I keep finding varieties that are perfect for Idaho, but I keep losing on eBay (by a dollar) I was willing to pay top notch for it. But now, my chances seeing again maybe slim. If someone here is willing to sell me some cuttings please pm me or varieties that are good for zones 5-6. I'm good for it 

Red Sicilian cuttings are still available for about 6 more hours on ebay, and 2 rooted RS plants for a couple more days. Maybe you'll get lucky this time. :)

With ebay, the winner will always show only about $1 more than the second high bid - even if the winners high bid is much more than that. They only charge the winner $1 or so more than the next high bidder.

Ebay is a dicey little game to win!  The only time I win something I really want is to see what the thing would retail for, and put my maximum bid a tad higher than that.  I've had times where I actually hoped I wouldn't win because I didn't really want to pay that much.  But often, if you put your maximum bid high, people will be discouraged and won't bid in case they end up paying too much.

Good luck!  I hope you win!
Suzi

Isn't that the truth! I was lucky and able to get cuttings of both varieties mentioned on ebay this year. I'm hoping now that I have a number of various fig varieties (these and others) starting that I'll be able to do some trading after they are well-established. But it's still way too early for that.

What surprises me is how much $ some of the varieties go for. More power to the sellers of course - glad to see the legit ones making a profit for their efforts. I wonder however if prices will go down somewhat as more people get their recent cuttings established and start to sell them. This is my first year watching figs on ebay, so I don't really know.

Ebay is also addictive, so you need to do your research and not pay more than you can get from a forum member!  We all love figs (Just tasted a ripe Breba from VdB), cut it in half so JD could have some when he wakes up, but he who sleeps late, looses!

Anyway, Ebay is nice for a source, but I would trust a fig forum member's air layer or cutting first!

I did go look at the Red Sicilian fig mentioned in this post, and wound up purchasing (buy it now) seeds for Jackfruit (one of my Jamacian favs) and Monstera deliciosa.  IF they grow, they will be houseplants until we get some acreage in Fallbrook, CA soon.

Happy fig growing!
Suzi

That is soo true. I took a risk on red Sicilian... God I hope I didn't get ripped off! We will see. I will post picture updates

Oh my!  Your maximum bid was so high nobody would ever top it, or you won?

I wanted one of those old fashioned crank ice cream makers because of my childhood memories, and I put an outrageous maximum bid on it.  Of course I won it!  AND, it is now a part of my grandchildren's childhood memories.  They love taking turns sitting on the top and cranking!  AND Nana's homemade ice cream is far superior to their daddy's new fangled electric one, even though my son AKA daddy ends up muscling the end of the cranking!  They DEMAND that ice cream at our annual summer birthday party!

An extreme maximum bid is sometimes worth it.  Just depends what it's worth to you.
Suzi

If this tree is so good, I had to try, and there were NO bids, so not competing with you, Jennifer. 

First I checked UC Davis, and they don't have it, so I put an outrageous bid for 4 cuttings.  After JD (my husband, not the person named JD on this site) left for a week of fly fishing, he gave me some "guilt money," which I still have.  I was amazed at the amount of guilt!  LOL!  My little auction won't be over for 6 days, but the bidders will have to commit to a really outrageously high price.  I'm good for it!

Actually, we have the climate of Sicily here, so I expect good stuff from this baby! 
Suzi

The trick to winning on eBay is to bid the maximum amount you'd possibly want to spend in the last 10 seconds.  This is probably what the person beating you is doing.  When the auction closes, if someone else has a higher maximum bid than you do, eBay automatically takes your highest bid, increases it by a dollar and the auction win goes to the person with the higher maximum bid.  (Sorry if you already know this)

You can see this happen in other situations.  For example, if a person has already placed a bid on an item and you bid, and you still aren't the lead bidder (i.e. it appears someone auto-outbid you by $1 or something), that's because the other person has a 'max bid' higher than your current bid.  You can keep adding bids in increments to find out what their maximum bid is to determine whether or not this is the case.

There is one other F4F member that I got caught in a bidding war with on eBay some time ago on one of Herman's auctions.  Ever since then, I've never bid on another set of cuttings.  I think it was for Gino's Black or Sal (Gene's/EL) cuttings.  I got tired of getting my ass handed to me on several auctions during Thanksgiving with family (away from home), so on the last set of cuttings, I got pissed and set my maximum bid at $75 or something 5 seconds before auction close (the value was at $24 or something prior).  Well, the other forum member had a maximum bid greater than $100, so this forced the auction to close out at $76, if I recall correctly.  Good for Herman, but the other member got sacked with an outrageously high bill on the cuttings.  I posted here about it and the forum member reached out.  We split the difference on the auction and split the cuttings (A+ to you still, sir).

Word to the wise:  Be careful on eBay, there are folks out there who will give you a run for your money... and it can hurt sometimes, as evidenced above.

You say it like it is!  I put my max bid over $1000, so I will win.  It's a game!  Play to win!
Suz

Suz, you should take down that figure.  Someone will bid you up with no intention of getting the item. 

Jason, I know that feeling but I limited myself to $25.  I feel bad for the person who was going to pay $8 if it wasn't for me but one of our own got extra $$, so I guess it was ok.  :)

Also, don't wait too late.  I waited till the last 15 sec once but something got bogged down and my bid didn't make it in time.

ebay bid game is too rich for me.

pete

I've bought a few fig cuttings from ebay. I decide what the max is I would be actually willing to pay, and bid that. And that's it. If someone overbids me I figure it wasn't meant to be.

The most I've seen cuttings sell for are $200 (I was not bidding), but for all I know, there could be something that has sold for even more. Yikes!

As to bidding $1,000 for a Sicilian Red, I'd be happy to sell all of my SR cuttings that are rooting for $500 to anyone who is interested. ;) Such a deal. :)

Ebay is fun.

Noss, look at the thread started by TONYSAC.  Someone's giving away a bunch of BT cuttings soon and says they're great for rooting practice.  If he's serious, take him up on it.  You can always sell the extra plants on ebay.  I saw today where a BT went for over $10 before shipping.

yeah, but BT is famous for seriously bad flavor.  So you work hard to get them rooted, and what do you get?  A really bad fig!

Suzi

That sounds like a good idea. It's the practice that is the goal, not the BT's. (Sounds like withdrawal from something). 

Sometime later this year I want to get some generic cuttings to experiment on in terms of rooting - there are some things I want to try to see if rooting is affected. I'd feel bad if they were from a good fig and was just playing around. I'm planning on finding a local fig tree however... And have one (an unknown) in mind.  ...just have to find my night-vision goggles. ;)

I WON my Ebay auction, and should receive my cuttings by May 6th.  Color me happy!  Total cost, incl. shipping $27.00
Suzi

That's great Suzi, what did you get?

I got 4 sicilian red cuttings.  It's really hot here now, so they should root easily in the warm days.
We are looking for acreage, and should be able to close on something this month.  Figs need space for sure!
Suzi

Good luck and may all four be large, fruitful and sound like fairies in the wind.

Hello everyone TONYSAC here i am the ebay master i rarely ever lose you need to snipe the auction 3 sec before the end with your total highest bid i use a program called baygenie heres the link  http://www.baygenie.com/ i usually download my programs from torrent sights and there hacked at times.... im not 100% sure if you have to pay but its well worth it if you do the reason why you lose is because someone or something is right there bidding with you and the longer your bid stays up and visible your chances of losing increase drastically if you use a snipping application you program the app to sync with ebay 10 mins before auction end and then you tell it your max bid and you tell it when to place the bid i have mine set at 3 seconds before the end of the bid by the time the page refreshes you win unless someone is using a similiar program and bid it higher then you trust me look into it its great you just set it and forget it and its like xmas you get the email saying you won PS you must leave the program up and running in the backround of your pc just minimize the program 

I wonder what the bonus will be? Marius was giving out some sweet bonuses during the dormant season. I noticed the red sicilian seller listed a whole bunch more lots and must be excited about their hot seller! I hope it turns out to be what you are hoping it is...

Brown turkeys are not bad tasting figs.  They are sweet.  Maybe not as complex as some others but there's nothing wrong with them.

Congrats on your win, Suzi!

I second that rcantor !!!!!