Etsy & other On-line shops that sell crafts.

We sell some of the items we make through Etsy. Etsy purports to sell handmade items.  We had a good look around what it offers for sale. We also had a good look similar sites. We noticed that, particularly in the area of jewellery there were quite a few items that were clearly factory made.  Having been in the jewellery trade for  over thirty years we can recognise the factory made stuff from Thailand. This is annoying as it is difficult enough for craft workers to earn their living without having to compete with mass produced silver junk jewellery pretending to be handcrafted. A tell tale sign is usual the stamp 925 which is put on imported silver jewellery. So please be wary. Have a good look at the item and the story that goes with it. It's usually possible to spot the bogus items if you stop and think.