My experiance with online seed stores

I thought I might post some candid information about 3 companys I tried and the trials and tribulations of using online seed stores.

First off, I think its generally good wisdom to have seeds sent to another addresse if possible. Particuarly if you are a commercial grower. However, because of the fact that I hold a current med card, and I do not beleive in telling ANYONE what im up to, I opted to ship to my addresse. According to forum information I have gathered usually the worst case scenario is customs will confiscate your beans and send you a nasty letter that someone tried to send you something illeagle. And then as BPP said "let paranoia take over". One other point I might make, I also considered, would the person you ship to really take a fall for YOU on a possesion charge? Yes I know were only talking seeds, but a point to consider anyways.

Also the seed stores I dealt with claim a 95% + delivery succses. All three of my orders did arrive.

I beleive somewhere on "growkind" or "greenman" forum there is a pretty comprehensive list of the good bad and ugly seed co's. If you cant find it PM me and I will.

I tried to cover the board with my "experiment"
I live "somewhere" in the US

1-Seedsdirect, highly reccomended, established, proven,

Large inventory, My order took about 2 1/2 weeks to arrive. Product ordered was product shipped, I was not impressed with the packaging, to be honest of all the co's I tried, there packaging was the worst and most conspicuos. Of the 10 NL beans I ordered 5 were crushed to death. However the 10 free Skunk#1 arrived undamaged. Even though It was NOT the fault of SD I asked if they would compensate for my 50% loss, unfortunatly they can not if the seed pack was opened. (my loss)

2-Quickseeds, virtually unknown to most on the forums I patrolled.

Some mixed reviews for the little I could find. Seems to be a "newer" less established co. There claim to fame is quick delivery. There inventory is small compared to most others I might note that most of what little critisism I found about them centered around the fact that they ship registered and dont tell people who get pissed or paranoid when they have to sign. I requested that my order not be shipped registered and they said no problem. My order took 16 days after funds cleared NOT 5 as promised. The packaging was MUCH better this time very inconspicuos and all beans survived. However despite QS promise the were sent registered anyways. Order shipped complete.

3-UK Seed Supplies, Good Reputation, Proven,

There inventory was adequate, prices were good, and online ordering was easy as was the others. Packaging was almost identical to QS but 5 of the 20 I ordered were crushed. Funds cleared and was delivered in 12 days. Package was not sent registered. I have yet to hear if they will help any with my loss but I will update this post when I hear back. **Update, UKSS has offered to replace my crushed beans free of charge** now thats service.

Summary.
Ordering online is viable, do a little homework to avoid the known rip offs and take your chances accordingly.
I think if I have to do it again (hopefully not for awhile) I will go with UKSS, they seem to me to have the right balance of reputation, packaging, delivery times, inventory and ease of ordering.