Frequently Asked Questions

Welcome to Fair Dinkum Seeds support page where you’ll find answers to the most frequently asked questions.

Do you send to my Australian state or territory?

I am happy to send our seeds, plants, cuttings, starter cultures and products to all Aussie locations including Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, Australian Capital Territory, South Australia, Northern Territory, Western Australia and Tasmania. This includes any PO box, business or residential home address that is serviced by the Australia post delivery network.
If I know for sure I can’t send something to your place for any reason I always have a big red text warning in the advert descriptive text. I also physically block sales of that species to your location.

That means you just can’t complete the purchase and the checkout will automatically tell you why.
Australian shipping is $5, spend $30+ in the one order and it’s FREE!

Do you send to countries outside Australia?

YES! I am happy to ship internationally but only at the buyers risk of non-arrival.

First a very quick maths lesson.
I sell packets of seeds for $5-$15 each. To produce the seeds I have expenses like fuel, tools, water, fertiliser, soil, pots, trays, sourcing, packaging, labeling, website hosting etc. That means after my direct real world costs, I have a profit that averages $2-$4 per packet.
It costs you $5-$15 and I make a whopping $2-$4 to cover the months of manual labour and time I invest into providing you these awesome seeds. That’s it, absolutely bugger all, but just enough to pay the rent, fuel the car and do the occasional small shop.

Aussie shipping is $5, spend $30+ in the one order and it’s FREE!

For international orders I charge a flat rate capped fee of $40 Australian and I make no guarantee of safe arrival. If you buy 1 or 10 or even 100 things at once it’s a maximum of $40.00
For example>>>
*1item + $40.00 international postage fee = $XX.XX
*10items + $40.00 international postage fee = $XXX.XX
*100items + $40.00 international postage fee = $XXX.XX

This is what it actually costs me in stamps to send an order “standard international untracked” via the “Australia post delivery network”. I make NO extra money despite this crazy high cost to you. You are welcome to double check this if you have doubts. Note I said “untracked “as in there is NO TRACKING NUMBER available with this service.

If I ship internationally and I had to guarantee safe delivery(which I can not and do not), and the order was lost, stolen, confiscated, I would lose the seeds+$40, +$40 to refund, +refund the seeds cost.

That means while I could make a whopping $2-$4 on your order, I could just as easily lose $100. I can not afford that especially with Aussie sales not having this high level of risk.

This is why I only ship internationally at your risk of loss and I make no guarantee of safe delivery at all any more.
You must confirm you accept this risk and agree that if your order is lost, stolen, damaged, confiscated you will not claim fraud, attempt a charge-back, expect a refund, demand a free reshipment, or cause me any other dramas.
I’m an honest dude and I always ship what I say, when I say I will, and if you look me up online or social media you will see more than a decade of happy returning recommending customers.

I am being very clear about this risk of non-arrival.
Due to recent fraudulent transactions from one particular bad apple I will now also have to email you soon after purchase to again confirm you accept that I make no guarantee of safe delivery.
You must confirm again by replying to that email which is super tedious, but it is the only way to protect myself from fraudulent charge-backs unfortunately.

We do our very best to comply with all quarantine regulations(more info here) but if there are dramas in your local area and you are fined, have to pay fees, taxes, or even bribes in some cases, then that cost is yours too, NOT ours.
After all, I did tell you not to buy, I did tell you delivery was a gamble, and you have been very clearly and repeatedly warned.
Payment of an international order only guarantees I pack and ship your order.
I do not guarantee actual delivery and I am not responsible for any incurred costs associated with YOUR choice to order from us.
Still want to buy anyway?
Cool, then read this all again and make sure you still feel that way.
If you still do want to have a gamble feel free to purchase by adding items to your cart, then paying me in the checkout as per normal like all the others.
Step by step instructions below.

How do I buy your cool seeds?

Just like at the local supermarket, decide what you want then click “Add to Cart“.
Seed counts and pictures are in the individual item pages, along with a heap of info about how and why we grow each one. Once you have blown the budget and are fully loaded up click “View cart“. If you want multiple packets of some species change the quantity “1” to the number you want(this only works if I have the stock).
When you are fully satisfied click “Go To Checkout“, decide if you will pay using Credit Card, Debit Card, or Direct Bank Deposit by clicking on it, then tell me where you want it all shipped.

***PLEASE double-check the email address and shipping address you just typed BEFORE you place the order. If you stuff it up I won’t be able to contact you, and/or your seeds may end up lost!!!***

If it all looks good and you haven’t missed any boxes then click “Place Order” and pay me.
Easy as!

Australian shipping is $5, spend $30+ in the one order and it’s FREE!

We ship also ship internationally capped at $AU40.00 no matter how big the order is.

For example>>>
*1item + $40.00 international postage fee = $XX.XX
*10items + $40.00 international postage fee = $XXX.XX
*100items + $40.00 international postage fee = $XXX.XX

Google told me that was ~$26.88 US Dollars or ~€24.69 Euro last time I checked.
This page should tell you the current conversion rates, assuming I did it right…

Your website is broken!

Sorry to hear that, and it definitely should be working fine. I need it to be working so that I can pay the rent and eat, so trust me when I say I take these sort of emails very very seriously!

If you were locked out by accident email me your IP address so I can whitelist it. Sometimes this happens when your device does things that make it look like a bot. VPN’s also trigger it from time to time.

You don’t need an account to buy my seeds, but it is probably worth doing so you can check on your order status, check your restock subscription, order status, things like that.

  • If you don’t have an account you can either register during the checkout process or you may register here.
  • If you have an account, you can either enter your details during the checkout process or you can login here first.
  • If you have an account, but can’t remember your password you can reset your password here.

If it isn’t any of the above then the number one issue is existing “cookies and cache” stored on your device, inside your browser, conflicting with what my website needs to function. Round hole square peg situation, but really easy to fix. All you do is log out, dump your cookies and cache, close the internet, reopen the internet, Bob’s your uncle! This link shows how.

If you have done all of the above and still no dice then you are probably reporting an issue that is affecting lots of other folks too, and for that, I am super grateful. I definitely need to get it fixed ASAP so I can keep the rent paid! To do that I need to replicate what you see on your end, here on my end.

What exactly is the issue?
Does a page fail to load, or load forever before eventually timing out?
Does a button that should be clickable, not work when you click it(nearly always this is due to a “browser add-on” conflicting with the website and disabling it is the fix)?
Do you get a pop-up error message, warning, code, or number, and if so what exactly does it say?
If you can send me a screenshot, snip, photo or even copy-paste the text it’s a massive help!

If I have a crack on my desktop and the Mrs laptop and I still can’t replicate the issue I may also need to know what sort of device(computer, laptop, mobile, ipad etc), which operating system(windows 7, vista, windows 10 etc), which browser (Firefox, Chrome, Opera etc) you are using and if it is all up to date. If it isn’t up to date then just updating it to the latest version should fix the issue. You can find out by just going to this link, What’s my Browser.

With that information, I can replicate the issue, call in my tech dude, show him what the wack is and get to work on it immediately!
Without that information, all I can do is use my system which is probably different from yours meaning it may work fine for me, but not at all for you. Until I work out exactly the “what” bit, I can’t really work out the “why”, let alone prevent it from happening to you and everyone else.

If the issue is my website and you help me to replicate, identify and fix it, then I will send your order for free and/or give you store credit as a thank you/bribe/mild form of compensation for the stuffing around. 🙂

Do you have this species of plant?

Maybe, but first I need to know the name of it.
Let’s pretend the botanical name is Examplus botanicus.
Let’s pretend the common name is Red sparkle vine.

Put a single word in the Search box and push enter or click the magnifying glass (at the top of every page on the website).
So in this example you would type in examplus and push enter.
Page refreshes, up comes everything with examplus in the product name.

If you are not happy with the results click “Tagged Products” and everything with the keyword tag of examplus, but not necessarily called examplus comes up too.

If still not happy do the same with botanicus, then red, sparkle, and vine, and even random descriptive keywords like native, flower, root, vegetable, herb are worth a look too.
If you still can’t find it after typing in the botanical name, common name and a few descriptive words, one word at a time, then I definitely don’t have any for sale in the website.
I may have it in my private collection, but it’s definitely NOT ready for sale.

If it was ready for sale, I would already be selling it.
Makes sense yeah?
Keep that in mind if you decide to Contact me about it anyway.

Do you sell mature potted plants?

No, not for years. We used to ages ago but it got way too hard when our collection entered the hundreds.
It’s too hard to manage stock when we have so many species in the collection, we are on very limited water and we have major flooding too at times, plus it’s just me and the Mrs which makes things even more complicated.

We do sell some tubers, roots, cuttings, and starter cultures, but only for species that grow best that way.
We don’t sell seeds if they won’t reliably grow, so if you want the plant just buy the seeds and follow the instructions in the advert.

If I can’t grow it I don’t sell it.
If I can grow it, there is no reason I can see why you can’t grow it too?
After all, I’m just a dude, I’m not magical or anything…

It says “Out of stock” but I really really want it!

If what you want is sold out, then that is because I just don’t have any available at the moment. I could have a bucketful sitting on the table but until the existing mountain of orders are done I am not sure exactly how many, as I don’t know exactly how many are already sold.
Emailing me does not change this. It just means I have to stop what I am doing and reply to you, just to say “Yes, it does say sold out because I’m am currently sold out. Please use the email notification doodad just below the price…”

To be notified by email when I restock look below the price, type in your 100% correct email address, tick the little box, then click “Add me to the list”.
You will be auto-emailed to make sure the email is working and confirm. You MUST click “Confirm your subscription” in that email to confirm your subscription and if you don’t then I can’t email you for privacy, anti-spam reasons.

Every harvest I do a rough count leaving extras in case of dramas because I never ever want to sell something I don’t actually have. It drives me bloody nuts when other sellers do that!

This means that after that first big harvest there is OFTEN A SECOND HARVEST VERY SOON AFTER! This uses up any spares and gets all the ones that weren’t quite ready last time, so if currently sold out just use the auto-email notification doodad.
You and everyone else on the list gets auto-emailed in order of application the second I change the website stock levels. You can then buy until sold out again which could take months or it could take minutes depending on the popularity of the species.
If you get the restock notification email but it says “sold out” when you get there, that is because it is sold out again. If you still want it just wack your email on the notification list again.
It’s easy as folks, and this system makes it as fair as is physically possible for everyone.

Would you like to swap seeds with me?

YES! I love swapping seeds, it’s how I get so many cool species.
Please Search the Website and make sure I don’t already have it first though.
See “Do you have this species of plant?”

If I don’t have it and it’s cool, then I probably want it and I would much rather a cool new species than money so definitely Contact me.

Do you guarantee 100% germination with your seeds?

No, absolutely not. 🙂

I don’t even guarantee 0.00001% germination or success and if that is a problem you should just keep your $ in a pocket.
Seriously, gardening is always a gamble, at least it always is here for me?
If you can’t afford to lose, then you just shouldn’t play.

I do guarantee freshness. All our seeds are always less than 12months old. Generally a couple months maximum as we grow a little bit of everything on a year-round rotation and most things sell out much faster than we can restock.
I guarantee they are viable, and if given the right conditions they will grow fine for me here.
I am confident guaranteeing that, as that is how I get them in the first place. 😉

I grow them and harvest the seeds, sell some to you, replant a % myself and repeat, year after year after year.
I generally grow a couple packs from the new harvest to make sure everything is cool, along with the last couple packs from the previous harvest to ensure a wide gene pool and increase hardiness.

I can’t and don’t guarantee anything else ever though.
The reason why is, I fail to grow exciting new species all the time.

That is why I am always buying new species and swapping cool new species with my other customers.
I definitely don’t have a “green thumb” and I’m not bloody magical.
I fail all the time, 100’s of species a year, pretty much a couple failures every week all year round.

Failure is normal and no offense intended, but to expect not to fail every now and then, when growing a new species, of completely new genetics, from a completely different area, that is a bit delusional I reckon…
Seriously, that’s a really weird expectation to have?

When I fail, I just look at what I did and take a guess at what is the most likely reason for the failure.
Lack or excess of sunlight, poor or even excessive drainage, fungal and bacterial attack from damping off, insects like cutworms snipping shoots during the night, ants mice and birds carting off the seeds, lawn grub and beetle larvae eating the seedlings underground before they reach the surface, temperature, humidity, blah blah blah. Possibilities are endless.
A really common one with new folks is fertilizer and compost. Nitrogen is good for plants but is very bad for most seeds.
Too much nitrogen will reliably prevent germination of most species so don’t fertilize or use fresh manure and compost on seeds, you are just killing them with kindness(It’s like force feeding a baby a couple kilos of sugar, not cool, won’t end well).
I then make a few changes to my growing conditions and I have another crack at it.
If I strike out failing too many times I just give up and move on to the next species.
Millions and millions of plants out there and I can’t imagine running out of options in my lifetime?

Happens all the time and while I trial anywhere from 100-500 new species every year only a handful make it through my trials, on to my permanent collection, and eventually on to the website for sale to you guys.
If they made it that far then I reckon I have it pretty sussed and I add a few germination tips to the description.
If I don’t say anything fancy then this basic set of Growing Instructions is all I do.

I succeed from determination and trial and error alone.
Skill has bugger all to do with it.

So yeah, definitely have a crack if you can afford to, and buying the seeds from a reputable Aussie seed supplier like us is a great way to start. I honestly do reckon we are the bestest choice as unlike most others we are not wholesale importers or bulk buying re-packagers selling seeds of an unknown origin and age.
But yeah, if you do fail, take it on the chin and have another crack.
If you can’t afford to, then them’s the breaks, just man up and move on with your life.

Many of the species we grow are not in the local supermarket or nursery, and tricky or erratic germination is often part of the reason why.

How do I grow this plant? Where are my growing instructions?

Read the advert text for any relevant information.
If it has any special needs I always say so very clearly as I need you to have a high level of success.
Happy returning customers successfully growing my plants and telling others about their success is how I pay the rent.

To ensure this I test ship and do very extensive trials on absolutely every species and variety of plant that I am considering selling to the public, long before I ever actually do so.
Being an expert airplane pilot with a lifetime of experience doesn’t necessarily make you good on a skateboard despite both being forms of transport. Plants are the same. If you haven’t grown a species before then your experience growing that particular species is exactly ZERO.

If you want advice from someone that actually does have extensive experience growing the species you have bought, then yeah, read the advert folks.

Word of warning, I’m a very busy/lazy, so if you haven’t grown the species before, AND you haven’t followed my instructions, AND you come tell me “I’m an expert horticulturalist/master gardener with a lifetime of experience, I followed your instructions and your seeds are of an inferior quality yappitty yap yap.” when it is super obvious you haven’t even read the advert text…
Well yeah, that will push my buttons making me all cranky, especially if I’m lacking sleep or the coffee is wearing off. I may even speak to you like a moron, cos yeah, that sort of email truly is moronic.
Being quite the moron myself at times,  I say this will full confidence.

Of course it didn’t come up yet if the species NEEDS a pre-germination treatment, which you didn’t do.
Of course it didn’t come up yet if germination takes several MONTHS, but here it is only a couple weeks later.
Of course your awesome success growing some tomatoes is IRRELEVANT to successfully growing native trees.
Huh?

Most species are super easy and if it doesn’t say anything fancy in the advert text, then it doesn’t need anything fancy. A basic sandy well draining soil mix, warm sunny position, regular watering when the soil surface dries out, should all be cool.  🙂

That is all I do for the majority of plants I grow and it works for me here at Gin Gin 4671 Queensland Australia.
If you want to compare your climate with mine then the Bundaberg Wikipedia page is a good start.
Bundaberg is my nearest big town and it’s a little over an hour’s drive.
Here it gets a little hotter, a little cooler, and a lot less consistent rain as we are higher up and further from the coast,  but it’s pretty close.

Below is the link to my growing instructions page which has everything I do here with step by step instructions.
Growing instructions link.

How long does Processing orders take? If I pay now, when do you ship the seeds?

I ship Mondays only these days.
If you want to know why have a look at this Facebook Post.

If Monday was a Public or Postal holiday here at Gin Gin 4671 QLD Australia I would have just shipped it on Tuesday instead.

How long does shipping take?

Australia Post’s delivery estimate from Rural (NOT Metropolitan) areas like mine is 7-10 days within Australia and their International delivery estimate is 3-5 weeks .
I ship using Standard Domestic or International Airmail Untracked.

Despite the recent crazy price increases on both domestic and international shipping there is no benefit to tracking or insuring seed or plant orders via Australia post anymore, and delivery times are exactly the same.

I read the Order “Processing” and “Completed ” emails and I didn’t get my order. What should I do?

If you are an International customer you already understand that International shipping is a gamble.
The Australia post delivery estimate for “untracked mail” like yours is 3-5 weeks but it is best to wait >6weeks, check with your local post office, and your local customs and quarantine service, before giving up on it completely.

If you are an Aussie customer and have not received your order two weeks after it was marked “Completed” please read the two emails you were sent when you ordered.
They were sent from no-reply@fairdinkumseeds.com and they outline exactly what to expect and what to do if there is a delivery drama. Please read them BEFORE contacting me.

You must check with your local post office by asking over the counter in person in case your mail was classed as “Delivery failed, mail held for collection“. This is what has happened to the vast majority of “lost” orders. Only the “Addressee” can collect held mail and it can only be done in person over the counter at the local post office.
The “Addressee” is not me, it is exactly whatever you put in the “Shipping address” section of your order.
You can check that by reading the order emails or in your personal account here.

Australia post will only hold mail that has arrived for 2weeks, and untracked mail like your order is sometimes NOT carded. That means you may not be notified as being “untracked” there is no QR tracking code or barcode for the postal worker to scan on arrival.
Makes sense yeah?

This “Delivery failed, mail held for collection” can happen for a heap of reasons but the top three are as follows.

  1. Letter or parcel was too big for your mail box, it just didn’t fit.
  2. Package damaged on the journey. Sometimes they really get a beating but the way we carefully wrap and pack your order means it shouldn’t ever be a drama. Nothing worse than mashed seeds or cuttings so we make sure that never happens.
  3. Delivery contractor deemed it unprofitable, or just couldn’t be bothered. This is a NEW situation and it happens if there is not enough other mail in that area on that route on that particular day to justify the fuel/time spend delivering it, and this loophole is permitted by the new Australia post delivery rules.

If any of the above happens it is now officially classed “Delivery failed, mail held for collection”.
At that point, the postal workers just stamp the date on it and wack it in a pigeon hole at the nearest post office. If you don’t collect it within two weeks from that arrival date, then it is gone forever. You may not even know it is sitting there waiting for you to collect.
Australia post does NOT have to notify you of untracked mail held for collection anymore.

The fact they normally do notify or card you is IRRELEVANT as the one they don’t could be YOURS!

This is why it is important to wait two weeks for delivery in case of minor delays, but it is equally important to wait less than a month before asking over the counter at your local post office. Getting cranky, calling me a thief and a liar, or saying you have never had a problem in the past is just a big waste of both our time.  If you do not believe me feel free to check for yourself, this is the Australia post number 13 76 78.
If you do decide to call them your enquiry is in relation to “held mail collection times”. You physically can’t track “untracked mail” so don’t choose the “tracking or lost mail” option from the phone menu or you will just be disconnected when you can’t provide a tracking number…

I always send everything to the shipping address given in the “Shipping address” section of your order. You can double-check that in your account under the heading Orders.

  • If you have waited more than 2weeks(but less than a month) after the order was marked “Completed” and shipped.
  • If you asked in person at your local post office in case it was held for collection(with or without being carded).
  • And finally, if the shipping address you gave me when you ordered is 100% correct. Then all you need to do is tell me that and I will sort it straight away! 🙂

Me and the Mrs always do our bit going above and beyond for our customers.
We refund AND resend all lost orders, meaning our customers always get whatever they paid me for AND they are also financially compensated for any wasted time and stuffing around as well, but only provided they do their bit too. If you can’t be bothered helping me track down your mail then that’s totally cool, neither can I….
Seems pretty reasonable yeah?

I ordered many things from you. Why did I get extra packs of seeds that have a smiley sticker on them?

No real reason, just a freebie I added to your order.
🙂

If you spend a lot I try to add a couple of whatever is in season, or I personally think is cool, or there is not enough to bother writing an advert about, or is native but lacking love, or just some other random reason.

All depends on my mood at the time.
No you shouldn’t expect this and no you definitely can’t choose what you get.
If you don’t want it, give it to a friend or neighbor.
If you hate it with a passion, just chuck it in the compost or even just the nearest bin.
Whatever floats your boat.

How do I use EXAMPLE PLANT for treatment of EXAMPLE MEDICAL CONDITION?

Ask your doctor, how the hell would I know?
I’m just a dumb fruit picker that has a gardening and plant collecting addiction.
I can’t, won’t, and don’t offer any medical advice at all, ever, to anyone.

While I personally disagree strongly with some aspects of mainstream Western Medicine, I disagree with just as many, if not more aspects of Traditional Medicine.
I just do whatever I reckon seems reasonable to me personally at the time.
I suggest you do the same.

I wish you all the best, truly, and I agree that many of the plants I grow have extensive and proven histories of medicinal use.

That amazing history is often the reason they are in my collection in the first place.
But to ask me, some random doofus you have never even met, to take personal responsibility for your health and to offer you medical advice.
That seems very unwise.

You wouldn’t hassle your Dog Groomer about which Rabies Treatment was best, you’d go to the Veterinarian, yeah?
Same deal folks…

These type of questions can’t and won’t be answered. (Even hypothetically)
If you were directed here by me as a response to that type of question, please don’t be offended.
It is not personal, it’s just much quicker for me this way.
I’m a very time-poor dude who would much rather be gardening than answering a never-ending stream of emails.

Even if I wanted to answer you, I couldn’t anyway for legal reasons alone!
I really hope you understand and are not offended.
Me and the Mrs just grow and sell cool seeds…