Online Plant stores --- which is best??

Well, I have bought plants from 3 on line stores (one a sponsor and two that are not sponsors). My strong advice: go with a sponsor, and in your order in the comments block, mention that you are a member of this forum. Can't hurt, and will probably encourage a bit better service if they know you are active in the community and might discuss your order on this forum.

Let me tell you my most recent experience with a on-line plant company that is not a sponsor:
1) I'm smart see, way to smart to screw something up like picking the wrong company, right? I'll make a spreadsheet! with all the plants I want listed in the left column, and the availability/price from four different stores in following columns.
2) What do you know, company X has the lowest price and has all the plants! And there shipping/handling is only 3 bucks!
3) I put all my plants in the electronic shopping cart, I'm ready to check out. Oops, minimum $35 order?!? Oh well, I will add a couple of other plants.
4) Whats this? the $3 is only the handling, the shipping will be calculated later and I will get billed separately? wtf?! oh well, I'll live with that.
5) Received my plants. Hmm, this Anubias Nana "petite" sure looks exactly like my regular Anubias Nana. Its just as big as a regular Anubias Nana.
6) Wow this baby tears is looking really ragged after only a day in my tank.
7) To their credit, the other substitution they did was simply giving me a larger, more mature version of the small sword plant I ordered.

Order from a sponsor.

Chiahead, the majority of ALL aquaria plants are grown emersed, commercially. You have to understand where the plants are coming from. The majority of plants in the USA come from Florida Aquatic Nurseries. The rest are imported either from Asian nurseries, (which are also grown emersed) or from africa where they are collected from the wild. No pet store or online dealer sells exclusively submersed grown plants. It would be impossible to mass produce plants submersed. But in most cases this is not a bad thing. Most emmersed plants ship better without damage and hold up longer under the sub standard conditions that newbie hobbyists most often provide.

Buying plants from other hobbyists that are trustworthy is a good thing and will always be a great benefit of the hobby, but no hobbyist can provide plants in bulk, offer much variety or a wide enough selection for someone to set up a new tank. It is a great way to find specific plants that may be difficult to other wise find, but not every newbie wants collector plants, and the most comon plants sold on Aquabid are often much more expensive than buying plants from online dealers. Aquabid and Ebay also has sellers that exaggerate the rareness of the plants or use names that I swear are made up.

I actually buy plants from hobbyists when I have the opportunity. My current Riccia supplier is a hobbyist. I have bought java moss, Micranthemoides, and all sorts of plants from hobbyists that are tank grown when someone can offer me a large enough quantity to make it worthwhile for me, but that is rare.

It is also illegall when people buy plants from someone outside the USA unless they provide a sanitary certificate and have the proper documentation.

If your Petite nana looks like normal nana, then its not the real thing. I have said this before. True petite nana appears to come from only one source, Oriental aquarium in Singapore. Before you buy any, ask the supplier if they import from Oriental aquarium. Then you wil know if you are getting the real thing, if they are honest enough to tell you.