Trying not to be too critical, but I have noticed a few sellers here selling things like commercially produced yarns from well-known brands fully labelled, knitting and crochet patterns from commercial well-known companies, dress-making patterns from well-known companies etc.
I’m just a little confused. These are not handmade by any stretch of the imagination, or even used as a base to sell a handmade item. They are being sold as is. Do they just come under the generic “supplies” category?
Hi Silva @silvapagan
The items you have mentioned should be in Supplies - Commercial. There is a section specifically for Supplies which are handmade, like your lovely handspun yarns!
If you have found Commercial supplies in the Handmade section then you should report the shop or shops in question to Folksy admin and tell them the reason.
Good luck with your shop and I love the handknitted hares!
Shirley x
Agree with Shirley - items like you described are supplies and can be listed as such along with all sorts of other items, beads, fabric, paper stock etc providing they are listed as commercial. What is worse is commercial items that have been repackaged and then listed as handmade - have to say I haven’t yet seen that here but is happening over on the dark side!
Thanks Shirley, I was just a bit confused when I saw them 
And thanks for the compliments!
Are you talking about me 
I’m one of the people who sell commercially made yarns and patterns but yes, I have them listed under commercial supplies and not handmade (unless an odd one has been done by mistake)
I think one was yours, but when I looked closer it was under Supplies 
I sell some supplies of which some are handmade by myself and other’s are commercial.
I have commercial buttons and papercraft.
I also have some handmade by myself recyclced paper just not listed it yet.
Oh yes I also sell patterns that are patterns which I have created so hold my copyright on them.
Sometimes I wonder how far handmade applies too. I occasionally do little more than put a bail and some sort of chain/ribbon on a pendant and consider how little making I do - one reason why I don’t do it very often Same goes for earrings, though there’s more skill involved in using tools, I suppose. I tend not to charge much above the cost of materials - £1 or so - and feel guilty. Then again, as we all know, skills that we’ve built up maybe over a long period - do become easy for us. I remember my first ever “how to make” session trying to teach a very mixed age group how to make drop earrings, and the seeming ease with which youngsters learned to loop head pins and the grannies who struggled!
We all need to remember to give value to our skills, even if, like mine, in the big picture it isn’t a “life skill”.
I think that items like designs you’ve come up with are definitely handmade, anyway. I’ve historically sold my designs for cross stitch here and it had any queries (maybe my letter giving me the design right from LucasArts helped!)
So far as Folksy is concerned this is what is in their rules about ‘assembled jewellery’, which is not permitted for sale here:
“Assembled jewellery, where the defining characteristic of the item is the charm or mass produced piece on it, for example, a mass produced charm attached to a chain.”
If you feel that some of your work fits into this category then it shouldn’t be for sale on here anyway.
Although a lot of people ignore the rules, and others simply aren’t aware of them.
I used to report anything that fell into the definition of ‘assembled jewellery’ but there’s so much on here now, it’s pointless trying to stop it. I think even Folksy themselves have given up.
Folksy had a ‘crack-down’ on certain things a couple of years ago which resulted in a lot of people leaving. Along with assembled jewellery they picked on (for some reason) decoupage and hand-poured candles, but I think they backed down on those. I think their rules are so inconsistent that they are unworkable. Also if a seller is doing well and contributing a load of fees, they probably don’t want to ban them…Lego + fitting + glue comes to mind…
What if you take a mass produced charm and use it within a piece that is unique and of your own design? I’d have thought that the design is more important than where the components have come from. That way something new and different has been produced.
Another question too, you’ve said “mass produced piece” presumably to mean one item, does this apply if you then take a few charms or items and use them to create a product in your own way?
I’ve seen plenty of household items and trinket boxes etc with an embellishment on or something like that (e.g. metal plate of an elephant) as the main decoration. Does this mean that because that decoration on their product is mass produced that this is also not permitted?
I would really appreciate clarity on this as it is becoming an issue that I am wrapped up in as my component parts are from all over the world, ie glass beads from Ghana, items from other sellers on here, charms and embellishments etc and put together into what I consider my design to be sold as a one off item for what I consider a fair price?
I think if you buy a bought-in item and stick it on a bought-in chain, that can’t really be called a craft, but if you modify the item, put it on a hand-beaded chain or add other complementary things to make an attractive whole that involves skill and design, that is a craft. Gluing a ready-made embellishment to a box wouldn’t really be a craft (in my opinion) unless the box had been modified in some way. All my boxes have 100% handmade embellishments, so it would annoy me if people were allowed to sell just a box with something stuck on…
I think Folksy look at the design element as well as the craft element before disallowing anything. Items that are original designs but made elsewhere are allowed; jewellery that is assembled with some design included is allowed; handmade designs using bought-in materials are allowed - it’s not black and white, there are several grey areas, but admin are the ones who make that decision. Hanging a single bought-in pendant on a bought-in chain doesn’t require any design or craft skills, so is not generally allowed - it would be a bit like me buying a cushion cover, putting a bought-in cushion pad inside it and selling it as handmade!
The quote is from Folksy’s rules, so if you have a query about it then they admin are the people to ask. I think it’s pretty clear, though, that they’re saying simple assembly jewellery, a bought in charm on a bought in chain for example, does not class as hand crafted so far as selling on this site is concerned.
Thank you for your replies, it has helped. I do not want to break rules and know that it a subject that crops up often Thank you again for taking the time to comment. Rachel