{Sewing} I cannot compete with the China bulk sale market

Once upon a time, a boutique was defined as a shop selling unique, speciality items.  In the sewing world, that meant the items were handmade.  Currently, in the Disney inspired clothing world, "boutique" refers to an online store selling clothing purchased from China sites, mainly Aliexpress.  As someone who sews and sells handmade items, the China market has been extremely frustrating because it is driving down the price of handmade goods.

In some cases, customers cannot tell or do not know the difference between a dress made in China and one made in the US by a seamstress in her little sewing room.  They see a new dress selling for $20 and one selling for $45 and they'll go for the $20 dress because why should they pay almost double.  

I do not begrudge those who purchase these items.  Clothing children is expensive and Disney vacations are expensive and the most of us can't afford to buy our kids new wardrobes to be worn once on vacation.  (This is why the resale market used to be hot.)  My real beef is with those reselling those items here in the US and labeling them as "handmade."  Etsy is becoming inundated with Aliexpress items and, sadly, Etsy either can't keep up with monitoring or just doesn't care any longer.

For example, here's a screenshot of a Disney Halloween dress being sold on Aliexpress for approximately $16-$17.

Here's the same dress for sale on Etsy for $26.

Under item details, the store owner states that the item is "handmade."

So, if you want to get technical, I suppose you could claim that someone in China handmade the item.  However, I'm pretty sure that's not the way Etsy is supposed to work.  Regardless, this is 100% misleading.  There are so many consumers out there who do not know about Aliexpress.  They believe that shopping on Etsy guarantees a small shop, handmade item.  I know for a fact that several stores have been reported for the reselling of Aliexpress items labeled as handmade and Etsy has done nothing.

Unfortunately, this practice has a negative impact on legitimate small shop owners as now consumers believe a new handmade dress should cost $26.  I talked a little bit about this last year, but most resell groups do not allow sellers to list these items unless they are used and priced accordingly.  When dresses similar to the ones above first popped up, many thought they were real handmade items on the resale pages, and they were being resold for $35.

Here's a Disney Halloween-themed dress (girls size 5/6) I have for sale for $44.



And another in size 18 months/2T for $41.



On the resale market, in excellent used or very good used condition, those dresses could easily sell for $25-$30.

It's important to pay yourself a fair wage, but even at $41-$44 I still "make" less than minimum wage.

Those prices include the cost of shipping, which would be approximately $5, including the packaging.  You also need to deduct the cost of supplies (fabric, trim and thread) from the sales price.  For the size 5/6 dress, that's about $9.  Fabric is expensive and I try to shop sales and use coupons, etc., but it still adds up.

After deducting shipping and supplies, I'm left with a profit of $30.  It takes me at least 3.5 hours to make that dress.  This also includes time to cut the fabric.  At the end of the day, IF the dress sells, I'm paying myself less than $9 an hour.  The minimum wage, which is usually paid to unskilled workers, is $12 an hour.  I have not included the time it takes to photograph and list the item for sale, along with looking for potential buyers.

Sadly, what I thought would be a good way to assist in paying for the girls' dance has become a somewhat disheartening process.  Each year, more is lost to Aliexpress.  And I do have people interested in what I make.  The most recent messages have been asking for a price reduction.  And even when I do reduce by a small amount, it's not enough for them.  I'm sorry but I'm not giving away my products.