Ariocarpus

[el48tel]

Whilst there is a demand, there will be people ruthless enough to supply regardless of the damage they cause.

[Chris L]

The least we can all do is use the report facility on eBay.

{not that it is likely to do any good, but there is no harm in trying}......

It is also possible to report via the Chat - perhaps this is something we should all be doing if we see possibly dodgy plants on eBay.

[Pattock]

Won't ebay just de-list it? Wouldn't it be better to inform the local police?

Edited to add: as soon as possible.

[Stuart]

Up to about ten or so years ago, plants like this were available at nurseries in the US as they could be legally collected by the owner of the land on private land in Texas. Being the only Ariocarpus growing in the USA, they did not have to be illegally brought over the border from Mexico and CITES did not apply. Nowadays, new laws in the US mean that it's an offence to take them across state borders and they are no longer available for sale. Selling plants like this on eBay shouldn't be happening but they can't be expected to recognise plants like this. If they'd come from a collection they'd be well rooted but plants like this will be very unlikely to live. I doubt there's anything that can be done about it.

Stuart

[Aiko]

Won't ebay just de-list it? Wouldn't it be better to inform the local police?

Edited to add: as soon as possible.

Isn't it easier to stop this by bidding a ridiculous price so it will never be topped by a bid of an actual potential buyer?

[Chris L]

Won't ebay just de-list it? Wouldn't it be better to inform the local police?

Edited to add: as soon as possible.

Isn't it easier to stop this by bidding a ridiculous price so it will never be topped by a bid of an actual potential buyer?

Do that too many times and it goes against the buyers account as it is recorded on file that they aren't paying for stuff...... IIRC. Sure you could have a throw away account, but it would be hard work keep making new accounts.

[Chris L]

The least we can all do is use the report facility on eBay.

{not that it is likely to do any good, but there is no harm in trying}......

It is also possible to report via the Chat - perhaps this is something we should all be doing if we see possibly dodgy plants on eBay.

I've had a deleted PM sent me. No idea what it was about.

My point of view for clarity: People shouldn't be selling wild, collected or habitat plants on eBay. That is against eBay rules. These may be homegrown, they may be from habitat.... doesn't matter* - they shouldn't be being listed and sold as "wild" plants.


* = granted the latter do matter, but I hope my point is clearer.

[Diane]

I see that all the listings for this seller have been ended due to “an error in the listing”, so maybe a complaint was acted on!

[Stuart]

Ending plants on eBay early due to 'an error in the listing' means that the seller is charged 11% of the price that the plants were selling for when the listing was cancelled. Maybe eBay do react to complaints though people seem to get round the Lophophora ban without any problems. I had to try all sorts of variations on the names before I could list a grafted Trichocereus Pachanoi Cristate.

I see the seller has relisted them again, currently awaiting a bid at £0.01.

Stuart

[Echinocactus123]

At first I would think to report it, but really what is going to happen in that situation, will the plants be returned to the wild? No, it is unlikely the plant would be confiscated and even if it was I doubt that much interest would be taken in keeping the plant alive, and if that doesn't happen, then the seller will likely just find another place to sell it them somewhere else. Wild poached plants have been an issue for decades and unfortunately I very much doubt that this will stop any time soon. I'm wondering if an experienced ariocarpus grower should just buy it. I certainly don't think that getting this guy stuck with these plants, (that will possibly never acclimate to a cultivation environment) will help conservation by any stretch of the imagination.