Research shows many “handmade” products on Etsy found to be fake

Having bought a couple things from Etsy , I’m well aware of the prices of some of the things can be ridiculously silly high prices for items that look like they just cost a couple pounds . I think to buy from Etsy you really need to do your homework and compare with other online sites . It’s a shame really because there are some lovely items on Etsy so it spoils for everyone.
I’d been fancying a pair of pearl drop earrings, nothing expensive just costume jewellery, some of them on Etsy were like £20 -£30 plus ….….eventually I’d bought a nice pair for £2 on eBay .

If someone is genuinely making pearl drop earrings by hand I don't think £20 is unreasonable to be honest unless they are hand-made imports from (say) China or somewhere else with low labour/overhead costs.

The websites charge a fee - "Not on the high Street " charges 25%, (don't know about Etsy). Time is spent on sourcing and procurement of materials tools, on running the website, dealing with emails and so on. There are banking charges, insurance, packaging and printing too. Then there is the time actually spent making.
Maybe this isn't true of someone who isn't a "small business", I'm not sure, but there's lots of artisans out there who couldn't hand-make earrings at less than £20.

Just had a message from a friend at Trentham Gardens today setting up for a craft fair.
She says lots of nice, not expensive items for sale there (on the ceafys side) if anyone is interested.

I was looking for some little plaques the other day, and my first search brought them up at £6.99 each on Etsy. I found identical plaques on eBay for £3.99 each.....

When I opened my Etsy shop I decided to have it critiqued on a dedicated forum. I was told my items were under priced and was encouraged to raise them. (I didn't)

I've tried to support Etsy, but no more. Everything lve ever bought has been sub standard. The last being a candle that wasn't straight at the bottom and was covered in dust. The seller hadn't even bothered to clean the dust off....and it wasn't cheap.

I have a friend who has an Etsy shop. She is a very talented textile artist. She sells some of her original textile art but also printed greetings cards of her original designs. Would that count as 'handmade'?
I often buy from her as her designs are amazing and the greeting cards are sensibly priced. I can't really afford the original textile art and I am a crafter myself so try do do my own textile art, but I'm nowhere near as talented as she is!
I mostly make things as gifts, or to sell for charity. I couldn't make money selling as things take such a long time to make they are too expensive for most people's budget, hence the printed cards which are mass produced from original art and are affordable but based on a unique item.

It can be very disappointing to find out that something isn't quite what was advertised and can lead to feeling that we've been conned. My daughter has a shop on Etsy( Busy Bakes) and I can tell you with absolute confidence from the gorgeous smells that I wake up to each day, that her brownies are home made.

The most cursory glance at Etsy will tell you much of what is being sold is not home made. The same products appearing again and again, photgraphs that are clearly of items widely available.

The Which report says nothing most people don't know anyway.

I sell on Etsy and I spend many hours making my items. Etsy WAS for handmade only at one time but now they are trying to keep up with Amazon and Ebay (and keep the shareholders happy) so they have now allowed manufactured goods (mostly from china) to be sold on Etsy which is pushing the genuine crafters out. Sellers are buying cheap products from Alieexpress and then selling them on Etsy at 3 or 4 times the price. Many crafters are leaving due to the competition from manufactured goods and the huge fees. Josh Silverman has ruined a really good site for crafters

I feel sorry for you Ilovecats2 and all the other crafters who sold that way.

It is also a loss to those of us buyers, who would look at Etsy sure of finding interesting and hand made goods. My last search through Etsy, looking for a specific style of hand-knitted wool sweater was a deep disappointment. It was almost impossible to isolate the handmade goods from the bulk of the manufactured products on offer. It is a site I will not waste time on again.

Possible there is a market opportunity for someone less money orientated to set up

It's also difficult when looking for genuinely hand made goods if they are coming from places other than the UK - maybe remote villages in (say) India or China - to know if the items have been fairly traded.

An item might be hand made "somewhere" or hand made in the UK/EU where technically there are laws to protect workers.
Things that really are hand-made may be produced by hand but in sweatshop situations.

When things are one-offs it's unlikely to be made that way.