To be pissed off with friend who buys stuff cheap and sells it as home made?

[VIX1980]

Not the biggest of worries ever but it has been pissing me off for a while now

Friend works full time 4 days a week, spends most of that time in work on ebay buying very cheap things like purses, bags, jewellery etc from china or thailand. She will then do a craft fair once every few months claiming to have hand made everything, i went to 1 recently and she had presented everything beautifully and had lots of people stop to admire the stall, when 1 enquired as to how she made a certain thing she just said rather rudely well i dont want to tell people or everyone would be making them and id be out of business. then gave me a look as if to say how dare she ask me that. Its not really a business for her, more a hobby.

Im a dressmaker and have had my own business for the past 4 years, I think its the fact that while i and others who make things from scratch put so much time and effort into it that i get wound up that she can come along buy a load of stuff and sell it all, i admire her for having the balls to go out there and do it, but i do wish if she was selling hand made products she'd at least have a go at making something. I see crafty people who have put time and effort into pieces and you can tell they know what theyre talking about if you ask a question, whereas my friend gets really flustered, changes the subject than slags them off for daring to ask about something. To be honest she hardly sells anything as most of the stuff looks really cheap which it is.

her latest idea is to buy a load of fabric, give it to me so ill make however many dresses i can with it, then shell pay me £10 per dress and probably go off and sell them for 8 time that. i laughed when she first mentioned it, but ive seen her on facebook promising items of clothing to people saying they are coming soon, i know she expects me to do them for her but shes got no chance. If she wants to pretend she makes things well she can have a go cant she, or should i just be a mate and help her out, dont really want to and i dont really see why i should apart from not to cause an arguement.

[wibblyjelly]

I'd make the dress, then sell them myself! Just say no to her, she is being beyond cheeky

[DwellsUndertheSink]

teach her how to sew! Then she can do it herself.

[NeoMaxiZoomDweebie]

Well make your mind up! She gets "lots of admiring glances" or "She hardly sells anything as it all looks cheap"

On the one hand you say she presents it all beautifully and people stop...and on the other, she doesn't do well at it at all.

So why are you bothered?? If she was shifting tonnes of them then fair enough but she's not. You just sound jealous.

[MorganMummy]

YANBU - surely if she actuall says they're made by her this is false advertising? (I know nothing about the law and can imagine that this is very hard to prove or do anything about unless you're doing major print/tv ads etc). The people buying it are being ripped off. Frankly, I'd be tempted to tell the organisers of the fair she sells at as I am sure they wouldn't want to get in trouble for it themselves.

I'm really cross as I have done a dressmaking course and do a bit of sewing and know exactly how much work goes into what you do. However good you are, I'm imagining a dress would take you at least two hours? So are you really willing to work for her for £5 an hour?! She is not a friend if she's asking you to do this and I would never do this for a friend or ask someone to do something like this for me. Shame on her. Just say no!

[Bearbehind]

Reply to the Facebook people who are waiting for things saying it would be really nice if you, as the maker, could discuss the item with them to make sure it's just what they want

[fuzzypicklehead]

Of course you shouldn't do it to help her out! If you want to make dresses, do it for yourself and take all the profit instead of handing the dosh to someone who is brazenly chancing her arm.

Of course she'll find it difficult to sell anything if she has to keep her methods secret and put off anyone who asks a question-- Serves her right for taking advantage of the poor people who actually made the stuff.

[ViviPru]

YANBU.

But punters aren't stupid. If it's cheap tat from the far east, the majority will not be fooled. People stop and admire stalls to be polite, but I suspect she's probably not setting the world alight with her profit margin. And if she's being evasive and rude brushing off questions, she'll soon alienate her potential customers. People like this end up tripping themselves up. I'd be surprised if this enterprise is successful and she's still doing it this time next year.

Whatever you do, don't make those garments. And if she does ask you to, then work out how many hours it will take you to make x £15 and tell her that's how much you'll sell them to her for.

[VIX1980]

neo certainly not jealous, of what, the fact she can click buy on ebay? She gets lots of admirors of the way she presents everything, shes really good at that, but not many people buy as the stuff looks really cheap looking which it is.

To be honest i met her on a dressmaking course a few years ago, she told me she had made loads of clothes before and had a market stall selling everything, then a few months later she jokingly told me that shed found a dressmaker who made stuff for her at cost price that she sold on, now i find myself being replaced as this dressmaker and if she wasnt such a good friend in other ways id wonder if she was just using me, however it is i wont be doing anything for her.

[VIX1980]

forgot to say she left the course half way through so still cant sew! i have shown her little bits in the past like hems, zips etc but thats where i draw the line otherwise id be loosing money myself which i dont think she can see at all.

bearbehind i love that idea, i dont think im cheeky enough though to do it

[NayFindus]

YANBU and unless you stand your ground, tell her straight 'no, I'm way too busy for that' you will be on the receiving end of a serious using methinks. I think you hit it on the head when you said she's just being friendly to use you.

[Justforlaughs]

Alternatively, you could make the items for her but "accidentely" sew up the sleeves/ trouser legs and make other silly mistakes

[thebody]

I dont t think you could class either of you as a friend to the other to be honest.