What's in a Name?

I have debated this post for a few days. On the one hand it speaks specifically to the fact that GlitterSniffer Cosmetics does not practice what it preaches, on the other it catches a lot of innocent handmade sellers up in a situation not of their own making. I am very cognizant of the fact that the GlitterSniffer Cosmetics situation has cast a bad light not only on indie cosmetics in general, but could possibly effect handmade sellers negatively as a whole. Though I personally have no issue continuing to purchase handmade, and do so quite regularly still, I am well aware that this situation has made people gun shy. For that reason I will not be including supporting links to the products I mention though that has been my practice thus far. I will also be removing any identifying information for these sellers. These wonderful artisans do not deserve any further identification with GlitterSniffer Cosmetics, especially since they had nothing to do with the company's choice to sell unapproved products, and simply lent their names in good faith to a company they felt they could trust. They are just another in a long line of innocent victims and I do not wish to cause them any further issues.

And with that preamble out of the way, the following was posted to the GlitterSniffer Cosmetics Facebook Fan Page on February 4, 2011:

It does not seem to be the case that someone was trying to use GlitterSniffer Cosmetics name to make money. The crafter in question made it very clear via the GlitterSniffer Complaints FaceBook Page that she was no longer associated with GS, had forgotten about the listings, had edited them to remove the association, and that the original intent of the listings was to link to GS and help drive business to them.

But GlitterSniffer Cosmetics should know all about using links to drive business. It's something they have practiced themselves for years. From the Etsy forums, dated February 11, 2009:

There were 15 pages of responses to this offer, with much discussion of link trading. This shows that GlitterSniffer Cosmetics had no issues with soliciting others for marketing purposes, in effect using others names in order to make money. Some selected listings:

Please note that most of these colors were not "inspired" by these shops. They were already made and simply named for the sellers. For the most part GlitterSniffer Cosmetics did not know any of these sellers until soliciting them for the use of their names, despite their claims to the contrary in the listings. There are many others I have not listed.

At least three of these products have since been recalled as being unsafe for eye use.

It is debatable at this point if use of the GlitterSniffer Cosmetics name would be of any value to anyone currently selling handmade, but this certainly gives pause to the assertion that crafters use their name to increase sales, when cross promotion is not only something GlitterSniffer Cosmetics participated in, but actively sought out in the past.

This is, of course, in addition to the numerous trademarked names they have used, and are currently planning on using, to market their products.