Mr. Nice Seedbank Review 2026: Auctions, US Shipping and Prices

Last updated: October 22, 2026

Mr. Nice Seedbank is the breeder behind Black Widow, Medicine Man, Shark Shock, Critical Mass and its own Super Silver Haze line. It is owned by Scott Blakey, the Australian breeder known as Shantibaba, and was set up with the late Howard Marks, whose nickname gave the company its name. Instead of a normal webshop, Mr. Nice sells through an auction site with a fixed-price “Buy Now” shop next to it, and most of its seeds are regular (not feminized) 15-seed packs.

Our verdict: a genuine source of classic breeder genetics at fair per-seed prices, but buying is slower and less protected than at most seedbanks. There is no germination guarantee and no refunds, payment runs through bank transfer, cash or a gift-card workaround, and US shipments have been on hold since August 2025. We score it 5.5/10. This review is based on Mr. Nice’s published policies, current prices and checkout options on mrnice.nl, and independent customer feedback. All facts were checked on October 22, 2026.

Mr. Nice Seedbank at a Glance

Buying Mr. Nice Seeds from the USA

This is the question most US searchers have, and the answer is not a simple yes. Mr. Nice’s Major Updates page, dated August 2025, says: “There have been new tariff changes with the USA which have halted our shipments to clients in that region. All orders heading to the USA will be temporarily stored until further notice.” On October 22, 2026 that notice was still online, and we found no later announcement that US shipping had resumed. The site banner that pointed to it is no longer shown.

At the same time, the checkout still offers US addresses the same two options as other non-European countries: Tracked Mail for €35 or Non-Tracked Mail for €22. A listed shipping rate does not mean the order will leave the warehouse. Before you bid or pay, email [email protected] (cc [email protected]) and ask whether US orders are being dispatched, and get the answer in writing. Mr. Nice did ship to the US before the pause: in a r/microgrowery thread (comments from September and October 2022), one US grower said support had confirmed US shipping before ordering and that the order arrived.

Also read the legal note in the shipping section below. Mr. Nice’s terms say its seeds are sold as “collector’s and souvenir seeds only” and that buyers are responsible for checking the law where they live.

Who Mr. Nice Seedbank Is

Scott Blakey was born in Melbourne in 1964 and collected landrace seeds across Asia and South America in the 1980s before moving to Amsterdam in 1988, according to his Wikipedia profile. In 1994 he co-founded the Greenhouse Seed Co. with Arjan Roskam while working closely with breeder Neville Schoenmakers. Strains from that period, including White Widow, Super Silver Haze, White Rhino and El Nino, won Cannabis Cups. Wikipedia credits White Widow to Shantibaba “whilst he worked at the Greenhouse Seed Company”, and it won the Cannabis Cup in 1995.

After a falling-out with Roskam over priorities, Blakey took his mother and father plants and set up Mr. Nice Seedbank with Howard Marks, the Welsh cannabis smuggler who became known as “Mr Nice” (after a passport he bought from a man named Donald Nice) and wrote the 1996 autobiography of that name. Marks died in April 2016 (Wikipedia). Mr. Nice’s About page still describes the seedbank as owned by Shantibaba and run “with the collaboration of the late Howard Marks”; it also says Mr. Nice “incorporates the talents of another equally experienced breeder”, without naming him.

To set its genetics apart from companies that kept selling the old names, Mr. Nice renamed several strains: White Widow became Black Widow, White Rhino became Medicine Man, and Great White Shark (also called Peacemaker) became Shark Shock. Both Wikipedia and Mr. Nice’s own shop FAQ describe these renames. Green House still sells its own White Widow and Super Silver Haze, so the same names exist from two breeders.

The Super Silver Haze awards need some care. The Mr. Nice product page calls it a winner at the 1997, 1998 and 1999 High Times Cannabis Cups. Green House Seed Co.’s own Cannabis Cup award list records Super Silver Haze as 1st in the 1997 Hydro category, 1st overall plus 1st in the Hydro category in 1998, and 1st overall in 1999, so the 1997 win was a category prize. Wikipedia names 1998, when Shantibaba “took out all first and second prizes for Super Silver Haze, Mango Haze and Shantibaba’s Hash”. Asked about 1997 on the Mr. Nice forum in November 2025, Shantibaba listed Master Kush, White Widow, White Rhino and White Shark as that year’s entries and said he believed SSH won in 1998 (forum thread). In the same thread, a forum member points out that SSH won the hydro category in 1997. All three were Green House entries, not Mr. Nice entries.

Blakey moved to Switzerland in 2000 and in 2009 co-founded CBD Crew, a collaboration between Mr. Nice and Resin Seeds focused on CBD-rich strains (Wikipedia). He still answers questions on the Mr. Nice forum and did a breeder AMA on r/AusGrowers in November 2023.

How the Auctions and Buy Now Shop Work

Mr. Nice is not a standard webshop, and that shapes everything else in this review. According to its FAQ, mrnice.nl combines two ways to buy:

• Auctions. Single strain packs and some combo packs are auctioned with a timer. On October 22, 2026, 23 auctions were listed, and single packs such as Black Widow, Critical Mass, Holy Grail and Neville’s Haze had a starting bid of €17.50. Closing times are staggered for European and US time zones. Winning bids are binding.
• Buy Now. Fixed, full prices. Buy Now orders include a “breeder pack”, which auction lots do not.

The process has rules you should know before bidding. Won auctions stay in your account for about 60 days before they expire, and once you check out, you have 60 days to pay (payment policy). With more than two unpaid orders, Mr. Nice will not ship until one is paid, and repeated abuse can get an account banned. An order can hold at most 12 auctions or Buy Now items, and combo packs count per seed packet. Placing an order does not take payment: you pay afterwards with one of the methods below, quoting your order number.

Catalog and Seed Types

On October 22, 2026, the Buy Now shop listed 76 products: 48 regular strains, 18 CBD strains and 10 combo deals. The regular line-up includes the classics people search for: Black Widow, Critical Mass, Super Silver Haze, Medicine Man, Shark Shock, N.H.S., NL5 x Haze, G13 x Haze, Neville’s Haze, Mango Haze, Holy Grail, Shit, Spice, Dreamtime, The Cure and Walkabout, plus the limited Grail series (Widow Grail, Widow AC). According to the product pages, the G13 hybrids are inbred lines, because G13 was only available as a female clone.

Regular seeds are the core. A standard pack holds 15 regular seeds, “and we usually add a couple extra” (pack FAQ). Regular seeds give roughly a 50/50 split of male and female plants, which suits breeders and growers who want to select their own mothers. If you are new to this, our guides to regular seeds and feminized vs autoflower vs regular seeds explain the trade-off.

Not regular-only. The 18 CBD strains (from CBD Crew, such as CBD Critical Mass and CBD MedGom Auto) are sold as 5 feminized seeds per pack. The shop also lists a Feminized Pack (Gorilla Glue, Black Runtz, Critical Widow) and an Auto Fem Pack (AK47 x Blueberry, Critical Mass x Blueberry, Gelato x Blueberry), each with 45 seeds. Mr. Nice describes these as “project seeds” made for clients and partner seed companies, “only made available on rare occasions”.

Flowering times vary widely, from about 45 days for Shit to 56 to 70 days for N.H.S., about 10 weeks for Black Widow and 12 to 14 weeks for Holy Grail, according to the product pages. The long-flowering Haze lines need patience and space, and Mr. Nice itself warns that some are not practical indoors. We found no published lab results for THC or terpene content on the site; the CBD MedGom Auto page is the exception, with a stated minimum of 4% CBD.

Prices and Pack Sizes

Buy Now prices on October 22, 2026 (regular price, no sale running on mrnice.nl). Per-seed figures assume the standard 15 seeds; the extra seeds Mr. Nice adds would lower them a little.

For classic regular genetics, that is reasonable: most strains cost €2.33 to €5.33 a seed, and the premium Haze lines €7.67. Auctions can be much cheaper, with single packs starting at €17.50, but the final price depends on the bidding. Two costs change the picture for buyers outside Europe: €35 tracked shipping on every order with no free-shipping threshold, and possible bank or transfer fees, because Mr. Nice prices in euros and asks you to convert using XE.com rates. Underpayments are not shipped. For a Dutch address, the checkout added 21% VAT to the seed price; for the other countries we tested, no tax was added.

Shipping by Region

The shipping FAQ sets two flat rates: €18.50 for European orders and €35 for orders outside Europe. Registered (tracked) mail is the default, and the tracking code is emailed once the order ships. Our checkout test on October 22, 2026 also showed a cheaper untracked option:

Dispatch. Mr. Nice does not publish delivery times per region. In a May 2024 forum thread, Shantibaba wrote: “Once we clearly receive the payment we ship within 2 days.” Bank transfers and cash by post take time to arrive, so the clock starts later than with a card payment.

Untracked mail is at your own risk. Standard post “will not be replaced” if it goes missing. Once an order has shipped and you have the confirmation, responsibility passes to you, including for lost or delayed parcels, customs seizures and failed delivery because you could not show ID. Mr. Nice says it “may, at our sole discretion, review cases individually”. If a first delivery attempt fails, it will not resend to the same address, and whether a replacement is possible depends on the country (terms of use).

Packaging and stealth. We found no stealth packaging option on the site. An older shipping post from 2018 says orders outside the EU usually include merchandise “to facilitate the travel”.

Shipping to the US does not make growing legal everywhere. Seed and cultivation laws differ by state, and the federal hemp definition is changing in stages between November 12 and December 11, 2026 (P.L. 119-37, section 781, as amended by P.L. 119-103), which may affect how cannabis seeds can be sold and shipped (Congressional Research Service summary). Check your state and local rules before you order.

Germination Guarantee and Refunds

We found no germination guarantee on mrnice.nl: not in the FAQ, the terms, the shipping conditions or the product pages. The shipping FAQ states plainly: “We are not permitted to issue refunds.” For a problem with a product, Mr. Nice asks you to email [email protected] or [email protected] “to find solutions to your complaint”, or Shantibaba at [email protected] for growing questions.

So there is no fixed window, percentage or replacement rule. If seeds fail, document your germination method with photos and dates and email the helpdesk with your order number, but treat any replacement as goodwill. For regular seeds from a breeder this is not unusual, yet many retail seedbanks now publish at least case-by-case terms. Because you get 15 or more seeds per pack, a few duds hurt less than in a 3-pack, which partly offsets the missing guarantee.

Payment Methods

Mr. Nice’s payment instructions (last updated July 24, 2026) list these options, all interchangeable after checkout:

• Card via gift card (recommended by Mr. Nice). Place your order on mrnice.nl, then buy a “Mr. Nice Auctions Gift Card” for the exact order total on mnsmerchandising.com and enter your order number in the order notes. You do not receive a voucher; Mr. Nice emails to confirm payment and later sends tracking. The merchandise store shows Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Apple Pay and Google Pay among its accepted methods. This option was announced on the forum in December 2025.
• Bank transfer in euros to an account named MNS Merchandising at a Dutch bank. Wise and Western Union online bank transfers to the same account are also accepted.
• Cash by registered post only, to a poste restante address in Bissone, Switzerland. No couriers and no coins.
• Other transfer services such as Revolut, CurrencyFair, WorldRemit, Remitly and MoneyGram are named on the homepage as having worked for customers.

Always put your order number or name in the payment reference, or the payment cannot be matched. If you cannot pay in full, Mr. Nice says it is open to an instalment plan by email. We found no PayPal or cryptocurrency option.

Deals, Loyalty and Discount Codes

As of October 2026, the auctions are the main way to pay less at Mr. Nice: single packs start at €17.50, against €23 to €115 at Buy Now prices. The checkout has a coupon field, and Mr. Nice has run code-based promotions before, such as a 15% Buy Now discount with the code Shantibaba60 for Shantibaba’s 60th birthday in February 2024 (announcement). That code was time-limited, and we found no active code on mrnice.nl on October 22, 2026.

Promotions on the sister store Shantibaba Seeds do not automatically apply on mrnice.nl: in April 2026 the auction manager confirmed on the forum that a 4/20 promotion was “only active on Shantibaba Seeds” (forum thread). We found no points or loyalty program, and treat third-party coupon sites with caution.

Customer Service

Support is by email only. The contact page lists three addresses:

• [email protected] for payments, shipping and handling (and auction or website issues)
• [email protected] for registration, auction and website issues
• [email protected] to reach Shantibaba (copy the helpdesk on urgent questions, as he is not always in the office)

Mr. Nice asks you to put your username and order number in the subject line and to allow 1 to 4 business days for a reply. There is no phone line or live chat. The Mr. Nice forum is active and has a support section where staff and Shantibaba respond; since the end of August 2025 a new auction manager handles payments and email queries. Note that the site still contains a leftover template contact page with placeholder details; use the addresses above.

Complaint handling is visible mainly on the brand’s own forum. In a May 2024 thread, several members said they were not getting email replies about orders and payment deadlines, and one reported a parcel with the wrong contents. Shantibaba replied that some emails had not been getting through, said that only three issues were open among many orders, and asked buyers to message him directly. Keep in mind that the forum is run by Mr. Nice.

Reputation

Independent review data on the shop is thin. Its SmartCustomer page had 0 reviews on October 22, 2026, and we found no Better Business Bureau profile for Mr. Nice Seedbank (a BBB listing for a “Mr. Nice Guy” dispensary in California is an unrelated business). On SeedFinder, which rates strains rather than shops, Mr. Nice has 46 strains listed, 12 of them with user reviews averaging 7.02 out of 10.

Dated Reddit threads we could verify:

• A breeder AMA with Shantibaba of Mr Nice (r/AusGrowers, November 24, 2023, 25 comments): Shantibaba answers questions on Haze selection, the G13 line and breeding, and one buyer mentions winning a G13 auction lot.
• “Mr. Nice seeds in the US” (r/microgrowery, January 26, 2022): a 2022 reply reports a US delivery after support confirmed shipping, with all 16 seeds they started popping, and calls the ordering and payment process “a bit cumbersome”; a February 2026 reply says an order was received, without naming the country.
• “Mr. Nice Seeds experience” (r/microgrowery, February 10, 2016): a Super Silver Haze plant grown from a free seed, with one commenter calling MNS “the best seedbank imo”.

On the brand’s own forum, members also reported site slowdowns and 503 errors in January and February 2026, which the site’s developer worked to fix (thread), and a short outage around August 20, 2026 (thread). The reputation of the genetics is strong; the reputation of the buying process is mixed, mostly because of payment friction, slow email at times and site stability.

Website and Grow Resources

The site does the basics: each Buy Now page has a strain description with parentage, flowering time and expected yield, and the forum holds years of grow diaries per strain, which is useful if you are planning a terpene-driven pheno hunt or want to see how a Haze line behaves outdoors. Shantibaba and long-time members answer questions there.

The weak points are hard to miss. Checkout and payment are split over two sites for card buyers, auctions and Buy Now share one cart with a 12-item cap, and several leftover template pages are still live, including an About page filled with placeholder text next to the real one. Notices like the August 2025 US update sit on a page that is no longer linked from the banner. Combined with the reported outages, the site feels like a community hub first and a shop second.

Who Mr. Nice Suits, and Who Should Look Elsewhere

A good fit if you: want Black Widow, Medicine Man, Shark Shock, Critical Mass, Super Silver Haze or the Neville’s Haze lines straight from the breeder linked to their history; grow from regular seeds and want to select your own mothers or breed; live in Europe, the UK, Canada or Australia and accept flat-rate shipping; or enjoy auctions and can follow the 60-day payment rules.

Look elsewhere if you: live in the US and need your order shipped now; want a germination guarantee or refunds; want to pay by PayPal, crypto or a normal card checkout; mainly grow feminized or autoflower seeds; or need fast, published delivery times and phone support. Beginners may find our guide on how to grow cannabis at home a better starting point before working with regular seeds.

Scoring Summary

Mr. Nice Seedbank scores 5.5/10 overall. Product Range and Price and Value are its strongest categories at 6.5/10: a deep catalog of classic regular genetics plus CBD feminized strains and occasional feminized and auto packs, at €1.53 to €7.67 a seed for 15-seed packs and auctions from €17.50, held back by €35 shipping outside Europe with no free-shipping threshold. Seed Quality and Germination sits at 6.0/10: a long breeding record and generous pack sizes, but no germination guarantee, no refunds and no lab data.

Shipping and Delivery and Customer Service each score 5.0/10. Shipping rates are clear and tracked mail is the default, but US shipments have been on hold since August 2025, delivery times are not published and responsibility ends at dispatch. Support is email-only with a 1 to 4 business day reply target and an active forum, with past reports of slow replies. Website and UX is the weakest category at 3.5/10 because of the auction and gift-card payment workflow, leftover placeholder pages and repeated outages in 2026.

How Does Mr. Nice Seedbank Compare?

Scores and details come from each seedbank's own review on this site and update when that review is re-checked.

For other options, see our reviews of Green House Seeds, Sensi Seeds, Serious Seeds and Dutch Passion.

Final Verdict

Mr. Nice Seedbank is a legitimate breeder with a real place in cannabis history: Shantibaba’s Black Widow, Medicine Man and Shark Shock are the renamed versions of strains he is widely credited with developing at Green House in the 1990s, and the 15-seed regular packs are fairly priced for that pedigree. If you are a breeder or a collector of old-school genetics in Europe, Canada or Australia, it is worth the extra effort.

That effort is the catch. You buy through auctions or a basic Buy Now shop, pay by transfer, cash or a gift-card workaround, wait for payment to clear, and get no germination guarantee or refunds. US buyers should not order until Mr. Nice confirms in writing that US shipments have resumed. To compare it with the rest of the field, see our seedbank review hub.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is Mr. Nice Seedbank based, and who owns it?

Mr. Nice’s terms give its head office as Amsterdam, the Netherlands. The seedbank is owned by breeder Scott Blakey (Shantibaba), who co-founded it with the late Howard Marks. Blakey works from Switzerland, and cash payments go to a Swiss address.

Does Mr. Nice ship to the USA?

Not reliably at the moment. In August 2025 Mr. Nice posted that tariff changes had halted US shipments and that US orders would be stored until further notice, and we found no update lifting this. The checkout still lists US shipping at €35 tracked, so confirm with [email protected] (cc [email protected]) before paying. Seed and cultivation laws differ by state, so check your local rules too.

How long does Mr. Nice take to ship?

Mr. Nice does not publish delivery times. Shantibaba has said orders ship within 2 days once payment has clearly arrived, and the tracking code for registered mail is sent by email after dispatch.

Where does Mr. Nice ship from?

The site does not say. The company is based in the Netherlands and charges one rate for Europe (€18.50 tracked) and another for the rest of the world (€35 tracked).

Is Mr. Nice Seedbank legit?

Yes. It is the breeder company of Shantibaba, has sold seeds online for many years, runs an active forum where he answers buyers, and US growers reported deliveries before the 2025 pause. Its weak points are the lack of a germination guarantee or refunds, a slow payment process and recurring website problems.

Does Mr. Nice have a germination guarantee?

We found none. The shipping FAQ says refunds are not permitted, and product problems go to [email protected] or [email protected], and shipping problems are reviewed individually at Mr. Nice’s discretion.

What payment methods does Mr. Nice accept?

Bank transfer in euros, Wise, Western Union online transfer, cash by registered post, and card payment by buying a gift card for your order total on mnsmerchandising.com. We found no PayPal or crypto option.

Are there Mr. Nice discount codes?

Not as of October 22, 2026. The checkout has a coupon field and past codes were time-limited, such as Shantibaba60 in February 2024. The cheapest way in is the auctions, where single packs start at €17.50.

Are Mr. Nice seeds regular or feminized?

Mostly regular, in packs of 15 seeds plus a few extra. The CBD strains are sold as 5 feminized seeds, and feminized and autoflower project packs of 45 seeds appear occasionally.

What Changed in This Update

This version replaces claims that could not be checked when the site was assumed to be offline. Payment methods, email contacts, shipping rates and pack contents are all published on mrnice.nl and are now included. The catalog is not regular-only, a Holy Grail pack holds 15 seeds (not 18), and no germination guarantee exists. We added the August 2025 US shipping notice and removed a BBB rating that belonged to an unrelated business.

Sources

• Mr. Nice Major Updates (August 2025) (checked Oct 22, 2026): US shipments halted, new auction manager
• Mr. Nice shipping terms and conditions and 2018 shipping post (checked Oct 22, 2026): flat rates, registered vs standard mail, 12-item limit and extra shipping above 100 g, no refunds, responsibility after dispatch, merchandise in non-EU parcels
• Mr. Nice checkout shipping options for the US, Canada, UK, Australia, Germany, France, Spain and the Netherlands (tested Oct 22, 2026): tracked and untracked rates, no free shipping, Dutch VAT
• Mr. Nice payment methods and instructions (checked Oct 22, 2026): gift-card card payment, bank transfer, Wise, Western Union, cash, instalments; plus forum announcement of card payments (December 10, 2025)
• Mr. Nice payment policy, auctions vs web shop and MNS web shop FAQ (checked Oct 22, 2026): 60-day rules, breeder pack, renamed strains
• Mr. Nice terms and conditions and terms of use (checked Oct 22, 2026): Amsterdam head office, souvenir-seed clause, customer responsibility, resend rules
• Mr. Nice About page and contact page (checked Oct 22, 2026): ownership, email addresses, 1 to 4 business day reply time
• Mr. Nice standard pack FAQ and Buy Now product pages for Walkabout, Shit, Black Widow, Critical Mass, Medicine Man, G13 x Haze, Super Silver Haze, Holy Grail, CBD Critical Mass, Feminized Pack and Auto Fem Pack (checked Oct 22, 2026): pack contents, prices, flowering times, award claims
• Mr. Nice auctions (checked Oct 22, 2026): 23 listed, €17.50 starting bids
• Shantibaba’s birthday week discount (February 2024) and forum thread on the 4/20 promo (April 2026) (checked Oct 22, 2026): past codes and promotions
• Mr. Nice forum threads on support replies (May 2024), on the 1997 Cannabis Cup (November 2025), on server connectivity (January and February 2026) and on the August 2026 outage (checked Oct 22, 2026)
• Green House Seed Co. Cannabis Cup award list on greenhouseseeds.nl (checked Oct 22, 2026; not linked because it is another seedbank’s site): Super Silver Haze 1st in the 1997 Hydro category, 1st overall and 1st Hydro in 1998, 1st overall in 1999
• Wikipedia: Scott Blakey, Wikipedia: White Widow and Wikipedia: Howard Marks (checked Oct 22, 2026): biography, Green House years, 1998 Cup wins, Mr. Nice founding, renamed strains, CBD Crew, Marks’s nickname and death
• SeedFinder breeder page for Mr Nice Seedbank (checked Oct 22, 2026): 46 strains, 12 reviewed, average 7.02/10
• SmartCustomer page for mrnice.nl and BBB search (checked Oct 22, 2026): no reviews, no BBB profile for the seedbank
• Reddit threads on r/AusGrowers (November 2023), r/microgrowery (2022 to 2026) and r/microgrowery (February 2016) (checked Oct 22, 2026): AMA, US delivery reports, grow report
• Congressional Research Service summary (checked Oct 22, 2026): federal hemp definition changes