where to sell plants and other items besides eBay?

Hey guys, I sell on eBay. Plant cuttings mostly but also a few other items. At the beginning of the year they sent an email saying unless the account was verified, actions would be blocked. This account is 5+ years old with 100% feedback. Verification to them means uploading a picture of a government-issued id, driver's license, or passport with your photo on it. Am I crazy to think that's uncalled for?? I don't trust eBay with that kind of information.
Opened a new account, took me a month of work to get the listings transferred over. It's a couple months old, just got the message today: unless I upload photo ID by May 7th, any payouts will be withheld.
As always I checked Reddit, people there are having the same problems, no solution. It is not a scam, the message is directly from eBay on their website.
I feel like this is complete overreach. I'm at a loss of what to do.
I looked into selling on Etsy, and their percentage they take is outrageous. Also you have to use their personal online payment system which is not secure at all.
I've tried selling on here, and it's not really viable.
Does anybody have any suggestions?
Are there any other eCommerce sites that you know of? I believe Depop is clothes only, I need to be able to sell plant cuttings as well.

Unfortunately most sites are moving to this due to AI bots putting up listings and flooding the market with scams. I sell on Ebay as well and used to sell on Etsy but there's not much money in Etsy unless your selling 50$ items quickly. And Etsy wants your info as well, or at least it wanted mine. I figure my job takes my info as well and sticks it in there computer systems. It dose feel icky thou and I dont like it. Im curious if anyone knows of other places thou. I sell hatching eggs, bones, pelts and books mostly with a few odd items thrown in. We are going to try garlic and a few specialty herbs this year as well we think.

Why not advertise for a local plant sale? Surely there are people around who would come and buy.

I find that the drive and set up at most our local small town areas isnt worth it money wise. And I normally have to take off work and pay for a table. Its hard to break even let alone make a small profit. It IS great for finding and building community! And I love a good farmers market and plant sale. If you can make them work or maybe go to the ones in bigger towns I love to hear how others make it a profitable endeavor.  
On Ebay there's not much community but I'm brining in about a 30$ profit a day with only a half hour of work on average. Its hard to beat online selling because I can reach so many more people and charge higher prices.  

For local sales, large social media sites with integrated marketplaces like Facebook could be an avenue without worrying about a percentage being taken from you.

I've ended up finding quite a few locally adapted plants that I otherwise would not of been able to get ahold of. I however have not tried to sell myself on these platforms.

You can sell on Facebook Marketplace without any sort ID verification. I see things sold both locally and from far away, but I usually just get local stuff.

You can sell physical things here on permies, too, in the Digital Market here on permies. There's some pros and cons to selling physical items on permies.

Pros to Selling Physical things on Permies Digital Market:

• No upfront cost.
• No monthly cost
• Permies only takes a tiny cut of the money
• The only investment is the time spent in making a thread.
• You're selling to fellow permies, which is probably your target audience!
• It's free advertising. You could always arrange payment in other ways than through the permies system. Just say something like, "If you're interested in buying different quantities of items or are buying multiple things, PM me to arrange alternative payment methods." I've had people paypal me, some have mailed me a card with money, and I've set up special digital market threads just for other purchasers. But, it all started with the Digital Market thread.
• You can reply to your Digital Market threads with more pictures or information. This is a great way to "bump" the thread for increased visibility.
• If you're selling enough things, you can have your own Digital Market forum. You can see mine here

Cons to Selling Physical things on Permies Digital Market:

• There's no "cart," so you have to add shipping costs to each item and try to find a way to refund people if you want to.
• You can make "Package deals" to get around the issue, but it's a pain.
• People can only buy one of something. I've gotten around this by allowing people to "buy it as a gift" or having an "upgrade" for another item. But, it's a bit of a pain. Often people just paypal me for additional things.
• There's a learning curve to setting up Digital Market threads. It's not that intuitive, but it can be done!
• It's easy for your thread to get lost in the plethora of Digital Market threads.
• The Digital Market is not easily searchable.
• You only get paid once you've sold $20. And payments only come once a month.

I've sold at least 12 things on permies, and I've not sold stuff anywhere else. I like selling here, because it doesn't cost me anything, and if I need more income, I can always reply to my threads a few times to bump them up. That usually results in more sales. Honestly, though, I'm super busy right now, so I'm glad people aren't finding my threads. I do not have time to needle-felt right now!

If you're interested in selling on the Permies Digital Market, here's the how-to: How to set up a thread in the Digital Market

We're in the same camp, Sam, you said it well. What's your store name? I may be looking for hatching eggs soon here.

Facebook marketplace, Offer up, craigslist, Next Door.  With Next Door be mindful about only posting every few days, I know a lady who "posted too much" and they said she had to stop or start paying advertising fees.  But she was posting multiple things per day.

I have bought plants from folks selling plants at local farmers markets.

I have bought plants from folks having a plant sale for Mother's Day in their front yard and even at garage sales.

Flea markets might be another place to sell plants ...

Seconding selling on the side of the road, I have a pop up yard stand that I set up periodically and sell microgreens I grow in the windows, saved seeds from last year, and vintage or pretty items.  I live on a busy street, and people are buying more as they get used to seeing me.  It takes time but things are picking up.  The only negative I'd say is that we're not a popular street with fun shops and stuff, we're just an ordinary busy street with a church and school and mostly apartments but a few houses.  I feel like its viable once you get the swing of it.  I'm also going to try adding lemonade soon with warm weather.  I don't do this every day, maybe once or twice a week, sometimes a week goes by and I don't do it, I've got other projects too so it happens when it happens, I'll add more produce as more grows.  I wish I could sell bundles of edible weeds, but I can't imagine people in this neighbourhood going for that,

Give Etsy a chance. Upcharge the difference between what you made on eBay and what you'll have to settle for. I've bought a lot of plants and cuttings from Etsy with good success. Other than that, I don't know how to direct you.

j

Almond Thompson wrote:Hey guys, I sell on eBay. Plant cuttings mostly but also a few other items. At the beginning of the year they sent an email saying unless the account was verified, actions would be blocked. This account is 5+ years old with 100% feedback. Verification to them means uploading a picture of a government-issued id, driver's license, or passport with your photo on it. Am I crazy to think that's uncalled for?? I don't trust eBay with that kind of information.
Opened a new account, took me a month of work to get the listings transferred over. It's a couple months old, just got the message today: unless I upload photo ID by May 7th, any payouts will be withheld.
As always I checked Reddit, people there are having the same problems, no solution. It is not a scam, the message is directly from eBay on their website.
I feel like this is complete overreach. I'm at a loss of what to do.
I looked into selling on Etsy, and their percentage they take is outrageous. Also you have to use their personal online payment system which is not secure at all.
I've tried selling on here, and it's not really viable.
Does anybody have any suggestions?
Are there any other eCommerce sites that you know of? I believe Depop is clothes only, I need to be able to sell plant cuttings as well.

Mike McGroarty's  'backyard nursery sellers' have a lot of plants and opportunities to wheel and deal. but there's a fee

digital ID coming soon LOCK IN

What year do you think. Taking bets. I mean a poll!