In your zone - wait.

First, I agree with Ken that the seller should do their homework on weather conditions and ship accordingly. That being said, Ebay does pressure you to SHIP! SHIP! SHIP NOW! but that is easily ignored as long as you communicate...

Second, you mentioned the plant fell out of the pot really easily...I think that's a good thing as it hasn't been binding itself inside a plastic pot ignored forever...although I mount all of my orchids and am always relieved when I don't have to surgically remove the plastic pot...

Third, I just got my shipment of orchids from Ken and WOW! Talk about well packaged!!! They are SUPERB! I will post pictures soon...I've mounted all of them and they are just wonderful!!!

Kate!

I can't believe I forgot to mention....I LOVE your goat!!! I fostered a family of Nigerian dwarfs that were rescued from a livestock auction....I used to walk the buck on a leash around the little town. Got so many double takes! (Is that a horned dog??) The nanny delivered two kids as a surprise. They were the funniest little family. Liked to come in the house and watch TV and steal raisins from my trail mix

That's just so neat, Kate. My wife likes to steal the raisins from the trail mix as well.

This is the note which I sent to the seller.

Hi, I received the plants but wanted to contact you before leaving feedback. The weather here has been unusually cold here, even for upstate New York. The box of plants was left on my front step in 20 degree F for 2 hours. I looked all over the box,because my postman is usually very good, and always takes parcels back to the post office if he is in any doubt. There were no warnings on the box to say it contained live plants, keep from freezing etc. Inside the box, the plants were not very well packed, with just 1 sheet of newspaper around each, no padding etc. I think that this must have been an oversight and wanted you to know, without leaving bad feedback. Thank you.

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Seller has responded to your question about this item

Hello,
Thank you for emailing us with your concern. I am very sorry that this happened. How are the plants doing? In the future, please note that we recommend holding the shipment of plants, or emailing us about your local weather, until you feel the weather is safe to prevent these types of situations from happening as stated in our listings. We don't usually pad packages for weather, we package for impact. I do want you to be happy with your plants so let me know how they are doing and if anything we can swap some out for you. Please send me pictures if they were damaged by the cold.
Thanks, Angie.

I see two things here, Lore. One good, a couple not so good. It appears that with photo evidence, the seller will replace any damaged plants. So that's good. What's not good is that the seller apparently expected you to send him information about your weather. How hard is it for a seller to go to the Weather Channel site and see what the 10-day forecast is in any area in the US? Regardless of the poor spelling, and I am quilty of that as well, this time of year ALL plants should be shipped recognizing that the weather will be/might be cold. How could you not? It is not hard to wrap a bit more newspaper around plants. This is not rocket science. Also, this seller states: "We recommend holding the shipment of plants................as stated in our listings". Did the seller have that statement when you purchased the plants?

Lorli said:For example, there are some listings on eBay right now from someone in Louisiana (I think it's called LaJohn or something similar) for some really interesting looking orchids, I had never heard of some of the genera! I am trying to decide whether to order or wait.

Thanks again, everyone.

The LaorchidJohn vendor makes me nervous. He never gives good descriptions or terms and he used to never post photos. Now I see photos, but I really suspect they are not his. I suspect that he is a reseller.

I know he has great feedback. If I were to try him, I would go for something pretty cheap and only during prime growing season (like late spring). Just my 2 cents.

This forum is so helpful!

Ken - I looked up the original listing and yes, they did write that the buyer is responsible for letting them know if they need to delay shipment. But, that is not the point! If they had packed the plants well, and, more importantly, labelled the outside of the box, I'm sure the plants would have been okay. Received a few plants from Catlin Orchids, San Diego, at the same tie, and those plants were just fine, well packed and labelled.

I must add, re: Kate's comment, that there is one Laelia which is very pot bound, I haven't ad the time or energy to deal with it yet. And I just remembered that one of the plants arrived bare root, it was not listed as such but I didn't care. I repotted every plant except for the pot boud one, and removed all the polystyrene pieces before repotting in clean compost. I was concerned about the white stuff on the bark chips and the moldy smell.

Do you think I can just leave no feedback at all, or I could "damn with faint praise". It was nic of them to offer to replace the plants, but right now I don't know that I would want any of their plants.

Melissa - thank you for the hint, this is the kind of advice I need. If that person is reselling, I wonder where he is getting he plants in the first place. Some of those plants look so interesting and I've never heard of some of the genera. Where can you get them? Andy's is the only place I can think of right now.

Kate - do you still have your goats? I've never seen Nigerian dwarf goat babies, how big are they? They must be so cute! We have cashmere goats and their babies are tiny and so much fun to watch. This Georgiana is not a cashmere, she is sort of a rescue and is my pet now. She doesn't have a good undercoat, so she needs the sweater. Wereyourbaby goats house trained? We had 2 bottle babies one year and they would use newspapers, but once I caught the girl using the little boy's bed for a bathroom!

I don't like raisins and pick them out myself and give them to the chickens.

Lore, if it were me, I would post a feedback. Not only will that perhaps help someone else when making a decision to order from this seller but also put that seller on notice that he/she needs to improve their packing and labeling. There is nothing wrong with honesty.

If everyone tiptoes around these feedbacks and then only leaves perfect feedbacks, others will be lulled into the wrong perception and expects perfect plants, perfectly packed.

I don't order much from Ebay because it is hit and miss. Living in Florida, there are several growers in the area plus the orchid clubs and plant shows/sales. And then there is always Apopka, just a couple of hours away. Once a year, we have the big Redlands event in Miami, about 4 hours away. The bottom line is, I like to see what I am buying. Besides, I don't really need more plants. I just keep an eye open for special or rare orchids.

Jim

I agree with Ken. Obviously, good packaging doesn't take THAT much time and materials are pretty easily obtained...and yes, I think if the seller wants to undertake shipping nationally, they should be responsible for checking the dang weather!!!!!

Were they expensive?

And no, I don't have my goats They were fosters, I really wasn't able or allowed to keep them permanently on the property I was on. The babies were the cutest thing I've EVER seen....they maybe weighed a pound or two at birth. One in each palm! They grew up fast and were very hyper...they'd run like a cartoon character...in place for a second and then take off! We named them Beep and Meep...that's exactly what their bahh's sounded like...."BEEP! MEEP!"

Jim, I am the same way.
I love to go to Orchid shows and never miss an open house around here. In general, I like to see what I buy and besides, I love to browse the vendor tables and simply see what's there.
If I purchase online, which is rare, I buy only from established vendors I know and trust.

Me three! I've ordered a few orchids online and mostly been disappointed with tiny plants that will take years to bloom for me. A few have been real winners, especially the nice ones I got from Ken!

Lore Lisa, you definitely should leave some feedback on your orchid order, for the sake of other buyers. At least comment on the fact they sent them when the weather was below freezing. As Kate says, it's really easy to look at a forecast and delay shipping for a few days to ensure the orchids will survive. Somebody definitely dropped the ball on that and if you wouldn't buy from this vendor again, well why would you want somebody else to?

Jim and I are meeting in Apopka on the 17th if anyone wants to join us for a road trip. It's about a 2hr. drive for me as well, but well worth the time and the gas. The orchids are half or less the price of one you'd buy at a show.

Ursula? A cheap flight into Orlando and we'll pick you up . . . ? Bring a big suitcase for orchids!

It might be time to visit my son - a surprise Christmas gift!. He just happens to live in Sarasota. Again, where is Apopka?

I really, really need more orchids. I just got in 50 BS ones and have 250 coming in next week, "baby" ones. I think I need another GH before I fly home with more BS orchids!

Apopka is about 20 miles NW of Orlando.

Jim

Thank you, Elaine.

If it were not for the fact that I will spend lots of dough for our upcoming Bowl game (who knows where, but they always cost me several thousand smackers), I might consider making that Apopka trip. Perhaps when I finally re-retire to S. FL, I will have a "proper" GH (like yours Jim/Ursula/Elaine/et al). Nothing planned yet.

Apopka on the 17th? What is the name of the show? That isn't necessarily close to me (I'm near Sarasota) but may be worth it anyway!

Well Ken, next time you do plan to visit your son here in Sarasota, be sure to let us know and we'll arrange to abduct you for half a day of orchid shopping. I usually leave here at 8:30am meet Jim at 10:30 in Apopka and am home by 2 or 3pm.

I'm thinking you'd find the prices more than competitive with your wholesalers especially when you're paying shipping from Hawaii! Plus (as mentioned above) you'll get to see what you're buying.