• We have updated the guidelines regarding posting political content: please see the stickied thread on Website Issues.

Mystery Seed Packs Sent From China

ff0e41e8ca186144bd3637cde18f9f74--comment-memes-funny-memes.jpg
 
Picard doesn't use the f-word!
 
  • Like
Reactions: Sid
blessmycottonsocks said:
More on the Chinese mystery seed packages here:

https://www.theguardian.com/environ...ry-seed-parcels-world-biosecurity-china-uk-us
Click to expand...

It's getting serious.

Amazon says it has banned foreign sales of seeds in the US after thousands of Americans received unsolicited packets of seeds in the mail, most from China.

The online retail giant told the BBC that it will now only allow the sale of seeds by sellers based in the US. US officials said gardeners should not plant seeds of unknown origin. The packages are believed to be part of a global "brushing" scam to gain positive reviews for online selling sites.

Amazon's new guidelines, in effect since 3 September, also prohibit the sale of seeds within America by non-US residents. It added that sellers may be banned if they do not follow the new guidelines. But the retailer has not confirmed if its ban will extend to other countries. News of the policy change was first reported by the Wall Street Journal.

At least 14 plant species have been identified among the mystery packages, including mint, lavender and roses. ...

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-54046154
 
This is daft. What kind of gardener would not plant strange seeds to see what they might grow into?

Its hardly like its going to grow into a giant beanstalk, is it?
 
Kondoru said:
This is daft. What kind of gardener would not plant strange seeds to see what they might grow into?

Its hardly like its going to grow into a giant beanstalk, is it?
Click to expand...
It could be an invasive species. Or it could be carrying a disease.
 
I can't find that this was posted anywhere else. (AAHH! I searched! Really I did! Why didn't search turn up "mystery seeds" or "China"?) This is a very good (but long) read on the mystery of the seed packs from China that were delivered in both the UK and US. I loved this story.

THE TRUTH BEHIND THE AMAZON MYSTERY SEEDS​

Why did so many Americans receive strange packages they didn’t think they’d ordered?
https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2021/07/unsolicited-seeds-china-brushing/619417/
 
Last edited:
Sharon Hill said:
I can't find that this was posted anywhere else and since it's now petered out, I'm linking it here. This is a very good (but long) read on the mystery of the seed packs from China that were delivered in both the UK and US. I loved this story.

THE TRUTH BEHIND THE AMAZON MYSTERY SEEDS​

Why did so many Americans receive strange packages they didn’t think they’d ordered?
https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2021/07/unsolicited-seeds-china-brushing/619417/
Click to expand...

Thanks for that.

Good Lord.

The conclusion: lots of people are very dull, late-stage capitalism throws up some surprisingly unlikely phenomena, and the U.S. media is constantly fishing for the tentacles of the Yellow Peril.

With a slightly deceptive decontextualisation, this is a great thumbnail sketch of modern Americana:

[Doyle] Crenshaw, who lives in Booneville, Arkansas, was watching Channel 5 in late July 2020 when he saw an item about Chinese seeds.

He knew just what they were talking about.
 
Yithian said:
Thanks for that.

Good Lord.

The conclusion: lots of people are very dull, late-stage capitalism throws up some surprisingly unlikely phenomena, and the U.S. media is constantly fishing for the tentacles of the Yellow Peril.

With a slightly deceptive decontextualisation, this is a great thumbnail sketch of modern Americana:

[Doyle] Crenshaw, who lives in Booneville, Arkansas, was watching Channel 5 in late July 2020 when he saw an item about Chinese seeds.

He knew just what they were talking about.
Click to expand...
I believe the article suggests this happened in the UK as well.

So, my mother in law, who is not internet savvy, will regularly click on dubious shopping sites (or Amazon merchants) and order "flowers" that are really seeds. They come in poorly marked packs from China. She gave me them once and I grew them. Turned out they were lotus seeds. If you look on Facebook, for example, they advertise seeds for fake flowers (like "rainbow roses") that don't cost that much. They take forever to arrive. With the pandemic beginning, people for sure did order some of these things and forgot. And maybe it was partially a brushing scam. Considering all the garbage merch that we get from China here, this story does not sound all that surprising to me.
 
Sharon Hill said:
I believe the article suggests this happened in the UK as well.
Click to expand...

Certainly--plenty of simpletons in the UK, too.

That said, I consume British and U.S. news-media in roughly equal shares, and I would say that although the media in both countries push a consistent line of Sinophobia, the U.S.'s is more obvious.
 
Yithian said:
Certainly--plenty of simpletons in the UK, too.

That said, I consume British and U.S. news-media in roughly equal shares, and I would say that although the media in both countries push a consistent line of Sinophobia, the U.S.'s is more obvious.
Click to expand...
Not sure how familiar you are with "dollar stores" here in the US (the most ubiquitous variety store) but they consist of nothing but junk merch from China (or other countries with even lesser quality control) for a dollar or two. People LOVE them. Yet they complain about China and Asians. People are generally not nuanced and thoughtful.
 
Sharon Hill said:
Not sure how familiar you are with "dollar stores" here in the US (the most ubiquitous variety store) but they consist of nothing but junk merch from China (or other countries with even lesser quality control) for a dollar or two. People LOVE them. Yet they complain about China and Asians. People are generally not nuanced and thoughtful.
Click to expand...

I went into one in Florida--a long, long time ago.

I don't think I bought anything.

We have 'pound shops' in the UK, although I don't recall whether 'Made In China' is any more common in those than in other UK shops.

I live in East Asia; the sentiments and stereotypes among the mass of the population are all the same as those in the West, you just have to change the names of the countries.
 
I used to collect playing cards, and was surprised to see packs of Bee cards - a brand of the U.S. Playing Card Company that's slightly better quality than their well-known Bicycle - in a dollar store. They were, of course, counterfeits from China, but a little research showed that the many differences from the real thing in the package design, including a big distributor's sticker on the outside, made them a very recognizable "brand" of counterfeits that card enthusiasts were quite familiar with.

They were lousy cards, by the way.
 
I had forgotten about the "mystery seeds". Wow, what an odd combination of events and circumstances. I suppose many of the people who ordered the seeds expected them to arrive in a four cubic foot Amazon box with some seed packets inside and little else, maybe some of those plastic air pillows. That's understandable, given Amazon's habits, but wow, that's quite a weird story.

Though the author of the article makes a compelling case,

Nevertheless, the USDA clearly remained unconvinced by my arguments. El-Lissy reiterated to me that the agency still thought all the circumstantial evidence pointed to brushing. “We continue to believe it is implausible,” he said, “that thousands of people around the globe ordered seeds and either forgot about them or lied about forgetting them.”
Click to expand...

Underestimating the dumbth of the general public is easy to do.
 
ramonmercado said:
...The online retail giant told the BBC that it will now only allow the sale of seeds by sellers based in the US. US officials said gardeners should not plant seeds of unknown origin. The packages are believed to be part of a global "brushing" scam to gain positive reviews for online selling sites....
Click to expand...
I've been a recipient (2019-20) of assorted unasked-for parcels via Amazon, as part of sellers' brushing tactics!
Variously:

polarizing yellow sunglasses
silicone ice cube moulds
facial microneedling rollers
charcoal toothpowder & tootbrushes
a blackhead removal instruments kit (!)

Most of 'em went straight on Ebay and the money to charity. It was vaguely amusing for a while, wondering what parcel of tat was going to turn up next. I did flag it up to Amazon who didn't act until the fake reviews being left in my full name online caused me to make a stink of it with them.

Talking of stinks - never use silicone moulds to make ice - it makes the cubes taste absolutely rank!
 
Sharon Hill said:
I believe the article suggests this happened in the UK as well.

So, my mother in law, who is not internet savvy, will regularly click on dubious shopping sites (or Amazon merchants) and order "flowers" that are really seeds. They come in poorly marked packs from China. She gave me them once and I grew them. Turned out they were lotus seeds. If you look on Facebook, for example, they advertise seeds for fake flowers (like "rainbow roses") that don't cost that much. They take forever to arrive. With the pandemic beginning, people for sure did order some of these things and forgot. And maybe it was partially a brushing scam. Considering all the garbage merch that we get from China here, this story does not sound all that surprising to me.
Click to expand...
Probably it's down to the Chinese version of AI - and it's trying it's best to send out into the World that little bit of joy!:wink2:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top