Lily Auction / Any luck?

17 years ago

This spring was my first time on the auction. I won two plants (one I paid a little more than I should have for but had to have it.) Both of these came from Tennesse to South Carolina to me. Both plants were from different people. Cleopatra arrived not looking so good but it survived, it didn't bloom though. The other one was Carefree Ways it was very healthy looking two fans plus some increase but that one has now died completely. Some time has passed so not sure if contacting the seller would do any good. Anyone else have any luck with auction this year?

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Comments (22)

down_and_dirty
17 years ago
All of my plants are still alive (I think I got about ten different varieties, all pretty old and cheap). Some didn't have so great of roots when they arrived, but oddly enough, they were the only ones that actually bloomed this year.
maximus7116
17 years ago
This was my first year on the Auction, and I think I bought 90+ different daylilies. Some looked better than others when they arrived, but they're all doing well now. I'm not sure what the etiquette is for plants that have died. Hopefully someone with more experience on the Auction will know.
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"Now if there is bidding, I would imagine the price has to start fairly low, or the bidding will go wild....I"ve seen spacecoast seashells online for $32, without an auction. I would imagine the price with bidding will get higher than that." Not necessarily. What you're forgetting is that an auction is merely a market, so market forces - supply & demand - together create a price, just as they typically do in any non-monopoly/monopsony market. So, cultivars that are readily available and/or older and/or have been acquired already by many people usually will end up at the "market" price, ie, the average price on the open market. There's no reason that, in general, people would pay more on the open market than in the auction. And there's no reason that, in general, people would pay more on the auction than in the open market. Obviously, there are exceptions, and the auction price is higher than would seem logical, for a variety of reasons. For example (1) the daylily is rare, hard to come by, exceedingly desirable; (2) a seller is known to be particularly good and generous with the quality of the auction plant and/or quality of gift plants; (3) two or more bidders are determined to win a particular auction, regardless of how new or old, expensive or inexpensive, easy to come by or hard to come by a daylily is. This happens quite often IMO. In the latter case, my advice is watch many auctions. You'll find out VERY quickly who these bidders are. Frankly, I think they're nuts, but perhaps winning is merely a game to them. THE GAME, in fact. In these cases, I don't participate. What's the point? The daylily will reappear on the auction one day, maybe even within a week or two, and I'll buy it at or near the market price. In terms of what price a seller starts bidding on his/her plants -- if you watch auctions, you'll see that there are sellers who start the price at or near the open market price. There are quite a few sellers, however, who start their prices, FOR THE SAME CULTIVAR, very low, say, $1.00 or $2.00 or $5.00 for a daylily with a market value of, say, $20 or $40 or even $150. What happens with those low-priced "bargain" daylilies? Assuming the sellers have good reputations (or, perhaps more precisely, do not have bad reputations), the bidding that starts at $1.00 will end up pretty much at the same price as the bidding for daylilies initially started near the market price.
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Folks....This is getting a bit of hand. One has to think if some people have nothing better to do than to make mountains out of molehills. Some of you who responded, have clearly not even read my post. If you don't read, please don't make a reply to it. In fact, I never stated that I consulted an attorney. I just said that an attorney has been consulted. And I wanted to point out that if you damage a person's livlihood as a result of unsubstantiated slander, you can be held accountable. Be careful what you say. This is not a threat of lawsuit, just some good advice. It is easy to state your 'experience' here with no facts to verify that what you say is true. Had you complained to us we would have the facts of what the item was and what was said in the description, etc. Any negative comments made here, without facts to back it up, is just worthless prattle. If you have a complaint, do something substantial and use our feedback protocol. I will explain this later. Let me say it once again: No one has the right to stifle the FACTS. That is never the intention in any of my posts. It is the damaging assumptions and implications that have been made that have INDEED damaged Marvin....implications and even statements MADE PUBLICALLY, that he was deliberatly trying to rip people off...WHICH IS CLEARLY NOT THE CASE. There was a lack of communication to his buyers, yes, and a couple of mistakes. This is very different than what some were saying. Most of this misunderstanding and mis-information can be avoided if people would simply follow the Lily Auction Feedback protocol: 1) Contact the seller first if you have a dispute. 2) If no response or inadequate response given by seller, then do contact us. 3)If you are not happy with the result of the above 2, then leave FACTUAL negative feedback. And know that if a seller is proven to be abusive or negligent in fulfilling orders, they will be suspended from the Lily Auction. This feedback system is already in place and works just fine if people would use it as it was meant to be used. Steve, thanks for your comments and sanity. I understand your "head scratching" though. Here is how I understand the legalities, in layman's language: Emotional, defamatory or judgmental feedback can be considered libelous. Comments like: 'Seller sent bad plants & 'ignored' my emails" is different from saying 'I was not happy with plants and got no reply from my many emails' which is factual. Comments like, 'this seller is a crook and is deliberately ignoring me' is clearly libelous. If you have any doubt about what is libelous, then you should ask attorney. If your comments are factual, you do not have to worry. Also, a seller may never respond negatively to a buyer unless the buyer does not pay or is verbally abusive. Moreover, retaliatory feedback is NOT allowed. So buyers should feel free to leave honest and factual feedback without fear of retaliation. Please folks, if you still feel that the Lily Auction is a good place to shop then please use our feedback system as it was meant to be used. Looks like a couple of you don't like it. That is your prerogative. But don't blame anyone but yourself for not using the feedback system if you did not report a bad experience. One person stated that 'Daylily people' are not 'nice' people. Boy, if anything is the exact opposite of the truth, this statement was. Generally, daylily people are wonderful. I have met some of the nicest people in the world through daylilies....through the Lily Auction, other venues, and conventions. There are definitely exceptions though, as with anything else. I can tell you with absolute confidence, that it it only 1/10th of 1% that are problems. Certainly fraud of any kind must be exposed and not tolerated. But this was not a case of fraud. Marvin must reconcile his mistakes, and he is doing just that, and he must also take responsibility for his lack of communication. My experience with him is that he is a humble man, overwhelmed with orders this spring, and on the verge of tears to me on the phone about this whole incident. I see no reason why we cannot both hold him responsible, which he clearly does himself, as well as treat him with kindness. I don't see this as a matter of either/or. Truth with compassion, has always been the high road for me. Sincerely, Mike Longo
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This is funny! I love the comment about the bluebirder's getting a wren in one of their houses. Talk about OMG!!!!!Anyway, I noticed that prices on some of the new cultivar's on the lily action seem down.... expect for a few really hot selling one's. I figured it was the economy. It's kind of nice to be able to find a good buy once in a while. I've bought hundreds of my current 623 different daylilies on the auction and have had wonderful experiences and made some truly dear friends with many of these wonderful sellers. They have helped me so very much with my gardening--I've learned so much from them. Daylily people and gardener's (in my book) are the greatest people there are. They nurture the good earth. My very best to all of you!
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lalalandwi: I can understand your disappointment with some sellers on LA. Yes, there are ones as Maximus says who have very high prices for their DL's but I too just ignore those as I would ignore any seller on any site with an extremely high price. Low priced dl's are only low until you tack on the shipping and you have spent more than the daylily was. I check Ebay, LA, alot of the sites mentioned here on GW as well as just googling for a particular daylily I want and see what comes up and then I decide what I can afford to pay. I like to try new sellers since I always seem to find a "gem" worth doing repeat business with. I'm not afraid of sellers in the South as I was once a bit afraid to try. I am still skeptical of California growers but maybe I'll get over that as well one day. I'd post who I buy from on the auction sites but then you might be bidding against me one day ;-). Best advice. Stick to what you can afford and don't get caught up in the frenzy. Good luck. I'm sure you'll find some great buys. friesfan1: If you use an account like gmail, hotmail or yahoo you shouldn't have a problem getting your responses. If your using your ISP's email account, then possibly they are blocking or dumping it in your spam or trash folder. Keep trying. Julia
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numama
17 years ago
Why in the world would a healthy plant + increase die completely? Did it have crown rot? What have you got to lose by contacting the seller.....I would.

I got a rather puny order from a certain seller....lost one of the plants. I got an email response saying she knew it was puny and hopefully it will be doing better by fall and she will ship me a fan then. Well we shall see!

I've been on a spending frenzy this season and I learned which ones NOT TO BUY FROM!
Nancy
signet_gw(6b)
17 years ago
Hi Nancy,

How about sharing your experiences and recommending the good sellers. How about filling me in on the not so good ones. If you prefer to do it off list , that is fine with me but it sure would be helpful , especially with me being in Canada and not really having any recourse if the daylilies are not so great .

Once my aunt gets the daylilies , she pots them up for me , but I will be bringing them back to Canada at the end of the month. Once here, it is not like I can do anything about it if I end up with dead daylilies.

Signet
gata
17 years ago
I used the lily auction twice for the first time this year (in the spring), not actually bidding but getting the instant buys. Both were from Falcon Gardens. I left positive feedback and would buy from him again.
I will always check the seller's feedback before purchasing, either from Lily Auction or at GardenWatchDog if it is an online store. I think it saves disappointment to hear others' experiences.
jackarias
17 years ago
Ask the seller to either replace the plants or if they cannot replace them to give a refund. Any good seller will be happy to do that. I have sold hundreds of plants on the lily auction and I will always refund if the person is not completely satisfied. Only once have I had someone take advantage of me by insisting on a second plant claiming they didn't get it and then a third plant claiming it was the wrong one. That buyer is blocked from bidding on my auctions.

southwestgarden
numama
17 years ago
Okay Heather,
My ABSOLUTE FAVORITES are SOUTHWEST GARDENS, MARYOTTS, PINEBELTMAN, BIGSTUMP, BOXCAR, EARTHSTAR, DAVI, and GRAN all of these I have received large, healthy fans. I am waiting for some fall shipments so cannot comment on those sellers at this time. Email me and I will send you a list of LOSERS after I get home from work tonight.
Nancy
ladylovingdove
17 years ago
hey Southwestgarden,,I have won from you before and you give great plants,,I have had good luck with most people,,I find that when I lose one it is usually my fault,,either by overwatering in the heat,,not giving them enough shade til they root,,etc. the fact that most people will give replacements is an extra compliment because the people selling don't know if you are going to take care of a plant right or not,,most people on the LA are reputable sellers and yes I also read feedback before bidding if they are new to me,,most everything I have has come from the LA ever since I discovered it about 3 years ago,,

Dot
laurelin
17 years ago
Well, I hope I picked a good one, because I just won my first daylily seedling on the auction! The seller has great feedback, so I took a chance. Here's hoping for the best!

Laurel
lilynut
17 years ago
My experiences on the LA have for the most part been good. So
far only twice out of 57 different sellers have I had problems.

Left Neutral for one that really went ballistic and he left
negative feedback for me. He never acknowledged payment, finally
in after I got Mike (LA owner)involved I got an immediate that
the plant was shipped. Emailed that I never received the plant
and no reply. Sent 1 more never replied. Send another in Oct.
not to ship now wait till the Spring. No answer. Contacted
Mike again and get immediate email that I haven't a clue
about daylilies amongst other "nice" comments and that he's
refunding my money. Which I got and was the only reason I left
neutral feedback. Nice first win!!!

Another has been basically the same way so far and It's time
to now ask for Mike's help again. 8-( The plant should be
4-5 fans by now.

THe rest have been sterling examples of business folks. Some plants
were nicer than others, but I haven't lost one from the
Spring plantings. Over 100 plants went into the ground.

Still buying a few, but not as many..I've run out of money!!!

Oh BTW don't trust feedback. Look for extra fans, big plants,
good roots and ext. in the feedbacks. Not many will risk the
tongue lashing some of these not so good sellers will give
them.

FWIW

Bruce
shellyga
17 years ago
I have had 99% good experiences with the sellers on the lily auction. I bought quite a few for spring delivery and lost a few -- When my order arrives, I always e-mail the seller to let them know the condition. If there is a problem in the future -- I have had great experience with sellers replacing plants. I agree with Bruce about not necessarily trusting feedback since many buyers won't leave a negative for fear of receiving the same. A sad reality.
mwlongo_hawaii_rr_com
17 years ago
Hi Folks:
I am the owner of the Lily Auction and I just want to give you a reminder that if you ever have a problems with any seller on the Lily Auction, please do not hesitate to contact me at mike@daylily.com. The Lily Auction offers free 'mediation services' to any buyer or seller who is not happy with any transaction.

In most cases, we recommend contacting the seller and/or using 'mediation services' first, before leaving negative feedback. A lot of times, the problem arises out of mis-understanding or not readung the auction description. However, if you fear retaliation please understand that retaliatory feedback is not allowed. Negative feedback must have a valid reason. Someone leaving you negative feedback is not a valid reason to leave negative feedback in return. Sellers have lost Lily Auction priveleges for attempting to do so. Instead, if there was a misunderstanding or the buyer did not read your disclosure, please also contact me. Also, please understand that in response to a negative feedback remark, a seller may place a Rebuttal remark in their own feedback if they wish. Sometimes, but not always, and apology is the best rebuttal.

The feedback system on the Lily Auction, most often, reflects accurately the quality of the seller you are dealing with and we recommend that you read a sellers feedback before you bid. However, please understand that not everyone is perfect and that an isolated mistake should not determine a seller's reputation. If you have questions about a particular remark in a seller's feedback, ask them about it.

Happy bidding,
Mike Longo

Here is a link that might be useful: the Lily Auction
ladylovingdove
17 years ago
hi Mike nice to meet you,,I think your auctions definitely serve a need,,I have gotten many great bargains on the LA and think as a whole they are GREAT sellers. I just contacted someone that I had two wins from him rot on me and he happily offered to send me a check or give me a credit for future purchases. I chose the credit because he is such a nice person and generous too. There are many great sellers on the LA namely, Southwestgarden,,Goldcoast,,Kendaylily,,Jeffbard (great seeds),,Westend (great seedlings),, Jrt,,Lilyweeder,,Gran,,
Packrat,,Gcon,,Spunky1,,Lightman,,Glassman,,Blueridge,,,I know I have left out many great sellers but these are a few of the ones I have dealt with that I can remember at this time,,anyone who has had a bad experience,,it is not the norm,,I'm hopelessly addicted to the LA and will continue to buy most of my lilies there,,

Dot in Texas
daylilylady
17 years ago
Hello Mike...thanks for logging onto this thread. I just love the Lily Auction and spend most of my computer time there. So far, I have had great success. There had been a few tense days when I thought I might have to contact you but with a little patience and persistence everything turned out fine :)
Marilyn
ladylovingdove
17 years ago
Oh me, I left out Maryotts ROFL One of the best sellers and very generous. See I'm getting Alzheimers :( Help me out Nancy!!

Dot
laurelin
17 years ago
Hello Mike, thank you for reminding us of the Lily Auction feedback and mediation policies - I'm new to using the LA, and it's good to be reminded of the ground rules. I've only made two purchases on the LA so far (one for seeds, one for a seedling), and both were very good experiences. I'll definitely use the LA again. Thank you for the great service you provide!

Laurel
kitcatclub
17 years ago
I've only just started using the auction and I have to say the darn thing is addictive!! My must-have list has exploded! I've been very fortunate with the sellers I've won from, too. Cheryldaylily is awesome - great plants and fun to trade emails with. I also won from amandahaney with good results. I can't wait for next year!
down2earth
17 years ago
Just goes to show that not all things are equal to all people. One of the people mentioned above as a favorite seller is one of the 2 or 3 that I have ever had a problem with. I have easily bought 500 plants on the Lily Auction and have had very few problems; but the ones that I did have were "beauts". Almost enough to make you swear off forever. It seems if one dares to contact a seller and let them know there was a problem with a plant, the seller can suddenly turn nasty and get on a high horse. Now I will tell you that I had a plant that died after some time from Beulahtn1 and I did not ask her to replace it but she did so voluntarily. There have been a couple of other sellers who were eager to correct any problem. I would agree that the feedback means little. Someone with glowing feed back has been my worse problem. After a few years of buying constantly on the auction, these sellers stand out in mind as being exceptional; Maryotts, KenDayliy, Packrat, Lilyweeder, Penny are a few of the ones that ship exceptionally good plant, with bonuses and its always a pleasure to deal with them.
janepa
17 years ago
First, I want to thank Mike for running a 'tight ship' so to speak. The LA is a great place to visit, and I have received great DLs (many this year), and, yes, I think it is addictive.

I have only had two sellers out of probably 20 this year that I had a problem with, but we resolved it ourselves, but I will probably not buy from them again because there are so many great sellers that I have never had a problem with and they send great DLs. Always contact the seller and give them a chance to respond if there is a problem.
Thank you. Jane
gardengirl_17
17 years ago
I have not had any bad experiences on the lily auction. All plants were healthy and have done well. Some were bigger than others when they arrived but you have to factor in the location it came from and the normal size of the plant. Sometimes the size of the fans does not mean less vigor. I purchased a double fan of Double Donnie this Spring. They were healthy fans and average size. I got 3 scapes of blooms and then it rebloomed. If that's the first year I can't wait to see it as it matures. Some of the ones that stick out as super to deal with were Blueridge, Kendaylily, Southwestgarden, Penny, Jimkadesigns. I will definitely order from LA again.

My only less than stellar experience ordering DL's was not on the LA but rather a seller that I heard good things about here. The prices in the catalog were really good. You know what they say "If it seems too good to be true it usually is." The plants when they arrived were very, very small. Definitely not blooming size fans. The most expensive of the bunch died from crown rot. I hate to complain so I did not contact the seller. I just won't place another order. If it had been a problem with one plant out of the bunch I would have figured it was a fluke. Since all of the plants were very small I know now that's not where I want to spend my money.

I will stick with the LA and our local sellers.
lvmygrdn
17 years ago
This was my first year buying daylilies at LA. I ordered from Falcon Gardens, Brooks & another I can't remember. Both were great to deal with. The DL have all done well and most bloomed for me this year. It was fun, so much fun that I order more daylilies than I had room for. :-) So I gave them to neighbors and will still be able to enjoy them. I had no problems with LA or any of the sellers I dealt with.
newyorkrita
16 years ago
Well, I am happy to find this post with recommened sellers on the LA.

I look there quite often but have only bid and bought once and that was the first day that I learned about LA. I won two auctions from southwestgarden and received the most healthy large plants I had ever seen plus two bonus plants too. Was really, really pleased.

Lily Auction / Any luck?

Comments (22)

down_and_dirty

maximus7116

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