I buy, sell, and trade figs. Many people here do the same. I propose we have a standard policy that if a variety is not true to name the seller should make that transaction right. I am only able to do what I do based on the word of people before me. If I say that my variety is "X" it's only because someone else told me it was.
I do my due diligence, I research the leaf and fruit to try to make sure everything is correct, but we are all human. People make mistakes. This will force me and whoever will also offer this to keep better records and put our money where our mouth is. I will put this out there as "the buck stops here" policy.

So here is a policy that I will implement for myself, if anyone has any input THAT WOULD BE HELPFUL please chime in.

A 200% Guarantee. If you can PROVE that a variety that you got from me is not true to name, send it back to me. I will pay for the shipping, and either reimburse you for twice the money (value) or offer you another 2 choices of figs with a similar value. I will pay return shipping.

I cannot do a DNA test on every fig in my collection, but I have a small but growing reputation to protect. This is my way of saying I will stand by my product and if it's not right, I'll make it right. Look for this guarantee on my trades and sales and buy or trade with confidence.

that's why i do not sell things nor deal with money. i only trade or give away cuttings that i have grown myself. i don't care for flipping cuttings or plants. and if reputable forum member makes mistake, it happens. 

I am with Pete! I got some seeds on Ebay and none ever sprouted! Frustrating indeed. I lost so many precious cuttings of figs; Not fun!

Pete I think you hit it on the head.
People make mistakes and members are only going with other members are going with
as to what is the variety of fig that they have.

As a business person I see your point and understand what you are trying to do and I admire it. Figs are a hobby for me and I have only been willing to trade or give for that reason. I do buy some of my cuttings but I tend to be a PollyAnna and think most people are honest...

Simply offering a 1 for 1 replacement isn't much of a guarantee. It doesn't seem to go far enough to ensure that a variety is true to name. It does not shift responsibility to the trader. It does not stop someone from perpetuation the same careless actions. People are often nervous to trade because they are not sure if the variety they will be getting will be true to name. Well, for me they can feel secure.

i'm never nervous to trade knowing who i'm trading with. if i made trade with someone new and if it falls short, i just won't trade with that person again.

ADelmanto,
IMO, the standard policy should be that before you start trading and selling, you should have grown the cultivar and produced at least 1 harvest, with photos to confirm the named cultivar. Several forum members have done this simple procedure for years without DNA testing or excessive guarantees.

BTW, I purchased five (5) fig trees from a very reputable nursery last year, 2 of the 5 I suspected of being mislabeled. When they produced figs this year, it was extremely easy to place the proper names on the mislabeled trees.

Good Luck.

 Sometime if you put unknown in front of it people will pay more and want it more. Just saying-----

Richard
Zone 6a MA. with Greenhouse

It takes too many YEARS before the buyer figures out he didn't get what he bargained for.
How does he "PROVE" he got a wooden nickel?!? 
It's illogical for the seller to make it right. HOW?!?  
This is why I only pass along scions from my own mature trees.
 

I hate to be late to the party, but I have many varieties, and if they fruited for 10 years would be hard to prove if they were what they were "supposed" to be.

First you need a confirmed, guaranteed plant from which to make standardized pictures to measure everything else by. And then you need to verify the pictures by growing them under a variety of conditions, so that you know your standard is stable across soil, climate, fertilizer, etc. And then everyone has to agree that that is, in fact, what you say it is and that it is now the official standard.

Have done enough cross climate tests to know that you have little to no chance of success, even on the climate tests.

I accept cuttings at face value, grow them out, fruit them, and post the pix at Figs 4 Fun. When I sell a cuttings, it is based solely on the premise that the pix represent what the cuttings will produce and with the proviso that "your results may vary" for dozens of different reasons. No intention to defraud, but no way to guarantee anything, with the possible exception of Panache.

As a small example, anyone have a definitive standard photo of the 100+ Belle Clare varieties? Any know what a true "Fico Nera Paese" Looks like? A "Fico Bianco Fioroni"?

Or see Laverne Nursery and check out the "Black Jack" which uses an unmistakable "Black Madeira" pix taken by moi. And the pix on the individual page is a pix of a Black Jack from the Figs 4 Fun Collection, as well, and is not of any fruit from any of their trees.

Don't know what the answer is, but don't expect to find it in my lifetime. We all have to suck it up and live with the mess that is the world of figs.

How can a seller be sure of what they are selling,
when they have never actually grown out what is being sold
and just trading and reselling what was acquired from others only recently ?

---------------------------------

Jon,  I have all the photos that were taken by the owners over the years.
There are over 1000 photos, many are labled on the back.
So, quite possibly I have pictures of many of those varieties.
I've only taken a casual glance at the photos, not enough time to catalog them.
I also have the sales records, so I know where many went as well,
probably most are long gone by today.
I know one of the biggest BC collections that existed, essentially 100% complete,
it all perished in a severe cold event a few years ago, only 4 or 5 trees survived.

Hi Adelmanto,
How would you mark your material ? If you send a buyer a cutting and "unluckily" he does a swap... He still can blame you ...
How about varieties that need some time and sun to ripen and your buyer is in a zone, this will never happen ?

And just to stop talking about theory, let's be practical.
A friend exchanged small figtrees with two other guys - you how we guys are: I have the biggest, the tallest, the strongest ... - . He planted the small trees 30 kilometers away from the town we both live in at a friend garden.
The two trees he got are supposed to be keepers ... When he gets tired of my remarks, he always tell me, that a day he will show me the mother trees ... Well I'm still waiting ...
Well for 10 years, the friend has never seen the color of a fig, nor the color of a ripe fig .
Who is to blame ?
For me, the third one that never waters the trees is to blame and not to help, the local climate he lives in / just to laugh: His wife is to blame, she chose the site for the house :) .
The fig growing season at that village is a month shorter - starting 2 weeks later and stopping two weeks before . I'm sure of that because I tried growing tomatoes, and then I figured that out .
A good advice: If you want to check your location for figs inground, do it with tomatoes ...
After 10 years, we still have no idea what those bloody strains are .
So two years ago, I took cuttings to my garden. The siblings are growing good and perhaps next year we'll know.
So Adelmanto, would you still send the money back ? Would you like me to send you a 50 to 100 kilograms package (for the tree back option) ?

I don't even talk about getting fruits true to type. I would have some more stories, but I'll let space for others to express them selves as well :)

I suppose what I am trying to prevent is the wreckless and rampant knowingly passing along "brown turkey's" as "Maltese Falcons." A tree that never fruits or dies short after being planted would not qualify under my idea of a guarantee. It would take just a season or two to tell the difference between many varieties. It is not a perfect system, agreed, but I would assert it's a step in the right direction. "Buyer Beware" is not a good way to be for anyone. What else can I do besides do my homework, keep accurate records, and be honest. If 200% is too much, or not a good system, give me another suggestion. I'm looking for a universal standard that we could all abide by. One that is understood and can be accepted. If it's simply a replacement guarantee, well that's something. I think most people do that anyway, but is it the standard?

ADelmanto,
As far as I can tell there are no "Standard Guarantees" applied to Fig cultivar sales. Its actually up to the Individuals to police their own. IMO more of the unscrupulous actions are perpetrated by sellers and vendors, than by Hobbyists that are trading fig cultivars.

Your idea would not work because the sellers would not agree with the "Guarantee". Most forum members that sell develop a reputation as "Trusted Vendors" as does the Nurseries that many forum members frequent. If you are diligent, you should attain that status without needing to create a "Fig Guarantee".

In my limited experience I have seen a VERY wide difference between figs produced by trees that are exactly the same genetic material; i.e. a cutting raised tree with fruit very different from the original. How could you ever explain that to a disgruntled customer?

 I guess I'd be a little disappointed if I had purchased a BM and did not get what I purchased  and you would hope that it is a least similar to what you purchased, but  I would be just as happy if I got a variety that tastes just as good.  Me personally, I'm looking for great tasting figs that are highly productive and that require the least  amount of maintenance on my part.  

There will always be disgruntled consumers. WHAT DO YOU DO WITH THEM??? For me, the "customer" is always right. That is the risk I take by trading. To trade or sell and accept NO responsibility is wrong. Even if you are 100% sure it is true to name, you take it back and make it right. It's what you do. That is what I'm saying. No arguing, no public trashing, just do the right thing. (Even if they are wrong).

Over the years I have bought many items thru repeatable sites and people.  I'm with Pete on this, people make mistakes and  you cannot make everyone happy.  Some mistakes are a little harder to deal with, I purchased a almond  tree once from a repeatable garden site and it turned out to be a flowering peach and that would have been forgivable had it not been for the fact that all of there items were incorrect or not true to form.  The best approach is an honest barter.  Let someone know what you have to offer and be as honest as you can about it.

While I applaud the thought, I don't know an un-enforceable rule set would matter. Those that care will always try their best to represent, and the small number that chooses to deceive will do so anyway. What I would like to see stopped is the labeling of unknowns without a UNK or unknown in the tittle. In my book except in a few instances once an unknown always an unknown. I really don’t care whether it’s someone like Jon or Vasille at a high level of knowledge or my ignorant self stating what they think it might be. Unless the origin of the plant later shows identify it should always remain an unknown. I have seen folks ask for an opinion and then label that plant. One classic example is someone asking about a plant that was labeled wrong from a nursery, and somewhere along the way VDB was speculated. That nursery has never carried VDB, but that member seems very proud of that fig and seems to have distributed it around. Maybe a good fig, but should have never carried a label without a UNK in the name to me.   Many of you will disagree and state that’s how we end up with so many names for the same fig and that bothers me as well and I understand but I would rather try to maintain a list of or very similar figs that likely are the same.

I have shared cuttings prior to ever having the plant fruit. Maybe I need to re-think that, but I do like to share with others and often there are cuttings available before fruiting. I do have records  where I obtained each plant, and provide that info when I share material, but that might get more complicated when I have sourced a cultivar from more than one source.  To this point I have never charged for any plant material be it fig or anything else, and I doubt I ever will as this is hobby for me and then it becomes more business, but I will never say never and sure don’t object paying for things or those that do profit or at least try to break even. I appreciate the effort some folks have went to make new cultivars available. One of my worst fears is finding I have distributed something wrongly labeled even if I gifted the material.

Some sellers are selling based on the information  as it was provided to them,  I purchased 2 fig plants from Lowes at different times that were  both identified as Brown Turkey, It is obvious that they are different plants,  but that is how they have been listed and if I did not have the other to compare with I would have listed both as Brown Turkey in my dealings with others.

Honest people will be honest and dishonest people will be dishonest. I think what I'm trying to do is to make good people be a little more careful about what they distribute. Scarecrow brings up a good point. Taking a plant at face value is not enough. "Trust, but verify". Do your homework as best you can, double check, keep good records. If everything checks out, then trade away. When an honest mistake does happen, be willing to make right. I guess that's all I'm saying.

Scarecrow if you traded a fig with me and 2-3 years later I said, hey this is not correct. What would you do? (I'm not picking on you just throwing out a hypothetical.).

Let me ask that question to everyone. What would you do? (Let's assume I was promised a dark fig and I got a light one, to keep it pretty simple).