Crop King is an iconic Canadian seed bank. In this extended Crop King Seeds review, we’ll go over their cannabis strains, shipping/payment options, guarantees, customer service, and more.
What we all want to know before ordering is whether we’re saving ourselves from a disappointing experience. To decide whether Crop King Seeds is legit, we’re not just looking at our own opinion but also combing the web for positive and negative sounds from others.
In a hurry? Good news: the general consensus is that Crop King Seeds has a great reputation and excellent customer service. It is one of the safest places to order marijuana seeds online.
Crop King Seeds has come out with a new website design since this review page was first written. It’s definitely an upgrade, even though the old site was far from bad.
This Crop King Seeds review is about a lot more than just the site, but it sure makes the experience more pleasant when an online seed bank is user-friendly, easy on the eye, and pleasant to navigate. From the home page, you can live chat with “the King” or dive deeper into their well-organized selection of strains.
An online presence that is well-executed, functional, and intuitive doesn’t necessarily say anything about the quality of the cannabis seeds. However, it usually implies the business cares about our experience as a customer. And if they care about that, they likely care about the quality of their product as well. So yes – a nice-looking online storefront sets the tone.
Introduction
“Established in 2005, Crop King Seeds has been perfecting the genetics of cannabis plants for medical and commercial growers seeking maximum results in their levels and harvest size. From classic strains to new age hybrids, our seeds are ideal for beginners and advanced growers wanting the best from their crop. We offer a 100% satisfaction guarantee, and just like our customers are loyal to us, we are loyal to them. As cannabis becomes legalized across North America and around the world, Crop King Seeds is expanding and growing alongside our industry. Cheers to the end of prohibition coming into sight.”
This is from the Crop King Catalogue, a pdf file that can be downloaded from the site. It contains strain information for every strain and a glossary, as well as a cash order form in case you want to do it the (very) old fashioned way.
Website & Browsing experience
What the heck – since we have them, why not share a before & after picture?
Below is a screenshot of the old layout.
Professional branding and an overly saturated color scheme usually aren’t the best of friends. The trend these days for an online presence/website is clean and modern, rather minimalist, with lots of white. Anything else tends to come across as amateurish or function as a time machine back to the internet’s earlier days.
Crop King Seeds pulled it off, though. Their previous website design was funky for sure, but very fun and visually appealing nonetheless. Who would have thought a daring combo of red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple could look so alluring?
On the new website, there are more neutrals, grey and white. Aside from that, they’ve stayed true to their vibe with the characteristic dark red still present in the banners and buttons.
There’s a slider to greet visitors on the homepage and introduce new strains or promotions.
Notice how nicely the seed packaging stands out against the white background? The designs really get the chance to shine here.
Fast forward to today, there have been some more layout changes – all for the better, though. As far as strains go, we can now head in the direction we want right from the menu bar. Auto-flowering, CBD, feminized, mix & match, regular, fast version, and a few more options can help narrow it down right off the bat.
Scrolling further down the front page shows these four large sections:
A helpful move to save time and avoid getting lost in the sauce, since most people are looking for one of these types of seeds.
Shipping
Crop King Seeds ships to almost all countries. Regular shipping is the cheapest but it does not include guaranteed delivery. The most expensive guaranteed delivery charge is for customers in Australia and New Zealand.
- Worldwide – US$10 for Regular Shipping
- Almost all countries – US$30 for Express Registered Shipping (with tracking)
- Australia and New Zealand – US$60 for Express Registered Shipping (with tracking)
| Tip: Ordering from Australia? If the hefty additional fee for Crop King’s registered shipping (and guaranteed delivery) puts you off, one of the best online seed banks, ILGM, ships to Australia (and also guarantees delivery) for $25 and for free on orders over $150. |
Guarantees
Express Registered Shipping (US$30 or US$60 to AUS/NZ) does not require a signature at reception but comes with guaranteed delivery. Crop King Seeds will reship your order, should it happen to be seized by customs.
Anonymity & Payment
Accepted forms of payment:
- Visa & Mastercard
- Bitcoin
- Interac E-Transfer (Canada only)
- Cash via snail mail (both US and Canadian dollars)
- Moneygram
It wasn’t quite clear to me from the FAQ page that physically mailing cash is an option here. I got in touch with Crop King Seeds, and they confirmed both US and Canadian currency can be sent. Moneygram (of which there is no mention on the website) is a valid payment method too.
All orders outside of Canada are processed in US dollars.
Orders ship in the utmost discreet manner. Please ask “the King” of this Canadian seed bank if you want to know more about what your parcel may look like. Seeds in their original packaging can only be shipped within Canada. For all other countries, you will receive just the seeds, packaged differently. Don’t throw away any mail looking like something you don’t expect and didn’t order, without further investigation…
Additional Services & Refund Policy
No returns, but in case of an issue, just get in touch with Crop King Seeds and they’ll always try to make things right.
Strain Selection
Crop King Seeds is a creator of strains a.k.a. breeder. This means you will not find hundreds of different strains here, from all sorts of brands and breeders from all over the world. They sell their own product.
For an overload of choices, you’ll need to check out retailer seed banks instead. If you enjoy purchasing fresh genetics straight from their original source, you’re in the right place.
Two recent additions to the Crop King Seeds inventory are these amazing-looking strains: Gelato, (available in regular, feminized, or auto-flowering) with an impressive 27% THC, and CB Diesel with an equally impressive 20% CBD and only 0.25% THC. (That’s less THC than hemp!)
It’s quite nice how they aim to please different audiences – there’s something there for the THC crowd as well as for CBD enthusiasts.
How easy does Crop King Seeds make it for us to find the right strain?
There used to be various filters to help you narrow down the selection of strains with the click of a button, looking like this:
That’s been done away with. Some of these variables are covered by the new sidebar layout. Strains are now mentioned by name, starting with the auto-flowering ones:
Everything feminized (of which there are most):
High-CBD strains are a well-respected subcategory at Crop King Seeds, which is awesome. Note that these four are not the only choices. On the CBD strain-specific shop page, you’ll find an explosion of high-CBD strains! At the time of writing, they have 44 different ones; lots of which are CBD versions of classic names such as White Widow, Zkittlez, Blueberry, Cheese, Kush, and even Girl Scout Cookies.
Regular seeds are banned to the last spot – yeah, well… who’s buying those, anyway? (Unless you’re getting into creating your own strain or seeds, which is a riveting goal and perhaps not as ambitious as it might seem.)
Unfortunately, I’m missing a few search options now. We can’t select high or low THC strains anymore. There also doesn’t seem to be a place to search for an Indica, Sativa, or hybrid in particular.
What are fast-flowering strains?
Note that the strains in the sidebar aren’t the full selection. Not only does Crop King Seeds have many more high-CBD strains than those four, but they also have 6 fast flowering ones.
| In a grow room or closet, you are in full control of the environmental factors. 😉 If you’re planning to tackle growing outside, check out How to Grow Weed Outdoors & Maximize the Growing Season. |
Being a Canadian seed bank, it makes so much sense that they would focus on this. Strains like the ones here have been fine-tuned to grow and finish faster, which makes them ideal for places with a short growing season.
Strain information
There are a few crucial things we like to know about strains to aid in the decision-making process.
1. Cannabis type
How much of the genetics are inherited from Indica plants, how much Sativa, or perhaps Ruderalis?
2. Cannabinoid percentages
THC and CBD are the two most well-known and sought-after cannabinoids, so it makes sense to have these two mapped out.
3. Growing info
As for the growing piece, useful information consists of the flowering time, approximate yield, origin, whether a strain is most suited to beginners or advanced growers, and whether they’re adapted to indoor or outdoor growing.
These tidbits are jumping off the page right under the picture in superb infographic style, which makes them easily digestible.
One more reason to love Crop King Seeds is their consistent display of not just THC contents for all strains, but also their CBD percentages.
Tip: If you still don’t find anything you fancy at Crop King Seeds, check out Rocket Seeds. Read our full review here, or go straight to their website. Rocket Seeds has the same owners as Crop King, but a different strain selection.
Reviews and Rating
Last but not least, let’s take a look at their Trustpilot rating.
Right now, Crop King scores a 4.2 out of five.
There are many very positive reviews, from what seems to be both less and more experienced growers. They also have some real negative reviews, regarding various things ranging from shipping and packaging, to price, customer service, and the actual product (growing & genetics).
Positive vs. Negative Reviews
Unhappy folks are more likely to take out their frustrations on a keyboard than happy ones. I always like to get up close with those not-so-positive reviews because they are very insightful.
To see what the main complaints or issues are, whether they’re actually reasonable, and to read the company’s responses, too! (Or notice the absence of a response to negative reviews altogether.)
It has to be said that some of the disgruntled customers don’t make much sense. For example, the guy complaining they would not resend seeds because it had been a week (!) since he ordered. Or the one saying a customer service employee from CKS made death threats over the phone.
Crop King Seeds isn’t as active in answering the reviews as for example ILGM.
Personally, I haven’t had any negative experience communicating with Crop King Seeds. The representatives on their chat service typically aren’t extremely chatty (pun intended) but helpful enough. Just don’t expect the verbal fluff we’re used to from, for example, insurance companies or cell phone carriers.
All in all, Crop King Seeds does have some negative reviews. They do have a solid fan-base of pleased customers, too. While their record isn’t quite as spotless as that of the Dutch online seed bank ILGM, there is a lot worse. (The fellow Canadian online retailer of marijuana seeds True North, for example, has a horrendous rating of two out of five stars on Trustpilot.)
Conclusion
Crop King Seeds is a legit, safe place to shop for Cannabis seeds. It’s impossible to know whether some of the complaints have been taken care of one-on-one. What stands for sure is that Crop King Seeds is not a scam and they have:
- a solid reputation
- many loyal customers
- a relatively low number of bad reviews
In a nutshell, here’s what makes shopping at this seed bank attractive:
- a large (and expanding) selection of strains/seeds
- a user-friendly website with good strain information
- worldwide shipping & guaranteed delivery options
- 80% germination guaranteed (under certain conditions)
The seeds are on the pricier end. Worth it, if all checks out and they honor their delivery and germination guarantee, which from where I’m standing, they do. I’d much rather pay for some security than pay less for a maybe in terms of the safe arrival and sprouting of seeds.
