Buying ebay eggs

Have you purchased Ebay eggs?


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I have bought eggs from ebay 4 times (twice from the same seller so from 3 sellers).

The first was a HORRIBLE experience and I was never going to try again but I really want splash Cochins and I can't find them around me.... The first one I got 12........ 4 were broken, 4 started to grow, 4 did nothing. out of the 4 that grew 1 quit early. 3 made it to hatch day. 2 hatched, 1 DIS. the 2 that hatched were NOT Cochins never mind BBS....... I did message the seller with no luck getting a resolution from them about not getting what I had paid for.. went to ebay and got my $ back.

2nd seller I ordered 18 got 20. Packaged great. All arrive din great shape..... ZERO developed at all......... Messaged her and didn't hear back...... so moved on...

Found the 3rd seller and right in her listing (hers didn't show up in my first or 2nd search for BBS Cochin eggs) she says she has gotten "screwed" buying eggs before and had 1 hatch and she doesn't want to do that to anyone else. So if you have a poor hatch (think she said under 38% so not huge but with shipping you can't expect much) then she will send you out more eggs for just shipping so figured it was worth a shot. she has splash Cochins I wanted and also project chickens (Cochin/EE mix so looks like Cochins, could have beards/muffs but lay green eggs. ) I shoudl have gotten 5 project eggs and 7 splash. the order was messed up and I got 9 project and 3 splash. I messaged her and she explained what happened and offered to send me out a box of splash Cochin eggs as well as some Lavender Brahma and Partridge/Blue Brahma eggs to make up for it. I had already set the other eggs so they would have been 10 days ahead so I asked if we could wait till those hatched. She said Sure. I am only on day 5 of those 12 eggs and 10 for sure are developing, 1 is ? and 1 isn't doing anything. So I am THRILLED with this seller right now! Oh and she has stickers she puts on the boxes saying "Live Chick Embryo" and "Hatching eggs" "handle with care" "no xray" etc. so think that helped with shipping them

right after I won the eggs from the 3rd seller the 2nd one got back to me saying she thought she responded and just noticed she never did. She offered 50% off more eggs... I went back and forth but decided to try again but asked if she could make note on the packaging that there were Hatching eggs in there to see if it helped. She said she doesn't because her PO is worse with the boxes if they are marked...... Got the eggs the same day as seller 3's so set at the same time. Day 4 I checked and there is 1 ? egg, and the rest I didn't see anything AGAIN! I think these ones just get shaken too much in shipping even though they are packaged really well. :(
 
I think these ones just get shaken too much in shipping even though they are packaged really well. :(
Exactly what happens...and you get scrambled eggs, even with perfect shells. This is why I want a sandbag shipped with my next order of eggs--the handlers would just have a hard time tossing the package.

Since the covid lockdowns, package deliveries have really ramped up, and companies are vying for business. They don't make money on slow shipments, but speed comes at the cost of carefulness. Weighting the box would be about the only reasonable thing I can think of to force a greater measure of care in handling. In my country, weight does very little to increase the shipping cost--it's the volume that matters most. So make it heavy! 🏋️‍♂️
 
Out of my first batch that shipped from Chicago, I had 6 out of 12 that hatched. There were 5 pullet's and one cockerel, but the cockerel was to weak and didn't make it. I had to order more to get a boy, so I ordered another batch that shipped from Georgia. I had 2 of each sex that hatched out of the 12 from that batch. I kept one of those 2 boy's, and then ordered another dozen of them from Grandville, Tx. I believe it was, and got another boy and 2 girl's.
Your first batch at 50% (& with only 1 male) sounds pretty good. Even the second hatch wasn't so bad. But the last one is discouraging.
I noticed Cackle has Bielefelders now.
 
If you buy shipped eggs, keep your expectations low. I've had at least one shipment (six eggs) that not a single egg hatched. If you happen to have a hatch rate above 40%, I'd say you are fortunate, and above 80% would be a special blessing--outstanding.

I'm in Asia, and got the eggs from private dealers. As far as I know, the breeds I wanted (Cream Legbar, Ameraucana--both are blue eggs) are not available from hatcheries in this country. In fact, I've only heard of one hatchery here--there must be others, but hard to find because of the local culture and advertising system (no such thing here as yellow pages, and most are not so technologically inclined as to have a proper website). There are about four or five dealers that I'm aware of here with these breeds. At least one no longer sells eggs, because of customer complaints on hatch rates--so the only way to purchase from him is to pick up, at his locality, the chicks that he incubated. He lives about five hours' drive away, and I rarely make it there. Just the same, I did the math and calculated that the costs would be virtually equal to spend for the fuel to drive there plus pay to get five chicks as compared to purchasing the fertile eggs and having them shipped, then incubating them myself given the hatch rates.

My main concern at present is potential contamination. I prefer to hatch my own, so that there is no opportunity for contagion.

EDIT: I should add that I have a good incubator, with automatic turner and humidity sensor as well, and that I have carefully regulated the humidity to match my climate (dry incubation for me until lockdown). When I incubated five eggs obtained from a neighbor, four hatched, and the fifth may have had an issue to begin with as these eggs had come out from under a surrogate hen that had taken over after the original hen had been taken by dogs. They had been set on for a few days already, and I, not knowing exactly how long, ended up going into lockdown with them two days prematurely.
I have mostly been looking around 2 to 2.5 hours each way. I feel like our postal service has been hit & miss lately, both with delivery time and condition of packages received.
 
I have bought eggs from ebay 4 times (twice from the same seller so from 3 sellers).

The first was a HORRIBLE experience and I was never going to try again but I really want splash Cochins and I can't find them around me.... The first one I got 12........ 4 were broken, 4 started to grow, 4 did nothing. out of the 4 that grew 1 quit early. 3 made it to hatch day. 2 hatched, 1 DIS. the 2 that hatched were NOT Cochins never mind BBS....... I did message the seller with no luck getting a resolution from them about not getting what I had paid for.. went to ebay and got my $ back.

2nd seller I ordered 18 got 20. Packaged great. All arrive din great shape..... ZERO developed at all......... Messaged her and didn't hear back...... so moved on...

Found the 3rd seller and right in her listing (hers didn't show up in my first or 2nd search for BBS Cochin eggs) she says she has gotten "screwed" buying eggs before and had 1 hatch and she doesn't want to do that to anyone else. So if you have a poor hatch (think she said under 38% so not huge but with shipping you can't expect much) then she will send you out more eggs for just shipping so figured it was worth a shot. she has splash Cochins I wanted and also project chickens (Cochin/EE mix so looks like Cochins, could have beards/muffs but lay green eggs. ) I shoudl have gotten 5 project eggs and 7 splash. the order was messed up and I got 9 project and 3 splash. I messaged her and she explained what happened and offered to send me out a box of splash Cochin eggs as well as some Lavender Brahma and Partridge/Blue Brahma eggs to make up for it. I had already set the other eggs so they would have been 10 days ahead so I asked if we could wait till those hatched. She said Sure. I am only on day 5 of those 12 eggs and 10 for sure are developing, 1 is ? and 1 isn't doing anything. So I am THRILLED with this seller right now! Oh and she has stickers she puts on the boxes saying "Live Chick Embryo" and "Hatching eggs" "handle with care" "no xray" etc. so think that helped with shipping them

right after I won the eggs from the 3rd seller the 2nd one got back to me saying she thought she responded and just noticed she never did. She offered 50% off more eggs... I went back and forth but decided to try again but asked if she could make note on the packaging that there were Hatching eggs in there to see if it helped. She said she doesn't because her PO is worse with the boxes if they are marked...... Got the eggs the same day as seller 3's so set at the same time. Day 4 I checked and there is 1 ? egg, and the rest I didn't see anything AGAIN! I think these ones just get shaken too much in shipping even though they are packaged really well. :(
It sounds like you've found at least one good seller. And, that she has some nice varieties. I'll be looking forward to your hatch. I hope you'll bookmark, and return to tell us how it goes.
 
I bought three batches from different sellers. The first batch I got 2 out of 7, but one died after hatch. The second I got non out of 12, so I can speak to that one. The third I got 2 out of 6. And they are looking great!
4/25 eggs, with 3 surviving?
I hope the ones you got are champion quality and two are pullets.
 
I think you just need to be careful who you're buying from on eBay, look at their profiles and their reviews and what other people think about their eggs. There's some dodgy sellers on eBay but there are some very good sellers on eBay too, quite a few smaller farms sell on their personal accounts on eBay and the egg quality is fantastic.

Last hatching eggs I bought had an 90% fertility rate and 90% of those hatched, they were packaged in styrofoam and not one was damaged. Not all sellers are like this, just check them out before pressing buy.
 
I think you just need to be careful who you're buying from on eBay, look at their profiles and their reviews and what other people think about their eggs. There's some dodgy sellers on eBay but there are some very good sellers on eBay too, quite a few smaller farms sell on their personal accounts on eBay and the egg quality is fantastic.

Last hatching eggs I bought had an 90% fertility rate and 90% of those hatched, they were packaged in styrofoam and not one was damaged. Not all sellers are like this, just check them out before pressing buy.
Thank you.
I've pretty much talked myself out of buying on ebay. I am looking at hatchery eggs now.
 
I buy some eggs off eBay. I always check for NPIP. I also contact the seller. I feel that if they readily answer questions and talk with enthusiasm about their birds. That it eliminates some of chances of getting taken. As always, fresher eggs produce better hatch rates. I don’t like for eggs to have to travel across more than two states. Which usually has them in transit no more than three days. Since doing so, my hatch rates have improved dramatically. I have even had a few 100% hatches. I have the luxury of having chicken facilities on two separate properties. That are a few miles apart. I quarantine all new poultry away from my existing flocks. Which lessens the chance and fear of introducing disease to them. From reading some post on the site. When you order your eggs. Is not the time to be researching and getting an incubator. Have a known, reliable incubator set up and running. At least two days before your eggs arrive.
 

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