that is the reason I have to keep my prices so low…mine are genuine but competng with AI is getting more and more difficult.
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I’m sorry for you all, this is why I really believe Folksy needs to pull their finger out and vet the shops/markers/artists. It’s SO easy to tell if someone is an artist or a maker first of all, and then it’s also fairly easy to tell if makers are using AI imagery or genuine patterns/art made by real people. But a proper vetting system would figure all this out anyway; the right questions should be asked.
I think that (with all due respect) there are a lot of older generations who aren’t even aware that the free stock imagery they’re using is AI. They need to be informed so they themselves can vet their own assets.
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It’s sad that true artists like yourself have to do this Brenda, makes me wonder what everything will be like another 5 years from now.
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There are some advantages of AI in helping to keep this site safe from things for sale which are not allowed on here, I will refer to those things as ‘illegal’. Just give Chatgpt an image, a link to the listing and it will pretty quickly be able to tell you whether it is genuine handmade British free of AI / copyright.. Whether Folksy then choose to remove said ‘illegal’ listings is another matter of course.
I will probably have admitted to retirement by then…lol Debbt @Bearlescent
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I’m hoping I will have as well, planning on working until 67, five years to go or perhaps until I reach 1000 artist bears, just under 250 to go lol. I have so far Made over 750 bears plus all the smaller items in my shop and those already sold and I think around 60 dolls, numerous restorations and kits. Retirement is looking very favourable lol.
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I don’t mind reporting if I spot something, and things I have reported have been taken down. I recently contacted admin to report a shop - it was a query about the location of the seller rather than AI or copyright, but same principle. I gave relevent links - it didn’t take me long.
The shop is still up, so I contacted admin for an update. I know they can’t give details, so I just asked if it was still being reviewed or if it had been checked and passed. I don’t normally ask for an update, but I wanted to know if I was interpreting the “allowed” rules correctly - as I don’t want to report unfairly.
They confirmed they are still investigating, and it isn’t a quick process as they need confirm what I said, and in many cases they have to contact the seller to clarify the situation. Quite rightly, we wouldn’t like our shops closed or items removed without a chance to explain or provide evidence that we are complying with the rules - we all know of another site that does that, with very little recource to appeal.
Yes I agree that all shops should be vetted before they are allowed to set up, and I’d even go a step further and say all existing shops should checked on a regular basis as well.
I’m up for a signed declaration when setting up a shop, as well as annual updates, that all products are made in UK, don’t use AI - both Folksy rules, and that they comply with relevant safety regs (see below) as well the product tracability regulations - both legal requirements. Of course, that can also be done through the listing form, but a signed declaration would do even more to deter people who are deliberately flounting the rules as well as educate those that are still unaware.
Of course it’s Folksy’s site, and they make decisions on how to run/manage the site. We can suggest ideas, but if they are not implemented it’s up to us whether we stay and accept how it works.
That said, there may be changes in the future on product testing, as the UK government is looking at implementing new laws to hold online marketplaces legally accountable for the safety of products listed on their platforms.
While some people may be aware that there are specific safety regulations and specific tests/safety marks such as UKCA/CE etc for some products (toys, candles, cosmetics, food etc) - many others are probably still unaware that every single thing made with the purpose of being sold in the UK must be risk assessed against the UK version of the General Product Safety Regulations, and tested as necessary. I’m sure we all make sure our products are as safe as possible when we make them, but how many of us could stand up in a court and prove we had done a robust risk assessment and undertaken resonable tests, if someone came to harm using one of them.
If the new law is implemented, platforms will also be liable, they will be doing everything they can to ensure unsafe products aren’t listed. Different platforms will adopt different approaches - I suspect all will require the seller to upload documents or declarations before they can physically list high risk items, but how the rest is managed will probably depend on the size/scale of the platform. Bigger ones like Esy or eBy will automate everything with bots, smaller ones with less resources will have to rely more on on manual screening/review.
Hopefully, whatever process Folksy put in place for this new safety law, could be expanded to cover other things like copyright or AI.
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Keep going, I will be 80 in December… Debby @Bearlescent
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I very much hope there will still be a place for art made by humans. I have this week managed to make the Folksy best sellers list for the first time in a good while, but the lucrative sales are being directed from my own website. That just feels like another reason to add a shopping cart and keep the sale in-house, commission free with no risk of buyers being distracted by other people’s AI rubbish.
I do a lot of physical markets these days and people have been telling me they are less likely to look for art online now because of the AI and mass produced stuff they have to go through to get to the genuine stuff.
I know a lot of artists and crafters who are now earning considerably more from in person selling than they do online.
Against this backdrop, Folksy really can’t afford to not do a spot of vetting.
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The review of the standards is proposed but i see nothing as yet announced on the scale you are suggesting. Just a working consulation at the moment.
A well written summary, thank you for sharing Sharon, @TheOldButton.
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Hi Chris,
How things are changing and not for the best.
There are of course many people who want real art and as you said in person events and galleries will become the places to showcase and sell artists work and online selling may see a decline.
I’m pleased your lovely work is keeping you busy and it’s good to hear in person events and your website are generating sales, I completely agree if you are going to have a website you might as well have a shopping cart which saves paying fees, at the end of the day we work to earn a wage.
I think if Folksy doesn’t start checking shops and it continues to decline with all of the issues raised in this topic it will lose many of its long standing artists and makers which is a shame as it is a lovely platform to be on. I think more artists will go down the website route rather than selling on a platform, I also think at that stage a website will look far more professional.
Keep up the great work Chris.
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Yes Joy, they are still at consultation stage - the wheels of government roll slowly 
- but there still appears to be appetite to implement.
Exactly what it will be, we will need to wait and see, but as the current gov looks minded to have more links with Europe, I suspect it will be something that meshes easier with EU safety regulations - which we know are far more prescriptive.
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Thank you Debby. I completely agree that Folksy is a lovely platform to be on, so it’s a shame that its hand made credentials can feel shaky at times.
Good luck with your website endeavours too. Your bears deserve the best possible showcase.
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Pretty sure I will be retired if not dead by the time anyone manages to get anything workable through… they are too 
busy not stopping boats and not building houses at the moment fortunately to bother their little heads with new ways of wrecking businesses.
While we are discussing what is and what is not allowed what is the consensus of opinion on this please as British Handmade. The word ‘manufacture’ to me is totally anti handmade.
“manufactured using our own 3D printing equipment in the UK.”
Hi everyone,
Off the back of some of the frustrations and questions raised in this thread, we felt it would be useful to share a bit more information about how the product reporting process works at Folksy, including what happens when something is reported and how our team also audits and reviews products across the site ourselves.
We’ve put together a new article explaining the process in more detail, including what happens after a report is submitted, why some investigations can take longer than others, and why we take a human-led approach rather than automatically removing products based on reports or flags.
You can read it here: Reporting a Product: What Happens When You Report an Item?
We hope this helps answer some of the questions that have come up in this discussion. And if there’s anything you’re still unsure about, or you have a specific question or concern about how we handle reports, please email our Support team at support@folksy.co.uk and we’ll be happy to help.
Thanks to everyone who has taken the time to raise their concerns and share their thoughts.
The Folksy team 
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An interesting read, thank you for putting it together. As a newer seller on Folksy it is useful to know this information.
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Thank you.
Thank you for taking the time to give us all the info in one easy to understand article. Much appreciated.
Lou x
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