Friday, May 31, 2013

Copy Cat - You Dirty Rat - You Stole Your Mama's Baseball Bat

Oh the pitfalls and hazards of selling online. 
 
Maybe it was 2 years ago that I opened my emails and saw a message from a site that I had purchased a couple of supplies from.  They offered a number of ready-made wholesale jewelry but also offered strands of beads and some jewelry making supplies.  Granted they were not on my favorites list as I had once purchased a supply of sterling silver headpins from them.  The headpins were the pretty ones with the fancy ball heads and were 2 inches long and of 20 gauge sterling wire. . . the price made them look like a bargain and would have been if only ....

When I received my order I found many headpins had lost their decorative little ball and I was left with several 2" long pieces of plain silver wire.  Other headpins in the package had the ball placed off center and were therefore useless to me. When I calculated the net price of the usable headpins that were left, I found I could have purchased them more economically through several other sources. After that I shied away from doing business with them.  However on this day, in that email of theirs, I spied the most beautiful string art earrings and it piqued my curiosity . . . I HAD to learn more about them.

I googled Peruvian string earrings and found a plethora of information.  There were tons of "How To" sites, from blogs, to craft-sites, to videos.  My search took me on an interesting journey.  An enlightening journey.

Once upon a time, back in 2006, two young ladies opened an etsy shop and their speciality was making lovey Peruvian String Art Earrings.  They were quite successful and their business was thriving. So it only follows that others began copying them.  Between the spread of crafters making and selling these earrings there was  also all those "how to" sites.  This helped perpetuate an avalanche and soon the Internet had a vast supply of  copy-cats selling their versions of these attractive earrings.

When I visited the original shop a couple of years ago, the shop was hurting, their flow of customers had dried up and they were no longer even offering their gorgeous handmade Peruvian String Art earrings for purchase.  It looked to be a very  sad state of affairs.  However they had determination and began making other ethnic types of beadwork jewelry.  Recently I revisited their shop and was happy to see they are still in business and have bounced back quite nicely.  Though they offer a number of ethnic type of beadwork pieces they also take custom orders for their famous Peruvian String Art Earrings.  And it's good to see that there are still people around who appreciate purchasing handmade rather that buying cheap, mass produced knock-offs. 
Oh and by-the-way, those earrings that I saw in that email ?  The site was selling them for 99 cents a pair . . . and , no I did not buy any from them.  :D  

16 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. So true Patty. Life does come with rules, it's just too bad that some people just don't play by them.

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  2. It's so hard to know when you order from a company online. Some are great, and other...not so much. Always a bummer w/the 'not so much.'

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    1. It is a jungle out there. I wish all selling sites had customer ratings, it's a little thing but it does help somewhat.

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    2. I always read the customer ratings.

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  3. I've always liked the old saying "imitation is the most sincere form of flattery". The problem though, as you've pointed out, is that sometimes the new creator decides to undermine the effectiveness of the first by selling something intricate for a price that no real business owner can compete with. The happy ending that these gals are still making their items and selling is great. Good for them for never giving up!

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    1. I too was happy to see they had refused to be drowned by the flood of copy cats. It takes a strong, determination to slug it out like that and manage to come out on top. Very inspiring really. :)

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  4. Those earrings are so pretty. I love string art! Do they make pendants too?

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    1. If they don't, JoJo, I'm sure they would be happy to make something up.

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  5. It's hopeless for real artists - maybe that's why there are fashions that perish like a squeezed lemon - new collection, imitation for one season, another new collection. However, as long as people are brought up to know the real value of things, there's hope :) And, the real artist is always one step ahead, hopefully. About Internet orders - there are reliable suppliers out there and we'll find them sooner or later :)

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  6. I suppose this is one of many cases of having to take the "good with the bad", as far as internet commerce is concerned. So many great opportunities for the artist... and then the unfortunate side effect of having one's work so easily stolen. I'm glad these ladies have continued to do what they do best... making original art for the discerning client!

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  7. I love the string art earrings! Gorgeous!! What an art too...I remember doing string art in middle school and how challenging that was on a large scale, I can't even begin to imagine on the tiny scale of earrings!!

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  8. oh I had earrings like that and loved them!

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  9. It is so sad and such a sign of our times :(

    I am glad the original people are back thriving again :)

    Have a lovely weekend, cheers, T. :)

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  10. Those earrings are so beautiful, it is so sad how people just want to copy others peoples work and support other handcrafted businesses. I am glad to hear that they were able to rebrand themselves and that they are thriving again.
    Valerie
    Everyday Inspired

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  11. Ive seen earrings like this around EVeRyWHere!!!! People will duplicate your work if they can. It's so hard to claim originally these days.

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