KnitForStitch is a Singapore-based florist and crochet shop with almost 23,000 followers on Instagram. Across their many listings on social media, the words “handmade” feature prominently. In fact, in at least one Carousell listing, the florist asserts that their flower bouquet was “self made”.
KnitForStitch’s website also states that some products were “made to order – knitted with love“.
Instagram user @exposingknitforstitch told Wake Up Singapore that they were surprised when they came across the same products that KnitForStitch was selling on Taobao.
“basically to sum it up, i received their bouquet from my bf on valentine’s day and found out that the shop has been sourcing their products from taobao (or other apps that have the same products)”
The listed price on Taobao was only a fraction of the price that KnitForStitch listed.
The whistleblower used a reverse image search and found many similarities between items on Taobao and products sold by KnitForStitch.
For example, a product similar to the product that was “self made” based on KnitForStitch’s Carousell listing above was spotted on Taobao for a fraction of the price.
Both the whistleblower and KnitForStitch have given their side of the story to Wake Up Singapore.
Allegations of Misrepresentation By KnitForStitch
The whistleblower who found the items on Taobao reached out to KnitFor Stitch on Instagram to confirm if the crotchet flowers were indeed “handmade” by the shop itself.
After some delay, KnitForStitch tacitly admitted that some of their products were indeed sourced from Taobao.
While KnitForStitch did not deny that the items were sourced from Taobao, the difference in price was justified with reference to “additional value” provided by the florist. This included storage, inventory, and guaranteed delivery.
KnitForStitch Deletes Posts and Limited Comments
In the midst of her conversation with KnitForStitch, the whistleblower noticed that KnitForStitch was deleting posts and limiting comments.
Speaking to Wake Up Singapore, KnitForStitch denied allegations that the deletion of posts had anything to do with the whistleblower’s grievances.
“The removal of posts on our Instagram account was part of a routine clean-up to ensure our feed accurately reflects the current items available for sale on our website, we do it periodically.”
The whistleblower was allegedly blocked by KnitForStitch on Instagram.
KnitForStitch told Wake Up Singapore that the person was blocked due to “repeatedly sending excessive messages“. This was not done to hide anything, said the florist.
The florist also alleged that the whistleblower was affiliated with a competitor. While the whistleblower’s boyfriend does have a small preserved flower business with less than 20 followers on Instagram, she added that her boyfriend’s business had no bearing on the truth or validity of her posts. She added that she is merely sharing her genuine perspective as an actual customer of KnitForStitch.
In fact, it was her boyfriend who purchased a Valentine’s Day crochet for her, which eventually led to the reverse image searches and the public expose.
In any event, the whistleblower noted that her boyfriend’s business was not a “competitor” in terms of their relative sizes and the fact that one specialises in handmade crochet flowers while the other is focused on preserved flowers.
The whistleblower vehemently denied allegations that she sent any threatening or harassing messages to KnitForStitch, as alleged by the florist.
Examples of “Significant” Markups
While the whistleblower made it clear that it was completely fine for KnitForStitch or any shop to source products from elsewhere, she took issue with the apparent lack of transparency and the “significant” markups. These markups range from 100% to 400%. While it is the right of any shop to mark up their products as much as they want, the whistleblower took issue with the alleged misrepresentations in respect how the products were made / sourced.
The photos on the left are from KnitForStitch’s shop, and the photos on the right are from Taobao. It is unclear if the products are exactly the same, but the resemblance is undeniable.
The whistleblower felt that she had “no choice” but to make this matter public.
KnitForStitch Responds
In response to Wake Up Singapore’s queries, KnitForStitch said that “We have never claimed that all our products are solely handmade by us“.
The shop added that their priority “has always been delivering high-quality products, regardless of sourcing“.
KnitForStitch did not explicitly deny that some of its products were indeed sourced from Taobao.
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