Comments regarding Whatcom Seed Company (Seedrack.com)

I bought seeds only once from Whatcom/Seedrack through eBay about 2 years ago. My experience was completely positive. I ordered Japanese Black Pine (Pinus thunbergii) and Buddha Belly (Jatropha podagrica) seeds. I followed the instructions for cold stratification in my refrigerator for the Black Pine seeds. The cold stratification process took several months, but I did get germination from at least four of the seeds. I have three of these healthy Japanese Black Pine plants in my garden and one in a pot awaiting Bonsai treatment (it has remained only a few inches tall whereas the others are now about 1 foot tall). I got zero germination from the Buddha Belly plants from the first shipment I received. I contacted the company by E-mail in regard to a possibly placing another order for different seeds and mentioned the lack of germination of the Buddha Belly seeds. They told me there had apparently been a problem with the previous Buddha Belly seeds and that I would receive a replacement. I basically forgot about the replacement offer, but several months later I did receive replacement Buddha Belly seeds at no cost to me for the seeds or shipping. These replacement seeds germinated well and I now have four mature and flowering Buddha Belly plants.

I too was "duped" by seedracks cheap prices for seeds on ebay. I recieved the seeds quickly with germinating instructions. The only thing "good" about this company!!! I bought some of their more expensive seeds (cycad seeds). I bought 4 packages and 8 out of 10 seeds were old!!! I soaked them in water like they instructed, but 8 of the seeds floated! I found out later, during some research, that cycad seeds that float are generally old seeds and don't germinate!
I emailed them several times to try to solve the problem; I even offered to send pictures of the floating seeds and pay for the shipping for new seeds. They emailed me ONCE and asked where I found my info. I replied, "From the president of the Cycad Society." I even copied and pasted the info for them to read! They have never responded back!!
ALL I CAN SAY IS BUYER BEWARE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I was taken in by the low prices and bought about 20 packets of seeds from Seedrack on eBay and then from Whatcom's website. The only seeds that germinated were the Purple Bells and the Abutilon, and the germination rate wasn't very good on those. I just chalked it up to cheap seeds and wrote it off. I don't know if they buy leftover seed or what, but I wouldn't recommend them. They do ship quickly though and don't rip you off on shipping, but that's pretty much worthless when they send old seeds. I always have good luck with Park Seed and J.L. Hudson Seed. Can't go wrong with these two companies.

I wish I had checked here first!!!

I bought several seeds last fall, including some coffee (Coffea arabica), purple dragon carrot seed, pawpaw seeds, among others.

I was mainly excited about the coffee seeds. I researched like crazy to find all the info I would need to get those babies to grow. By the way, their instructions were incomplete for growing coffee, good thing I looked it up (well not really, didn't matter as the seeds were crap). I knew they lost their germination quickly, so I got them planted immediately. Anyway, I waited and waited, keeping them at just the right temp., and just the right moisture. However, I finally had to give up after 5 months or so. I sadly tossed them in the trash. I have not yet had a chance to plant the others, spring is around the corner. I have had the pawpaw seeds outside stratifying all winter (I also researched them a bit). I pulled on of the seeds out and it looks crummy, so I am thinking they are going to follow suit with the coffee seeds. I am giving them every chance in the world though, buying pawpaw plants is a bit pricey.

So far a big fat negative, if I have a better experience with the other seeds, I might change it. :(

All those with negative experiences should contact the bbb (www.bbb.com), so they can get a report generated on this company. Some people check there before ordering from a company.

No seeds germinated.
I ordered these seeds in July 2004. Camellia sinensis (Tea Plant), Coffea arabica (Coffee Plant), Coffea catura (Dwarf Coffee Plant), Cortaderia selloana (White Pampas Grass), Cortaderia selloana rosea (Pink Pampas Grass), Zwolsche Krul (Par-Cel), Asimina triloba (Pawpaw) I bought extra packets of pampas grass. Not a single seed germinated. They warrant seed to be of the variety and quantity advertised. There is no assurance of viability or age. I

Received a gift certificate. Seed came very fast, gift certificate was handled very easily (like they knew I was going to be placing the order that day). Information on backorder came in about an hour after order placement. Packaging was excellent. After 3 weeks I have had 4 of 19 Coast Redwoods germinate (20% given by Whatcom as expection), 3 of 11 Dawn Redwoods (less than 50% given as expectation), 2 of 2 cashew nut trees (no germination expectation given), and today 2 of 6 Monkey Pod trees are pushing up soil (no germination data available). I will be starting another planting campaign this weekend, several seeds are also stratifying, I'll try to followup. I'm quite pleased. It is now my job to keep them going.

I purchased several packs of seeds (3-4 species) last year from Seedrack on eBay. My experience fits the pattern described by lots of previous comments. The transaction was smooth; the seeds arrived in nice packages and with clear sowing instructions. I grew several plants from one packet. From the other packets - nothing germinated. The packaging and delivery are great and seedrack has very high positive feedback on eBay. Like others, I received my seeds promptly and immediately left positive feedback on eBay. Months later, my opinion had changed. Unless I start seeing a change in comments here, I won't buy from seedrack again.

[There are some great sources of seeds and plants on eBay. But with seeds, eBay feedback is based mostly on packaging and delivery, and one has to learn the hard way about the freshness/viability of the seeds.

Like many others, I too was impressed by the quick delivery and the very thoughtful packaging--the seeds were padded with foam!

However, the bottom line is germination, of which I had 0%. I planted my hardy orange and bald cypress exactly per the instructions.

It is a shame because I think their web site is excellent. What disturbs me the most, and the reason I will not purchase from them again is poor customer relations.

Maybe the will read this and others and take it to heart.

I have ordered from this company and nothing germinates and one pack of seeds received was just chips and peaces

I ordered a great deal of seeds from this company, and not one single solitary germination for my fifty dollars. My greenhouse is so full of other seeds and plants and I had to build a second, so I would bet the problem is not me.

I ordered lots of seeds ( tea, coffee, papyrus, venus flytrap, Sarracenia leucophylla, baobab tree, red velvet banana, toothache plant, and many more) and NOT ONE germinated. I had them under grow lights, in sterilized potting soil treated with fungicide and with bottom heat. packaging was great, but I had a zero percent germination rate...

I have ordered many seeds from Whatcom, mostly palms, cycads, and other not so rare tropicals and have had relatively good luck. As an beginner palm and cycad grower, I've found that Whatcom is a great source for very inexpensive, medium quality seeds. I also like that you can order in relatively small quanitites. I've ordered all but one cycad and several palms and have only a single complaint: of 5 Kerriodoxa elegans seeds, 2 arrived fairly rotten and the other 3 refused to germinate. But boo hoo, I'll think I'll get over. Whatcom is a great source for beginners, probably not so much for pros. (And it's like I'll ever be a pro growing cycads and palms in Wisconsin anyway!)

I purchased 11 different seed varieties from Whatcom. Not a single one germinated. I followed the instructions exactly. At the same time, I planted seeds from another company, and those seeds germinated.
I contacted Whatcom Seed, to inform them of the failure of their product and no one responded. I sent 3 e-mails and all were ignored.

I bought some Chinese zelkova seeds last winter from Seedrack on Ebay. They cost little, arrived quickly, were well-packed, and contained clear instructions. Sixty days later, I planted them, and now, two weeks later, they've begun to germinate, as advertised. I may not get 100% germination, but I don't think any vendor can guarantee that.

Well, I agree as others have that the packaging is excellent. I think it's probably the best I have ever
received. The growing instructions are certainly adequate, and the shipping seems to be prompt.
However, I too, experienced an exceptionally low germination rate. They are very specific with their seed count. When they say 8 seeds you get 8 seeds. I paid over $5.00 each for several packets of 8 seeds plus S&H, I also bought a packet of 35 hollyhock seeds from which 5 have emerged and I'm quite certain that will be the final count on the hollyhocks. It just seems to me that since they surely must know the poor germination rate of the seed, they could at the very least toss in a few extra seeds "just in case".
I have not, nor do I intend to contact the company about this. I'm sure they have heard it all before. Even though they might possibly replace the seeds, I have no desire to keep planting seeds and being disappointed at the result...or lack of a result. I will just add it to my experience list and let it go at that.

we bought alot of seeds and none of them came up, followed directions very carefully. when that did'nt work we tried again and still nothing not even one plant out of all of the seeds that were purchased, very disapointed, a waste of money and time, and patience.

My friend and I bought $40.00 of perennial seeds from this company in February from Ebay. 2 1/2 months later none of the seeds have germinated. We split each packet, 1/2 to her & I kept 1/2. Both had different seed starting items.
I dont recommend them.
They are the same name on Ebay seedrack

Seeds arrived pretty quickly. The tomatoes came up as usual. I'm still waiting for the kiwis. A little pricey, but seem like a good bunch of people.

Never had problems getting seeds to sprout but.....
Ordered two seperate times from this company and had no luck with germinating the seeds. First time I blamed myself, but next time I was pretty sure it was the product.

The seeds are hit-or-miss. Some seeds had a 90% germination, some had about 10% germination, and many seeds had 0% germination. So, overall, I would say the seed viability is usually lousy. Excellent planting instructions were given, so I know it's not because I didn't follow the instructions. There are some good qualities, such as fast shipping, great packaging, thorough instructions. It's disappointing when none of the seeds grow, though.

These guys have the absolute best seed packets - very nicely done. Quality label inside a 2x2 ziploc. Superb! And with it a half-page of growing instructions. But it's the packet itself I'm so impressed with.

I bought from them on eBay; they stock many hard-to-find varieties. Their prices are on the high side. Germination for me was so-so. I have had no customer service problems.

This was the first time I ordered seeds.My seeds arrived In 4 days and 10 out of 16 seeds germinate.I will order from them again.

From my experience, the germination rates for their seed is very poor. I bought 4 types of seed from this company: tea, coffee, sacred lotus and butterfly weed. There were 12 each of the tea, coffee and lotus seeds and quite a number of the butterfly weed. After six months of waiting and careful tending, none of the coffee seeds germinated. Same with the tea. I planted 10 butterfly weed seeds--one came up. Of the 12 lotus seeds, two sprouted.

I admit, these are not easy seeds to germinate, but I did follow the directions provided, and still had very little luck.

I received the seeds quickly, but, at the price they charged for them, they really weren't worth it. It's really too bad, because they sell a lot of hard-to-find seeds. If they had better germination rates, they'd be well worth the money.

Being based in the Philippines, there are a limited number of online stores which ship internationally. Whatcom is one of the excellent ones. The seeds have very high germination rates (the latest ones I ordered were sacred lotus, passionflower, jacaranda and moonvine). Once when I had a bout of zone denial, I ordered Colorado Blue spruce seeds and amazingly these germinated in zone 11 Philippines! Shipping is speedy and inexpensive. Costumer service is responsive and responsible.

I had a very good experience with this company. VERY FAST SHIPPING and good customer service. They were very helpful and delivered exactly what they promised.

Marsha Becker

have to say positive at this time I have not gotten seeds yet, but emailed them about
some of the descriptions in there listing (they were correct after all) and got a reply
to the email i sent before I went to bed. so I am hoping i get to add a positive
response after i order seed from them

It is a shame they have the most attractive web site for seeds on the net. Their delivery is very speedy, I ordered twice from them , thinking that the first bad service ( no response to questions asked after delivery ) was a fluke - their customer service is the worst I have ever encountered and the seeds, tho quite expensive have a terribly low germination rate. Some never came up - not a one and of the ones that did the germination rate was about 5 %. I am an experianced gardener so it was not the sowing but the seeds were very old. Their web site is so well done that I have to restrain myself from ordering again. What a shame.

I have been ordering seeds for four years now from this company and I have been please every single time. The seeds are a bit on the pricey side, but these aren't your common run-of-the-mill plant seeds. They also include very clear instructions for germinating these seeds.

I had received notice that they were sending out my seeds but after 2 weeks I had not gotten them. I emailed them and immediately was told another shipment would be sent and it was. I received the seeds within 3 days. I have not planted them yet, so I can't attest to their germination rate yet.

I rate this company very very negative. I bought three sets of seed from them. Of a total of 24 seeds (between the three different species) four seeds came up. They were ridiculously expensive, and I have emailed questions and comments over and over again: no response. Very poor quality products and I would never order from them again. They sell their seeds over eBay and have something like 24000 positive comments. This is because this company ships the seed IMMEDIATELY and people rate them positive based on that; they don't wait to see that their plants won't actually grow. If you want particular plants (eg succulents) try specialty growers (eg mesa garden). Don't waste your money like I did mine.

I don't think I've ever rated a company negative, ever! But this place takes the cake. They sell a lot of items through Ebay too, under the name seedrack. On each of the individual item auction pages you can find a description of Whatcom and their policies.

The problem I had was threefold: 1) poor quality seeds, 2) no (zero) customer service, and 3) stupid me.

Once I got the bad seeds I tried and tried to get an answer via email. It is like writing into a black hole. It didn't matter if I wrote asking where they got the seeds, or if they performed viability tests on the seeds, or if they would consider sending new seeds to replace the bad. Multiple emails went unanswered. I finally figured out I would eat the loss on the bad seeds. So, bad seeds and zero customer service.

Then, stupid me. I ordered again. I thought, surely the first time was a mistake. Same problems again, fungus infested, dirty seeds. Emails went unanswered. Hit me once, shame on you. Hit me twice, shame on me.

I finally went back and read their policies (yes, it took me a while). They basically claim to deliver the seeds and cover any damage done in transit. They never promise to deliver viable seed or pest-free seed.

Anway, you can guess there will be no third time. There are too many vendors that make a point of promising quality.

I placed a small mail order for seeds on January 4, and received my order on the 11th. The whole transaction was very fast and courteous, and I got exactly what I ordered and what was described. The seeds I ordered are slow germinators, but I have no reason to suspect that they won't (except maybe my pathetic gardenting skills).

Superb company!! I've placed several orders with them and have been completely satisfied!! Unusual seed varieties, quick ship, great germination rates, and competitive prices!! Two types of proteas (supposedly difficult to germinate) I've had 75% and 90% germination!! My last order from ordering to receiving was only 5 days!! They also sell on eBay. Highly recommended!!