Ebay Con Artists.....

Thieves Are Among Us........

My Mouse Sold Last Week on Their Site

Being a pattern designer for the past 12 years has taught me a lot about unscrupulous and unsavory individuals.  Instead of walking through life thinking that EVERYONE is my friend and they want to help, I have found that greed is way to often their motivation and integrity often lies in the shadows or not seen at all! Terrible way to live ones life huh....but reality is reality and nothing is sacred in the pattern world!  The reason for my post is this....there is an unsavory bunch of pattern sellers, "Across the Pond" lurking on EBAY trying to pass off their unscrupulous dealings as legit and (this is the best line) a way of helping all you creative people out there with a pattern that is no longer being printed, in other words out of circulation!  Well if anyone knows anything about pattern designers this rarely, if at all,  happens.....  WE KEEP EVERYTHING!!!!!  What this group has done is to plant themselves on a site that has a free flowing feed of people looking for patterns to buy.  They offer a low bidding price and a line of crap about these being "no longer in print" patterns and before you know it "WHAM" you're sucked in to thinking "I have to have it" cause I won't find it anywhere else!  No true!  This site is just convenient for a naive shopper....many of these patterns are available on "Pattern Marketplaces" or from the designer....but that's tough to know since this group of con artists NEVER show, tell or give you the designers name or any other information that will help you, the shopper, make a choice.  In fact they even cover their asses with a detailed bunch of information (which is in small print) at the bottom of their "ME" page telling you that this pattern will come to you like it does from a small home copy machine.....Read Below from "Across the Pond's" ME page:

A Note to NEW doll makers and pattern collectors. Each year we get at least one *unhappy* new doll maker/pattern collector who is unaware that 99% of the doll patterns we sell are created by individuals, as such they are not created in the same manner as big name, buy in the store catalog patterns. Most are created on a copy machine in the home of the designer or by a small copy center used by the designer, as resellers, we don't have quality control or input about how they design or market them. You will find the patterns may arrive in envelopes, paper bags, between sheets of colored paper, folded book style or flat and unfolded, often in a zippered plastic bag. They may contain pattern pieces on both sides of the paper, pieces that you need to tape together prior to cutting on fabric, pieces that need to be enlarged, or no pattern pieces at all, simply measurements within the pattern instructions. Photos vary from really great, to not so great and sometimes even downright poor, you may find them printed directly on plain paper, printed on paper then adhered to the pattern cover in some manner, glossy or matte photographs, line drawings in black and white or in color, or as the actual front cover.Some designers are very in-depth with instructions, others are not, we try to use their own descriptions of their patterns when possible. CD Patterns are becoming popular as well and you may find those offered from time to time. Designers create new covers, re-release and make changes to patterns all the time as we have recently discovered! Some have even quit making patterns for many years only to turn up again later under a new name. We are happy to see if we can find something for you, We get some really unusual patterns that turn up on Trade it Tuesdays. Please note we don't make copies of items you *HAVE MISSED* if you would like a pattern, please bid at the time the auction is listed. We buy at closeouts, yard sales, on ebay, at various auctions sites and auction warehouses as well as other outlets, please consider your pattern USED although it oft times may be new and simply be stock from our store or a Sister store, we often sell end of line, or where we only have one or two of a style left so it will auto reorder at front office for us, we do closeouts for others as well and buy a good deal of old stock. We do not have any smoking members, however the previous owners may have smoked, we do have pets and children and husbands though if you are allergic to any of those, please take care when bidding, we don’t know what the pattern packets may have been exposed to.  

What they are doing is mass producing paper patterns and e-patterns and selling them to you an unwary consumer.  This is nothing more than blatant theft! This group of individuals are tricky and savvy in what they are doing.  All their sold listings are private so you can't see what has been sold in the past and they are covering their proverbial asses with this disclaimer on their "ME" page so they can continue to photo copy paper and e-patterns they have bought without EVER going through the proper channels or the designers.  Doesn't matter how they try to dress it up, cover it up.....it is theft!  

"Sweet Meadows Farm Bear Pattern"

As far as only selling "Out of Print" patterns well I think Maureen Mills of "Sweet Meadows Farm" would like to know why her relatively NEW teddy bear pattern is being sold on their site and for that matter why a witch mouse pattern of mine, that I sell all the time on my website, was sold on there last week.  They have over 50 patterns on their site right now and most of those patterns can still be found "for sale" on Pattern Mart, Cloth Doll Supply and many more pattern selling sites!  PLEASE get the word out there about these unscrupulous sellers....Remember "Across the Pond" on EBAY: http://www.ebay.com/itm/NICE-PRIMITIVE-TEDDY-BEAR-DOLL-PATTERN-/350545497474?pt=Folk_Art&hash=item519e23cd82

Just a note here:   Since yesterday they have removed Maureen Mills bear pattern that I had the above link to and replaced it with the "Humpty Dumpty" pattern....looks like someone got caught with their hand in the cookie jar!

Pattern places to shop at: Pattern Mart and Cloth Doll Supply