One of the main reasons I wanted to set up this website was to make it easier for New Zealand craft shoppers to find the good quality, genuine products our favourite YouTubers like to use in their videos.
I have created pages on my website, listing my favourite and trusted stores both in New Zealand, and internationally where you can be sure you are purchasing the stamps, dies and stencils that are original, thereby supporting the designers and companies creating them. We certainly want them to be able to continue creating these things! These pages will be updated as I discover new places, so be sure to check back regularly.
New Zealand is a small market, and I noticed within some of my crafting communities that counterfeit stamps and dies are freely being imported, without knowledge of why this is not a good thing. I really want to be supportive of my crafting community, both locally and worldwide, as this is such an amazing hobby, full of kind and generous spirited people. What other hobby encourages happy thoughts, kindness and giving such as this?
Over the past few years, crafters worldwide have started a movement #isupportdesignnotcrime and I am a happy participant.
Counterfeit product has become a real problem – the practice of stealing other people’s art and design to make money, using low quality materials, is literally closing business doors. In our industry, our crafting businesses are often just small, and most likely operating from a garage or kitchen table.
Art and design, including photography and other art forms fully deserve to be credited and compensated. We wouldn’t dream of knowingly purchasing stolen goods in our daily lives otherwise, and this is no different.
Our stamp companies pay their artists and designers, choose to use quality photopolymer, rubber and metals in most cases, pay for advertising, marketing, store and staffing overheads, taxes, shipping, and are generous with us crafters by sponsoring gifts, giveaways, collaborations and design teams etc. Counterfeiters literally steal the images from online, and recreate using inferior products, often with spelling mistakes and smaller images with little to no overhead.
By ordering and purchasing genuine product through our local retailers, you are also supporting New Zealand businesses too, so that’s a win-win!
NONE of the genuine stamp companies sell their stamps via AliExpress, Alibaba or Wish. You can report listings if you spot copies – stamp companies are having to expend a lot of time and effort into getting counterfeit links taken down, creating a real legal headache! and this is taking time and money away from creating fun products for us.
If you are at all in doubt whether the stamp company you are purchasing from is legitimate or not, you can check the isupportdesign website – they have listed every known stamp company, with a link so you can view their online store. If the company you are looking for is not in the list, you can flick a quick email to them to ask.
If you have any questions regarding the above please feel free to message me – I’m only too happy to help!