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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

AIBU or have I just been extremely naive?

183 replies

ClittyClittyGangBang · 07/07/2014 22:57

I have NC'd for this, think I might get flamed.

I sell handmade crafts and soaps, vintage bits and pieces and the odd piece of retro furniture. There are some shabby chic in there as well. I also sell chalk paint. At the moment I am based out of my garage and my kitchen and had been looking at a property for a while.

Moving into a shop will also mean my sister can have an outlet for her dressmaking and haberdashery bits that she sells.

Anyhow, a retail shop close to us became vacant months ago but no one was interested as it had been a really dodgy takeaway. We viewed and worked out that we could afford the rent between the two of us. The only problem was the refitting of the shop, so I approached a builder who I know personally for a quote for a strip out of the kitchen and counter and obligatory fish tank.

Anyhow, he was quite taken up with what we wanted to do. He listened to what we wanted and then gave us a quote which was a little higher than we had expected. We then approached the letting agent, imagine our surprise from being the only person interested to the shop had suddenly been rented out earlier that day. A change of usage notice was posted on the door, so I guessed it was going to be a shop of some kind.

Roll on a few months, and guess who is starting up a business in there selling all of the above? The builder's wife. Guess what she is selling? Exactly the same stock as we were going to have, she is on FB posting about all of her "vintage stock". Guess how they have done the decor? Exactly to our specification.

Am I right to be devastated or AIBU and this is just how people do "business"?

OP posts:
BomChickaMeowMeow · 08/07/2014 09:28

Oops sorry, just saw your last update.

Delphiniumsblue · 08/07/2014 09:32

The whole thing has taught me a huge, huge life lesson. Not a pleasant one, but then life lessons rarely are.

Well done for at least making them think.
It is a terrible thing to do.
I have a feeling she jumped in too soon and it will fail.

annielouise · 08/07/2014 09:43

There's no such thing as karma. If anything bad happens to their business it's not because there's some divine being up in the sky saying you stole Clitty's ideas so you must be punished.

I'd definitely be creating a bit of bad "karma" for them on my own and sticking the boot in wherever possible. Can't you put up on your FB page something along the lines business great despite some desperate and sad people stealing my ideas. I really hope they crash and lose money on it. I also think you might have had a lucky escape. What aresholes they are. Unbelievable people can do that in such a bare faced way.

upyourninja · 08/07/2014 09:49

Facebook is not the place to air dirty laundry (in response to the pp). It is counterproductive and makes people look impulsive and pathetic.

OP has done well to protect her intellectual property and has probably had a near miss with a bad investment.

If you have an online business OP, now is the time to assert proactively control over your designs. Start adding tag lines to your web page saying that the contents are original designs of your own creation. Beware cheap imitations, that sort of thing.

annielouise · 08/07/2014 09:54

I don't think it looks impulsive (she doesn't have to do it straight away) or pathetic. She's not naming them, just commenting - people can then draw their own conclusions. Far too big a thing to do absolutely nothing.

LumieresForMe · 08/07/2014 10:02

You mentioned the fact that they had contacted other businesses doing similar things. I would contact them on time ground of good relationships and let them know what is going on.
If you have the details of customers, let them know too. It would be a shame they round go to that shop, buy things thinking they are from you when these guys have just living on your hard work!!
You can also put something in FB along the lines of 'Be aware of fake items. There has been a number if issues recently with some unscrupulous people trying to use ideas/photos of products that aren't their own' you get the idea. But you need to do it before that shop opens so it looks 'real' and not vengeance iyswim.

LumieresForMe · 08/07/2014 10:05

And of course you can still put pictures of old work on FB with the mention 'original design', 'own creation', 'made to order' etc to insist on the fact that 1- they are yours and 2- you can't get one like this anywhere else!

TooSpotty · 08/07/2014 10:08

I think dignity online is important. The moral high ground is a very comfortable place, and far easier to maintain without FB involvement. I am furious on your behalf though. I would be tempted to leave a voicemail simply stating you are consulting a lawyer, even if you're not.

CroydonFacelift · 08/07/2014 10:09

Dont let it put you off. This is par for the course with business, unfortunately.

Google the brand Mixed Chicks. They found a niche for mixed race hair products in the US and made a killing on it. Another company ripped off their products - almost identical branding etc - but undercut them massively and got their cheaper product in to WalMart and other big retailers. Some very interesting articles online about how they dealt with it (sued, at great expense and heartache) and how, in retrospect, they wished they had dealt with it (continued to develop their brand, repositioned it as a luxury brand, found better marketing strategies etc).

Dont get mad - get even.

annielouise · 08/07/2014 10:10

Lumiere's ideas are good.

AramintaDeWinter · 08/07/2014 10:11

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

AngelinaLaide · 08/07/2014 10:16

Is she actually copying your designs? Because that's illegal.

newsecretidentity · 08/07/2014 10:16

This kind of thing happens all the time in the crafting trade (i.e. stealing designs and photos) usually by newbies who think they can get away with it. A simple cease and desist letter should be enough to ensure that they don't use your photos or attempt to replicate your designs and pass them off as their own.

AramintaDeWinter · 08/07/2014 10:17

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

LongTimeLurking · 08/07/2014 10:27

YANBU to be upset. However I think they have done you a favour in the long run.

LongTimeLurking · 08/07/2014 10:28

AramintaDeWinter
YABU to have chosen such a horrible user name.

ugh, you are not wrong there!

minibmw2010 · 08/07/2014 10:33

Keep with what you are doing, keep doing your furniture and painting. Clearly you are good at it and have done some lovely stuff if they're imitating you, however the mistake they're making is it doesn't matter if they use your pictures, etc. they can't use your talent (if that makes sense?). She is probably rubbish at restoring, etc. so she can post all your pictures if she likes, if she can't reproduce any of the actual crafts she's screwed and it won't take people long to realise this. No wonder she's offering space for others to sell their stock ....

maudpringles · 08/07/2014 10:36

I dont wish to sound harsh but you havent lost 50% of your business with your sister as you werent up and running yet.
Running a business from premises costs a great deal more than an online one anyway.

ohdearitshappeningtome · 08/07/2014 10:38

Perhaps you should now look at having your designs patented or copyright to you?

HayDayQueen · 08/07/2014 10:38

She's copying everything you do. She doesn't actually have the creativity to run this business properly. All she can do is copy others. To run a business based on craft you have to continually come up with new ideas, and do them well, and she won't be able to.

If you weren't able to run the shop on your own, then she won't be able to run the shop on her own either.

Give it 6 months and she will be running at a loss, and still be up for the costs of the lease.

karma......

HaroldLloyd · 08/07/2014 10:41

Totally understand you being upset, it does sound like the builder thought you had a good idea and pinched it.

Maybe see how their business goes as a tester without you actually having to pay a penny, and carry on doing what you are doing for now.

Keep an eye on it and if it's a roaring success see it as market research, you will find somewhere else eventually.

Make sure they are not continually pinching your ideas though! Cheeky buggers.

minibmw2010 · 08/07/2014 10:45

Oh and block her on FB so she can't use your pictures anymore !!!

magoria · 08/07/2014 11:09

And laugh when her H who has lost money doing this at cost or for free when he could have charged you full rate.

eddielizzard · 08/07/2014 11:24

you know what? you're the one with the creativity and ideas. she has to copy other people. if she keeps stealing other's ideas sooner or later it will catch up with her.

you are the winner here, morally and creatively.

BitOutOfPractice · 08/07/2014 11:37

Why is she wrong to be devastated? Not only is this potentially threatening the OP's livelihood, it's also a real kick in the teeth for her faith in human nature.

op what a total nightmare!

I think it would be well worth spending £75 on a solicitors cease and desist letter mentioning passing off in it. I hope you have screen shots of them using your photos.

Good luck in your business venture.