Tiffy,

I have had emails like that and I don't answer them. I don't mean to be rude to the person BUT I can't afford to get a virus on my laptop. What would I do with my spare time?

I have even gotten emails for seeds that I don't answer unless I have seen the person post before.

I wouldn't respond until they posted, it's not that hard!

Lisa

I also am hesitant to answer e-mails where the person has not posted though states is a GW member. If he/she is a GW member then should be asking questions on the forum not e-mailing people for information.

Re trades: A few people have sent e-mails asking about a trade after they had searched member pages for a variety of seeds and I have responded after checking out their member page. Haven't had any trouble but am rethinking how I respond as I hadn't thought about getting a computer virus.

Re BEAP: It is my understanding that one is not to ask for a BEAP as that is considered soliciting. Rather one is to respond to BEAP offerings that are posted. Although I think this is a grey area when it comes up during a conversation on the forum.

Is it rude not to respond to a solisited BEAP e-mail? I don't think so because one is told to ignore the rudeness of others. If I ignore the rudeness of asking then there is no need to respond.

Thanks! I'm going to put on my 'don't-feel guilty' hat.

DH is really good at keeping up with the computer and keeping me sane about it.

This past week I had one person e-mail me saying they would love to have an SASE. Heck!! I haven't offered one on the forums in two years!!! I went to see if one had been bumped up but no, there was nothing. Then they send me another e-mail saying that they will be sending me postage... Well, I'd like to see that happen... They don't have my snail mail addy. :O)

Then I get another asking about wsing. The name sounds familiar, but I look at their e-mail address and it's just not right. Can't find them on GW either, but the e-mail originated here.

mnwsgal,
Pardon my ignorance, but what is BEAP? LOL!! I really don't know. Curiosity is killing me right now.

Hmmm... I think it's bubble envy and postage.

Nicole, a BEAP is a bubble envelope and postage.

This is the phrase that has been suggested on the seed exchange forum to replace SASBE as that is confusing since one does not actually need to send a self addressed bubble envelope if one sends the one bubble envelope (containing postage, a self-addressed label and list of seeds inside) addressed to the person with the seeds. That person then uses the address label and postage on the same envelope to send the seeds to the one requesting them.

The first free seed offering I responded to I sent a self-addressed bubble envelope inside another envelope. Many people do likewise. We don't need to use two envelopes.

Hopefully using BEAP will be less confusing.

Here is a link that might be useful: sase-sasbe is NOT a self addressed envelope-bubble or otherwise

Aaaahhhh. I see. Obviously hasn't caught on above the 49th parallel. LOL!!

Tiffy:

I recently read someone complaining that they were unable to look people up by member names using GW search, but could track them down in a thread and click onto their pages. So, these people may be real GW members, it's just that GW doesn't have things working right. You can go to Google, and use the member name and add "Site:gardenweb.com"
You could also just type something like "stage_rat exchange" into Google and it will hit that person's exchange link.

I've been approached a couple of times for free seeds. 2 times it was someone looking for just one thing, and I can understand not wanting to pay the minimum S&H fees from a seed company for just one packet.

When I started here, (not very long ago) a SASBE often was just that--the person offering it expected to be able to not mess around with a mailing label. A paper wrapper around the bubble envie worked just fine.

If people want to rename something to avoid confusion, maybe they could make a practice of not using an acronym _at all?_ Every newbie had to figure out what SASBE means, and now they will have to do it for BEAP. Maybe you could just call your offer "Free Seeds" and then spell out the details without the acronym. We just had a post from someone who figured out what HOS meant. It really is tough to be a newbie!

Oh, and regarding virus danger: if you use Yahoo or hotmail, etc., the emails are not on your computer, they are in cyberspace. You would have to download the email/attachment, and Yahoo does scan those first (although of course new viri are always being made). It is with Outlook and some other programs that your emails "live" on your computer, and you are more at risk from viruses.
http://uk.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20081025013328AATXIz8

Ya know,i never thought about this before.
A couple of weeks ago, i had someone e mail,saying they were new to WSing,and would i please explaine the jugs again,and how they are cut and so forth.

It never even entered my mind that someone would be trying to hack in,i did respond,they e mailed me a couple of time again,and asked me to explaine yet again how it all worked,i encouraged her(him) to come on over to the WSing forum,as there were a lot of sowers over there that knew way more than me,and would be happy to answer any questions.
I have not seen them come on over,nor,ask any questions.

This is pertty important info.we all need to know.Thank you Tiffy for sharing this,i wonder now what this person wanted.I wish i would have keep the user name and address.
I will be more careful from now on.
cAROL

Tiffy,
How do you do a "search",on GW,for a name?
I found the one that was sent to me,and i want to do a search.
Thanks,
cAROL

Carol,
if you scroll down on this page on the very bottom is a green stripe it will say "member pages" click on that
then third one up from bottom is "search for members" click that and there ya go!
-B

you could also just type in this address with the username at the end, to get to their member page.
https://auth.gardenweb.com/members/

https://auth.gardenweb.com/members/zubababy

I did as you both said,no member by this name.
I suppose she-he-could have just been a lurker,the address started with a -slsl-i looked it up,and it could be a Nigerian site.
I sure will be more careful,thank .
cAROL

For the record, I often will email people outside of the forums simply because they may have mentioned something of interest in their post, and I don't want to hijack the thread, and the 'topic' that I'm wondering about is also not related to the forum.

Or they might mention that they grow something that I'm interested in, and I'll email them privately about seeds they might have available. I won't post asking for seed on a thread because that's like opening up a can of worms for people...if someone posts about wanting some seed, and they reply in the affirmative, they might get a deluge of people asking for it, when they simply didn't have enough to offer all the "me too"s.

If something is totally OT, I've been known to buzz someone about an issue because I'm interested/want to offer something of value to the person to help them with something.

Or I might just want to see your gardens or a pic of something you mentioned in a post.

Yeah, I'm an "offender."
I think my email shows in my profile, so if you're wondering if I'm for real, yeah, I am.

:D

I think after you are on the forum for a while,we all know the name,i am not offended at all when some one sends me an e mail,that is why it is listed,and, i think it is a nice way to meet one another.
My experance with this person was such,that she e mailed me two,three times with the same question,when it has been covered on the forum many,many times,just made me courious.
I have not seen her post since.
Mary, you can e mail me any time you like. :0)
cAROL

I agree with cAROL that someone posting regularily on the forums and sending an e-mail is different than someone with no posts and no seed exchange list asking for seeds. Even a couple of posts would show that the person is interested in being part of the community.

The former is continuing a conversation. The second is a solicitation.

Mary, I wouldn't consider you an offender.

I don't consider you an offender either Mary. I will also contact folks who have seeds I might be interested in or with questions/discussions about gardening. No issues with that at all. :O) On most e-mails I'll post a link to my page or refer to the post which prompted me to e-mail them. There's always a connection.

I also like those who contact me to see if I have seeds of plants I might feature in photos. Something I consider a compliment. Many times I can look up their names and get a few 'hits' on GW in regards to posts they've written in the past or their member page. I haven't done much trading this winter due to some life changes but have sent many seeds out to GW members.

It was the totally anonymous ones I was refering to when I first started this post. Just seems odd that someone would try to get seeds or info when you haven't seen their name before or conversed with them on GW.

No, Mary, we're not offenders. :O)

Tiffy, I'm sooo glad you put that in there about your pictures 'cause I was one who emailed you about the inula goliaths!
I do that alot, if I see or read something I might drop that person a line to find out if they have any extras for trade :-)
BTW I loved the way you cut out your tags, I think I might copy them!!LOL!!
-B

I also emailed you Tiffy,hoping to trade with you for some of your inula goliath,i traded with you about 3 yrs ago,when you sent me phlox from your mothers garden and wild lupins that grow by the roadside.
I was not offended that you didnt reply i just assumed that you never received it.
Can understand your reason though.

Tracey,

I'm going to e-mail you. There seems to be a period when our e-mails were not being recieved. Not sure if it's something DH did or it has to do with something else. So sorry you got lost in the shuffle. Wish I'd triggered this post to answer to my e-mail box too. I would have received this message earlier.

You are definitely not one of the anonymous people. :O)

I've had some requests as well from people that I can't find on G'web. Sometimes, I think, people lurk, never post anything, and just request your seeds, with no offer of a trade. I find it funny that most of them turn out to be from the States, since we're not supposed to participate in the U.S. exchange, according to the "rules". Even if they could send an SASBE, I couldn't mail it from here with American postage.
Don't get me wrong, I've had some great trades with people south of the border, as well as sending seeds to people who trust me enough to slip in an American dollar to cover postage for the return, but they're people that I see on the forums as active participants.
I don't respond to people that I can't find any record of on G'web.
That might be how to handle it.
I second brandy on your tag method..so much better than a sticky label..you can put more info on the label as well. (For anyone who hasn't rec'd any of Tiff's seeds, she 'pinks' a little piece of paper with pinking shears, then slips it in the baggie with the seeds). The name can go on one side, planting instructions on the other.

Waiting for spring, as always, Wendy

You cannot imagine the oddballs I get from my Yvonne's Salvia offer. Many of them I've never heard of, their name isn't familiar. Some give me their name and address and expect me to supply the envelope and postage!!! No way! Or they send an envelope but no postage, or not enough postage. I get so frustrated. I'm trying to be nice but I do have limits. It has gotten too expensive. I posted an update to my offer today saying "if I don't get your envelope and postage you don't get seeds".

I have offered to send seeds to my friends here. In Tiffy's case, she's in Canada so couldn't send me postage if she wanted to. But I would be happy to send Nicole seeds at my own expense any day. She's been my friend for years. That's way different from these strangers who turn up in my email inbox.

Karen

It does give you a sense of how many people lurk around the WS forum and do not particpate. Earlier this fall I had posted a message that I would send templates of my seed labels (almost 100, set up on label sheets in "word")to anyone who wanted to start doing typed labels instead of handwritten ones on our WS forum. I received about 25 requests but only a small handful (maybe 5?) were from names I recognized from threads. It didn't matter to me, happy to share,no cost involved like postage as I was just emailing a file. But I did wonder "How did these folks find me?" Weird.

Nancy

Someone signed me up to get email newsletter from Dave's forum...and I've never been a participant there although I do use it for reference regularly from google searches.

I get fritzy from unsolicited email so understand someone's hesitancy when they question who's behind that email.

It's bad enough we have so little privacy left with the availability of web information from private info dealers and marketers. It really frosts me but there's nothing we can do about turning back the electronic age clock.

OT...just looked up from my laptop and see the Robins are back! I "computer" in the garage at my father's so I can indulge my tres bad nicotine habit...and watch my birdies eat.

newbie: I belong to Daves. I can pick and choose what comes to my inbox. I only subscribe to the newsletter. I think if you unsubscribe, or even email Dave, it will be easy to subscribe.

That's one of my favorite things about Daves. If I choose to not see ads on the site, I don't. And the only emails I get are the newsletter and once a year notice that it's time to pay dues.

Karen

Incredible! I just got yet another email saying "here's my name and address, now mail me seeds". This if after just yesterday I posted an update stressing how this works.

I am appalled at all of these strangers who expect me not only to do all the work involved in even saving these seeds but then they expect me to supply envelopes and pay postage, too!

Karen

I understand your frustration, Karen. Delete, delete, delete.

Karen, I might be able to top that last one. Get this... I got an e-mail about a couple of weeks ago from someone at GW. I have no idea where they got the idea that I had 'quite the collection of Euphorbias' - because I don't, and they were asking for cuttings. This person was asking that I mail the cuttings to the US. Sorry, but that's a no-go, eh?!?! They didn't offer to send something for the postage or anything. I know that some folks might not know the rules, but I do think it's a little too much.

Thank so much for the offer of Yvonne's seeds. Although I have tried them in the past and they've not made it, I will try again this year. I have received some from trades. They were 'surprise' packages so something tells me I must try them again this year. :O) You are so kind to be offering them and don't you dare send them to folks who won't send you what you ask for. Put your foot down girl!!

Oh, I have another one. Someone sent me an e-mail from Florida asking for 21 different seeds. Oooooh, don't we think that's a bit too much? They had all of four different kinds of seeds on their trade list. Does the word fair need to be explained? I don't mind throwing in extras, really, but...

Wendy, You are too kind! I was out of my little stickers and had to come up with something this year so I took out DD's scrapbooking shears and made those little labels. Had fun doing it. Oh, and if you read this message, your Centaurea - the yellow one that I wanted seeds from this year - has made it's way to my home. I recognized your writing on the envelope and got them in the Unusual Seed Trade organized by Bonnie earlier this year. Obviously someone felt like sharing and I'm so happy they did!! LOL!

I'm so glad you got some centaurea Tiff. I thought I had a stash somewhere, then realized I had sent them all on their way to either Bonnie or Kenny for trades. No blooms the first year, just large leaves (very much like the Inula). You'll love the flowers when they do arrive in year two, as will the bees!
{{gwi:332370}}

Tiffy: I'm confident that your Yvonne's Salvia will be successful this year. It would be unheard of for me to be able to grow something when you can't.

I've officially ended the Yvonne's seed offer. I might have some left after the dust settles and if so might have another limited offer, like the first dozen to respond and for a limited time only, like I must have your envelope and postage within two weeks. It's getting to be that time of year when I want to concentrate on my own yard, not everybody else's.

Of course, any of my long-time friends are welcome to contact me anytime for any seeds and I'll be happy to share whatever I have.

Karen

Karen, I like to read experiences and see real garden photos from people on Dave's who've grown plants while I'm deciding whether or not to try them. It's a great resource.

I can't believe the nerve of some people with their requests. You all have known each other for some time but strangers seeking things without some humility and promise/offer of reciprocity is kind of brash.

I'm even hesitant to offer any seed I have for free or just SASBE (?)because I don't think they've been stored at proper temps and would be upset and embarassed if they didn't germinate for one who gets them.

The exchange forum looks a litte daunting for me except for commercial seeds that I've bought more recently and kept cold in the garage but may not need all of them for this year's sowing.

Seeds I collected but were inside the house all Fall and early Winter may have been kept too warm. I'll have to baggie test those for my own sowing so I don't waste time and materials sowing them if they don't germinate.

Leslie