Using the descriptions and pictures on web sites

POAJoan · January 19, 2011

I know this has been addressed, but for the life of me I cannot find a thread about it. The last four years we have been raising seedlings and mainly selling them by word of mouth and Craigslist. In the handouts that I made I use the description and picture from the seeds seller. Last year business just boomed, and we sold 700 in three weeks. Almost half of those were pre ordered, I have a small hand out and people would order what they wished to buy.
I would really like to make a website (had two different companies ask me if I have a website that they could put a link to) so I now have a dilemma. About 35% of my pictures are my own, what we have raised here, but the rest are not.
My goal is to have pictures and descriptions entirely of my own, but that might take a couple of years. I would like to include how they grew in our climate. I do not plan to ship seedlings, but just sell them locally.
If I were to use a company's description and picture-for instance, The Sample Seed Shop, I would of course ask for their permission. An example would be:
BradleyMedium sized round pink tomato. It has excellent flavor and produces very well. It can have green shoulders. It was introduced in 1961 by the University of Arkansas. I’m not sure if it is named after Bradley County, Arkansas, but they do have a Bradley County PinkTomato Festival there each year. Semi-Determinate Description, picture http://sampleseeds.com
I would appreciate any suggestions, and thanks to Remy for the Bradley seeds.

Gardening is therapeutic for me, I broke my neck 20 years ago and ended up paralyzed from the shoulders down. So I do not do the actual work, my grandchildren and two mentally handicapped men who have lived with me for 30 years do the physical work and I get to supervise and plan. As my mother in law always said " if I would stop thinking everyone else would have less to do!"
I've enjoyed this site and hope that some of you will have some advice for me.
Joan in sunny Reno, but only 45° today.

JackE · January 19, 2011

Joan - We bought a website, and faced your dilemma. You'll have to find sombody with the computer skills to do it. We never could post anything on ours and finally just gave-up and dropped the website. Yahoo, from whom we purchased the site, offered all those services for a price. I don't remember the cost, but it was more than we wanted to pay.

Perhaps someone here can tell you how to develop the site. Wish I could be more helpful.

Jack

Stepheninky · January 19, 2011

You got the right ideal you mainly just have to ask the seed vender's permission to use their content. On anything you have grown out I would recommend doing what Remy does and that is to personalize the descriptions. Its one of the things I respect most about her Sample seed shop is that her descriptions are not over hyped at all.

If you get a host that has a script loader like fantastico it is easy to install free web store software that will make adding products and stuff to your store pretty easy and manageable.

lhspirited · January 24, 2011

I use intuit websites. It's $20 a month for unlimited pages, but it's pretty easy to learn. $5 a month for five pages.

I use Google Images to find photos, when I find one I like, I look for a copyright, and look to see if it's somebody I might be competing with. If I see either I won't use the photo.

www.growgreatvegetables.com

RinTinTin · January 25, 2011

You certainly do not want to have © issues, but I have often noticed that three catalogs have the exact same description listed for certain varieties (word for word)! It is easy to write your own descriptions without getting into © issues. Photos is a different problem. Ask your seed supplier for permission to use their photos: many/most will allow it. If not, scour around on Wikipedia for photos of the plants/fruits you wish to sell. They have many photos available that are "copylefted", ie in the public domain.

January 19, 2011	#1
POAJoan Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Reno Posts: 89	Using the descriptions and pictures on web sites I know this has been addressed, but for the life of me I cannot find a thread about it. The last four years we have been raising seedlings and mainly selling them by word of mouth and Craigslist. In the handouts that I made I use the description and picture from the seeds seller. Last year business just boomed, and we sold 700 in three weeks. Almost half of those were pre ordered, I have a small hand out and people would order what they wished to buy. I would really like to make a website (had two different companies ask me if I have a website that they could put a link to) so I now have a dilemma. About 35% of my pictures are my own, what we have raised here, but the rest are not. My goal is to have pictures and descriptions entirely of my own, but that might take a couple of years. I would like to include how they grew in our climate. I do not plan to ship seedlings, but just sell them locally. If I were to use a company's description and picture-for instance, The Sample Seed Shop, I would of course ask for their permission. An example would be: BradleyMedium sized round pink tomato. It has excellent flavor and produces very well. It can have green shoulders. It was introduced in 1961 by the University of Arkansas. I’m not sure if it is named after Bradley County, Arkansas, but they do have a Bradley County PinkTomato Festival there each year. Semi-Determinate Description, picture http://sampleseeds.com I would appreciate any suggestions, and thanks to Remy for the Bradley seeds. Gardening is therapeutic for me, I broke my neck 20 years ago and ended up paralyzed from the shoulders down. So I do not do the actual work, my grandchildren and two mentally handicapped men who have lived with me for 30 years do the physical work and I get to supervise and plan. As my mother in law always said " if I would stop thinking everyone else would have less to do!" I've enjoyed this site and hope that some of you will have some advice for me. Joan in sunny Reno, but only 45° today.

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January 19, 2011	#2
JackE Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Woodville, Texas Posts: 520	Joan - We bought a website, and faced your dilemma. You'll have to find sombody with the computer skills to do it. We never could post anything on ours and finally just gave-up and dropped the website. Yahoo, from whom we purchased the site, offered all those services for a price. I don't remember the cost, but it was more than we wanted to pay. Perhaps someone here can tell you how to develop the site. Wish I could be more helpful. Jack

January 19, 2011	#3
Stepheninky Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Kentucky Posts: 682	You got the right ideal you mainly just have to ask the seed vender's permission to use their content. On anything you have grown out I would recommend doing what Remy does and that is to personalize the descriptions. Its one of the things I respect most about her Sample seed shop is that her descriptions are not over hyped at all. If you get a host that has a script loader like fantastico it is easy to install free web store software that will make adding products and stuff to your store pretty easy and manageable.

January 24, 2011	#4
lhspirited Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Oregon Posts: 14	I use intuit websites. It's $20 a month for unlimited pages, but it's pretty easy to learn. $5 a month for five pages. I use Google Images to find photos, when I find one I like, I look for a copyright, and look to see if it's somebody I might be competing with. If I see either I won't use the photo. www.growgreatvegetables.com

January 25, 2011	#5
RinTinTin Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Seattle Posts: 581	You certainly do not want to have © issues, but I have often noticed that three catalogs have the exact same description listed for certain varieties (word for word)! It is easy to write your own descriptions without getting into © issues. Photos is a different problem. Ask your seed supplier for permission to use their photos: many/most will allow it. If not, scour around on Wikipedia for photos of the plants/fruits you wish to sell. They have many photos available that are "copylefted", ie in the public domain.