Jay

OK here is my take. I am not a professional, nor are my trees developed for the purpose of sale. I am slowly acquiring more and more and more! I may be reaching the point that I need to 'thin the bench'. If I decide to move any of my trees, I would prefer to find someone who I too could trade with. Most of my trees are raw or very young. Many were rushed into pots before their time. If I was the person in the above situation, I would try and inform the newbie that the trees he/she liked of mine were far from finished. They may appear to be wonderful to him/her but look at this and that. I would suggest they join a club, or perhaps we could set up some 'play dates' and discuss and learn from each other. I would try and stay away from the tree they purchased.

In reading an article by Walter Pall, he brought up an interesting point. We start to develop a tree with the eyes and ability we presently have. By the time the tree is a few years into development or eyes and ability have increased beyond the level we had thought of for the tree. The direction we decided to go in a few years ago now seems, well, different.
We should try and develop our trees so they are at a point in several years that our ability level at the time can deal with. I know I've gone off a bit but it is an interesting thought.

__________________
A Bonsai student living with his trees at N 44.37 W 77.49...
Think before you act... then think again... no good comes from rushing