I've gotten a few unsolicited emails recently. Most have been asking if I sell my plants/seeds or very generic ("you have seeds/plants I'm interested in"). I've either ignored or emailed back asking for more specifics and never received a response. I used the search page to find someone looking for seeds I have an abundance of and when I emailed them (only a few) I specifically said "I used the search page and found your name - hope thats okay - but I see you are looking for rose campion seeds" or something. I think you're right, Frank, we unfortunately all need to exercise caution

I got one the other day. My guess is they saw my post about wanting irises. In the email it said they "have not traded in a while" & went on to list the plants he had & the shade plants he is wanting. Gave a detailed of things I'm not interested in. Things like "rare" or "show quality". I was emailed directly, & no idea what his username is.

Lullaby, you got the same one I did. I had the feeling it went out to a lot of people and was worried that out of all of them a few might give in. Same thing, no username, but the person's name was in there..... The final straw was when the same email came two more times under a different name, so now I've been asked by this person four times.....
The only info I could find was that this same name was used in 2006 to scam someone in the Netherlands out I some aroid bulbs.

Again nothing wrong with contacting someone out of the blue, but watch out for this latest one!

The names that were in my two emails were "Paul Denny" & "ryanwillian".

I had another a while back from a "Karen", saying she had daylily seeds & would send me some of I "didn't live in the restricted states". Again, emailed directly with no GW username.

Yup, those are the emails I got too. At least now someone can search the names on gardenweb and find this thread... and make their own decision.

I might be wrong.... I just got some emails from the trader who says its a miss understanding. Hopefully that's the case and the next step will be a couple good reviews on the rate and review forum! Still don't know the gardenweb name of the trader, but maybe it's better not to have it in this post anyway.... That's what the review forum's for right?
Happy trading!

Hello
I feel like I should explain myself. I have sent alot of emails out wanting to exchange plants but I am not trying to scam anyone. The trade back in 2006 that was mentioned was not my fault. I mailed the plants 2 different times to the Netherlands and both times he said he didn't get them. I am not sure what happen but I know shipping plants overseas is not easy and will never try to do it again. I am more then willing to ship my plants first before anyone sends me anything. I have completed 2 trades this week and shipped another 3 packages of plants to people first before any plants were sent to me. Hopefully they will be pleased with the plants I sent them and in return send me the plants I wanted from them. Hopefully all the people I traded plants with are happy and will write me some good reviews very soon and rate me well. I really hate that I have been accused of being a scam when I am not and I am truly willing to send my plants first. Please watch out for some good reviews and a good rating and hopefully I will get some very soon.
Thanks
Paul Denny

Hello
I feel like I should explain myself. I have sent alot of emails out wanting to exchange plants but I am not trying to scam anyone. The trade back in 2006 that was mentioned was not my fault. I mailed the plants 2 different times to the Netherlands and both times he said he didn't get them. I am not sure what happen but I know shipping plants overseas is not easy and will never try to do it again. I am more then willing to ship my plants first before anyone sends me anything. I have completed 2 trades this week and shipped another 3 packages of plants to people first before any plants were sent to me. Hopefully they will be pleased with the plants I sent them and in return send me the plants I wanted from them. Hopefully all the people I traded plants with are happy and will write me some good reviews very soon and rate me well. I really hate that I have been accused of being a scam when I am not and I am truly willing to send my plants first. Please watch out for some good reviews and a good rating and hopefully I will get some very soon.
Thanks
Paul Denny

One of "Paul Dennys" aliases is andrejo.... there's recent bad feedback on the rate and review. one of many aliases I'm sure

One of "Paul Dennys" aliases is andrejo.... there's recent bad feedback on the rate and review. one of many aliases I'm sure

I meant andreajo

If he is the same Paul Denny
Also beware jacobknute , and Indianapolis.

I'm new to the forum, but I can vouch for Paul Denny (ryanwillian). I just had a wonderful trade with him. I sent him lily of the valley and just yesterday received a very generous amount of Jack Frost Brunnera from him!

Margaret

I'm not certain about what happened in the past, but I also just got a very nice trade from Paul Denny, alias ryanwillian. Something about the name rang a warning bell for me also, but I usually save notes about my past trades and once he told me his real name, I looked him up on my index cards.

We traded in 2006 when his GW alias was coryjames. At that time he did send a rare plant, trillium decumbens and also some trillium flexipes. He sent a little bit extra over what we had agreed to.

His communications to me on this trade were all anyone could ask for and he was great at working out a trade, for as much as I felt comfortable in trading for the few items I wanted from him. I will send my end of the trade to arrive next week and only hope he is as pleased as I was with what I received. The plants and bulbs were small (not too small) but beautifully packaged and look lovely and healthy.

Paul was very concerned to be sure that I would be satisfied after receiving the trade and is MORE THAN WILLING to send his end first.

I don't know what his situation is, but I suggest you trade with him if there's something of his you are interested in and, by all means, let him send his end first. He doesn't mind.

I recommend this with any unknown entity if they are willing. You can keep your first trade small, see if it blooms correctly next season, then start building up a trade relationship for the future years.

I have also (infrequently) requested trades from people's lists and often don't receive a reply. Sometime you are just thinking about acquiring a certain plant, so why not try?

Unfortunately, the Plant Exchange is not what it used to be years ago (when it was FANTASTIC). Probably due to too many scams so all the great traders left.

With the use of caution, starting slow and using the Rate and Review Exchanges forum perhaps we can make it great again.

Paul Denny contacted me last week requesting a trade. The first thing I did was ask for his GW user name. He offered to send his first and I took him up on it since he didn't have any reviews. I should get the plants he sent tomorrow and I'll ship his out Monday.
He seems to really want to please and has emailed several times. I don't see where anyone could have a problem with him since he's willing to send his end of the trade first. What do you have to lose?
As for what he said about the Netherland's; it's probably true. Things happen sometimes.
I've been trading here for at least 12 years and have only been ripped off a few times.

LullabyF360, it was me who posted that I had daylilies seeds for free. I am not out to scam anyone. I just wanted to give free seeds to people who want them. You did send me email but you asked about the seeds parents. The seeds which I have are all mixed up so I cannot tell you specifically where these seeds come from. As a result, I did not reply to you. Unfortunately, a lot of the people who responded to my posts came frome states with very strict regulations that forbid plants and even seeds to cross state lines.

The bottomline is I cannot scam you if I do not want anything in return.

With everyone harvesting seeds & planning their gardens for next year, the holidays are coming up fast, I supposed it 'tis the season to be weary of scammers, which will cause lots of misunderstandings & confusion with those who are being honest.

I only trade every so often and don't think I've ever received a review on the ratings board. Of course, I don't think I've ever rated anyone I've exchanged with. I guess I just assume that since I've been a member here for years and contribute to forum threads, that people will figure I'm a normal person. I tend to be wary of people that just recently joined and haven't participated.

I'd like to take the "Pauls" of the world at their words, but I must ask, why do you use multiple user names and why do they sound like actual names but are not your true name? For instance, my name is Ryan. My user name is a play on that name. Not super creative, I know, but I don't try to go by a name like "JakeFromStLouis"...

I'm new to the forum and was ecstatic that someone wanted to trade with me. LOL. I hope he leaves a positive rating for me.

Margaret
(llnoe) http://www.LiveLikeNoOneElse.com

It's sad when people abuse the system, as it only increases the level of distrust.

However it's also sad when people substitute paranoia for healthy skepticism and reasonable checking.

I occasionally consult the trade lists when I have surplus seeds, seedlings, rooted cuttings, etc. At the moment, my tiny growing space is full. I can't take in new plants, except under exceptional circumstances.

I could post an offer of plants or seeds for postage. However, this can become a bit of a free-for-all, and if someone has already indicated they are looking for a plant, I'd rather offer it to them over someone who wants something simply because it is free.

An additional consideration is that many of my plants are from the San Francisco area botanical gardens. Many are from unusual environments, such as 10,000 ft in the Andes. Such plants thrive in San Francisco, but will quickly die anywhere zone 9-10 more than 50 miles from the Pacific Ocean. I don't have a big desire to send plants to a certain death.

So I pick and choose, and offer things for postage (or rarely for trade). It's always disturbing to run into the attitude "It sounds too good to be true, so it must be a scam." The alternative is to toss things.

This is always odd, because a quick check of the Rate and Review would, I expect, eliminate any irrational concerns.

I know a lot of people who used to offer things for postage who no longer do. While this is not the problem being addressed here, it does speak to a deterioration in the process. People should be encouraged to use and search the exchange pages, whether they are looking for a trade or for postage. I think many people are unaware of the search engine; I give a link below.

And as the original poster emphasized, the rate and review forum is an often overlooked resource.

Rate and Review forum: http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/raterev/

Here is a link that might be useful: Searching the exchange pages

(deleted duplicate post)

This post was edited by mark4321 on Tue, Oct 1, 13 at 1:56

I wanted to bump this up to let people know who might be cautious that I had a really great trade with Paul (ryanwilliam). Very generous and some rare lillies. He sent me tracking, so that's an idea if someone is cautious, but feel bad asking someone to send first.

I sent ryanwillian some plants in September, and have gotten nothing from him except excuses. I asked him to pay the postage on my shipment if he didn't have plants to send. Nothing. I'll let you know if anything changes.