To be fed up of people trying to hawk their 'craft' wares

[Goldenhandshake]

Over the last couple of years there seems to have been phases of craft/homemade items being hawked by loads of people, en masse, particularly over facebook.

There have been cards, cupcakes, personalised converse trainers and now hair bows seems to be the latest.

AIBU to be sick of the sodding 'Please like my FB selling page' requests, stalls popping up at DD's dance class, school fetes etc and then having people I know almost guilt tripping you into buying because you know them?

I know I don't have to buy anything, and I mostly don't, but have felt obliged to a couple of times. and have mainly been left disappointed

nope it wasn't me, but I'm glad you liked it. Last year at our work secret santa I got a novelty christmas mug that played christmas songs!

breatheslowly Wouldn't it be brilliant if it were that way - unfortunately I see a huge demand for a load of one direction crap from Dealz/Poundland shoved in a basket, surrounded by sweets and stuck in a basket with "I LOVE HARRY" on a bit of card attached to it.

As long as people buy the baskets of shit, proper crafty people don't stand a chance.

I had a stall at an Indoor Market last Winter - not a craft one, a junk one, house clearout - and I had a small 5x7 framed cross stitched picture of Johnny Depp marked as a fiver. A FIVER. The frame alone cost me 3.99, the picture took a whole evening. I had one man offer me 3 quid, I said no, he said 3.50, I said no, he said he wasn't going any higher, I told him to fuck off, he went away, came back, offered me the fiver, I told him I didn't want my work in the hands of someone who didn't appreciate it and that he couldn't have it now even if he offered me fifty quid.

Completely dramatic and mad-bohemian-esque but he got on my tits big time.

On the other hand, I had a lovely old lady who bought a card and gave me a fiver even though I had them marked 2.50, she said her daughter had done stitchwork and she understood how long it took. She was lovely. People genuinely havnen't a CLUE how much work goes into something. I have a stocking that I did for my son years ago, my SIL came in one evening and went "Oh I must get you to do a few of them for presents for the neighbours kids" - Ah grand, they only take a month each. EH, NO.

Oh dear, that doesn't sound a brilliant gift lafata.

I did know it wasn't you, just wanted to reassure you I'm sure it isn't a blanket judgement against homemade jewellery and lots of it is lovely.

I'm in a network group with several other local craftspeople, where we share business tips (like how to properly word T&Cs so you don't get shafted by customers, or how to use social media as an effective business tool).
If "proper" crafters work together, we can raise public expectations of the quality of workmanship, thus improving the lot of crafters and customers alike.

I've always done knitting/cross-stitch etc but only for friends and family as gifts. Last year I made a big box of things for ds's school Christmas Fair and they were snapped up straight away so I'm pretty sure I'm on the right track with things people might want to buy. Of course now I've got people saying "oh you should get a stall and make some money". Trouble is, as others have said, I can't see people paying enough to cover the materials and effort involved, let alone a profit. I don't even have a clue what the going rate is for such things.

There is a village hall near me that has been advertising craft fairs on the second saturday of each month but I keep forgetting to go and case the joint check it out. Maybe this week I will remember to pop along and have a look, see the prices and whether anyone is actually managing to sell anything.
Only thing is, I hate it when you start browsing and then realise with horror that it is indeed all tat and you have to pretend to look interested for a decent length of time to avoid causing offence to the stallholder and suggest that you might possibly come back for a certain item when you've looked round the other stalls... then you get out of the door as soon as you can and don't look back!

InSpace If it's tat it's still tat if it's sold in Jophn Lewis or at a craft fair imo Though it's still a good point, there are many who won't buy from crafters but will buy similar things from places like JL

Madmammy - sorry to hear that, it sounds really frustrating.

I have a few friends who do craft/homemade stuff. One does great toiletries and has a proper business. I hope it works out for her as she has put a huge amount of effort in and is producing great quality products at appropriate prices. Another wasn't able to do enough to make it worth continuing, but did lovely paintings for DD's room and I felt didn't charge enough for them (which I did say to her and offer more). I've been told many times that my cakes are so go that I am in the wrong job. But I have thought through what it would take to make a career as a baker and it looks way too hard and low margin.

I guess that most people don't think sufficiently about genuine craft items. I am still amazed that anyone would buy some of the things linked to on this thread which have required next to no effort.

Sunshine I wasn't offended, just absolutely shocked so I uttered something like "really sorry but that would even cover the batting"!.

Likewise for my children tabards (lovingly handmade with handpicked fabric and then laminated by little old me). I was selling them £17 and someone was in the process of buying then I told her the price and she said I didn't realise it was so expensive. So I said "ok how much did you have in mind" she said £5!! the laminating sheet itself cost around £9. That nearly made me give up!

Lafata there's a big difference between a bracelet you've specifically made for a friend, and a load of bracelets made from a bunch of wholesale beads at minimum price, IMO, I'm sure your gifts are appreciated! I would love that as a gift, but wouldn't buy them (since I would rather make one myself)

I am finally getting back into crafty stuff now after years of zero confidence, I'd love to try selling (especially as I am now too unwell to work FT) but there's no way I'm good enough and like others have said I'm too much of a perfectionist to risk selling something I wasn't totally happy with. Also having seen some ridiculously picky chancers on eBay I am too scared to try TBH in case I get a dodgy buyer.

So I'm just going to try my hand at various things for fun and only make things for my DCs who are easily delighted :o (I would love to make things for my DSCs but I have a feeling their mum would bin them still haven't forgiven her for ripping out an inscription of a book I sent for DSS' birthday and pretending she'd bought it herself :(

Sorry went a bit off topic there!

fuzzpig I am not sure ebay is the right platform for craft. It does have a wide audience but buyers tend to want something cheap (which is kind of the opposite of handmade items which generally aren't).

My mum is a very talented seamstress, she started her own Facebook business a couple of years ago selling bespoke oilcloth bags. She is now so busy I hardly see her, particularly in the run up to Christmas and yes she does pay tax.

I think yab a bit u as I can't begrudge anyone trying to earn a living. If there is anything on Facebook you don't like just hide it.

Can I just give some advice to anyone who is selling their wares online. Set up a website - it doesn't have to cost much, if you are a bit techy you can do it yourself. Check out Wordpress blogging platform www.wordpress.org - you can integrate payment system.

I would rarely buy from someone who only had a FB page, because you can't see their products really well, it is so frustrating searching through photos to find the right product.

Happy to give some advice on setting up a blog if you need it - or pop over to the Bloggers' Network on MN to ask for help

I think that people sell tat because unfortunately there are a lot of people out there who do not know the difference between tat and quality stuff or they don't care and just want something cheap.

I sew, knit, make lots of other stuff with premium materials, painstakingly.

Most people have absolutely no idea what the materials alone would cost, let alone how much time goes into making these items.

I was recently knitting a very intricate jumper for my daughter in a merino/silk mix. Another mother asked me if I could make a similar one for her daughter and how much it would cost. I told her the material would be £50 and it would take me 1 week as it is a very complicated pattern, but I would do it for £85 (so £35 for about 45-50 hours work). She was horrified. She told me no way she would spend that much on a handmade jumper. You do knit for fun, don't you, I am willing to buy one from you for £50. Suffice to say, this was not a deal. However, she happily spends £180 on a pair of boots for her dd. Many people just don't have a clue.

The thing is that it doesnt matter to me that this or that item took hours and hours to make. If I can buy a generic one from the shops for £20 or a homemade individual one for £65 then I am going to think long and hard about how much the 'uniqueness' matters to me - especially if there are dozens of near identical individual homemade ones for sale.

Take the emotion out of it and it is a business. Here's my product, here's my price. If you cant sell the item for a price you want then the business model doesnt work. That isnt the customer being stupid it is simply the customer knowing how much they want to spend.

True, so don't be surprised you see a lot of cheap tat, because that is what most people actually want.

I dont disagree, many people do want cheap tat. They think that homemade will be cheaper and are surprised to find that it isnt. However they have a budget.

I am not sure I agree with that, Worry.

I would be willing to pay more for a handmade quilt, if I knew it was made here in UK and not in a sweatshop in India.

What gets my goat is the companies who sell handmade items for £££££ when they have been made by poor women earning peanuts in third world countries.

I have a website as well as selling at craft fairs / markets. I also advertise through Facebook / twitter etc.
I never, ever harass my friends, in fact there are probably a number of friends that still don't know that I do this. I had a highly successful retail / optical career prior to my son being born with a genetic condition. This does allow me to go to countless appointments & care for him whilst allowing some kind of normal life. I just love doing good craft fairs & thoroughly enjoy my fortnightly stint on a local market.

As others have said the time that goes in to making the products has to be accounted for in the price. When I very first started I did turn my nose up at some of the 'rubbish' others were selling but it does sell so good luck to them. I just choose not to buy it. On the other hand I've bought some beautiful gifts too this Christmas from very talented people.

My website was mentioned on here (positively thank God!) by another mnetter on a Christmas thread a couple of weeks ago & it was a moment of pure joy! Particularly as I make items that are often criticised on mumsnet.

Big hello to MmeLindor, I've been shockingly bad with my blog etc, it will be my New Years resolution.

Well worry, it sort of hammers home the point, when you realise you've gotten use to paying so little...eveN mass production, marketing costs etc aside, the people making it must really be working close to nothing. And it's not a hobby for them. I think we are just use to globalisation and cheap labour.

The other advantage from ordering from a good crafter is that you can order exactly what you are after.

DS2's SN mean that he gets incredibly cold at night. I've just ordered from a local crafter a handmade fleece backed weighted quilt with a spitfire embroidered on. He will love it. I've paid what seems like a lot of money but I know the effort that will have gone in to it.

I'm not keen on sweet trees though I think they look good. They are selling like crazy at every event I've been to recently.

What pisses me off most about mumpreneurs hawking homemade shabby chic is the stereotype they create. It always comes back to 1950s housewife crafts...from women with degrees and previously successful careers. I completely get the difficulty with finding work after children, but to fall back on baking, sewing and flower arranging rather than, I don't know...PC repairs and gardening services. Or even selling less feminine tat such as guitar plectrums or pen knives! Why do they have yo make frippery?

I dont think the ethics are anything like clear cut.

This type of work seems to exist in a kind of grey area. Much of it is unregulated. How many of the home cup cake makers have hygiene certificates? How many of the sewing machines/glue guns/knitting machines have been checked by a Portable Appliance tester? How many of the semi-business crafters get family involved? Who checks the hours they work or the pay they receive? Who checks the working conditions, the lighting, the fire exits, the smoke alarms? Who checks that the products are safe to use and fit for purpose?

But it doesnt matter because these are artisans. It's a cottage industry so that's all right then. Somehow it is all okay because it is so middle-class. It's nice.