How do we compete?

I mainly make knitted scarves and hats, but recently I have been getting a lot of stuff from pinterest of pretty pics of some admittedly fabulous scarves that cost less than I could buy the yarn for in the UK! As far as I can tell they are all Russian, but I have spotted one lady whom I believe to be East European, listing her wares on (another) UK only site and giving a UK address in Surrey. If we are going to be undercut in this way, how can we ever sell anything. I am assuming sellers of other kinds of hand made goodies are having similar problems. Has anyone come up with an answer yet please???

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With better promotion, better listings and better photos than those items. Just because someone lists something with very cheap prices it doesn’t mean people will buy it… they have to actually find the items first, and if people find your items first and build a connection with you then hopefully they’d be more likely to buy from you instead.
Plus if a lot of the items aren’t in the UK then international shipping prices, wait times and customs fees might put people off from buying those other items… if they even offer international shipping.

Some people are also suspicious when items are overly cheap and think it must mean the materials or work is poor quality, so will look for something with a reasonable price rather than the cheapest thing on offer.

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It’s similar with ebay - I always tick the ‘UK Only’ box when doing a search but then often see a seller’s business address is China, Philippines or elsewhere. I always avoid buying from overseas and would rather pay more for a well made item from a UK seller but sadly not everyone things the same.

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I’m with you Kath, I do the same, but get annoyed when I’m ‘tricked’. I recently bought a light box online, supposed to be UK, it was posted in Germany and when I opened it I found a tiny Made in Chine sticker. I had paid quite a lot to ensure I got British goods and ended up with a cheap plastic box that I had to assemble, 2 fluorescent tubes and a dodgy plug that I am sure is dangerous.

Nina

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