Some people may not understand what a cutting is or that you can even duplicate a plant that way.

I'm not sure what else you could have written to be any clearer. Especially since it was even stated in the title.

But, some people bid on just photos without taking the time to read the description.

Maybe you can reiterate your description of the cutting and tell them to look at all your listings. They "all" say the same thing.

If the person gives you negative feedback you can always dispute it with eBay and get it removed.

Sorry you have to deal with some idiot buyers.

If it were me, I might apologize for the miscommunication (even though it is not your fault, this may help to get them a little less angry) and gently explain that I tried to specify in both the title and the description that it was a cutting and not a rooted plant. I might also politely ask if they have any input as to how I could have made it more clear to potential buyers that the plant was a cutting.

What photos did you post for this listing? Perhaps it might be helpful to post a photo of the actual cutting (or one like it) with the cut end showing - people are probably more likely to look at all of the photos posted than they are to read all of the text written. Good luck!

Haha, gosh this makes me wonder how that person managed to set up an ebay account and figure out how to bid in the first place if they were so surprised when they got a bare-root plant. :)

Joking aside, the only part that could possibly be a tiny, tiny, tiny bit confusing is the bit that says "all plants are shipped bare root" as this implies there are roots present that can be considered bare. You could change it to say "bare root or bare stem" if you want, but the fault here really is on the buyer.

Try not to take whatever they said personally...their misunderstanding is not your responsibility and as far as I have seen, you have a great reputation here and on eBay. Don't let one bad apple spoil the bunch. :)

Omgosh...I just realized this is the same buyer who made me change my listing to include the blurb about not being unpaid layaway. Now, I feel less bad. Gonna have to block another person. Makes me sad to do that, but I cannot keep changing my listing just so one person can clearly understand what I am saying. Everyone else can understand me!

Other thing is, this was not sent bare anythimg. They only won 1 auction, so I sent the cutting in the pot, free of charge, something I often do. It was also sent with a free metal plant tag, and a freebie cutting. I always send freebie cuttings and usually send free metal plant tags, depending on how many I have left...and lately, it has been a surplus.

Did they leave bad feedback? One you block them will that prevent them from leaving any feedback?

I would just refund them their money and be done with them. Too much headache!

No, they can still leave feedback, even when blocked. I am not refumding them, as no case has been opened yet

If one is opened, I can easily prove they received the item as stated in listing. I've had to do that before. And, if they want a refund, they will have to ship the plant back, pot and all, in living condition, at their expense.

There always seems to be someone who either does not understand or just wants to see what they can get from you or who just wants attention. block them and move on.

Blocking them seems a good idea, Aurora - but I would do that AFTER the dispute window closes for them on this item. Because otherwise they may try to communicate with you, but you will be unintentionally ignoring the communication, which is never good for sellers.

I agree with not refunding them, at least for now - they got the item as described.

I actually think you are OVERdescribing things in your descriptions. No need to use that capitalized "UNPAID LAYAWAY" language, or about not holding plants "FOR ANYONE".

My last "sale" on eBay soured me on selling there. The buyer decided after he won that he couldn't afford it. It was obvious he wanted me to lower the price or let him off the hook. It turned into a whole fiasco that made me want to scream. In the end, I blocked him and haven't been back to sell a plant since. I have no patience for jerks or stupid people!

Denise in Omaha

Ugh, sorry to hear that, Denise. I dread the day when (not if) I get a nightmare ebay buyer.

How did the things unfold in your case? What did they say and what did you do in response? Was it an auction or "buy it now"? I guess with an auction, you can go down a bid and offer to the next bidder, without losing too much money, but with "BIN" it's impossible, of course, because there is no next buyer in the line.

And I am guessing Ebay was unhelpful? They overwhelmingly take the buyer's side, I hear.

So far, my most obnoxious ebay story was when a local potential bidder to one of my auctions for a relatively large plant asked me what the delivery options were for a local buyer. I said if you win the auction, I will waive the shipping fee if you come pick it up. Then she said she does not get out of the house. I said ok, I will personally deliver, instead of USPS, for the same shipping fee - and with no broken leaves and no transportation stress to the plant. :-) She got all impatient: "Why would I even start talking to you if I wanted to pay the delivery fee?" "Umm, excuse me - because I would take the time and effort and cost to deliver the fricking plant to your flickin' house? Just like USPS would do, only better?" It's sort of funny when I think about it now - but it was upsetting at the time. Threw me in for a loop.

Wow, that's exactly the kind of crap I'm talking about. What a sense of entitlement! And yes, I did offer it to the person who had the next highest bid and I couldn't get them to respond to me. He said he would buy it if they didn't want it. Then when I got no response, he acted like the other bidder was OBLIGATED to buy it, which is ridiculous. I told him the other bidder knew what they were willing to pay and stopped at that point, and for all we know he may very well have gone online and ordered one or bid on another one when he lost that auction. Then when I told him he needed to pay for it (as he said he would if the other bidder didn't take it), then his computer crashed and he would have to get a new computer so that he could pay for it. Wait, you can afford a computer and not a $30 plant? Hmm. At this point, I realized that this was a guy who, about a month earlier, I had dealt with here - someone I had offered the exact same species to - I had three of them, different sizes, and I offered them for $15, $19 and $25. He picked the middle one, then when I gave him the total with shipping, he whined that he couldn't afford it and he was buying it for his birthday, which he was going to be spending all alone because his sis was traveling and none of his other relatives would travel the 5 miles to see him...blahblahblah. I felt sorry for him and offered him a small start of the same species, one I would normally grow out and sell later, for $10 WITH shipping, and THAT was even too much. I had told him, well if you change your mind, the offer stands. So once I figured out this was the same guy, I just told him that I would let it go and report to eBay to try to get them to not make me pay the fees. Oh no, he didn't want me to do that! It was obvious that this is his M.O. I later learned that other eBay sellers have banned him from their auctions, so that's what I did. I saved every e-mail to warn other eBay sellers. It was a nightmare. People like this can make you go postal! LOL!

Denise in Omaha

Ebay sellers need a shared database of potential buyers to ban.