell seeds from that bag either. The seeds I collect to sell or trade I could tell you the date I collected them and so does everyone else. 
• Nepenthes, Pinguicula, and Utricularia seeds all expire quickly. I'm talking on the order of weeks to months. If the date for any of those genera is more than 6 months, they're probably duds and you shouldn't buy them. That doesn't mean it's a scam, but it's not something you should pay a lot of money for.  
• Prices.
• Seed. Prices vary. Seed banks used to set prices. Now, not so much. Prices are almost always whole dollar amounts, except for seeds priced less than $3. Common plants like D. capensis will be available for $1 a packet. Slightly less common plants will be available for $1.50, $2, or $3. I haven't seen many Drosera seed available for more than $5. Sarracenia seeds are generally $3, $5, or $10, depending on who the seller is and the rarity of the cross. Nepenthes seeds range from $3 to $10 per pod. Of course, these prices will change over time, but look at what others are offering seeds for as a guide to how much you should be paying. Generally, seed scams will not overprice seeds.
• Plants. Prices vary, however, scammers will often either set prices lower than they should be or suddenly have more, rare plants available as soon as you appear willing to part with your money. If you ask for a plant list, pick a $70 plant off the list, and suddenly ten more plants show up on the list without the seller mentioning having those plants or having them available, it's probably a scam. Additionally, if you pick a $70 plant off the list and it's a plant you haven't seen for sale for less than $150, do some more homework. It could be a scam. 
• Google the Seller/Ask Around.
• The carnivorous plant community is small. We all know one another, and we all definitely know the few legitimate nurseries/sellers out there. If you have someone out of the blue offer you the deal of a lifetime and neither Google nor your friends have heard of this person, it's probably a scam.