Reader comment:
Why is the wedding section on Etsy such a disaster? This shop is interesting… Most of the images show up in other places all over the web.
Her listing: http://www.etsy.com/listing/51507117/petals-short-wedding-dress-with
Nordstrom: http://shop.nordstrom.com/S/2920434?origin=category&resultback=1203
her listing:
http://www.etsy.com/listing/51447170/dreams-do-come-true-on-sale-now
which happen to be stock photos.
now perhaps she is the designer of SOME of these gowns, or perhaps she is just using them as samples of what she CAN try to duplicate, but either way she doesn’t say ANYTHING about whether or not she actually made these gowns in the photos.
This one is interesting.
hers: http://www.etsy.com/listing/51947170/beaches
and Bali Art Photo on Flickr : http://www.flickr.com/photos/27156764@N05/3279889641/in/photostream/
Which if she did make this dress wouldn’t you want to say something about how you made this dress specifically for Elise? It is odd that all of the photos Sewdelicious has are the only ones provided on any of the websites. She doesn’t appear to have any “extra” photos.
Also suspect- her shop policies. Re-stocking fees? and the bit about additional alterations? It all just sounds a little bit off.
I compared the first dress and the dress on the Nordstrom site and hers looks like the flower forms on the bottom got a bit smushed from the shipping box…lol.
Also she says it zips up the back, but it has a side zipper. The photograph of the back verifies that, and I would have noticed even if I hadn’t read the description of the Nordstrom dress which, by the way is $200 less!
http://www.etsy.com/listing/51947170/beaches
This knee length dress is beautifully simplistic!
Hahahahaha, what a dumbass.
Or, in etsy speak, a dumbfantastic.
“From cutting out images in magazines, to sketching and putting it all together to create that magical end result”. She must be some wizard, just can’t come up with her own designs, or pictures. Cutting out images, indeed.
hmmm. Brides are such easy prey.
Why, don’t all Etsy sellers have access to professional models and exotic scenes for their photos????
I really like this part!
Photos are a privilege and are not required. We decide on a case-by-case basis which dress(s) to take photos of and upload. This can be a very lengthy process and therefore is no longer standard practice for each and every dress.
Which means “we can’t photograph stuff we don’t have in stock and didn’t make”.
Someone should go on these websites like theknot.com and let these brides know that they run the risk of getting scammed on etsy if they think they are buying handmade. I cannot believe there are not hoardes of customers out there up in arms that they got taken by resellers on etsy.
Helloooooo??!?! Etsy!!! Anyone there? Are you in the back room sniffing the craft glue?? Anyone home?
Are you out on a run for truffle-infused, bacon blueberry ice cream cones?
Are you too busy calling each other on the plushy phones and asking ‘Is your refrigerator running?’
Kindly shut this shop ASAP, before you facilitate the ripping off of yet another bride!
Thank you. And good day!
from her shop announcement LOL! “We will not do dress replicas, but would be happy to make you an inspired gown with the same flavor as the one you love.”
Scammers taking advantage of brides AGAIN. What kind of example is she setting for her children? I swear to god, I wish there was a forum on etsy for OBVIOUS SCAMMERS LIKE THIS SELLER! Honestly, that’s so cut-and-dried there’s no chance of it being “borderline” – this seller outright steals. I already wrote to Nordstrom and to the designer of the “petal dress” BCBGMAXAZRIA.
And of course, screenshots and pdfs are always available for any possible litigation…
Resellers and scammers beware. Once it’s out there on the internet, it’s available forever.
sewdeliciousweddings is in 40 treasuries. How could anyone with a functioning brain look at this shop and not realize the photos are copied from a bunch of different sources?
Brand new seller in 40? hmmmm.
When you think about the Wedding Industry Game on Etsy: it really is super easy money. A buyer pays you, you order from Nordstrom or China, remove their tag maybe replace it with your own and send it off to buyer while taking a nice chunk o’ change for removing a tag. No muss, no fuss!
You know that’s just what this seller is doing.
I suppose that with all the fees, Etsy’s glad to consider cutting off a shop tag to be ‘hand-altered’. Hey, if you sew your own tag into that dress, then that’s official Etsy handmade, right?
I think she was picked for those 40 treasuries on the basis of her ‘borrowed’ photos. Many of the ‘discover new shops’ do-gooder treasuries are infested with resellers who are chosen for their professional catalog photos. They wind up on the front page, and their shops start ringing up sales.
Etsy is rotten thru and thru. It’s not just the Etsy staff. The cupcakettes tipsy on Etsy Koolaid will go with anything they read in the Dorque, regardless of how that marketing suggestion will bite Etsy’s site integrity in the @ss down the road.
The wedding category is really bad, though, and word should go out to brides-to-be that a lot of the ‘handmade’ items they might find on Etsy can be had for less money at a local boutique. And they can try the dress etc on there and see how it looks. The wedding shops on Etsy who do make their own items need to get some kind of common identifier in their shops to help brides looking for unique items find them, and only them.
Here’s another interesting listing:
http://www.etsy.com/listing/51943218/goddess-white-chiffon-gown
One photo and it looks like it was taken during a designers runway show in 2008, maybe? The sleaze on Etsy is getting incredibly hard to tolerate. I feel physically ill seeing some of the shit that admin allows to go on.
I received an update from the OP:
Off topic (sorry, don’t know where to put it: vintage, or vintage inspired? http://www.etsy.com/listing/51871354/vintage-inspired-lace-up-wing-tip-oxford
The title says it all: Vintage Inspired. Booshwa…..
we should also contact BCBG
It just all makes me really sad because there are lots of sellers who do make their own stuff but when you see this kind of crap all day it just makes you not want to have anything to do with any of it.
What is BCBG?
“The buyer needs a hundred eyes, the seller not one.”
George Herbert
Educate yourself before you spend your money.
Puss
The designer of the dress
This shop makes me positively ill for so many reasons.
http://www.etsy.com/shop/GypsyWarriorBrand?ref=seller_info
Another wedding scammer?
http://www.etsy.com/forums_thread.php?thread_id=6442917
jenjasmine Says:
September 13, 2010 at 11:27 pm
Another wedding scammer?
http://www.etsy.com/forums_thread.php?thread_id=6442917
_______________________________________________________________-
HA HA! That thread is an utter train wreck! Multiple self call outs. Posts removed by admin. Clueless cupcakes. And poor JenMaestre needs to just stay away from Etsy for her own sanity! I feel for her!
And when did this ‘Posts removed by admin’ start? Now people can’t even hope to get in a word of truth before the lock comes down? So at least their words (calling out reselling BS, etc) are in the closed thread for posterity?
Is that something new? Or just something I’ve never seen before?
I like this post – lets see if it gets removed
A good thing for brides to use is http://www.tineye.com/
You can put in the link for your dress picture and see if anyone has copied you.
Works for other things too.
jenjasmine Says:
September 13, 2010 at 11:27 pm
Another wedding scammer?
http://www.etsy.com/forums_thread.php?thread_id=6442917
—————————————
Has any one checked out the OPs shop from that thread?
Look at her sold, and then look what she has for sale. o.O
jeanbean1909Company
California, New York, Boston
right.
By the way- good job to all that flagged sewdelicious!!! the shop is now empty!
http://www.sewdeliciousweddings.com/Wedding-Dresses.html
Hi, sorry I didn’t see this the first time around, and I check this blog all the time.
SewDeliciousWeddings and MandyH8800 are the same person. That would be Mandy Davis from Bend, Oregon. She’s also Sew Delicious http://www.sewdelicious.com, don’t confuse that with the Canadian fabric seller also called Sew Delicious. A bunch of us reported Mandy’s rip off of Vogue pattern website photos back in the summertime, she was doing the same thing, posting a professional photo and making sales from it. Her feedback is interesting, in both what the buyers write and then what she writes back to the buyers (it’s not my fault).
She finds the stock photos she uses from websites such as sxc.hu and istockphoto.com although she has asked on those boards whether she can use their photos. I was rather amazed that she just didn’t steal the images. She’s since deleted herself from stockxchg, but I kept the screen shots from July. I was always waiting to see if they’d show up on her website. Here’s one, look in the lower right hand corner for her request: http://imgur.com/f4r7z.png
After she got busted by the pattern companies she did post her own photos of the made garments. I don’t doubt that she makes her own things, because the workmanship is exactly what you’d see as a home sewer.
If she was straightforward and said exactly what she was, a young mom sewing from patterns, I don’t think she’d piss people off so much. But, after having misrepresented herself, I have no reservations about outing her.
Just found her on Artfire now.
http://www.artfire.com/users/Sewdelicious
And here
http://www.madeitmyself.com/user/sewdelicious.aspx
Thanks for those last links. I bought something from her once, her stuff was pretty great. The second order I made (for a friend) she totally ditched us on. $250+ we paid & now she is ignoring us (the order was made in August for a winter coat). I just sent her a message on artfire.
The last time I heard from her was a month ago & she said she was delayed because she had sick kids. Well, lo&behold while her kids were sick, she bought a domain, set up a website & other sites like etsy (including asking SAHMs if they wanted to help!).
Worst thing is, I liked Mandy. I enjoyed working with her. Then she flaked on me with no explanation. Etsy has been contacted but I held off on asking paypal for the money back because I thought “perhaps” she had some family issue come up. Boy, am I dumb.
She took a vacation with her husband. Google is a wonderful thing.
She may have but she is still online. And still not contacting me.
i made a deposit for my wedding dress to her in august. i just figured from talking to her that she was a sahm who copied designs, which honestly didn’t bother me – she was selling the dress much cheaper than anyone else was.
that being said, she gave me a clear timeline, was super professional, and pleasant to work with. she did everything i asked her….except for a few weeks ago when i messaged her about measurements and she never responded.
only then did i notice the sudden surge of negative reviews, that her shop was empty, and found out she set up elsewhere after i contacted another etsy buyer who had a similar episode.
i noticed she hasn’t updated her new stores in a few weeks. maybe everyone knows she’s a fraud. i’m thinking about filing a police report/
Please be aware she is up & running on artfire: http://tinyurl.com/32oubwf
She is using google check-out because paypal has taken action against her. She is ignoring me on artfire as well. I think someone needs to get the police involved. It is INDEED fraud.