Yep way too hard. Most seed is germination tested in December and labeled for sale in following year. In the case of onions to make sure you are buying seed which has been tested and packaged for 2020, you can buy from January til December and get the same quality seeds except that they have sitting storage. Pay attention to germination rates also, they can sell as low as 70 %. I got a batch this past year, that I only got 4 plants out of 1000. Vendor discontinued that variety. Onion seed does deteriorate fast. I don't normally, but storing in a freezer until planting time in September is probably a good move.
