Dear Dave Feinstein,

As the only person who both commented and purchased the Zumwalt, I do apologize if you were offended. I think the comment was directed more at the customers then you however.

As you clearly stated you offer the plant at a reasonable price (9.99). If the selling price is considered excessive, it is the bidders who themselves drive the price up. With my renewed fig fascination, the 50 or so dollars the Zumwalt tends to command didn't/doesn't seem excessive when compared to the price that other reputable vendors sell fig plants for. Since you enjoy a 100% positive feedback rating on Ebay, with 656 people providing that feedback, I think you qualify as a reputable vender. Additionally, having personal experience with your product, your packaging, and your customer service (as stated in my original post) I know first hand the care that you put into each transaction.

I put the fig under lights as you recommended and it is doing well. If the fruit ripens I will take pictures and share them with both this forum and you directly.

Thanks Again!
Very Respectfully
Vinnie

I just bought one of Dave's Zumwalt figs this week. I am so excited!
I can only hope that I will be able to present a fig on Ebay one day and that people will want to buy it.
I have bought and sold many items on Ebay and can assure everyone that positive feedback is a wonderful indicator as to the reputation of any buyer or seller.
Good product, good packaging and great communication- those are the keys to satisfied customers!
Thanks Dave- looking forward to my second fig from you.
Thanks everyone on this fabulous forum and take care,
Christy

Well Dave,

WELCOME to out precious Fig Forum! Never have I seen
you around here before! Hope that you will contribute
much MORE to us in the future with your good fig expertise.

Having my own reasons, I WAS one of the first to be all
SKEPTIC all about it. I never figured you may be
ear-dropping on us, else I would have been more cautious.

NO DIRECT OFFENSE WAS EVER INTENDED, JUST QUESTIONS???...

If you want your fig to flurish, WYH NOT offer it
for free, or some 'EBAY - BID NOW price?', normal price?
Your mother tree seems to be big enough to satisfy
(maybe TRADED - cuttings!) most of us.

God bless,
George (NJ).

Correction: BidNow price = BuyItNow price.

Another good way to distribute heirloom seeds/scions is
to offer them on the Seed Savers Exchange (SSE).
Too late for now, maybe for next 2008?!
Jon (aka pitangadiego),member of CRFG, just offered
~100 fig specimens (limited quantity) just for the
sake of an affordable (to others) way of easy
distribution. I also claim Jon as the KING of
figs for giving us his 'figs4fun' website which I
consider as a gold-mine. Only God knows how much
time (effort) and $$$ it took to do that!

Why should fig plants be any different on Ebay than anything else? Especially when there are figgaholics like me, happy- even thrilled to be able to purchase one? I don't expect free cuttings from the nurseries I buy from. In fact, there is a fabulous Begonia plant on Ebay I plan to purchase soon too.
I agree that Jon's figs4fun is fabulous- I'm a big fan! Figs Rock!
Christy

I think this Zumwalt fig is worth a try, especially for us figgaholics. But I wouldn't pay $ 50 for it, however that's
a matter of opinion. That's Ebay - some people bid like there will be no tomorrow, it's the same in Germany.

Greetings!
I agree with Christy as far as why should Fig plants be different than any other plants on Ebay... I think Ebay offers a GREAT opportunity to get unusual figs that most of us would never have the opportunity of getting.

I have two figs that if they make it through the rest of this winter (winter 3 outside, well bundled) I am thinking of rooting the cuttings this coming fall when I prune and selling them on ebay the following spring.

I myself have been coveting Daves Zumwalt fig--unfortunately for me, the bidding goes up higher than I can afford, but that's not Dave's fault.

I have nothing against the capitalism involved in selling trees. I have spent some pennies on something which I thought was unique, or desirable, or even to satisfy a curiosity. As Leon correctly pointed out, many of us have at one time (or many times in my case) or another. Welcome to the insanity.

Dave, my skepticism was not a question of your integrity. I currently have 4, and possibly 2 more, Celeste trees. I have yet to purchase a tree labeled "Celeste". Likewise, I have three Kadota trees. Yet, I have only purchased one. This is the primary source of my skepticism. It was further raised with the wording of your ad. You did not say you had spent 20 years trying to identify this fruit. Instead, you indicated you tried to have it identified once by "fig experts" at a NAFEX convention in 1987. It seems a weak argument to determine a unique variety. Mind you, I'm not saying it isn't a unique variety, just the argument for it as stated in the ebay listing is weak. Add the lack of a picture of the fruit... well you have some red flags.

If I were buying a Rolex on ebay and I was sent a "Bolex", I would be able to recognize the problem, and I could then leave feedback accordingly. The next person who would want to bid on an item from the seller, would be able to utilize my feedback. It is not so in the case of fruit trees. Yes, one could tell the rest of the ebayers that the person sent them a live tree and packaged it well and shipped it promptly, etc. However, by the time the tree fruits, the ability to leave feedback is long gone (as is the original listing.) IF (that means this is a hypothetical situation and not an attack on Dave) when the tree fruits, instead of HUGE GOBS OF DELECTABLE FRUIT, OOZING JUICE IN THE WARM AFTERNOON SUN WHEN ALL IS CALM AND RIGHT IN THE WORLD, you have another Celeste, well the feedback you left last year isn't going to be much help to the 657th person who is about to pay $22.79 for a tree.

I don't really see this as much of a controversy. If one wants to plunk 30-50 bucks on a relative unknown for the thrill of what might be, go for it. If, on the other hand, you are looking for a specific trait in a tree (as it seemed Lou was looking for in the other thread), demand more information.

~james

p.s. Dave, I don't think you would bore many people in this forum with the story of the Zumwalt fig.

well you will likely not see me here a whole lot but after Christy told me about the ongoing conversation I had to check it out. I am admitedly a bit of a capitalist. As such it is my observation that people value things that they pay for more than things they get for free. It is just human nature. That is why I offer my fig at auction. If someone pays 50 bucks [ some have paid 120 ] They are not going to let it die and maybe propigate it to sell in order to offset their investment. Therefor I feel this tree will be better established if the perchase hurts a bit. fact is i can use the money. I sell a lot of plants on ebay. This one is dear to my hart. I planted an orchard of it once only to loose it in a devorce. The trees were very young and untended after my departure. To my knowlage all died under the advancing black berries. I kept this tree alive in pots for ten years till I could buy another home and plant it in the ground. The tree I now have is the result of a lot of TLC. If you have seen the photos I post on ebay, I have shaped this tree by pruning three times a year. Twice in the summer and once in winter. I prune back to three buds each cut. This promotes branching. More branches means more figs. It is 7 years old in its present location. I do not protect it in winter at all and it has been unharmed in nights down to 10 degrees. It is the tree my orchard was supposed to look like. It is not patented and I invite all who have it to grow and distribute it freely. Hooray for Harry Zumwalt. His tree still thrives in Creswell Oregon.

Dave, You still have my vote - keep on figging!!!
Gorgi, Let's put it into perspective (I know I'll get a lot of criticism for this comment, but here goes), if you join Seed Savers for $35 and purchase fig cuttings for $5, that's $40 for one variety, $22.50 per variety if you order two. Now, I don't consider that cheap. Especially when I see all the postings on the forum about people having trouble getting cuttings to take root, etc. If you buy a tree from Dave for $40 - $50, you get a tree, a real live tree.
Both expenditures are worth it, if you are getting what you want, and what you get is what it was represented to be.....Elder (Lou)

As Lou (Elder) put it

I considered joining Seedsavers (for the chance at purchasing cuttings of Sal's Fig), but once I considered the expense of a cutting of that variety (as you outlined) I opted against joining this year. Its not that I can't afford $40 for a fig, but given that my success with cuttings is about 50% (over the past 3 years with the highest success last year) I just didn't see it as a winning proposition.

Instead I went to the Paradise Nursery website and got a well rooted second year tree from a couple who are well known for their great plants and got another variety I wanted to try.

Dave, your fig is probably a variety that somewhere has been cataloged and named, but even the "reputable" brick and glass nurseries are not above renaming a plant for their own purposes, so as long as you are not intentionally trying to mislead anyone and you are being as honest as you can be about the plant I see no harm in calling it "Zumwalt" after an old friend from whom you recieved it. Additionally, to be honest after looking at figs in this forum and IRL for the past couple years I doubt anyone could absolutely identify a fig beyond the shadow of a doubt even with pictures of Breba, main crop and all the different kinds of leaves that your fig might produce.

btw...welcome to the forum. We're a strange group, but as long as you enjoy figs you're welcome.

Chills

Did anyone else notice the fig tree outside the sleeping woman's window in the Lunestra commercial? The butterfly goes right over it before entering the window. HEY, maybe its a Zumwalt!

No there is nothing wrong with selling figs or another
plants on Ebay! Actually, occasionally, I do buy some
some plants from there (so far no figs yet).

No it is not the price either. If somebody feels OK
to get carried away in a bidding fever for something
that is perceived worth having it, go ahead...
I did pay some heafty $$$ for a couple of rooted fig twigs.
~$70 list each for the mafioso Corleone Sal's and
it's white counterpart FicoDiCapo Verde.

I, like many others, was only skeptic about the
self-made name and it's questionable uniqueness.
Heck, it may be unique (or maybe not).
If it is unique, all the better, we will have one more fig.
If not, it will only add to the big fig name confusion
mess that is already out there.

George (NJ).