Richard, I know of it as a Portuguese word, hearing it once in a while when I was a kid.  The first sort of Portuguese word I learned, of course!

Okay, here is another update as I promised earlier.  As I posted early on, I made a purchase from korina-2009 and korina77-2008 to help verify the PayPal account associated with these sellers.  I spent $35 doing so just to confirm my suspicions.  In the end, I learned that neither seller account deals with problems as required by eBay policies and my effort ended up costing me nothing.

korina77-2008 sent me a tiny cutting, skinnier than a pencil, that was very dry. It was in a plastic envelope but not a plastic bag.  A paper towel was also enclosed and was "bone dry".  I wrote and said this was not acceptable. eBay has a 14 day money back.  She told me to go ahead and return it.  She received it on 1/26 but didn't refund me and I wrote to her one or two times with no response. Today was her last day to make a refund and I escalated it to a "case" and eBay refunded my payment a few hours later.

korina-2009 sent me cuttings, presumably, but USPS lost the package. She didn't think that was her fault. I told her it wasn't her fault but her responsibility to delivery the item to me. She refused to do anything about it so I opened a case last week and eBay promptly refunded my payment.

Thank you harvey

"Another member contacted me and informed me of concerns of cuttings he purchased from 77peony which is used by the same person using the svet_vasyl-2008 account (and maybe others).  The paperwork that arrived with cuttings from 77peony had the following notice which seems to be an effort to cover-up discrepancies for mislabeled fig cuttings."

77peony is offering cuttings of "ST.JEAN". She says: 

“All “mother trees” bought from Encanto Farms as a starter trees or cuttings. All trees grown in a pots in zone 6 for propagation purpose only and kept indoors during dormancy. Please do not ask for pictures of a figs, as all figs removed to encourage growing of tree itself. In any case will not see many figs in zone 6 without special care. If you do not want to bother with starting cuttings please come back in April, when I will sell a rooted starters of all varieties I have for sale now. Do not be shy, ask all questions, I will share all information about figs and varieties I have so far. Please ask all questions before you bid. Thank you.”

Is it possible she is trying to make right and get the correct cuttings or could she be lying about having trees from Encanto Farms? She doesn’t sound like she’ll be going away any time soon.

Either way, not getting my $.

Folks when you sell or trade your cuttings use a paint pen to write the type in the middle of the cutting. It soaks in and there is no way to remove it. At the very least, it will help with a lot of the resale scamming going on. If people buy our figs and try to resell them, at least the buyer will see what they really are or that they have been altered.

Can't fix everything, but buy/trade from those on this board and do a few little things.

Nick, that is a super idea! Not just for identification and mislabeling in the future, but now for prevention of fraud on resales, good idea.

That is a good idea. What paint pen should I use ? I had a sharpie but the tip was dried out and it just spilled paint everywhere when I applied pressure.

I use what I can find local,sharpie oil base paint marker.

I did that on the cuttings I sold Alex (abcd) but still think it might be able to be removed.

Harvey how is it these scammers (some) have a 96.5% positive rating? Outrageous.

Well if they are selling Harvey's cutting, then the cuttings look great when they get them... and by the time they know they were ripped off it is too late to leave bad feedback. I have 100% positive feedback and if the person I am thinking of buying from doesn't I am sure to check why.

Also, I saw one Asian customer left a positive feedback rating but his comment said "no good".  Some folks that have complained, Hershell included, have got refunds so I don't think they left negative feedback.

They could also put the cutting label side down.  Many of them use a stock photo to represent the cuttings.  One seller had the same 4 cutting for about 8 varieties.  If they found a source of cheap cuttings it would take months for you to find out you were ripped off.

But when you get the cuttings at least you can immediately give them negative feedback and file for a refund with ebay.

I guess its good to at least have the opportunity......... It is better to Love and Lost than to never have Loved my figs...LOL   I have lost only about 300 cuttings almost one a day...LOL

Nick, I can't say for sure if my paint pen marking was taken off but I had figured I could have done it if I wanted (won't go into how).

In other developments....

I find it appropriate to note that F4F's relatively new member "bernard" is just another ID used by Alex (who also uses the ID of "abcd").  Be careful with who you deal with.

In another thread, abcd posted that I was competing (bidding) against him on an auction and posted a link to the winning bidder and my second place bid.  This reveals that peonia2015 is the new ID being used by Alex or one of his companion scammers, previously known as atskor10 and, before that, atskor8 (Yekaterina is the name associated with the account).

As it so happens, peonia2015 purchased Rob's Genovese Nero from me recently and initiated a refund request a short time ago after abcd got involved in a dispute with another thief I confronted earlier today.  The explanation for the request was that he doubted that the cutting was from fig and that it was dead anyways.  That obviously is not the case but I'm accepting the return since it makes the best use of my time.  It just goes to further show what a thief they are.  All other buys were very pleased with the cuttings.  This sale was for 8 cuttings for $80 of which 50% was donated to Unbound but I've already made the donation.  Jerks.

Harvey, I was watching the other thread and trust you.  abcd is trying to justify something, not sure what.  I did comment that bolding red cap letters was a childish way to communicate on this, or any forum.  He/She has a definite problem with the truth.  Good luck bro!

If any eBay sellers have received return requests from eBay buyer peonia2015 or any of these other scammers, please send me a PM or email.

Today I ask Korina-2009 if I could see pictures of the mother tree where the Vaccaro cuttings came from. I was told, "sure". But never sent any pictures. All I can say is, "buyer beware"

Thanks Harvey I am on lookout.