Not sure if just me but finding some, note I said some not all, of the new sellers are questionable. I report constantly but beginning to wonder am I the only one that bothers. The shops are still there despite research done in my own time.
Is it worth reporting or just leave them to get on with it and alter the ethos of Folksy.
Perhaps if the rules have been relaxed admin could let us know.
Keep reporting. We dont want Folksy to change and join the ever increasing band of all the same online marketplaces where hand made items, often one offs, are lost in a sea of ābest sellingā mass produced junk.
I feel the same. A lot looks like print on demand stuff with either clipart or simple text, or for the REALLY artistic p-o-d supplier, both used at the same time (yes, Iām being sarcastic).
They never seem to get kicked off so I presume the fees are more important than site integrity.
Keep reporting, I do. My current irritation is 3d printed items which seem to be from designs made by other people. I ask Folksy to check the design is by the seller, or licenced for commercial use.
One of the most ridiculous things which appears to be allowed is:
. If I attach a bought in āsilverā chain to a bought in āTibetan Silver Butterflyā that is not allowed. But. If I attach 2 bought in silver ear hooks to 2 bought in same silver butterflies, that is fine and dandy and acceptable because there are two of them.
Anyone care to explain the logic to me ?
I DO report, but I am never sure if items are bought in, mass produced etcā¦I report anyway and leave the decision to admin. I often do a google search but that doesnāt make it clear to me if the item is hand made or not.
I find it very sad for us genuine artists and crafters who work so hard to design and make from scratch. We could all buy a machine and put stickers on mugs and make far more money than we doā¦the sad truth is that we love what we do and so we continue.
My biggest pet hate is the amount of shops on here that just buy in and resell it for a fortune . If you want to know if the person made it , take a pic on your phone and do a āgoogle lensā and you will then see all the other places it is for sale and by what shops. (also what country makes it) Currently an item on here for Ā£300 and elsewhere exact item Ā£90. Everything in their shop is bought in from a wholesaler.
Have you reported to admin!
My other annoyance is sales for new sellers, you are not allowed to put an item on sale until listed for 28 days.
Oh yes! I am constantly reporting things and get fed up with it . The crazy think is the shop got a like on the item!
Should we perhaps start billing Folksy say 5% of listing price for a valid report.. for doing their curating job for them ?
Iāve been reporting more and more shops lately, to be honest I feel unless shops are vetted before opening we are on a slippery downward slope to becoming another eBay. Canāt mention all the things that donāt belong in case I tread on someoneās toes again but there are a lot of mass produced items on Folksy and items that āin my opinionā do not belong. A lot of the items I report I check first with Google lens and often find the same or very similar products on the likes of Ali express, eBay, Google, foreign sites etc but many of them are still there a week later so I think perhaps my interpretation of handmade is different from that of Folksy. I still donāt think as sellers we should have to report items, I think the shops should be checked by admin but if we donāt then Folksy will soon be like the other platforms that allow bought in items and market place tat. I also think a lot of sellers see items they do not feel are handmade but donāt bother reporting to Folksy so the same few sellers are having to spend their time policing the platform. It could all be avoided if Folksy had a system in place to check shops and their items before they opened, they could also at the same time perhaps check that all shops had business insurance, were actually from the UK, were not violating copyright and that they had adequate CE testing for those items that need itā¦. I could go on but thereās not much point as it wonāt change anything but in reply to your initial question Caroline, I think there are a lot more shops selling bought in items now than there ever have been on here and I think Folksy are allowing them to slip through the net. Itās such a shame as thereās a huge amount of real talent, amazing artists and makers on here that will slowly get lost amongst it all.
Thatās something else that annoys me and again if shops were vetted they could be told they cannot use the Sales feature to open their shopā¦ a few days ago I looked at the newest sellers and was quite surprised at the number of new shops that open with a saleā¦ should we be reporting this as well. I feel like I have no time to create with all the reporting I need to do.
Years and years ago I used to do juried craft fairs. You had to apply, send copy of your pli and samples of what you make. They would be vetted by a team of my peers. I always got accepted but knew when I got into the venue, my table would have my name on, everyone else would be genuine Handmakers, this is how I expected Folksy to be.
I feel with all the reporting would be easier to be vetted before going live than have potentially dozens of reports to trawl through.
Absolutely, I never had any problems in having my work vetted before doing a craft fair in fact I preferred it as I knew it would be a higher standard and knew my work was good enough to be included.
I think by this stage, after potentially dozens of threads pretty much expressing the same views and points as this oneā¦ā¦. I think that folksy has no intention of listening or acting. Responses are usually a ticking off for ānaming and shamingā or some other transgression, effectively closing down the conversation. I expect there will be a āstern talking toā administered on this post soon.
If only the firm backbone was applied to those sellers reported and proven to be cheating the systemā¦.
Hi, new seller hereā¦hello all. I have joined here because it still seems to be keeping that feel for artists who produce their own work and although i havenāt had a single sale yet iām so hoping that this isnāt turning into another site that allows mass produced stuff.
Itās tougher to get noticed here as it is and Iām being patient and working on my shop. It takes timeā¦.I just hope I havenāt joined at the wrong time. It would be such a shame to see another site go down the same route.
Apparently, deciding to combine two bought things means itās ādesignedā by them, @JOYSofGLASS
I asked a few years ago and thatās a rough synopsis of the answer I was given.
I wonder if part of the flooding with tat issue is a blurring of understanding what handmade actually means? Weāve got AI generated bands having hit singles. No human involved. Promo photographs of invented people with imaginary back stories. Half the photographs and videos on Instagram are total fabrications. These places donāt exist. I expect there will be novels āwrittenā by AI on bookshelves soon, if theyāre not there already.
Maybe people just canāt tell the difference any more?
Unfortunately, it is the way our society & the world is going. Until Governments around the world start to make these big companies pay their fair share of tax, they will just churn out a load of tat & market it as the best thing you will ever buy just so they can make more money. And true creative people are the ones who suffer.