Everything on point, as usual. I swear my blood pressure goes down whenever I watch one of your videos. There were a lot of undercutters copying my designs and selling them for nothing. I didn't sweat it because the idea is mine, they can never make it to my standard, and they gave up because they couldn't generate their own ideas. Once, a Chinese factory stole photos of my sculpted notebook covers, and slapped them on phone cases, canvas bags and what not saying it's "3d effect" 🤣...Luckily both my audience and I were persistent in reporting and eventually we were sooo annoying that they removed it. I went so far to find their IP address and see where are they hosting their website (Amazon web services), and also reported them to AWS. Over time, I raised my prices to what I believe they are worth, and people are willing to pay for the quality and professionalism the brand brings. I sell more via word of mouth these days, and sometime ads (Not on social media). And it's just so rewarding to have repeated happy customers and to be paid what your work is worth. So hang in there, everyone! Undercutters will disperse.

@KaraBuntin

3 ай бұрын

Word of mouth is the best marketing there is.

@arimeghlen3548

3 ай бұрын

Wow, your products are stunning!!

Maybe there is a moral here somewhere? I had a nest of little sparrows on my porch, that a cowbird laid her egg in. I guess the sparrow babies died, and the sparrow parents worked tirelessly raising this one giant cowbird baby. Finally this giant baby left the nest and was sitting on the porch railing, as the sparrow parents were encouraging it to fly and - WAP!! a hawk dove in and grabbed it! 😮

@KaraBuntin

3 ай бұрын

Oh my God, that’s terrible. The entire thing is bad.

I’m slowly shifting my digital art downloads into physical prints only

@KaraBuntin

3 ай бұрын

It will be harder for the cowbirds to copy that but they will...Nothing is safe.

My under cutters are COUNTERFEITERS of designer jewelry. Like Canal street, some buyers know it and don't care, but makes it really hard when your ad is next to one of these criminals. And may I say, reporting a cash cow to Etsy is difficult.

@KaraBuntin

3 ай бұрын

Absolutely

I am in the digital space and the worst thing the undercutters have done is to offer their whole shop with a commercial license for $30--this has changed the mindset of a lot of buyers. They expect me to have that type of offer--which is nuts! The good thing is that they only have to buy one of those bundles to find out you get what you pay for--because they have horrible ai birds with 3 legs or princesses with 7 fingers! Now, if I could only keep my designs off Temu! The good thing about my position is that I am the one coming up with the idea so I can pivot immediately where they are depending on what they can steal! I also took the time to build an email list so I know what my customers want and can provide that for them. Another great video!

@KaraBuntin

3 ай бұрын

Yes, that's a ridiculous thing to do, and it's the perfect illustration of the "lay your eggs and forget it" mindset. And also yes, email lists are great for reaching the people who value originality.

@CreativeStitchingwithAnn

2 ай бұрын

I have seen designers use Patreon and offer downloads to only their Patrons. They get a fee for membership and give something back to their Patrons. It seems to work for some. Those designs are not accessible to the general public.

New to your channel. Your cowbird reference caught my attention. Contemplating starting a home-based business. Looking forward to learning from your business experience.

@KaraBuntin

3 ай бұрын

Thanks for watching!

This was really helpful. Thank you Kara. I'm a digital seller and my business is going down the pan. I'm 75% down on last years profits - because now the market is flooded with digital craft supplies. I have been thinking about selling physical craft products instead and you have clarified some of the things that I have been thinking. xxx

@KaraBuntin

3 ай бұрын

I'm glad it was helpful. Sometimes it helps to hear things talked out.

I have been in the sign business since 1988...once the Cricut cutter was "invented" (ripped off) the undercutters came out in waves thinking they could letter trucks, boats and signs with their craft vinyl cutter designs. The mess of lettering I have seen over the years is brutal. A few customers had their relative letter their truck for $50 using the Cricut, got the phone call to fix the mess. LOL

@KaraBuntin

3 ай бұрын

True!

There are undercutters in vintage too. I have a copycat and an undercutter here in my country (Denmark). Name very similar to my shops name, photographs on similar surface and background, items similar. Undercutting a few dollars on items that are similar. Really annoying. Haven't been back to check since I found out. Don't want it to affect me and what I do and how I price. I price fairly for the work I put in to sourcing, cleaning aso. and the level of service I provide. I have more and more orders with multiple items so I take it as a sign that my customers are happy with my items and prices. Thank you for another great video. I particularly enjoy those that are making me reflect on my business on a deeper level.

@KaraBuntin

3 ай бұрын

That's nuts

This is really pretty much on the spot. I am constantly innovating my products based on customer interaction and custom orders in order to stay ahead of the copy cat cow birds 🐦. There are ever more competitors dabbling in my profitable niche. But, because I specialize exclusively in my niche and offer unique, high quality handmade items produced in a timely manner, I have many repeat loyal customers. It is harder than ever to keep success and recipes for success secret but the more trade secrets you can keep, the longer your business success will live.

@KaraBuntin

3 ай бұрын

Exactly.

yup. I'm not doing the "race to the bottom'. my vintage jewelry is very fairly priced, so I'll wait for my buyer.

@KaraBuntin

3 ай бұрын

That’s all you can do if you’re priced correctly.

Agree and agree!! I have a digital craft supply shop and I started it because I like to design beautiful/cool things. I thought it was really neat for folks to download designs and print them out at home. I mean, really, how cool is that? So when I heard the promoters saying ‘ Look round Etsy and see what you can sell.’ I was kind of stunned. Shouldn’t it be share what you are passionate about making? Then the cowbirds that sell digital products for so low I wonder if they are paying people to buy them. For digital products, the 20 cents + 25 cents + 3% transaction fee and + 6.5% Etsy cut can really effect those 99 cent products…. I’ve had to pivot and rethink my shop for sure. Nearly every day of the week I work on it. There’s no wandering off and forgetting about it. I really appreciated this podcast. Thank you so much.

@KaraBuntin

3 ай бұрын

I'm sorry you're dealing with it too. It's the unfortunate reality of ecommerce these days.

I've had most of my best selling signs & product photos stolen. Being sold on Amazon & eBay at 1/5th the price. I find it best to just ignore them. I just keep going & adapt my business. I actually raised my prices & Buyers see through the cowbirds 😅

@KaraBuntin

3 ай бұрын

Thanks for sharing!

I enjoyed your video and I'm always learning, thank you so much!

@KaraBuntin

3 ай бұрын

You are so welcome!

Good,sensible info here - thank you so much!

@KaraBuntin

3 ай бұрын

Glad you enjoyed it!

-great video on several levels, helpful info.

@KaraBuntin

3 ай бұрын

Glad it was helpful!

Great info & advice. Thank you, Kara

@KaraBuntin

3 ай бұрын

Glad it was helpful!

Great advice, thanks!

@KaraBuntin

3 ай бұрын

Thanks for watching!

I watched a blogger podcast the other day where the guest was talking about how she now uses POD on the homepage of her site so google will think she’s an e-commerce store and not shut her down while she continues her spammy blogs. 😢

@KaraBuntin

3 ай бұрын

I saw that one! Rolled my eyes so hard i sprained something…

We actually had some cowbirds leave a baby in a nest that sparrows had built on our front door wreath! ( Wasn't expecting the wreath build, but once it was done, we couldn't disturb it )

@KaraBuntin

3 ай бұрын

Ugh…the wreath nests are the worst.

We have alot of cow birds here in Kentucky...they are awful. I despise them on Etsy too 😢

@KaraBuntin

3 ай бұрын

I thought they were cute until i realized what they do!

I've had under cutters attempting to undercut my stuff. Keep up with customer service, quality items & eventually your customers come back to you. I have gotten ideas from other vendors but never "copied" but rather made the item better & was able to charge more bcuzz my item was better quality.

@KaraBuntin

3 ай бұрын

I feel bad for people who get taken

To be honest it's been ages since I've visited your channel. Life distractions. ) But I'm back on the job.

@KaraBuntin

3 ай бұрын

I recognize your screen name, so welcome back!

When a product becomes a bestseller, it often attracts not just one, but a whole flock of “cowbird” sellers that eventually start aggressively competing with each other. As a result, prices drop dramatically, which is great for buyers but not good for individual sellers. Marketplaces like Etsy and Amazon have all the tools to detect these copycat shops. They can see when multiple stores are selling essentially the same item. They know the exact listing creation dates. Yet, they rarely take action against cowbird sellers. Why? Because to platforms like Etsy and Amazon, it doesn’t matter whether they earn $1,000 in fees from 1 seller with 1000 sales, $10 each, or the same amount from 1,000 sellers with 100 sales of a $1 product each. The bottom line remains the same.

@KaraBuntin

3 ай бұрын

Yep

It amazes me that Etsy don't employ a couple of full time staff to help genuine digital sellers, focussing solely on digital shop copiers, to keep on top of cow birds.

@KaraBuntin

3 ай бұрын

Etsy can't legally do that because of marketplace laws and how they work. They can't take things down until the copyright holder files the correct paperwork. It's a legal process, so they can't take things down on their own.

They are considered dead beat parents.. I live in Virginia - Newport News

@KaraBuntin

3 ай бұрын

They’re total deadbeats

Catching up on videos I've missed. 😉 I'm in jewelry, copying really isn't a thing, hoop earrings are hoop earrings are hoop earrings, kwim? Since we're all buying from the same precious metal suppliers, our production costs are pretty similar. I feel like I'm in the middle for pricing, I see my undercutters and feel sad they're having to work so hard for the same amount of income I have. No, I don't really. 😂 They can have their $2 profit on their earrings. I'd much rather sit on my deck watching the animals than go work for an hour to make a $2 profit.

@KaraBuntin

2 ай бұрын

Me too...Enjoy your $2 that you'll have to save up for the surgery to fix your hands from making all those underpriced earrings.

Timestamp: 16:00...one of the issues we are dealing with is that Digital can be anywhere in the world. If we have costs 10X that we are paying for housing and food and our competitor is somewhere in the world where housing and food cost X, then making 50 cents profit is fantastic to them. If they are somewhere else in the world then they won't likely be prosecuted for stealing your ideas or artwork. If a platform is incentivized by sales commissions they may or may not want to deal with someone who is doing copyright infringement. Good luck catching them. I know this sounds pessimistic. I like your idea of putting up a piece of digital artwork and then taking it back down and then rotating it out to keep ahead of the thieves. Welcome to the global economy where the cost of living is different around the world.

@KaraBuntin

2 ай бұрын

It's always been this way online, even for handmade. If something takes 3 hours to make by hand, I need to charge a lot more than someone who lives in a country where a far lower daily wage is considered to be good. It's one thing if you're selling only in your own local area, but when ecommerce opened the world up for people you're now competing with international economies, so it's the same for digital and physical products.

In my niche the undercutters are people who just enjoy doing the stuff as a hobby and therefore obviously dont put in the time or effort to calculate if they are even able to make a profit at that price. IMO hobby sellers that don't know what they are doing (because they dont necessary need to make a profit) are as bad as the ones who are malicious on purpose. Both types negatively impact sellers who are doing honest handmade work and want to make a living off of it.

@KaraBuntin

3 ай бұрын

Those are the same people who thought that making cakes is super fun and they earned $20 if that's what they ended up with in their hand after working for 6 hours and paying $15 for ingredients.

@Laura-je2uw

3 ай бұрын

@@KaraBuntin exactly!

You’re talking about stuff YT Etsy coaches train people to do. You could be doing a précis for brand creators just for starters. It’s a dog eat dog world. All you can do is just keep on keeping on.

@KaraBuntin

2 ай бұрын

Oh, i know. YT thinks that Etsy is get rich quick because of the sheer volume of scammy video behavior that’s been uploaded recently.

I sell laser cut Signs .... they stole my pictures print my designs in cheap cardboard and sell them real cheap on Amazon , shein and temu ..

@KaraBuntin

3 ай бұрын

Oh my God

I'm going to say it. People are pathetic. Lazy, scammers. Non-reactive minds.

@KaraBuntin

3 ай бұрын

Hee hee! Yes. Not everyone, but there are many worms masquerading as humans. And that's insulting to worms.

Thank you.

@KaraBuntin

3 ай бұрын

You're welcome!