Remember the mystery Chinese seeds?

[CitizenBBN]

Long read, but a really good investigation of that whole event.

https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2021/07/unsolicited-seeds-china-brushing/619417/?utm_source=pocket-newtab


To save some time, there's actually real evidence that in fact the 1,000s of people who got these seeds did by and large in fact order the seeds, but a) didn't have any idea they were coming from China, and b) forgot about it b/c the shipments were delayed for months due to Covid.

Also most of the packets were mis-labeled, which may have been intentional to circumvent both Chinese export controls and US import controls on seeds and plants, but the companies that did this already had reviews to that effect on Amazon prior to this mass event.

Most all of them were through Amazon, so people didn't really realize they were ordering from China.

Obviously USDA etc are still not happy b/c the uncontrolled import of such things is a risk, and Amazon et al have ended the import sale of such items, but the complete mystery seems to be highly correlated with people in fact just forgetting or not knowing what they were doing.

One lady received 519 packets, but apparently was part of a big gifting group, and while not all 519 packets were checked in this story, the ones they did check were in fact likely from gifting, not just random mailings.


FWIW, the USDA accepted theory is a "brushing scam", which I found interesting to learn about in the article as well. that alone was worth a read.

[dan_bgblue]

Long read, but a really good investigation of that whole event.

https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2021/07/unsolicited-seeds-china-brushing/619417/?utm_source=pocket-newtab


To save some time, there's actually real evidence that in fact the 1,000s of people who got these seeds did by and large in fact order the seeds, but a) didn't have any idea they were coming from China, and b) forgot about it b/c the shipments were delayed for months due to Covid.

Also most of the packets were mis-labeled, which may have been intentional to circumvent both Chinese export controls and US import controls on seeds and plants, but the companies that did this already had reviews to that effect on Amazon prior to this mass event.

Most all of them were through Amazon, so people didn't really realize they were ordering from China.

Obviously USDA etc are still not happy b/c the uncontrolled import of such things is a risk, and Amazon et al have ended the import sale of such items, but the complete mystery seems to be highly correlated with people in fact just forgetting or not knowing what they were doing.

One lady received 519 packets, but apparently was part of a big gifting group, and while not all 519 packets were checked in this story, the ones they did check were in fact likely from gifting, not just random mailings.


FWIW, the USDA accepted theory is a "brushing scam", which I found interesting to learn about in the article as well. that alone was worth a read.

Legit, online retailers use the brushing scam to hype their product thru false ratings. Amazon and other platforms have tried to control that to a certain degree by noting that a rating is from a certified buyer, but the brushing scam avoids that control method.

When I was buying camera electronics, lighting and batteries I was buying from a Hong Kong company that was a middle man retailer for Chinese goods. I did a lot of research and networking before ever placing the first order with them, but at the end of the day, I found that they were selling quality stuff at great prices. Other than their shipping consisting of a slow boat from China and their product descriptions on the packages being funky to avoid customs issues I never had a complaint in my dealings with them. Their corporate name is a bit odd though and gave me 2nd thoughts when I placed the first order with them. They do business as "Bang Good"

[KeithKSR]

I figured more packages would’ve contained some kind of invasive species. Kudzu was brought in and is now taking over in many areas in the southeast. We have invasive species all over Florida that have a negative impact on native species.