How is “love my bonsai” still a thing???

[Npr90irl]

This fckukin guy is selling absolute tops of 10 year old Chinese elms as 40 year old trees for 1000$. This is just an example. There is at least one other person on eBay who is scoping nursery stock, throwing it in ceramic( if you’re lucky) typically mica pots and saying it’s a completely random age. I know my wording is off, brut this shit pissed me off. I can’t be alone in this right..?

 

[Potawatomi13]

Anyone calling boring zig zag trunk "curved trunk" style instead of informal Upright style does not know enough about Bonsai to be selling them. Dead giveaway of idiot status seller.

 

[ShimpakuBonsai]

People can do and ask what they want, so what's the problem?
I always say buy the seller or in other words just use your common sense when buying things over the internet.

 

[BrightsideB]

The primary problem with me is the lie about the age. It’s false advertising. I understand your attitude toward these types of salesman. I think it’s legitimate to criticize this behavior in the marketplace.

 

[BobbyLane]

This is nothing new, just marketing 101. It is ebay afterall.

 

[Cadillactaste]

The primary problem with me is the lie about the age. It’s false advertising. I understand your attitude toward these types of salesman. I think it’s legitimate to criticize this behavior in the marketplace.

People have puffed their listings since the beginning of time I imagine. I see all the time age put on material. Bark doesn't line up to age given.

End of the day...ones will pay for what they feel something is worth. It's our own fault if we don't put in our homework to grasp the going price for material.


Just as...one can put a price on material...and...it will stay unsold.

But...I won't lie...when I see young material listed as older on Facebook auctions...and I know the species. Example...Forsythia...with no ramification and they build easily...I get annoyed no one calls them on it. But it is only fleeting. I then think...if one can't see that. Then let them be happy with what they buy.

 

[Cajunrider]

This is nothing new, just marketing 101. It is ebay afterall.

It is Fraud 101 to me. Honest marketing means telling others about the good and true attributes of your product.
Fraud is not OK with me even if there are naive people who buy these things and think they get good trees.

 

[It's Kev]

i kinda get annoyed by the age of bonsai, coz too many people get mass produced Walmart trees as gifts which still has grafting tape on, then they ask people on FB how old they think their special tree is.
estimating this tree at 10years + is a big stretch

 

[sorce]

Idolatry, greed, deceit.......

It's all there in the add.

The Devil is a liar!

Sorce

 

[BobbyLane]

It is Fraud 101 to me. Honest marketing means telling others about the good and true attributes of your product.
Fraud is not OK with me even if there are naive people who buy these things and think they get good trees.

Its ebay, there are good sellers and not so good sellers, its sort of on you as a customer to search out the good, honest sellers, they have seller ratings.
is this scamming? its debatable...if you asked him, he could just say its an estimation.

 

[BrightsideB]

People have puffed their listings since the beginning of time I imagine. I see all the time age put on material. Bark doesn't line up to age given.

End of the day...ones will pay for what they feel something is worth. It's our own fault if we don't put in our homework to grasp the going price for material.


Just as...one can put a price on material...and...it will stay unsold.

But...I won't lie...when I see young material listed as older on Facebook auctions...and I know the species. Example...Forsythia...with no ramification and they build easily...I get annoyed no one calls them on it. But it is only fleeting. I then think...if one can't see that. Then let them be happy with what they buy.

I love your cascade forsythia. I just dug one up in my front yard estimated age is 150 years old lol.

 

[dbonsaiw]

Unfortunately, it's not just ebay. I've been to a "bonsai" shop that is basically the same. 1000s of trees and not a single bonsai. Tons of sticks in the dirt being sold as "10 years old", and nursery stock forced into smaller pots. I've also found them selling their own stock on ebay under a different name for even higher prices. Buyer beware.

 

[Cajunrider]

100s of trees and not a single bonsai. Tons of sticks in the dirt

Ha! That is my back yard. Good thing I haven't claimed any tree of mine to be bonsai. Bonsai wannabe mebbe
My love for bonsai is still a thing with no true bonsai in my possession.
PS: I do have ONE bonafide bonsai pot from @penumbra. I am looking forward to finding a tree worthy of being in that pot.

 

[penumbra]

Same as it ever was........

 

[luvinthemountains]

Its ebay

This right here. I have been doing business on ebay casually as both seller and buyer for over 20 years now. Fraud is a part of the landscape. Sadly, an individual's ability to spot the fraud is dependent on their age and wisdom, so there will be plenty who fall for it.

I do not think it is mere puffery, however. Puffery is saying this is the fastest racehorse east of the Mississippi. Fraud is saying this racehorse is 4 years old when the seller knows good and well it is probably double that. For fraud generally, you have to first off intend to deceive the victim, then you have to know that the thing you are deceiving them about is likely to be important to them, and then the buyer has to actually rely on the deception without having any good reason not to. Going back to age and wisdom, you could have a very savvy buyer, and there is no fraud. But there are those unsavvy buyers, and I think that for those buyers this particular ebay seller is absolutely being fraudulent.

But again, it's ebay.

 

[penumbra]

is dependent on their age and wisdom,

and maturity
Your comments are spot on. I was thinking this, also on eBay since 2000, but I am glad you said it.

 

[Cadillactaste]

I love your cascade forsythia. I just dug one up in my front yard estimated age is 150 years old lol.

Thank you...funny thing...it came from Ebay. seller was wonderful... so not all eBay things are bad. My cascade bougainvillea also came from Ebay...from a different seller. One just has to be careful...I tend to ask them questions...before placing a bid as well. To feel them out. I won't just bid on something I like... I must feel comfortable with the transaction.

They are amazing material to work. Develop quickly... and...you never know... yours could date back to prehistoric days.

 

[luvinthemountains]

.it came from Ebay

Some of my best material came from ebay. But you have got to know your seller. There are probably a half dozen whom I would buy from without hesitation. One that I always hesitate with because he knows his trees but does not understand how shipping or listing terms work. The rest, well yeah, you have to get comfortable first.

 

[luvinthemountains]

and maturity

Ha, that is by far the better word choice than age. I am thinking of my 16 year old and an aging in-law, both with less maturity than my pinky nail.

 

[BrightsideB]

Thank you...funny thing...it came from Ebay. seller was wonderful... so not all eBay things are bad. My cascade bougainvillea also came from Ebay...from a different seller. One just has to be careful...I tend to ask them questions...before placing a bid as well. To feel them out. I won't just bid on something I like... I must feel comfortable with the transaction.

They are amazing material to work. Develop quickly... and...you never know... yours could date back to prehistoric days.

I got some nice tools for good prices on eBay. But yeah you have to have your scammer radar on.

Do you have any tips on the forsythia? That may be less common? Like on controlling the growth.

It is literally a clump right now but I just put it in a container to recover before anything else major is done. And I made up my mind in what to do with it.