Hi folks! I don’t like doing posts like this, but it is well needed after the last week iv’e been dealing with. For those who don’t follow me on social, I startedlisting limited files available on ETSY for laser cutting! However that seemed to have opened up some kind of door as iv’e been battling with people flat out stealing designs from my portfolio, removing my watermarks, selling them as-is or even tracing them, and also taking my project photos (watermarks in all) and claiming to sell them in their shops.

How did I find out? I had a couple emails last week from two very unhappy people saying they ordered a product over a week ago and got no shipping confirmation and was able to track the product back to my site thanks to the watermark. After I informed them the product isn’t available for sale at the moment, however I would be happy to make one for them because of the situation, one of them actually got upset and said they shouldn’t pay again for something they already paid for.

How can shops scam people?

I honestly didn’t even realize this was a thing up until recent. So what I gathered happens is a shop will take photos from a website or another shop, create a shop with a similar name, list all the photos, collect orders, then either never ship- or close up.

Lots of my axolotl designs are getting stolen

The sad part is, I found this out when I saw people posting their crafts and products for shows in my groups only to say “Wait. that is my design! I’m not selling that design!”

I was able to get a few listings removed, but when it comes to tracing, it seems like there isn’t much some platforms will do for you. Not to mention, every time I request to get something stolen unlited, I get interrogated! I’m honestly fed up with this and I don’t have much time to partol the net for fake shops.

Fabrics are usually legit, though!

I sell my patterns as fabrics on Spoonflower, so if you see any designs popping up that are fabric based, chances are those ones are actually legit! Minus the face masks floating around Amazon that are from overseas sellers.

What about the files you list?

I am starting to list limited laser cut files for sale and commercial use, but I do ask all users to link me to their shop so I can compile a list of who is legit and who isn’t a scammer. I cannot figure out a better method to do this, so i’m all ears if you have any thoughts!

What do I do if I was scammed or purchased a file that wasnt legit?

First off, I am really sorry this happened to you! Please email me the link and name of the shop so I can report it accordingly.

For products that you tried to purchased and were scammed for, please report it accordingly through your payment company. If you really want a certain item, just email me and i’d be happy to work out a price!

For files that are using my art that I did not perosnally create or sell that you may have purchased and are just finding out now that it is stolen, I kindly ask that you please refrain from using it any further and no longer sell products featuring that design. A lot of the designs are stolen from my personal portfolio and I do have issues with that. I’d be happy to work out a licensing deal with you if there is a certain image you like, but I purposely don’t want to sell a lot of my illustrations as they hold a special value to me.

ongoing list of stolen designs

I will be adding information here as to what designs/products have been stolen and what to look out for.

This file is in the works and isn’t released yet! Any shops listing this design for sale has taken it from this website.

This design is on my Redbubble shop, but apparently keeps popping up in other locations.