Recently I mad an open offer for free Arledge pepper seeds and asked if anyone was interested to provide me with the means (postage) to send them their free seeds. So what I have to ask everyone, and I really hope a lot of you will take a minute to respond, is,was it fair that I should ask for postage in order to send someone their free seeds? Why I ask this is I can't believe how many people sent a request by mail and didn't so much as send me a stamp. Some people sent a bubble envelope with no postage. Others just wrote a quick note stating, "Please send free seeds." And then again some were very considerate and sent a SASE just as I requested when I made the free offer. So I went into the chat room and asked several members there this very same question and I couldn't believe the varied responses. Some members said, "If you made the offer pay the postage." Others said, "If they didn't send postage don't send the seeds." So what is protocol here? I want to be fair and just. If someone makes a "Free" offer are they expected to pay for postage also? Please respond so I can understand how the majority of you feel.
free Whats Fair Concerning "Free Seeds"
- Thread starter Dr. Cres
- Start date
PaulG
Extreme Member
Okay, I'm not a veteran here, but it seems kind of crass if someone can't even pungle up postage to pay for their free seeds. We live in a society where some folk seem to think they are owed a living or something. Sort of like the guy who got upset when people didn't like him lifting their pictures off the forum for use on his commercial site, and then complained because the photographers took exception to that.
Get real folks.
Dr. Cres, I would not even respond to those people. It's one thing for someone to send someone some seeds/pods because they want to share them, and have fun doing it. It's another for people to sit on their arse and expect to get free stuff.
"If you made the offer, pay the postage" Get real. What a dork.
I'll be interested in what others say.
Get real folks.
Dr. Cres, I would not even respond to those people. It's one thing for someone to send someone some seeds/pods because they want to share them, and have fun doing it. It's another for people to sit on their arse and expect to get free stuff.
"If you made the offer, pay the postage" Get real. What a dork.
I'll be interested in what others say.
always ask for an sasbe or sase with proper postage leave up to them to determine the amount, but do not honor any request unless postage in with it
before you send the seeds out check the envy for your return address, if your return addy is on it take a black marker and cover it so if there is not enough postage it will fall on the requestee and not you
this has always worked for me and have had no serious issue, the people on here are quite considerate
set the ground rules right awy in your thread where your offering the seeds so you dont get swamped with questions on criteria
thanks your friend Joe
before you send the seeds out check the envy for your return address, if your return addy is on it take a black marker and cover it so if there is not enough postage it will fall on the requestee and not you
this has always worked for me and have had no serious issue, the people on here are quite considerate
set the ground rules right awy in your thread where your offering the seeds so you dont get swamped with questions on criteria
thanks your friend Joe
PaulG
Extreme Member
Sounds like good advice from a pro!
thanks
No postage, no seeds.
I'm neutral in this as I'm not a seed grower, but the expectation should be a SASE if someone expects you to mail them something back. If they sent you an envelope, that's great - but it needs a stamp.
I think of it this way - you offered them "free seeds" - you did not offer them "free postage" - presumably 'cuz there's no such thing.
Good luck!
I'm neutral in this as I'm not a seed grower, but the expectation should be a SASE if someone expects you to mail them something back. If they sent you an envelope, that's great - but it needs a stamp.
I think of it this way - you offered them "free seeds" - you did not offer them "free postage" - presumably 'cuz there's no such thing.
Good luck!
If they send you seeds though and have a trade agreement for seeds in return then I think it should be simply each pays there own postage.
Now if it is a one way trade then I believe it is only fair that the person wanting the free seeds pays postage for the privilege of the free seeds, but a lot of people in this day and age will take whatever they can get without any care for another persons feelings/finances or their own ethics and morals so you should always spell it out when you offer these deals that they are expected to send an SASE with enough postage on it to cover the seed postage.
If you give some people an inch they will take a mile. So always cover yourself from exploitation from the outset.
I would like to think that most people in the world would respect the offer of free seeds enough to be happy to pay their own postage. Unfortunately those people are very few and far between in modern society across all age groups. Look at the amount of people who come on here and ask for free seeds within their first 5 posts.
Unfortunately those that are takers are the same people will also scream the loudest at perceived injustices against them to make sure everyone knows how hard done by they are when the situation allows.
Cynical view point I know but seeing how people operate now in their day to day lives to get something for free or rip someone off or to get an advantage at the expense of anyone and everyone has lead me to tread very carefully. Even something like simply waiting in a line is beyond a good deal of people now.
Now if it is a one way trade then I believe it is only fair that the person wanting the free seeds pays postage for the privilege of the free seeds, but a lot of people in this day and age will take whatever they can get without any care for another persons feelings/finances or their own ethics and morals so you should always spell it out when you offer these deals that they are expected to send an SASE with enough postage on it to cover the seed postage.
If you give some people an inch they will take a mile. So always cover yourself from exploitation from the outset.
I would like to think that most people in the world would respect the offer of free seeds enough to be happy to pay their own postage. Unfortunately those people are very few and far between in modern society across all age groups. Look at the amount of people who come on here and ask for free seeds within their first 5 posts.
Unfortunately those that are takers are the same people will also scream the loudest at perceived injustices against them to make sure everyone knows how hard done by they are when the situation allows.
Cynical view point I know but seeing how people operate now in their day to day lives to get something for free or rip someone off or to get an advantage at the expense of anyone and everyone has lead me to tread very carefully. Even something like simply waiting in a line is beyond a good deal of people now.
+1 You get to decide how you want the whole thing to go down. An easy way is to request the receiver send an SASBE per this thread. You can put a link to the SASBE thread in your initial offer. If you are worried about not receiving correct postage say, "affix $1.95 postage."
I've also paypal-ed folks postage for free seeds before. It really comes down to what you are comfortable with. YOU make the rules!
On the topic of sending seeds cheaply:
I like to send small amounts of seeds in Christmas cards, protected by a piece of bubble wrap, if it's less than an oz, less than 3/4" thick, and can bend, it's 45 cents!
I agree fully!
In your post, you plainly said, "If you don't have anything to trade that is ok, just send me a SASE and I will be glad to send you some seeds."
Based on that, I would think it was clear that either the person would do a trade with you (both pay their own postage to the other), or they would need send a SASE.
Seems pretty simple to me. If they don't send a SASE (or a way to cover shipping cost), then they haven't done what they needed to do in order to get the seeds in the first place...
Based on that, I would think it was clear that either the person would do a trade with you (both pay their own postage to the other), or they would need send a SASE.
Seems pretty simple to me. If they don't send a SASE (or a way to cover shipping cost), then they haven't done what they needed to do in order to get the seeds in the first place...
Yeah - trades are an each pays his own thing. Totally agree.
Sadly I also agree about most ppl looking for a way to screw their fellow man. Sad, that.
Sadly I also agree about most ppl looking for a way to screw their fellow man. Sad, that.
I have come accross this many times, I Give out alot of seeds and at times I have to put maybe 1 more stamp but that is because I send them more than I had already said so that is on my part but When someone sent me a letter with no other stamp I didnt even bother to respond to them some people swear that a stamp is too much to get free seeds well no stamp no seeds the least they can do is maybe a trade
It's my thinking that if you plainly list the terms in your offer, if they take you up on that offer, they agree to those terms. If they do not live up to those terms then they have in essence "broken contract" and you do not owe them anything.
[background=rgb(245, 245, 245)]Hello Doc ...
Arrives at a conclusion: missed you tell that the transport would not be free.
Like many colleagues reported above, some people want to take advantage of the opportunity to get seeds for free, completely free.
And now, what to do?
A question that only you can solve.
But if you need some money to help transport the seeds held by Paypal to send, let me know if you need.
Big hug.
Tuca[/background]
Arrives at a conclusion: missed you tell that the transport would not be free.
Like many colleagues reported above, some people want to take advantage of the opportunity to get seeds for free, completely free.
And now, what to do?
A question that only you can solve.
But if you need some money to help transport the seeds held by Paypal to send, let me know if you need.
Big hug.
Tuca[/background]
its fiar to ask for the cost and the supplys to send them the free seeds. there are a lot of newbies on hear so i would make it very clear spell out what you want them to send. when i first got one hear I had not idea what a sasbe and SASE where as well as i did not know that if you are going to send a bubble envelope its always five stamps at a minimum. realy glad that people are cool enough to give out free seeds. i would just contant them and ask for what you need to send the seeds out.
It seems to me that if someone is giving you something for free, You should offer to do anything to take the burden off that person you can. Someone was kind enough to offer me some seeds in chat w\out any caveats or requests other than my address. I still offered a SASE.
Ghosty, Dr, Cres, if either of you need additional postage for the offers I took you up on, let me know.
Ghosty, Dr, Cres, if either of you need additional postage for the offers I took you up on, let me know.
Your post was fine. The people that miss it is why a lot of people include a link to the thread regarding how to do a proper SASBE.
I don't have it at hand, but I am sure someone can help here.
On a side note:
If still available I will gladly paypal you $3 to cover my postage and the envelope for some of those seeds if that would work for you.
I don't have it at hand, but I am sure someone can help here.
On a side note:
If still available I will gladly paypal you $3 to cover my postage and the envelope for some of those seeds if that would work for you.