Imitation Is The Sincerest Form Of Flattery September 10 2014

Those of you that follow some of our social media accounts or know us personally will undoubtedly already be aware of the troubles we've been having lately but I'm going to try and address it as candidly as possible here. It came to our attention that a number of Chinese sellers on Ali Express are replicating our designs and re-producing them for other people to sell. I don't think I need to tell you how heartbreaking that is for an independent designer to have to go through!

As a tiny, boutique brand this is worrying for us on a number of levels. Firstly, there's the concern that people may assume they're buying a genuine piece of Sugar & Vice jewellery as they've seen the design here. We've had reliable reports that the quality of the dupes is pretty appalling and so it's understandable that we'd be concerned about customers confusing it with our work. To put your mind at ease, we issue every single one of our necklaces with a branded tag, if it doesn't have the tag it isn't genuine so please report it to us.

Secondly, it's hurtful to us as most of the fakes are being sold using our photo's, which is doubly annoying as we've paid to have them taken and the copyright lies with Luna Photography, who have found themselves an unwitting victim as well. 

Finally, if someone who'd never heard of Sugar & Vice stumbled upon multiple listings for the same item, they would naturally assume both were manufactured in China and that we were simply selling at a higher price. Whatever the reasons, things like this can be hugely damaging for a small brand and that's why we've been working so hard to try and stamp it out.

As for the issue of quality, a mass produced item simply cannot compare to the love and attention that goes into a hand-made piece.Yes, all of our work is produced by a laser cutter but we work tirelessly to source the highest quality components and assemble everything by hand. We can offer follow up service which includes repairs and replacement chains if necessary; a service that would never be possible when buying from China, or a re-seller. We also like to think that the experience of buying from us is a pleasant one, and we always want to put ourselves out there so you can get to know us, so you can see and talk to the people you help support.

As a consumer, you can help too. If you see a small companies designs being sold by anyone other than the designer themselves or a recognised stockist, then please take some time to alert them. Every little helps, and attempting to stem the flow of counterfeit items is beneficial to the seller and the consumer in the long term.

I'd also like to acknowledge that we're not alone in this. Countless other companies have also been the victims of the same infringement and we've also received a great amount of help from other small business owners, as well as from our customers. In some small way, it's nice to be able to band together. Without your love and support, the last week would have been even more unpleasant so it's safe to say that the S&V Family is a big part of of why we do what we do. We can comfort ourselves knowing that our support network is incredible and you guys make everything we do worthwhile. From the bottom of our hearts, thank you!

-Sarah.
xxx