One some of the online groups I
frequent, I have seen people asking how they can try to weed out the
mass-produced glass beads from the artisan made lampwork beads.
Sadly, two of the largest online sites, ebay and Etsy, are FULL of
the imports (yes, even our “handmade” ally Etsy has allowed the
mass-produced beads to infiltrate the site, mainly by turning a blind
eye to reported importers, but that's another post).
This is my own simple advice to help
sort through the mass of listings as efficiently as possible, while
allowing a buyer to focus on beads they can be reasonably assured are
made by a single artist. I know I run the risk of possibly offending
someone, so I apologize now, unless you are a reseller of imported
beads hiding as an artisan...then you deserve to be upset with me.
1. Use SRA to search
SRA stands for self-representing
artist, and is a term that is used throughout the arts. However,
large numbers of lampwork bead and jewelry artists took to using that
term as part of their fight against the influx of cheap,
mass-produced products that invaded ebay a few years back. Now, it is
true that anyone can claim to be a self-representing artist, so it is
not a perfect way to insure that the beads you are looking at were
made by a single artist. Also know that not every artist uses this
term in their listings. However, it will help to weed out a lot of
the re-sellers and focus your search.
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An example from my shop: the letters "SRA" are added to every title |
2. Look at the number of listings
Unless an artist has built up a
considerable inventory or has a great number of made-to-order items,
the average lampwork artist can not crank out a hundreds of beads a
day...and have the time to clean the beads, photograph the beads, and
list the beads, and ship the beads....well, you get the idea. There
are some very prolific lampworkers out there, but even they rarely
have a hundred listing of ready-to-ship beads.
3. Look closely at the beads
If the beads look really familiar, take
pause. Now it may be that they are simply a popular style. But if you
swear you have seen the beads before, do some more research. A
popular tactic of the resellers is to use stock photos of popular
sets. So you may really have seen the exact same picture before (I
won't even get into the fact that resellers have actually stolen
artist-taken photographs of beads for their websites—just know that
it has been done and more than once!)
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These beads look familiar from Etsy or Ebay? They might...even though they are actually from a major re-seller! |
4. Pay attention to the following:
- Does the seller mention that the beads
are kiln annealed? (yes, it makes a difference)
- Does the seller mention anything about
their studio?
- Does the seller mention that they
personally make the beads (not “design” them, which is a clue
someone else makes them)
Using all of these tactics together can
help you figure out if you are dealing with artisan-made beads, or
dealing with a re-seller trying to pass them off as artist made. They
aren't foolproof, but they can help you in your search. Any other advice out there we can give to help our customers find our handmade beads amongst the mass-produced?