cultofyouth

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Laceandhearts

Laceandhearts

Active member
How is Kelly of cultofyouth getting away with selling tat from AliExpress and charging extortionate prices?!

I do like her as a person (from what I've seen on insta)

I think she probably outsources some of the lockets and rings but all the gemstone bits are 10 a penny from China and I don't know how people aren't cottoning on!
Attached a gemstone chain for reference 👀
 

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PenelopeChat said:
Please google how the so called "fast fashion" and these sort of retailers "work" . They copy independent designers work and sell it for nothing. It is absolutely disgusting and appalling. Please leave Kelly out of this, she makes everything herself.

If anything, this should open your eyes... Thank you
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You're telling me she makes the gemstone chains from scratch?

Nah, sorry
 
PenelopeChat said:
Well, you obviously know better 🤷🏻‍♀️ I find it quite sad and disturbing how you go after one of the most genuine and sweet persons, on line.

And you also mentioned her lockets and rings?! And that you "like her as a person"? Haha. Ok, then.
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She is nice, from what I've seen.
You're on a gossip site, you clearly came here to talk about someone...

I'm not going after anyone. She clearly designed the lockets and wrote the poems, but all these things she's selling for £90 (!!!) That are bought very cheaply and "put together" are not worth that at all!
It's just another classic example of a small business where everything starts out "original" and designed by the owner, to cashing in on people who think they're buying something exclusive and hand made
 
I’m sorry, where is your proof? We’ve seen the stuff Carrie Ann buys on Ali. The shopping bags, slippers etc.

Please give me a link to things Kelly has bought and sells in her shop.
 
skronkywildcat said:
I’m sorry, where is your proof? We’ve seen the stuff Carrie Ann buys on Ali. The shopping bags, slippers etc.

Please give me a link to things Kelly has bought and sells in her shop.
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I posted a pic of the gemstone chains she buys in the first comment

www.etsy.com

Thanksgiving Necklace, Wishbone Necklace, Thanksgiving Outfit, Thanksgiving Decor, Gold Wishbone, Silver Wishbone, Wishbone Pendant - Etsy

This Pendant Necklaces item by LandonLacey has 23 favorites from Etsy shoppers. Ships from Mount Pleasant, SC. Listed on Jul 30, 2021
www.etsy.com www.etsy.com


Link to the exact same wishbone charms being sold on Etsy for example
 
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Those Aliexpress gemstone chains aren’t that similar to CoY’s really. Different links, stones, metals. She likely buys lengths from wholesalers on hatton garden then measures, snips and adds the fastenings. How most jewelers do it.

As for the wishbones, the Etsy ones are hammered and the sides are differing lengths to CoY. I think you’re reaching a bit here.
 
The cultofyouth ones are hammered 🤣

I can understand people finding it difficult to read when Kelly is well liked.
But for what it is, the price point is ridiculous.
 

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I’m sorry but no. She works really bleeping hard, she’s genuine, she hasn’t got a rich family to fall back on, she’s not up herself, she has amazing design sense (look at how she’s done her new flat), she is a qualified and recognised jeweller, she’s very good at social media and she doesn’t take the piss with loads of ads or sponsored content. Please save your ire for those who deserve it.
 
skronkywildcat said:
I’m sorry but no. She works really bleeping hard, she’s genuine, she hasn’t got a rich family to fall back on, she’s not up herself, she has amazing design sense (look at how she’s done her new flat), she is a qualified and recognised jeweller, she’s very good at social media and she doesn’t take the piss with loads of ads or sponsored content. Please save your ire for those who deserve it.
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Disagree. You can be a hard-working person and still put a huge price tag on bits off Etsy and wherever..

It's simply an observation.

truth hurts, I feel

It's clever marketing, I'll give her that.
But, other than the hand carved rings, poems and lockets the majority of the pieces are over-priced tat I'm afraid
 
meredithgrey said:
She has posted countless videos of herself making the jewellery...

Are you waging some kind of one person vendetta? Because your voice seems to be the only dissenting
meredithgrey said:
She has posted countless videos of herself making the jewellery...

Are you waging some kind of one person vendetta? Because your voice seems to be the only dissenting one.
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I bought a necklace from CoY and yes it was worth it. Whoever is trying to diss her should go pick on someone else - she comes across as very genuine and hard working
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Surely anything from aliexpress would be bits that are of bad quality, that tarnish etc, Kelly’s jewellery definitely does not?
 
I’m sorry to see this thread. Her jewellery is handmade. She buys lengths of those chains from Hatton garden. She’s shown us plenty. I was never so happy to see a stranger buy her own home. Graft and determination . Very little help. Her jewellery is priced fairly. Plenty chancers out there with over priced tat from Ali. She’s not the one.
 
Some of it is handmade and designed by Kelly, I'm not disputing that.
The poems, yes. The lockets, yes and the carved rings, I get it, yes

But... the shell necklace with the beads and all the other bits are literally a few pounds to make.
90 quid is extortion!

She needs to stick to the hand made. Just like Carrie of Mere Soeur, she's commanding an excessive profit for s**t made in China and in my honest opinion that is a rip off.

It seems everyone is doing it. Even the "nice" people
 

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Laceandhearts said:
Some of it is handmade and designed by Kelly, I'm not disputing that.
The poems, yes. The lockets, yes and the carved rings, I get it, yes

But... the shell necklace with the beads and all the other bits are literally a few pounds to make.
90 quid is extortion!

She needs to stick to the hand made. Just like Carrie of Mere Soeur, she's commanding an excessive profit for s**t made in China and in my honest opinion that is a rip off.

It seems everyone is doing it. Even the "nice" people
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Ok, Kathryn, we got it :-) Why don't you continue ordering cheap stuff, that is not extortion (not your extortion, at least, but I can assure you there are many forms of extortion in the supply chain) and just let it be? 🤷🏻‍♀️
 
If you don't like her stuff or think it's too expensive, don't buy it. Simple. Not sure what the point of creating a forum post about it, what exactly are you hoping to achieve?

I take it you're not running your own one person business? If there is a perceived large mark up on an item have you broken down all the other associated costs to see just how much the mark up really is and how this companies to other companies. So let's take one of the necklaces.

* Materials purchased and cost of postage or transport to collect them
* Associated labour assembling the item (this is the salary of the person making the item)
* Costs towards postage if selling online
* Costs towards physical shop if not selling online (I've just had a look and can see Kelly does both)
* VAT
* Money towards rolling business costs, not all the money 'made' will be felt as pure profit
* There are likely to be other costs if the person is running an actual business and not an Etsy hobby or side hustle

If a necklace is costing her say a tenner to make (chain plus charm) in terms of raw costs and she's charging £90 for it, the remaining £80 is nowhere near pure profit, it's paying for all of the above BEFORE profit is made. Yes, there is a mark up- what would you suggest in terms of how much she should charge to cover the costs of above and make a living for her and her child? How many would she need to sell at your suggested cost to be able to survive?

As consumers it's up to us to make decisions about whether we are happy to pay for something at the price it's selling for. Having worked in retail I can tell you that the markup on Kelly's items are no more than any other commercially available pieces of jewellery that you may find out there. In fact many pieces on the high street including clothes that you're probably wearing are marked up to more considerable proportions, often only costing a few pence to make and selling for lots and lots more. As I said, consumers make their own decisions- if you're seeking to raise awareness that there is a markup on her items then I feel it's slightly misplaced given her markups and no different to anything else out there and she's a one person business. She's not a conglomerate with factories of poorly paid staff assembling items for extremely poor pay and poor conditions, this is how companies that seems 'cheap' keep their costs down.

As I said if you're not into her stuff and think the mark up is too much, don't buy it simple as that. Or you could offer her some business advice regarding costings if you're qualified to do so. I believe her contact information is available on her website.
 
I think Kelly seems nice and genuine. Although every so often she posts about something she has purchased or is wearing and it's BUCKS like the £400 ugly brown chair thing just now.

Sort of makes her hard-up single mum act seem a bit put on. Yes she is much more a single Mum than the very married and co-parenting Carrie on Mere Soer. But it's the 'hard-up' part - there is some similarity between them on this. As someone who has and will likely always be working class I feel like they use the label to seem edgy and cool but then ignore the fact they are actually middle class or very much on the cusp these days! I'm happy for them but wish they could be more self aware that although their journey has been harder than many, they are actually quite priveledged compared to many still.
 
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