@lilypoppylilypoppy wrote:
Thank you for the first sensible reply. Yes, the items are identical. I won't name the brand of the product as then the seller will probably be able to be identified, but suffice it to say if I had any doubt whatsoever I would not have put myself in the firing line for so much abuse. While the seller has a good feedback rating, the negative feedback does support my concerns - massive mark ups, non-communication...... Certainly a seller can ask what they want, but why would they bother trying to obtain such a high price on many items if they weren't benefiting enough to warrant doing so? Tubestock plants only have a limited "shelf life" - they quickly grow too big for their containers and die from becoming root-bound and lack of soil/nutrients. I am surprised and saddened by the fact that there seem to be so many people out there in the eBay "community" who just don't care about this and who tell me to "mind my own business" etc. I have put this situation in detail to a few people today, one a friend and the other two people I met socially - and all agree that they can't believe the seller is doing what they are (or trying to), and that I have been lambasted for being outraged. Lesson learned - the eBay "community" is not here to help and should be shut down.
Lily,, I know you're fairly new to the boards & you won't feel it got off to a great start-you won't be feeling the love, so to speak.
But it ebbs & flows, most of the people here are fine & usually quite helpful & you can pick up a lot of useful information, even though sometimes threads do go off on tangents at times.
But it's good to have someone new come in & question the status quo, ask questions etc, it makes for interesting discussion so I hope you'll stick around.
Who would be the buyers for these plants. Obviously a keen gardener who lives near Bunnings or similar will go there. Maybe people in more remote or country locations could be customers. In which case-how do the plants get there? (You can tell I don't know a lot about plants). Seeds i could understand but plants in tubes would need special handling, wouldn't they? depending on how delicate the plant is, it would need to get to its destination quickly, I am assuming.
I'm wondering if part of the postage cost is absorbed into the cost of the plant. I know you said postage cost is separate but most people won't pay eg $7 for an item, with $50 postage. Whereas if the item is $50 with $7 postage they will.
The only other times I have seen mention of items at insanely high prices has been (as someone else suggested)
-if a seller has no more stock but doesn't want to pull the ad down, so they leave it there with a high price, knowing it isn't very likely anyone would bid at that price
-if they had it earmarked for a particular buyer. Then they may put it up with a ridiculously high figure & make an offer option & when the buyer they listed it for comes on, they offer the agreed price and it is accepted.
But basically, if it is just someone selling things at high mark ups, that is not illegal as such.
