Do we have any attorneys in the group? I can gather tons of evidence over the years and maybe we can get it to the DA? You never know they might try to prosecute them.

eBay is cash flow centric... profit rules and these scammers make money for ebay... and that is without ruling out side deals....

Brian... there is evil in the world... we see it every day... it is sad... I don't have all the answers but.... I have lots of questions....   :-(

Everyone needs to get together and pay he, she or it a visit and demand their money back plus extra.
If anyone has the scammers real name and address they should post it on here.

Hi All the names that have you have been talking about on this topic are now very active on the United Kingdom Ebay site so be very carefull on what you are bidding on & do a check of the sellers name on this site before you bid

As long as there is high ticket items. There will be scammers taking advantage of those trying to score a quick easy deal. If it's seems too good to be true then it probably is.  Be cautious and use common sense when buying fig trees or cuttings online. I see a bunch of sellers put twigs on ebay with no images of the actual figs. What does this tell you about a seller? Think about it.  A picture is worth a thousand words. Thieves have no conscience!! They probably sleep better than any of us. As a matter of fact they make money while they sleep on ebay.

This is not about eBay, but I need to know why I'm getting all kinds of posts on here instead of the digest.  Can anyone help me with this.  I'm not aware of having clicked on anything to remove me from the digest.  If anyone can tell me who to contact, or how to return to digest, I'd sure appreciate it.

I buy from people I know on eBay.  The times I've done otherwise, a time, or two, I've regretted it, so I don't do it.  If I don't know them, I just ignore them.  There is enough chance of getting the wrong thing with people you know (pure, honest errors) that you don't need to buy from someone you don't know.

It's good if we have a list of honest Sellers here on F4F.  Good luck in the future.  :D

noss

Thank you guys for the heads up. I was in the process of making purchases, but canceled.

I wish people paid more attention to seller info... In looking at the ~250 US based fig auctions posted, I believe that the total attributable to know scammers is in the area of 30-40% of those offers.... THAT is a huge amount and means that any buyer who buys without full confidence in the sellers authenticity and trust worthiness is just giving their money away to scammers... If you don't know... ask on the forum and you will get good guidance... Don't accept a private PM telling you that a seller is good because the scammers do have moles on both forums that could dis inform you however feedback on the open forum ensures that many folks can opine and if a suspect mole comments, we generally know who they are and can negate that... What this generally means is that if a non forum member wants to sell on ebay, they better make themselves know to both forums or risk being panned.... 

I don't think every non forum seller is a scammer, but some are for sure.

If they can't name their source or refuse to name their source, do not have photos of leaf, fruit, or mother plant, can not answer basic questions correctly about the variety, lives in an apartment in the middle of a city with NO land, etc.... a red light should go off....I say, stay away! Some sellers have their question option turned off and you can not even ask a question....red light.

In general i do agree, but not all sellers show all pictures of mother tree, fruit etc.  I generally do not buy from rude people and that ususally keeps me pretty safe.  Fig lovers usually love to talk about figs.

Kingelii is another one activ on eBay last year. Probably all the same 77peony-dausername...i have been screwed by this one last year!

They are all tied together. I saw korina has sold 10 sets of fake LSU strawberry. What a shame...

http://m.ebay.com/sch/i.html?isRefine=true&_pgn=1&_nkw=seller%3Akorina77-2008&_sasl=korina77-2008&LH_Complete=1&LH_Sold=1

The lsu strawberry are listed under the peony alias... so many bullshit alias names, it is hard to keep up without a database....

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Fig-tree-cuttings-LSU-Strawberry-5-cuttings-/112024088349?hash=item1a1527ef1d:g:suoAAOSwjDZYd7kJ

says 10 sold....

What fig in this universe is worth all this todo y'all go through hoping you'll get THE fig of the century when over and over again, we see that it's only the one right now and down the road it will get cheaper as the next new THE fig of the century has come along?

Have I gotten stuck?  A very few times before I realized I'd rather stick with the people I've known here for years and who have always been friendly and honest.  I wouldn't trade them for all the fancy figs in the universe.

I've never been after THE fig in the first place.  What I've looked for is the best figs for where I live and have found several that are very good and do well here.

Step back and take a deep breath and quit fooling with these scammers and letting them scam you.

May you find your best figs from only the best people.

Old and crotchety noss

It is still important for new/newer people who come across the post, to realize what is going on.

My Ebay feedback is @700 and did not realize, until figs, the blatant scamming that is allowed. That complaints to Ebay are useless because they suck too.

It is also important to know everyone is not corrupt and with some due diligence you can find good deals and people. It is how I found this forum in the first place.

THE fig isn't as important as THE fig I like. I think most people exposed to figs for a month or two can pick up on the pricing cycles of new figs.

Some people choose to afford the expense in exchange for time

Knowledge to help people, that's all. I know it's harder, now that it is more important for people to meet ol' Jess by the crick for the book burning on Tuesday, the day after Friday.

Old and Crotchety too, lol. Probably related.

Take care, Mike

Be careful F4F members, several scammers are really putting a lot of listings on eBay, mostly top of the line varieties. I always ask who was their original source of their cuttings, if they don't answer then I don't buy. Also, they do sell their cuttings, so......in a year or so, their buyers will eventually sell or trade their cuttings as the real deal, and the problem escalates. I have been told that their source is private, some relative or friend overseas, can't remember etc... Also, some scam sellers have their "question" request turned off so you can not ask a question. Buy from a forum member or someone with references.

Agree... I still hold by my previous assessment that 30-40% of the current USA only listed sales are by scammers.... They have turned up the heat recently....

eBay is loaded with some questionable listings right now. An example is the White Madeira, Harvey is the only trusted listing in my opinion. But selling fake cuttings is not just the buyers problem. Example: I have calculated about 33 WM cuttings that have been or will be sold by the end of this week from eBay listings, guess what the buyers will be doing next year or so, that's right, distribution of fake varieties that they feel is the real deal, now there will be at least 3 different WM circulating our communities, only one is the real deal. That's how this practice is so discouraging and unethical. Make sure you know the source before you buy or you may be the next buyer who will be trading, gifting, or selling fake varieties in the future. Neither seller has responded to my questions or have not responded to my satisfaction.

Thank you all; Mike, Tony, Wayne, Brian, etc. etc. for keeping this topic alive and at the forefront. It's easy to see how you can be deceived if you don't know the signs of a fig scam.

I was lucky in the three trees I bought on eBay before I found the forums. They ended up being sold by trusted members, Keith, Don and Frank. I know others have not been so lucky.

@waynea you are so right.... the problem is a huge progression far beyond the person buying the fake... strict adherence to the rule of "only buy from known sources" will only work if EVERYONE follows the rule... even a known source can make a mistake and any mistake introduced into the system can explode and grow as quickly as a virus....

I had 2 phone calls across 3 departments with ebay about dausername1 cuttings I bought. I googled her and found he was a scammer, and I too had problems leaving a negative complaint. So from my call with customer service, they understood my complaint with not being able to mark him negative and they tested it and found that to be true. Next I spoke with the fraud department. They read the fake positive complaints. They understood the issue about selling fake cuttings and how people wouldn't realize until the plant... if the plant even grew. They credited me the full purchase, are suspending all the guys accounts, and are going to refer dausename1 to law enforcement once they complete their investigation. Thank you tsparozi for the warning!!!! Now if I can only figure out what type of fig cuttings he actually sent me!!

Way to GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!