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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To be sick of people on FB selling old shite in the name of handcrafted "gifts"

215 replies

MrsCantSayAnything · 27/10/2012 23:01

Is it just me or is everyone trying to become the next Cath bloody Kidston or Martha Stewart?

MULTIPLE people on my FB seem to be flogging their old tat that they've knocked up whilst on maternity leave or during their lunch breaks!

One friend is selling "Fabulous teacup gift sets" which consist of a charity shop teacup and saucer, filled with Ferero Rocher and wrapped in clear plastic for a tenner!

Another does "Adorable Baby hair bands for your little princess" consisting of a fabric flower tacked onto a pound-shop hairband....6 quid thank you very much!

I've seen multiple badly painted wooden letters (un-sanded) with little bows and shit stuck on "£3 per letter" if you please.

Like people can't make this stuff themselves!?

Really? I'm ALL for selling crafts but have these people no shame? Or no judgement? Or am I a caaah?

OP posts:
VinegarTits · 29/10/2012 13:48

blimey what a nasty thread, if you dont like what your frineds are selling dont buy it, you can stop their posts from appearing in your news feed and you only see their business pages if you 'like' them

i make and sell driftwood art on FB, hopefully my friends are a bit nicer than you op

MrsReiver · 29/10/2012 14:36

VinegarTits - did you see the message above where the OP said "I am not denigrating people who make lovely things but people who make utter crap and then flog it all over facebook with no shame?"

The thread isn't about people who have talent, and put time and effort into producing lovely items - I really enjoy seeing their posts on facebook. What I am tired of is people who grab a handful of beads, make a crappy (and unsafe) "dummy keeper" then charge folk a fiver for it!

Campari · 29/10/2012 14:47

Its wall to wall cupcakes these days. You can't move for them!

Yes i know I dont have to buy them but I wish people would show a bit of originality....what about a life size polarbear made out of chocolate shortcake NOM NOM NOM!!!!!

Original poster
MrsCantSayAnything · 29/10/2012 14:48

That's right MrsReiver I just get annoyed at the crud on sale. I respect real artists though...those who spend time on their creations and who create things which are well crafted and original.

OP posts:
SpectralMissSpooky · 29/10/2012 15:02

MrsR and MrsC have it right. It's the absolute crap that winds me up. There are one or two people who make stunning bits, it's the rest of the detritus that makes me get happy with the mouse and go on a deleting frenzy.

VinegarTits · 29/10/2012 15:05

but some people might think my art is a piece of crud, i just hope none of my fb friends are posting on some forum about the moldy old pieces of washed up wood i pass off as 'art' (hopefully not! Grin)

its a matter of opinion and if people want to buy the stuff you call crud let them, its not harming you, just filter them from your news feeds

Waitingforastartofall · 29/10/2012 15:20

My neighbour started to make personalised dummies and bibs with dimantes ect, in the end i bought one she badgered me that much ( whole other thread) but they werent safe and the gems came lose. We keep it in DNs memory box so when he is old he can see the tat i have bought for him over the years. I am a pushover. but i make things from home, dont sell them as they are mostly for family . People like to see my photos or so they say. Hope you guys dont know me and arent slagging me off :( haha

AndDIEMacDuff · 29/10/2012 15:30

One person's trash is another's treasure.

I do some crafting and sell it, but I don't advertise it as the reactions on this thread are exactly what I fear people might be saying behind my back. I get business via word of mouth. If I advertised more I might get more business, but I don't want people to think I sell a really shitty product and am pushy about it.

MrsReiver · 29/10/2012 15:36

its a matter of opinion and if people want to buy the stuff you call crud let them, its not harming you

No, but some of the shite I've seen may end up hurting someone else.

Tizwozliz · 29/10/2012 15:55

Threads like these can always make you doubt yourself as one person's tat is another person's treasure. I don't generally sell anything i make but I do give things as gifts including sock animals which apparently anyone who wanted one would make themselves. You start to think maybe friends and family think you're foisting rubbish on them rather than a gift.

a gift i made

Kennyp · 29/10/2012 15:57

i am pmsl ... if you is a cahhhhhhh then i am one tooooo. it seems like "tit for tat" has turned into "tat for tat" on FB.

having said that, I would rather a tat for tat for a fiver post than a "i am so popular and drunk all the time mwah ha ha are you as popular as me?" type post.

a friend of mine is super talented knitting stuff but the photos she puts on face book, you wouldn't pay £3 at a car boot sale, let alone the £20 she is charging.

keep on moooing ;)

theowlworrier · 29/10/2012 18:48

Oh lord. A friend of mine has started doing this. Fine, if you have a talent, but hers is all oddly lumpen fimo crap, and really awful painted signs with a bit of "vintage" styling. I love me the odd bit of shabby chic, but these are painful. Still, she is a friend and I have dutifully liked her page. I can't believe that a grown woman sits and makes the stuff then thinks you know what, i bet people would pay actual money for this...

MrsReiver · 29/10/2012 18:57

having said that, I would rather a tat for tat for a fiver post than a "i am so popular and drunk all the time mwah ha ha are you as popular as me?" type post.

Fair point!

GhostShip · 29/10/2012 19:07

This reply has been deleted

Message deleted by Mumsnet for breaking our Talk Guidelines. Replies may also be deleted.

expatinscotland · 29/10/2012 19:12

I just bought some lovely hair baubles for DD2, and tonight I'll look over those bags of Gold Ship's. I think they're fab. There's a friend of a friends who is making them, too, but GoldShip's look nicer Wink.

I don't really care if other people think nasty thoughts about what I buy, I buy them for DD2 because I know she will like them.

Waitingforastartofall · 29/10/2012 19:13

I want to see the bags! all this crafty is putting my christmas decs to shame. pfft i love homemade stuff. So long as its not dangerous dodies im happy as larry

CuriosityKilledTheCrap · 29/10/2012 19:18

what? £3.50? Shock

Waitingforastartofall · 29/10/2012 19:21

Lol i agree i wouldnt be paying 3.50 for something i could do myself cheaper and nicer.

AndDIEMacDuff · 29/10/2012 19:27

That seems a pretty reasonable price to me actually.

ABatInBunkFive · 29/10/2012 19:46

I need to see the bags mean MN getting rid, if anyone would be so kind as to pm me a link.

There is a whole host of stuff on FB that couldn't possibly be seen as anything other than shit, for the most part the people attempting to sell the shit also know this but there is also a whole host of fabulous stuff bit like the old fashioned craft fairs i used to love going to.

As long as it isn't dangerous i don't mind, i do take exception when it clearly is dangerous and wouldn't hesitate to report anyone who was cutting corners.

DillyTante · 29/10/2012 19:49

So do it, but £3.50 is a fair price for having someone do it for you. If she charged cost price she wouldn't make any money. I think some people don't understand the effort & cost that goes into making something. We are so used to cheap imported crap that real crafters are undervalued.

Of course some of it is tat but that's the joy of a market economy, if people don't like it they won't buy it.

CuriosityKilledTheCrap · 29/10/2012 19:55

Thing is though - if you're selling good stuff, at a good price then don't you get irritated that others aren't as scrupulous?

Surely overpriced tat tars everyone with the same brush? The beautiful one of a kind talent that's out there?

You see a cup of crap and it spoils it for all the good'uns.

CuriosityKilledTheCrap · 29/10/2012 19:57

here now this kind of talent is a rare thing... Grin

ABatInBunkFive · 29/10/2012 20:12

I like those bags.

IMO fb tat largely involves very little time or effort in order to churn out maximum doses of shit before people cop on. Wink

aldiwhore · 29/10/2012 20:20

YANBU.

Though there are plenty of talented people who are crafty and who's items are worth the money, mostly it seems that it's people who've jumped on the crafty bandwagon, and have no real skill... their stuff is badly 'crafted' tat that if you're so inclined you can pick up at Home and Bargain (if you're lucky) or the 99p shop without being stung for such shite.

These wannabe crafters are NBU to have a go, but to actually believe they are great is pretty offensive to the real crafter, you know, the one who actually knows the craft.

I don't see what's wrong with hobbies, or, if you have a lot of stock, doing the occassional PTA market and flog your tat cheap, but the sheer amount of these bandwagon jumping, talentless tatters are drowning out many people with real talent, and possibly not so much time on their hands.

Some of these people are my friends, and how can you tell a friend their latest creations are crap and that actually, their pre-school children could do better? Even out of the friends who are good, but not great, I get annoyed with their constant sales pitches and expectations of me to like every fucking picture of every creationg, not to mention share everything. Gah.

Just don't get me started on the cupcake trend... on the other hand, times are hard, jobs are scarce, people will buy this shit, so why the hell shouldn't they faff all day with twee yard sale homecrafted rubbish? One of my friends earns a little more than a run of the mill part time job, and has much more fun. So YABU to think they shouldn't. (I agree though, their ideas of something lovely for the home and mine differ massively!)