eBay seller 3017smith on sale

Poink88

Poink88

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Isn't this seller Brussels?
 
Thanks for the heads up, Dario. I think his stuff is usually overpriced for what it is (juvenile material stuff into bonsai pots). With this sale I might be more tempted to buy something.
 
still seems high. For those of us on a budget, I am a bit surprised that things are actually selling.
 
I have meet and talked to Matt (BonsaiSmith) my past 3 trips to Brussels, he is a super nice person. I cannot say for sure how it works but to my understanding he purchases from Brussels, I don't know what kind of a price he pays them but he has to put some markup as any business would. If you look at the pictures of his trees you can tell some of them are at Brussels by the building behind them. Others are a different location which I assume his home.
When I have talked to him he is busy on his phone talking to customers and sending pictures of trees they are asking about. Not to say Brussel would not do the same for a customer, as he has always treated me very nice and helpful no matter what price tree I was asking about (low dollar range). What I do feel Matt has brought to the business is another option for the customer, where we can have him hand pick a tree. This is something that Brussels site does not offer, it just has the generic pictures to choose from unless you get the the specimem trees and then they do not show near what they actually have for sale. I talked to Brussel about setting up a Web Cam in one of the green house and rotate trees weekly that customers could look at for sale. He seemed to like the idea but it never happened.
So you can call Matt tell him what you are looking for and have him get some options. Again, not saying Brussel would not do the same but he has the full place to run.

Just my Thoughts
 
I have always had great personnel service from Matt. He is a good one.
 
lordy said:
still seems high. For those of us on a budget, I am a bit surprised that things are actually selling.
Click to expand...

I am on a budget too but the pots are good for the price compared to other sources I've seen. I bought several 16" pots and at $56.00 sale (+ $18.50 shipping), good luck finding a similar quality bonsai pot (though made in China) at that price.
 
From what I can tell, all the trees Matt sells on ebay are at Brussels. When I visited Brussel's last summer, I saw all the $3000 JBP that Matt has on ebay. I'm sure Brussel cuts him a deal if he sells one on ebay. It's just another marketing medium for Brussel that he doesn't have to worry about.

Overpriced? Not if they're selling.

Can you get better trees for less money somewhere else? Probably.

Would that mean the other trees that you can get cheaper elsewhere are underpriced? Maybe so.
 
Dario, you inspired me as I just bought this shimpaku from him as well. :)

Shows he may be gone until May 27th though. Have you heard from him about your order?
 

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bonsairxmd said:
Dario, you inspired me as I just bought this shimpaku from him as well. :)

Shows he may be gone until May 27th though. Have you heard from him about your order?
Click to expand...

Not yet but as you said, the note said he will be out so I am not worried. I am not in a hurry as well, the pots are for later use. :D
 
Don Blackmond said:
No. Its Matt Smith. He sells trees for Brussells.
Click to expand...

Just to be clear. Those are Brussell's trees. Matt may be selling some of his own trees too, but most of what I see belong to Brussells. Matt is not Brussells though, even though Brussells lets him sell trees from Brussell's inventory. He is doing it freelance. So, you buy the tree from Matt and your agreement is with him, but the tree will come from Brussell's nursery and will be packed and shipped by Brussell's other employees.

Its a pretty cool arrangement for them. Brussells has Matt selling trees for him, and Matt is selling trees he does not pay for unless they sell. Brussells doesn't pay Matt and Matt doesn't own inventory. That's a nice gig.
 
Apparently I'm not getting that tree as it was already sold in the store. Just a precaution I guess to others buying these off eBay. Currently trying to find substitutes........
 
Sorry you're not getting your tree. When I visited Brussels last summer, all the ebay trees were also for sale for walk ins at the nursery. Actually, the price tagged at the nursery was higher than the ebay price. Even before the current sale price.

I think you were just unlucky it sold at the store before your ebay order got processed.

Frankly, I'm amazed it doesn't happen more often. The place is huge, and they have thousands of trees.
 
"Its a pretty cool arrangement for them. Brussells has Matt selling trees for him, and Matt is selling trees he does not pay for unless they sell. Brussells doesn't pay Matt and Matt doesn't own inventory. That's a nice gig."

Don, I agree I think that is how it works. Matt showed me trees at the back of the green house that were "up on ebay" but if someone wanted to buy one it was up for sale on-site and it would be purchased from Brussels. I was looking at a pine and he told me to let him know if I got it so he could remove from ebay. And as Adair said if they are selling... yes they are he sold $$$ many last year, which is good for he and Brussel.
 
I'm glad this is good for Matt and Brussels (as we continue to acknowledge) but as an eBay customer/bonsai consumer it's not (or wasn't) a good system for me....
 
I have purchased trees/pots/tools Ect from him probably 20 times and have never had that happen. Might have something to do with him being on vacation. Everyone's deserves a break.
 
My large Gingko was purchased through this arrangement. Fat trunk that looked ugly and no one bid on it...good deal for me!!
 
I have no opinion about the seller or their arrangements. I would like to comment on two things:

The Prices on ebay have been greater than Brussels site. I compared a few items in the past and this was obvious.

Generally many of the items on ebay tend to be over priced. High retail...
 
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