I find watching fig sales on ebay fascinating. Not only what people put up to sell, what actually sells, the prices they get, and so forth. I've gotten a number of cuttings there myself and have been generally pleased so I'm more than just a voyeur. I guess what amazes me most is the high prices people are willing to pay for certain figs - there are several high-priced ones there now. Wow. More power to both the buyers and sellers.

I was amused the other day when someone was selling some very slender looking unknown cuttings that were sitting beside a piece of rotten watermelon. And someone had placed a bid.

I'm also amazed at all the Brown Turkey plants that people sell. And the Missions (which I like, and where I got my cuttings.)  And the Alma in a 5 gallon container someone is asking $109 for, and so forth.

It's fun watching the progression of the sales season. First it was the many cuttings, now more rooted plants are appearing. I can hardly wait for what's next.

Figs are so entertaining. :)

That's funny Gina I was watching the same auction its from Georgia with the rotten watermelon 

rotten watermelon 

LOL, I hadn't even noticed... click on the picture Dave posted to enlarge it, then look at the base of the two top cuttings - they are dead! The slender one doesn't look very spry either. One would need to root those in holy water.  ;)

Whenever I looked at that rotting melon, I thought those dark flecks could be fruit flies. ... Now fig wasps would be another matter. :)

Holy Water............. ha ha ha good one!

I saw the same thing!  My Sicilian Red cuttings arrived a couple days ago.  Yes, I won that auction, and the coolest thing is she sent me 4 cuttings, but 2 have split branches, both with tips and at least 3 nodes, so I'll be cutting one side off to increase my cutting growth chances from 4 to 6!

Suzi

I also follow the ebay listings, I enjoy seeing what is available and how high some go for. Of course if I am shopping, I curse the fact that ebay drives up the prices. I haven't sold figs on ebay yet, but if I do I'll want those same people to drive the prices up then for sure. 

Did she take bids on the watermelon?  lol

I Won I Won I got the rotten watermelon ...that was a close one does any one want some seeds .... :)

Wow, the Col de Dame Noir and Col de Dame Grise plants ($$$) must be some good figs! Best of luck to buyers and seller of course.
I live on a budget, I guess I'll stick with cuttings.

The infamous "watermelon cuttings" are not even a clean cut, more like broken off by hand?

from what i have heard CDDB/N/G are all very good. however, noir and gris are better than blanche, and gris is best of the lot.

can't wait to see noir and gris. have rooted cutting and winter cutting coming little later.

mean while i hope blanche grows up so i can taste what it's like.

pete

These figs needed to be imported,as  first priority by US Agriculture Dept,a hundred or more years ago.
If they did ,they will be common now,and easy to find.
They would be in every yard ,in which a Brown Turkey fig is today.
The fact that an inferior Tasting,Brown fig with large,showy, fruits ,was imported and  drum up to be good,is ,what  the results of  crooked capitalism Brings.

I heard noir was the best. Guess it depends on conditions or personal taste. Hoping to get some production from my Cdds this year. Looking at those ebay prices has me feeling very lucky that I already have Cdd noir, gris and blanc, (thank you to the member who just gave me gris) I couldn't afford to roll with those bidders! Ebay drives up the prices for sure.

Ebay is a dicey little game, but a fun game, either as a seller or a buyer.  This is mine, and game is up in an hour.  Funny how people wait to bid.  There are 5 watchers at the moment.  They do NOT place a bid until the last minute!

It's just something I'm trying to get a decent price for prior to the estate sale next weekend.  It's not fig related for sure! :-)

Still, I have purchased cuttings, seeds and plants on Ebay, and have never been disappointed.  Plus, you save money on gas!  Bummer, that shipping...........

Suzi

Suzi, You sure are brave posting an ebay link to something you are bidding on. LOL I hope no one else here sees it and jumps in on the bidding!! Promise I won't. I get very frustrated when I see something I want and then watch the price rise or as you say the price jumps with seconds to go. Still it is fun and I win a few things. Bidders wait til the very end with the hope of not driving the price too high. We call them snipers.

I guess I didn't make it clear.  I'm not bidding!  I'm SELLING!  If it sells, I'll be happy.  It goes to the Estate of JD's late mom, then it gets split in the estate.  I'm trying to get more on Ebay than we will get at the yard sale on the 16th.  Can't blame a girl for trying!
Suzi

Oh My mistake, In that case excellent idea to post it here! LOL Good luck!  

I put in a few bids on all of mnedelcu's figs yesterday.  I was surprised how quickly they went up in price over 1 day.  I can't see myself going higher than 25$ Maltese Falcon for $200+.  Unbelievable!  More power to him though.  Pays for more supplies to grow and sell more.   

Yeah, I would be a dead man if I ever spent $50 on an auction. Luckily, persistance very often pays off when sellers offer more lots.
I bid early on what I want (if I think I can afford it), if someone wants it more they will get it, but I am glad that the seller got more than I could pay and I can still pay my bills.

I would like to get some of the figs on there ...buuttttttt..... Ya might say there a little bit outta my price range. Too bad though!

I lost like almost every auction I bid on this year. I also got some trash that didn't root.  I got some good White Marseilles cuttings, a panachee cutting, great Stella cuttings, and great Celeste cuttings. All of my green Italian-types either arrived dead or died shortly thereafter. The earlier you start looking, the more you are likely to find them for less. If you want to sell them, wait until March or April. Sell your plants in May or June. That seems to be when the prices start to peak. I think the rotten watermelon is HILARIOUS too!

Wow. Someone in Canada is selling Chicago Hardy SEEDS - 10 for $6.96, plus almost $4 for S/H.  He has 17 of these non-viable packets to sell. Let the buyer beware, I guess. Either that, or climate change has allowed the fig wasp to migrate pretty far north. Gee, wonder why he doesn't show any of those seeds germinating.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Dwarf-Fig-tree-Chicago-Hardy-Ficus-carica-indoor-outdoor-seeds-/110896279676?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_2&hash=item19d1eef07c

Always buyer beware, especially with ebay. Much better to stick to the forum members who won't try to sell you useless garbage.

I really don't understand why everyone is willing to pay these rediculous prices for a few cuttings of the latest hyped up fig variety .
The most I ever paid was $100 but that was for a 10 year old tree of confirmed variety loaded with figs . Once you get to know people in the fig community , I find that you are either trading or trying even to get rid of excess plants where so many cuttings were successful . And most people with a decent collection can easily make air layers as part of shaping and pruning their trees which they can either sell or trade for something else .
I think that once you have a few trees many people will look back and wonder why they were willing to pay so much for a few twigs . We are all better off helping each other on forums like this rather than trying to profit from each other on EBay .

John

I hear what you are saying John and it makes perfectly good sense. I have  benefitted personally from some very good trades as I have bennefited others. I do see the benefit in listing stuff on ebay though. The cost of this hobby can get a little out of hand, especially if you are growing more than just figs. A nice ebay payday sounds pretty good to me too. More power to the sellers for going through the whole ebay procedure and earning the big bucks.