Saw The Same Product on AliExpress Being Sold by a 'friend' Who Started a Business, Claiming It Is Handmade

Labsd1794 on 23/07/2020 - 09:40
Last edited 23/07/2020 - 10:33

Hi all!

A 'friend' of mine (not really friends, just know her through my main friends haha!) started a business. They are claiming it is handmade, Australian and handmade. But a few days ago, one of my friends were thinking of buying the product when they saw (at first) similar products on AliExpress. Just by looking at the photos, they are pretty much same design for 1/8 of the price per piece. What they did is bought the 'friend' product first and later bought the AliExpress one. They received the 'friend' one, and thought it was cheaply made. Pretty much the same thing when they got the ALiExpress one.

I mean a lot of business do that. Up-pricing products that are cheaply made, that's how to get profit. Maybe I am more iffy about the 'Australian Made' and 'Handmade', when clearly it is not.

Any thoughts on this?

Thanks!

EDIT:

Will not disclose the product said.

I think people who give reviews on social media, posting regarding the product are the ones saying it is Australian-made and handmade. Not specifically the seller. So my bad on that. But they should tell them regarding on that part.

On top of that, yeah. Will just leave it alone and just not support them.

Fashion & Apparel

Comments

  • Seraphin7 on 23/07/2020 - 09:55
    +13

    Option 1 - forget about it, this happens all the time.

    Option 2 - report the matter to Fair Trading … then forget about it, this happens all the time.

    • absd1794 on 23/07/2020 - 10:13
      +2

      Thought I should just forget about it, and probs just not support said local business. Cheers mate!

  • djkelly69 on 23/07/2020 - 09:55
    +9

    If the friend is stating it is 'Australian Made' and 'hand-made' and it is not, then that is possibly fraud, and definitely misleading and deceptive conduct.

    • absd1794 on 23/07/2020 - 11:26

      EDITED THE POST.

      Yeah. It definitely is misleading. A lot of people do it, but they just make it more 'official', not just FB Marketplace/Gumtree ads.

  • mapax on 23/07/2020 - 10:01
    +1

    What is the product? Could your “friend” be copying the design and actually making it here? Or perhaps the attempting the minor alteration to claim handmade in Aus scam?

    • absd1794 on 23/07/2020 - 10:18

      Its cloth products, not disclosing specifically. They post on social media that they sew things into them, but other than that, nothing else.

      • mapax on 23/07/2020 - 10:45
        +1

        If they are sewing something into/onto the item it sounds like they are pulling the “minor alteration is now handmade” scam.

        • absd1794 on 23/07/2020 - 11:24

          That's for sure. But yeah, not gonna bother as much. Just wanted thoughts on it. Thanks though!

  • [Deactivated] on 23/07/2020 - 10:04

    Like seraphin7 said, it is super common.

    There is only so much legislators can do to protect consumers. Certifications and standards are pointless when consumers do not care to look…

    …so… Sometimes it is best to just Let It Be.

    • whooah1979 on 23/07/2020 - 10:07
      -7

      There should be a law against busybodies.

      Two threads in 24 hours.
      https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/553455

      • [Deactivated] on 23/07/2020 - 10:10

        I'm sure the problem is rife and worsening sue to the present atmosphere. I am not surprised to see two in 24 hours, and I'd be surprised if we don't see more in coming months.

        • whooah1979 on 23/07/2020 - 10:24

          Yes. People are unemployed and bored. They like to dob in those that are having a go tying to make a living in this current situation.

          • [Deactivated] on 23/07/2020 - 10:32
            +2

            @whooah1979: Well, fraudsters deserve dobbers.

            • whooah1979 on 23/07/2020 - 10:49

              @[Deactivated]: Fraud is a crime. There is no evidence that OP’s friend has been convicted of fraud.

              • [Deactivated] on 23/07/2020 - 13:46
                +1

                @whooah1979: Fraud is misrepresentation for gain.

                If taken in context of legalities, sure we need lawyers, judge, wooden mallets and a token fainting damsel when the sentence is read.

                In conversation, it still means the same thing, sans theatrics.

  • Shiny Mew on 23/07/2020 - 10:18
    +3

    For transparency, please post the product in question (both on your friend's website and on AliExpress).

  • PissLUR on 23/07/2020 - 10:37

    she is quite the entrepreneur. excellent.

  • GG57 on 23/07/2020 - 10:38
    +1

    If it is confirmed that your 'friend' is doing that, I would avoid that person. Imagine how untrustworthy they are with everything else.

  • [Deactivated] on 23/07/2020 - 10:39

    I think people who give reviews… are the ones saying it is Australian-made and handmade. Not specifically the seller.

    That's just soft fraud.

    The reviews are likely engineered either through fake accounts or through a friend to heavily imply yet be unaccountable for that which is false.

    • absd1794 on 23/07/2020 - 11:23

      The reviewers are people I know, but not close to them. So yeah, they prolly just sucked up to them to give a good review.

  • pegaxs on 23/07/2020 - 10:39
    +3

    Went looking for face masks on FleaBay/Fartbook/Scumtree last night for the inevitable lockdown that is coming to NSW. Looked at a heap on there that were “home made” and thought, yeah, I’ll support people who are supporting the local community…

    Before I settled, I went over to AliExpress and had a look, and there were plenty of identical masks over there and some of the people claiming “home made” even had used the stock photos from AliExpress. Some even said “please allow up to 30 days to make your mask” knowing how long shipping can take.

    $5 mask from AliExpress resold as “home made” in Australia at $25~$35. It’s disgusting, but you just don’t buy from them and move on, but it’s not fair on the people who don’t know where these are sourced from.

    • [Deactivated] on 23/07/2020 - 10:42

      I just reverse image search whenever I see claims of "custom, handmade or to that effect".

      Google has made this super easy. Right click, search Google for this image.

  • whodidthat on 23/07/2020 - 10:45
    +1

    There's plenty doing similar things. Including buying silver plated stuff from there, then selling it as "sterling silver plated". There's no such thing!

  • djones145 on 23/07/2020 - 12:00

    "friend"
    jar jar brinks is that you?

  • 777 on 23/07/2020 - 12:26

    You created an account just for this?

    • MilkDrinker on 23/07/2020 - 12:48

      Most likely a throwaway account, despite being against the rules. No OzBargain forum police will care, and may just purge the account for non-activity after a year or so.

      Heaps of people do little rule breaking which can lead to greater rule breaking under the guise of ~insert reason~.

      Ie Friend of a friend read a book about selling which said fake it until you can make it. Sell to your mother etc.

      Then there are those people who hate dobbers because following rules should be more of a guideline etc.

      An unspoken rule of ozbargain should be, "unless it affects a lot of people and is something this site can find a fix to just take it as a lesson and move on".

    • absd1794 on 23/07/2020 - 13:17

      Wanted an honest opinion and what people think of it. :) Props on you for noticing that.

      • mapax on 23/07/2020 - 13:19

        Did you remember to vpn so your main account doesn’t get banned?

        • absd1794 on 23/07/2020 - 13:24

          This is the first account I made. Not thinking of doing malicious things anyways. Probs gonna contribute bargains anyways in the future. :)

  • core101 on 23/07/2020 - 13:19

    Probably handmade with industrial machine in a Chinese sweatshop using child labor, and the label is the Australian made component, maybe.

  • kanmen on 23/07/2020 - 15:11

    Might be silk products?

    A key giveaway if it's a cloth product is that often that our textiles industry is very small and for some materials non-existent, so their lie might be obvious outright. Silk for example is rarely made in Aus.

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