A question for other sellers, I am just finishing off my latest upcycling project. It is a 1970s anglepoise lamp, I have rewired it, removed all of the original paint back to bare metal, and polished to a high shine. I have not otherwise altered the form or function, it is, after all a 20th century design classic.
Have I altered it enough to be considered suitable as handmade on Folksy? I suppose I could always list as a craft supply as it is a fantastic task lamp but I think the real market lies as home decor.
Probably not altered enough to be listed on Folksy. I think there has to have been some design input that makes it your work.
Sounds great though.
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The ‘what can I sell on Folksy’ page (What can I sell on Folksy? – Folksy Support & Knowledge Base) says:
"5. Vintage Items
Vintage items can only be sold on Folksy if the item is:
Upcycled (its original function has been significantly altered) Re-upholstered Painted, printed or decoupaged.Refurbishing and restoration of an item such as furniture is not classed as a significant change and therefore not suitable for sale on Folksy, and we therefore exclude all simply repaired, cleaned, polished, or waxed furniture."
I’m not sure, from this. Why not contact Support and ask them.
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Thank you both for your input, I’ve put a good few hours into rewiring, de-painting and polishing so feel it is my creation - there won’t be another one like it anyway…
Thanks for the link Helen, @HelenCliffordArt - it is worded quite vaguely and seems slanted towards furniture upcycling.
I think this lamp will sell quickly at a fair (famous last words) so I’ll probably leave it unlisted here to play safe. Just so you know what I’m on about;
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I can’t see this hanging around for long at a craft fair, it’s beautiful.
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Thank you @PaintedHorseArt - as said, credit for the lines is due to the designer and makers - but the shine is mine! I agree, I don’t think I’ll have it for long either!
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Lovely work Mick 
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Thank you Jean, 
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I do wonder if Folksy are missing a bit of a trick here? Perhaps a hand restored/hand made vintage art and antiques section could sit well on or alongside folksy - I would think the potential customer base is very similar and there could be a lot of useful crossover and sales generated. Having said that Folksy admin will probably have a good reason for not going down that route.
I think your lamp would probably qualify as a ‘one off’ acceptable item because the cleaning and polishing has altered it - no factory produced Anglepoise lamp came off the production line with a ‘polished bare metal lamp hood’ so it is certainly unique with significant ‘hand made’ input.
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Perhaps you’re right @Fififoxi it may be sufficiently altered and is a hand worked one-off. I’ve done the opposite to painting as stated in the knowledge base but I suppose it’s the same principle…
As I upcycle (mostly) vintage items, I tend to have a foot in both vintage and handmade camps and think there could be a place for hand restored vintage things here, but as you say admin may have a reason, possibly they are fearful of opening the floodgates as happened over on the dark side where they now can’t (or won’t) control it and almost everything is fake. So I’m content not to push the boundaries and give this one a miss to keep Folksy Folksy.
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Yes I think you’re probably right Mick @SteampunkCreativeEngineering. Keeping Folksy values and integrity is really important (it’s the reason we love it) and it would be awful if standards slip and Folksy morph into just another run of the mill sales platform.
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Beautifully finished lamp.
Unlike the print of a black square in a new shop for an extortionate price which you the print yourself for £50.
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@Caroleecrafts Caroline, the optimist in me hopes that is just a placeholder, priced so it will not sell, while the artist prepares their real listings.
The realist in me is asking why it’s on a 50% sale…
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The trouble is Mick they are breaking the law anyway as have to have an item listed at full price for 30 days prior to reduction. Plus the description is ambiguous.
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Yes, very true about the sale. You’re right about the description too, not very descriptive
Or is it? Lol.
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