New "Sexy Bonsai" on eBay?

mcpesq817

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About a year ago, there was a petition to not give business to the "Sexy Bonsai" seller on eBay because he/she was skirting U.S. import rules. I just noticed another eBay seller who has similar ads, and appears to be from China if you go to the website linked at the bottom of his ad:

http://cgi.ebay.com/BONSAI-TREE-48-...ultDomain_0?hash=item439caa89ef#ht_500wt_1089
 

rockm

Spuds Moyogi
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I don't know what the penalties are for illegally importing trees, but I'd bet they might be steep.

Bonsai material from China, in particular, has been singled out by the Dept. of Ag. as a known vector for Asian Longhorned beetle. It's been found repeatedly in bonsai material imported from China:
http://www.doacs.state.fl.us/pi/enpp/ento/clbalert.html
http://ipm.osu.edu/trans/111_151.htm

I'd be very cautious about importing these kinds of trees. I'd bet you'd be violating Federal law and, if you're caught, steep fines (given that bonsai material is a proven vector for the beetle) could be the price.

On top of the invasive species issue, I would be extremely concerned about giving any financial info in an auction with a Chinese supplier on Ebay. There have been rashes of complaints about scams, ID theft and other activities from sellers in that area.
 

mcpesq817

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Another big issue is that these guys who don't play by the rules end up making the business much tough for the good guys who abide by them.

Hopefully eBay and the relevant government authorities are looking into this.
 

Dustin Mann

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Need not fret about these China ads. Feeds into sub-branches of Justice Dept. portals all over the place. They are way way past little Cookies,Trojans cleanups, or ebay transfer of funds.
 

Mojosan

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Need not fret about these China ads. Feeds into sub-branches of Justice Dept. portals all over the place. They are way way past little Cookies,Trojans cleanups, or ebay transfer of funds.

Uh...yeah. Sure....
 
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