Have you ever seen an Etsy Shop and thought, 'these items can't possibly be handmade'!?
This is a question I've been asked about my Etsy shop, Ud Form, more than once: 'Are your items really handmade? Do YOU really make this?'. And sadly, it's a question shoppers should be asking themselves while shopping Etsy these days. Etsy used to be known for handmade, hand-crafted items only, but some things have changed. It disappoints me every time I see a misleading company breaking Etsy's strict shop rules.
It has become even trickier recently with real artists using AI to generate catalog quality images (Artists - please don't do this. That's a blog for another time) But, all hope is not lost. There are still some tell-tale signs to spot a fake handmade product.
Disclaimer: To find photos for this blog, I did a quick search for 'handmade cake platter', and found lots of examples within minutes. The images I show are from six shops I found today (Oct. 2nd, 2025), and are intended as examples only. I don't know anything about these shops or their operations, and I have never purchased anything from these shops before.
Here are my top 6 Red Flags for spotting a fake 'handmade' shop on Etsy.
Red Flag #1 is a shop with a variety of items that require unrelated skills. For example, blown glassware items and turned wood items aren't often in the same shop because they require such different skill sets.
It's possible that two craftsperson manage that shop together, collaborating on work. It's also possible, albeit rare, that someone happens to have those two hobbies. However, if you see mouthblown glass pieces, turned wood items, and hammered metal work with only one shop owner and no collaborators listed - red flag.
My Red Flag #2 is photos that look like catalog photography but the photo quality itself is blurry. Why would a beautifully staged photo be of such low resolution? This means that the person who posted those photos didn't have access to the original hi-res images.
I copied one of my own photos here to show you the difference between an image pulled off the internet and the original image. It's subtle, but noticeable - look at the beads to see how the image resolution on the focal point of the image is blurry.
Red Flag #3. If a google image search brings up the exact listing images on a variety of websites, there is a good chance those items are mass produced. Without a team of craftspeople, there is no way to produce enough product for multiple websites (especially when those sites are Etsy, Amazon, Walmart, Temu and other international sites).
If you aren't familiar, just right click on an image in your browser to find 'Search with Google Lens'. You can also copy and paste an image into the google image search bar and run a google image search.
Side note - this is a great tool for shopping, especially when tracking down specific vintage pieces.
Red Flag #4 takes a little more digging, but it's something I always check for before reporting a shop to Etsy - conflicting information. It requires looking at the 'owner' information and the shipping information on different pages within the same shop.
If the shop says it is based in California, but the owner bio says that they live in New York, and the shipping information on the item page says the item will be shipping from Turkey, there is zero chance that the shop owner made that item. It may be handmade, but under what conditions?
Red Flag #4.5 If the price is really cheap, especially with shipping included, that is a red flag. Handmade takes time, tools, and often small batch supply buying without bulk discounts - if the final product is really inexpensive, that person isn't covering their costs or someone isn't being compensated for their time.
Red Flag #5 is a lack of product information. Some shops don't have all their shop information filled out, and sure, I get that for some artists, it's hard to talk about yourself or your business. But, a lack of information on the product pages is uncharacteristic of someone who spent a lot of time and care to design and make an item.
For example, a listing that just describes the dimensions of an item and how pretty it would look in your house without mentioning specific materials used or why the shop owner decided to create this item - red flag.
Red Flag #6 can save you from making a bad purchase whether the shop is truly handmade or not - check the reviews. If the reviews say things like - "came in an Amazon box" or "had the 'Made In China' sticker still on it" - both of which I too often notice is stated in bad reviews, then these are clearly not handmade products. Often these shops have really cheap prices and the good reviews say things like 'great for the price' while the bad reviews reveal the lack of craftsmanship.
Bonus Red Flag #7 if something is too good to be true, it probably is. If the price is too low or the number of sales is too high, it's reasonable to question how that shop is being run. If you see a shop with a single owner listed that makes and ships physical products, and they have 100,000+ sales a year, you gotta ask - how do they have enough hours in the day? And how could they be turning out a quality product?
Having one or more of these red flags doesn't mean that the Etsy shop is fake. They most likely will be a business that sends you the product you wanted. They just don't fit into Etsy's strict 'handmade' rules. It makes me ask myself while I'm searching for handmade gifts on Etsy, do I want spend my money with a dishonest shop?
Bottom line - if you purchase on Etsy from a shop owner who is transparent and honest about their team and their production, odds are, you will have a better purchasing experience from start to finish.
I love to shop on Etsy, and my buying decisions are important to me. If you feel the same way, I'm confident that looking out for these flags will help make your Etsy shopping experiences more enjoyable and genuine.
-Krista
Affiliates, Links, and More Information
I believe in transparency because it is what I want from blogs I read and websites I visit. This post may content affiliate links to online shopping sites or links to my own shops. Any included links are from places I've shopped myself, and I may or may not make a small commission on purchases made on these sites. My blog posts are not sponsored. I am not paid by Etsy or any other site I mention to write my blog. This blog, Some Light Reading, is meant as my way to share helpful information, and many of the topics I cover here are based on questions I receive from my lamp shade clients.
If you have any questions about this, let’s chat. Thanks so much for reading!