EDIT 2/25/2013 12:22PM PST: The seller has edited his auction to remove the language he copied from me.  The photo in his auction is his, he posted it here last summer.  His auction appears to be legitimate, he just did some things he shouldn't have.  I don't believe further discussion in this thread is warranted. Thanks, Harvey

I don't know if eBay seller "flin7618" is a member here or not, but it seems unlikely.  He/she has listed Black Marseilles VS at http://www.ebay.com/itm/251233990349

Some of the text within the auction listing, i.e., being a full-time farmer and cuttings taken from tree started from cutting originally obtained from Davis, etc., is copied from one of my recent auctions.  USDA Davis does not have Black Marseilles VS in it's database.

I hesitated posting this warning because the dummy is unlikely to get any bidders since they listed shipping cost at $44.60 to my zip in California but then played around with an east coast zip code and shipping was only $5.80 so someone might bid.

Does anybody know if the photo used belongs to someone else?

Dunno. I thought the same thing too. I say stick with your gut :-)

Thanks for posting anyway
Jennifer

I have no doubt about it being a fraud, just don't know if the person is also a member here.  Says he's a full time farmer and grows in his large "yard".  Copying my comments with some edits and saying he got them from a source that doesn't have them.

Well can't tell the tree came from Davis, if Davis doesnot have it! Why people do this?

I asked  the seller if he in fact obtained this variety from uc davis. awaiting reply. i think it is a legit question.

This person is about 10 minutes from me.  I had a recent bad ebay experience from an eBay member that sold me recently rooted cuttings for red lebanese. They were so badly wrapped they were dead on arrival, he claimed to was going send me new cuttings, but got silence and nothing so far after 3 months. Looking at the profile and description, it looks like the same guy. Could be valid figs and the types he list, but I would stay away

thanks for warning us Harvey. That seller takes the fun out of figs. :(

I was wrong they are not the same guy, but looking at the pictures, they all look like they have been taken from other websites.

thanks for the heads up !

Harvey,
Thanks for the warning. As a past farmer guys like this irritate me. No decent farmer would post lies about his trees or livestock, etc. I do see there are no bids. Hopefully no one will fall for this and he'll go away.

YES  i will chime in with a Thank You for the Heads Up Harvey .
Just to many SCAM guys !

I am flin7618 in ebay. I just copied and pasted other seller's description on my fig cuttings. I was not aware of USDA Davis. It is irony that my real and healthy Marseilles Black VS with false description is considered as bad seller or spam while famous members are selling sick fig cuttings with fig mosaic virus(FMV) as good seller. 

I am sure all of old members here mostly have fig mosaic virus(FMV) in their fig trees. I believe you will delete my postings sooner. :)

However, I decide to sell my last one big/healty Marseilles Black VS , not more planting fig trees.

Good lucky to all buyers here.

Thanks for the information, figs4me. I'm sure it will help members bid with more confidence than before.
Good luck with your ebay item. I hope it finds a happy home soon.

Noss, yes I did report it to eBay, though they don't give an opportunity to explain why I suspect it's a fraud.

Flin, you coppied much of the body of your description from me and I never listed Marseilles Black VS except as small cuttings I'm starting now.  Whose photo did you steal?  If you lie about these things, why should anyone believe you about getting the variety you claim and free of FMV? You're bad.

Flin,
I have to agree with Harvey here. You are not acting like an honest person.
To accuse others to make your actions seem less dishonest is not a good policy.
If you'd PM'ed Harvey first, I'm sure he would have been happy to help you. 
If you were acting honestly you wouldn't copy and post info you don't even understand (UC Davis info). That is really tacky. 
There is nothing ironic in your post whatsoever.
You got caught -- why not just admit it, change your add and apologize to Harvey? This is a forgiving forum of nice folks. 
The person who looses if you don't plant other fig trees is you. 
I won't even address FMV with you as you obviously don't understand that either.

Harvey, Photos 100% are mine! you can check my postings with this photo here before.

Mgginva, I did not say about Harvey. Please check it again. I just said I am flin7618, that is all.

Ebay, I understand you are very large businessman, you are getting too many real reports or false reports you can not have time to handle with.

figs4me were are you located ? your profile says U.S.A.  but you mentioned being in another country in several posts and you seem to have a bit of a laungage barrier ?
If so you should correct your profile perhaps ?
This might be helpful if your profile info was correct ?

Ebay really causes this confusion.  I doubt anyone wants to copy things, but Ebay ENCOURAGES the practice!!!!.

Example:  You want to sell something like a 1932 Brand Name wrench for instance, so you have no idea what to ask.  You search and find other people's listings for the certain wrench you wish to sell.  Here is where Ebay assists copying.  They ask "Have something like this to sell?"  or something like that.  Not sure of the wording.  You say yes, and up comes this add, and you fill in your info, and badabing!  You have an easy ad.

I have never sold a fig, but I had an entire estate to sell, and I freely copied other people's ads with the help of Ebay's tempting "Have one like this to sell?"  Much of the stuff was antique, and I was clueless as to it's value.  I did put my own photos in, and changed some of the wording, but all this copying is the fault of Ebay!!

I'm sorry for Harvey who feels justifiably ripped off, and for the seller who just wanted to sell one item.

I hope this turns out well for all.  Remember, there are two sides to every story.  In this story there are two victims and one winner!  EBAY!!

Good luck to you sellers and buyers!

Suzi

We should pin the list of safe and reliable sellers to the top of the forum for easy accessibility.  This would help save a lot of time and money in purchasing mislabeled figs, whether dishonest sellers or seller's honest mistake.

Suzi, eBay does nothing to encourage a seller from going and copying the description from another person's auction.  Each seller should describe their own item.  What figs4me did was to find an auction of an entirely different fig that I was selling and copy my information about being a full time farmer and growing figs as a hobby and also that my original tree was started from a USDA Davis cutting and use it in his auction.  Going back to his original posts on this forum it appears that he/she did buy Marseilles Black VS from someone near him so the cuttings may be legitimate.  However, I suspect they also have FMV, but big deal!  Vectors spread the disease readily so if his RdB has FMV, then his MBVS probably does also since his source probably has other trees with FMV.  He complained before about FMV with his RdB from Kerry but ended up deciding it was okay but now wants to bring up the issue as a problem again.

figs4me, you should just edit your auction and take out the stuff about being a full-time farmer and also that you got your original cutting from USDA Davis.

Some posts of interest:
http://figs4funforum.websitetoolbox.com/post?id=5928698  (shows figs4me probably bought Marseilles Black VS)
http://figs4funforum.websitetoolbox.com/post?id=6023253  (discussion of FMV problem)
http://figs4funforum.websitetoolbox.com/post?id=6024567  (brought up concern of FMV with Kerry but then said he was okay with it)
http://figs4funforum.websitetoolbox.com/post?id=5982488  (in post 26, claims to have multiple IDs here)

another reason to stick with known members on this forum, or buy from the people we trust like jon, bass and others. thanks for the head up. don't like to deal with people who copy other's info or pix. just a bad practice.

edit: FMV free fig tree.. ROFLOL!!!

Is this the same guy that threaten our friend here with a law suit and claimed to have done DNA tests for selling FMV infected cuttings???  In this era of smart phones and cheap digital cameras, there is no justification to steal copyrighted descriptions and photos belonging to others.  This guy is caustically accusing honest growers and serious professional nurserymen with FMV infected trades. get real, no one here is going to believe his tactic of a good defense is a set of caustic lies as an offense

The user name on that other ebay issue was different.