Jewellery maker 'devastated' by online fakes

Sellers used photos of Emma Farley's handmade designs (left) but shipped cheap copycat items (right)

A jewellery maker from York has said she was shocked to find sellers copying her designs on major online marketplaces.

Emma Farley designs and sells jewellery inspired by British wildlife, with some of the proceeds going to support her work rescuing hedgehogs.

She told BBC One’s Rip Off Britain how copycat items had appeared for sale at a fraction of the cost on global marketplaces Shein and AliExpress.

Both sites said they took copyright infringement seriously.

Emma Farley uses her jewellery-making to support her hedgehog rehabilitation work

Ms Farley began making jewellery through her brand Little Silver Hedgehog in 2013 to help raise funds for a hedgehog hospital she ran in York.

She moved near to Pocklington, East Yorkshire, last year, where she set up a makeshift hedgehog rescue during the recent floods.

In July 2023, Ms Farley discovered images of her hedgehog earrings, taken from her website, on the giant online marketplace Shein.

'Completely shocked'

She told Rip Off Britain: "I was completely shocked. I had no idea, really, that this kind of thing happened at all.

"They are selling an exact replica but basically just a really, really cheap version."

She said she was "just devastated" at the thought of people seeing photos of her jewellery, thinking that was what they would receive.

One of Ms Farley's social media followers reported the matter to Shein, which removed the images.

However, the designs then popped up on the marketplace AliExpress, being sold for as little as £1.12.

Ms Farley bought some of the fake items and said they paled in comparison to her creations, which retail at about £50.

She said her pieces were individually hand-sculpted using recycled silver and real gemstones from Hatton Garden and were shipped in eco-friendly materials.

The post on AliExpress used a photo of Ms Farley's hands holding her jewellery

In comparison, she said, the imitations were mass-produced in moulds using cheap metal and gems.

She said: "The sterling silver ear wires I use are more expensive than the entirety of the fake design they are selling.

"My real hedgehogs look alive, whereas theirs look dull and also somewhat menacing."

Both sites have removed the items from sale.

Shein said as soon as it was alerted to the copyright infringement, it removed the product and had apologised to Ms Farley.

The firm said it had significantly reduced the number of infringement claims through controls such as image recognition and manual review to identify potential breaches.

AliExpress said it worked with owners of intellectual property to protect their rights and had a number of ways they could tell the platform about breaches.

Subsequent action could include sellers being banned from its platform, it said.

Ms Farley said she was grateful to Shein for acting promptly.

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