I learned this the hard way…but not TOO hard.

Here’s what happened:

This year, I’ve already learned a lot of things.

I’ve learned a bit about flower sales and marketing.

I’ve learned how hard it is to sell something many people give away (myself included!).

I’ve learned that having a great product certainly doesn’t guarantee sales. (Sad, but so true!)

I’ve learned that people almost never buy flowers for themselves…

I’ve learned how little you actually take home from every sale. (There’s the actual cost you put into the product, the time you put into raising and arranging flowers, the business-running expenses, taxes, saving for future purchases and things that will need replaced or purchased…) Spoiler: if you’re me, the take-home amount after all those things is ZERO. But I have a lot of time on my hands, I love what I’m doing, I’m learning valuable and transferable skill, and I still do think there’s a way forward, so I’m not discouraged. I’m still feeling things out!

I’ve learned how much even the best-meaning people can make you feel discouraged about what you’re trying to do. Yes, I know this is “a labor of love.” Yes, I know when I say I’m trying to make this into a little business, your reply may very well include “well, it’s a great little hobby anyway.” Sigh.

I’ve learned how much weather (exceptionally hot weather seems to shrink and mutate dahlia blooms for the following week) and how stem-boring insects can wreak havoc on harvest expectations.

I’ve learned how little reality matches the way you see things going in your head.

I’ve learned that an up is very often followed by a down.

(In all fairness, despite all these lessons, I’m still doing far better this year than I’d originally expected! I’ve already exceeded my money-in goal for the year and set a new one, made some valuable connections, sold regularly, did one event, and greatly improved my flower arranging skills. I’m not complaining about the many “learning opportunities”; I’m just being realistic…)

But I sort of expected all THOSE lessons. Today I got one I wasn’t expecting. I wouldn’t have thought that a tiny independent flower-seller on a Facebook Marketplace local garage sale group would be a target for scammers! Ugh.

To be honest, I didn’t have a good feeling about the comment. It was one of those stupid, puctuation-less messages—”interested pm”—and the page didn’t look like it belonged to anyone in our neck of the woods. But not wanting to judge too hard and being eager for a sale, I started chatting.

She said she was out of down, but her daughter was available to pick up. She wanted to pay now so her cashless daughter could swing by ASAP.

She also said something that rubbed me wrong. Before she paid, she asked me to mark the flowers SOLD. I didn’t do that, just out of principle—I have enough self-control not to sell something when I’m in talks with someone else—but I’m not marking it sold until it’s sold. Looking back, I wonder if she was testing to see how well I followed orders.

So. I set up a Venmo. I’d been meaning to do that anyway. But when I gave her my name, she wanted my email address.

I’m not comfortable with handing that out, so I told her no.

I asked, “Will you give me YOUR information? I can set it up from this end.”

She had an excuse. She was using a business account and couldn’t provide that to me.

I told her that if she really wanted the arrangement (I seriously doubted it at that point) then her daughter could come in person. Cash only.

She said that if I didn’t want to give my email, she could use my cell phone number.

Yeah…not gonna happen.

I stopped typing and did what I should have done right off the bat. I looked at her participation in the garage-sale group. All the comments she’d posted were copy-paste identical.

I checked the date she’d been admitted to the group. It was yesterday.

I scanned her page more closely. Nothing at all that seemed even remotely connected to Fort Wayne.

I guess it’s POSSIBLE it was a legit offer to purchase, but I’m far from convinced.

Who would have thought I’d have to be wary of a person in a LOCAL GARAGE SALE GROUP asking about a bouquet of flowers?!?!? (Of course, local people aren’t exactly tripping over each other to rush in for flowers…so maybe that should have been my first clue, lol!)

Anyway…lesson learned! I’ll be much more likely to follow my gut in the future when it comes to sales. And I’ll be sure to check people’s pages and activity before interacting with them. And I’ll be careful not to give out any personal information.

I’m not sure what she wanted it for, but I think there was something smelly behind it all.

I think I’ll just cancel the Venmo. I can always get it again if a legitimate need arises. Fortunately for me, I didn’t lose anything but my time…and a little bit of dignity. (There’s something so icky about interacting with thieves and tricksters that it almost makes me want to get offline entirely.)

Well, that option can be debated, I suppose. For now, I’ll stick with in-person pickups, preferably with cash!

I hope you’re having a beautiful (scam-free) day!