Using the term "Silver" loosely

[Former_Member]

How do you feel about shop owners tagging and describing their items as "silver"(not "sterling" or" fine", just putting "silver") when it is obviously silver plated. I sorta know of someone doing this and I don't know if I should say anything, because I do find it to be misleading. What should I do?

[BakerStDesignsCo]

it annoys the heck out of me......even if the title says "silver", that's fine.....but at the very least indicate the proper info in the description....why risk pissing people off when they find out it's plated, etc. I wouldn't say anything though, it's not hurting you or your shop so no sense in causing a stir with the other shop.....ya know? :)

[hennesseyjewelry]

Dishonest, unscrupulous, unethical, etc. is what I think of sellers who do this. It happens with "gold", too; plus there's no end of folks who have gold-toned trinkets that they title and tag as "gold".

[Former_Member]

Personally it bugs the heck out of me when any type of shop refers to a metal item as just silver, gold or platinum. Legally they're not allow to do that on any stand alone portion of their advertising even if it is later described in another portion correctly. I know they really should be reported to the FTC and / or the BBB for fraud but I just skip over them & figure karma will eventfully catch up with them through negative feedback.

Under the FTC regulations it is a chargable offense to mislead a customer into thinking a piece is fine metal. If someone are refering to metals they really need to clarify the quality of the metal grade by using descriptors, because even the government deems that the use of the words platinum, gold, or silver alone refers back to the fact the item is composed of a certain purity of the alloy.
From http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/guides/jewel-gd.shtm ...

"(b) The following are examples of markings or descriptions that may be misleading:

(1) Use of the word "Platinum" or any abbreviation, without qualification, to describe all or part of an industry product that is not composed throughout of 950 parts per thousand pure Platinum." ....

"b) The following are examples of markings or descriptions that may be misleading:

(1) Use of the word "Gold" or any abbreviation, without qualification, to describe all or part of an industry product, which is not composed throughout of fine (24 karat) gold." ....

"(b) It is unfair or deceptive to mark, describe, or otherwise represent all or part of an industry product as "silver," "solid silver," "Sterling Silver," "Sterling," or the abbreviation "Ster." unless it is at least 925/1,000ths pure silver."

[halfmoonroad]

Not cool. I think it hurts shops when their descriptions are vague.

[Former_Member]

Thank you all for the great responses! Threesweetpeas I like your point that its not hurting me and like jewelrydesignsbyMe said, it will catch up to this person when someone finds out its not real silver! Hopefully the dishonesty will ruin the shop's reputation.

[Former_Member]

You can educate consumers by having a thorough, accurate (positive) description in your listings, such as "solid sterling silver" to differentiate from the plated and silver-filled wires...or a description of how gold-filled wire differs from gold-plated.

If the consumer is educated in your shop, you've created an informed consumer...who may appreciate it so much, they buy from you.

[Former_Member]

Great idea Wellspring!

[Former_Member]

I too agree and see this all the time unfortunately. Very misleading... :OP

[PangaeaDesigns]

Yes Bowers, there are more and more misleading titles where the seller conveniently leaves out the word "filled" after "14K gold." You have to read the description and/or tags to see that it's gold filled. Of course, knowing the price of gold tells me that a pair of earrings for $30 is not 14K gold, but not all buyers know that.

[AnjasArts]

I corrected someone on this matter, a friend of mine in a WAHM group on FB.
It annoys me too. You could contact them and nicely explain the difference and point out that you don't want someone to purchase their item and then leave negative feedback.

[wavejewelry]

This drives me crazy too. I think some crafters are so new they may not realize that they are being disceptive and breaking the law by calling something silver that is really plated. I agree with anjasarts that you may want to contact the seller and inform them nicely. Consumers can't be expected to know the differance just from the price. They may just think they are getting a really good deal.
This type of mis-labeling seems to be rampant not only on etsy. I recently bought grommets labeled as brass from Walmart that rusted immediately.

[Former_Member]

Good ideas Anja and Wave.... I know this person through a mutual friend and had told them previously when they first opened shop about a year ago to make sure they are putting the proper wording in for their "silver" listings. She changed the wording, then took a break from her shop and is back with the old vague wording! I'm thinking she wants people to assume her pieces are higher quality than they really are. Thank you all for the great advice!

[jorgensenstudio]

It bothers me as well.
it always seems to me that they are trying to get away with something & that makes me think they are dishonest - even though it might be an oversight. It makes them seem as though they are hidding something about their products.
"sterling silver plated" makes me lose my mind but thats another kettle of fish.

[vintagecalif]

When I see "Sterling Silver Plated" it tells me that the seller in either a newbie, or doesn't care about their customers. BIG red flag.

A plating is either real silver or Immitation Rhodium. NO plater uses Sterling silver to plate an item. .......".but, but, but, the company I bought the pins said they were 'sterling plated"...Buy from another company. They are misinformed or don't care about their customers . That would be YOU.


aaah I feel better already

[AnjasArts]

Exactly

[Former_Member]

This happens too frequently here. The term 'silver' is applied when they mean 'silver colored'. However, I sometimes will tag an item 'silver' to mean 'silver color'. Any confusion over this is easily clarified in the 'materials' list where the actual material is listed.

[Former_Member]

Sorry to say Cocosjewelry that "Any confusion over this is easily clarified in the 'materials' list where the actual material is listed." won't cut it if there is ever a complaint to the FTC or BBB about products being mis-labeled in the titles, tags, or descriptions. These agencies might forgive a the occasional typo but if they see a pattern they may start a fraud investigation which can truely hurt a sellers reputation and cost them fines if the are found willfully negligent (for those located in the USA) or the ability to import into the USA if they are located outside of the USA.

For anyone truely feed-up with this type of mis-labeling can lodge a complaint with the:
FTC @ https://www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov/
or
BBB @ https://odr.bbb.org/odrweb/public/getstarted.aspx

[Lapidarious]

Good info. On the subject of calling something "sterling silver plated". In the FTC guidelines it states that (and this is paraphrased as I dont have them in front of me) though fine silver is used for plating that there is more recognition of the term sterling than fine. So they reworded the statute to be inclusive. Its why the words for sterling includes the phrase AT LEAST in reference to what constitutes sterling. Thus if you want to sell fine silver as sterling, its ok to do so. Sure, for folks in the know, its silly to see as true enough they do not plate sterling. But they can call it sterling silver plate if it has AT LEAST 925 parts per thousand of fine silver.
And true enough that there are many mis-naming scams and irregularities, but calling something sterling silver plated when its plated in fine silver is not among them.

[Former_Member]

yep on the sterling silver plated, that term is used alot by non-usa manufacturers. and i assume alot of sellers here aren't familiar w/ the various types of silver, they just buy components to make their product and call it like it was sold to them
don't get me started on my pet peeve 'antique' so prevalent on etsy, really where are the suppliers finding all that old product, duh don't you mean antiqued brass...

[Former_Member]

I do use the term "silver" in some of my titles and tags when I simply mean silver colored. Silver is a color after all and people search by color all the time. But, I also try to be as specific and clear as possible in my item descriptions as to what I'm actually selling - sterling silver or silver plated (or sometimes even rhodium plated). I think of titles and tags in terms of searchable terms and then use the description to describe what the item is actually made from.

I do hate when people use vague descriptions and just call the item silver without actually saying what the metal is. In that case, I generally assume the item is silver plated. If its sterling, that's usually a selling point and something most sellers would call attention to.

[vintagecalif]

You can always use the words: silver plated brass, silver plated base metal, silver colored metal, silver tone metal, silver color, etc. just use modifiers that buyers will recognize as not being Sterling, but a silver color.

: Nice earwires in a beautiful Silver colored , hypo allergenic, metal" or something like that.

[FlameOnGlass]

I think using the term "silver" "gold" "copper" etc in a title is as acceptable as using "white" "brown" "black" etc.

It is being used to describe the color.

The descriptions should accurately describe the actual materials -
gold plated, silver colored, copper tone etc. used, as should the material tags.

[vintagecalif]

flameonglass says

I think using the term "silver" "gold" "copper" etc in a title is as acceptable as using "white" "brown" "black" etc.

It is being used to describe the color.

The descriptions should accurately describe the actual materials

°º♥º°¨¨ º ¨¨°º♥º°¨¨ º ¨¨°º♥º°¨¨ º ¨¨°º♥º°¨¨ º ¨¨°º♥º°

Exactly. TITLE is general info, DESCRIPTION should be specific.

[Former_Member]

I agree with you 100% Vintagecalif, by the way, the shop owner in my original post has changed all descriptions to their proper definition, silver-plated. Yay!