Just a thought, although you have probably tried it - if you follow the
link (you may need to copy and paste it and be signed in to e bay) there
is a link on this page where you can report listing violations of
prohibited plants and seeds.
http://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/plantsandseeds.html
Negative feedback would slow them up , but without buying I dont know
how you could manage this!
hope this helps -
Helen
David S. wrote:
Last year I wrote about a seller on eBay that was auctioning mass quantities
of Cypripedium acaule. I'm talking about up to 15 lots of 300 plants,
along with very large quantities of smaller lots. Their seller name is
"kyatvrider", which I interpret to mean Kentucky All-Terrain Vehicle rider.
I tracked down them to Chase's Plants & Prints from McKee, Kentucky, which
is what they called themselves last year. They now have a website:
http://www.pinkladyslippers.com/ . I don't know of any reputable nursery
that would have quantities like this available, much less sell them on eBay,
so I assume that, with the help of an ATV or two, they are stripping the
woods. They do state that they ship "when they come up" and I'm sure are
shipped bareroot. This area of southeastern Kentucky is a heavily forested
area (except for the strip coal mines). They also seem to be stripping the
forests of mosses and other wildflowers. According to WHOIS, they've now
cloaked their domain name through an Australian company, so their current
contact info can't be found. I'm sure it is unchanged from last year when I
was able to get it. Then, it was the following:
Organisation Name: Mark Farmer
Org. Address: 140 Quail Run Estates, McKee, KY 40447
Admin Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Admin Phone: 1-606-287-4923
From what I gathered last year, they are not a licensed nursery, which is
required in Kentucky in order to ship plants. They are required to
accompany each shipment with a copy of an inspection certificate or license
certified by the state entomologist.
I sent this seller the following email through eBay last year, but received
no response (surprise!):
==
Hello, I have a number of questions about the Cypripedium acaule orchids
that you are auctioning:
1. Are you a licensed nursery in the state of Kentucky, compliant to KY Law
249.060?
2. Are you compliant with KY Law 249.090: Shipments to be accompanied by
inspection certificate or license?
3. You are not in the database of Kentucky Certified plant Nurseries or
plant Dealers under the name of Chase's Plants and Prints. To sell these
orchids and other plants without being licensed is against the law in
Kentucky.
4. Do you own the land that these orchids and moss are being removed from?
These orchids that you're selling a among the hardest species in America to
transplant and have a typical failure rate of over 90% to survive beyond one
year. They are also quite rare in most parts of the country. Please
reconsider selling these plants, especially in the massive quantities that
you are offering.
I sent emails to Joe Collins, a Kentucky nursery inspector located at the
University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, who said he would look into it. I
didn't receive any sort of followup from him. It seems the state only has
him and one other fellow to handle the whole state.
Joe Collins
Nursery Inspector
S-225 Agriculture Science Center - North
Department of Entomology, University of Kentucky
Lexington, KY 40546-0091
(859) 257-5838; Fax: (859) 257-3807
email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://www.uky.edu/Agriculture/NurseryInspection
This is the link to the sellers eBay store so you can see for yourselves
what he's offering:
http://stores.ebay.com/pinkladyslippers_W0QQssPageNameZl2QQtZkm
Does anyone have any ideas of how to put pressure on this eBay seller to
stop this terrible practice? Any help would be appreciated.
David S.
___
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