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How does ebay and aquabid allow sellers to list plants from other countries?

3K views 19 replies 16 participants last post by  thechibi 
#1 ·
I was just surfing ebay looking for random mosses. Most of the listings are from Asia and they had tons sold. How does ebay allow the sale of these plants when they are illegally shipped to the US? Doesn't the USDA go after these people? For example, take a look at item number: 250415634411.

I am just curious how they are beating the system.
 
#4 ·
really? the justice of that does make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside, so I'd like to believe it.

But does customs really have the manpower to send someone to my house in the burbs over an aquatic plant? If so, as a taxpayer, I might consider that a waste of money.. even if I like the idea.

Where have you heard this?
 
#10 ·
I probably should have articulated my original post a little better. What I find strange is that shipping plants is illegal to other countries without permits, yet the seller clearly states that he ships to the USA. Shouldn't ebay have some type of algorithm that automatically pulls the auction based on the wording? The seller does not mention permits nor does he require any when purchasing his plants. I would venture and say that 99.99999% of the people that purchase plants from ebay do not have permits.


Directly from the auction.

Shipping:

We ship worldwide, right to your doorsteps.

US, Canada, Mexico - 9 days
 
#13 · (Edited)
I tried ordering a plant from an overseas seller on Ebay. Not worth the cheap price. It took almost 3 weeks to receive and the plants were smooshed beyond recognition. Luckily they were very easy to get a refund from.
 
#14 ·
Ebay makes it very clear that it is the buyer who is responsible for obtaining any permits, or paying any fees when they have items shipped from other countries. It isn't the responsibility of the seller, at all. I have done this several times, mostly for LEDs and similar stuff, but I no longer consider it worth the risk. Through Amazon you can usually find an American distributor for those items, so you no longer need to worry about it, and the cost isn't much different.

The only plants I have ordered from Asia arrived as a nice green smear, after 3+ weeks. But, I am a fast learner.
 
#15 ·
I ordered some plants from Asia before I found this site and had good info about buying plants. My package was searched and the plants were seized. The seller refunded my money promptly.
 
#17 ·
They would label it as a toy or something like that for customs and -fingers crossed -it makes it through.

eBay may not know this is illegal. Buyers may not know either. The listing may not be listed in a way for them to catch it and stop it. eBay gets payed for every transaction so unless there is a known legal issue they may not see it. Especially if the ebay team is working hard on more important problems to fix. They have millions of new listings every week. That's a lot...

Additionally the "bad guys" may get cut off on eBay but that will not stop them from finding another way to meet "our" demand for the product. Finding loop holes becomes a business method for these types - assuming they are doing this knowing its illegal.

I bet eBay has a button to flag a listing. You should flag it or contact eBay if you want it removed.
 
#18 ·
I can't answer your question but I have place an order and the mosses arrived dead on both occasions. Don't waste your time or money.
 
#19 ·
I'm surprised that so many have had bad experiences. Before I knew it was illegal, I made dozens of plant and snail orders from asia on ebay, most from the seller "aquaticmagic," and I never once had an issue. The plants always arrived in perfect shape and in a timely manner. Most of the time they are clearly labeled "live plants" so if customs is supposed to be stopping them, they are doing a terrible job.

I have since realized that shipping them here is illegal and I found this great forum, so I don't purchase plants from asia any more. Aside from being illegal, I can't fault the sellers I have dealt with though; all of the purchases I made on ebay were good transactions.

I know invasive species are a major problem, but I think they should make the necessary permits easier to obtain for responsible hobbyists.
 
#20 ·
Honestly, I didn't realize what was happening because nothing on their site said it was from Asia. I had to go and SERIOUSLY google. :( Though, I like my Marimo lots, I don't think I will be doing it again. And yes, it was aquaticmagic that I had ordered from.

I'd be so scared if someone showed up on my doorstep or something.
 
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