The Dupe Report: What 104 American Shoppers Told Us About Copies, Craft, and the Value of the Original

Nearly every shopper in this sample has bought a dupe. Most still want marketplaces to label or remove copies of independent artists’ designs.

In a July 2026 survey of 104 U.S. adults who shop online, 94 percent said they had bought a lower-priced version of a product they first discovered from a smaller or original brand. Yet 70 percent of the same respondents agreed that online marketplaces should do more to label or remove copies of independent artists’ designs, and 62 percent said that simply knowing an item is a copy of an independent maker’s design makes them less likely to buy it. 

When asked to imagine learning that an object they loved was a mass-produced copy of an independent artist’s original, two-thirds described a negative reaction. People felt uneasy, deceived, or deceived enough to return it.

In this sample, people buy copies, feel conflicted about them, and want shopping platforms to draw a clearer line between an original and an imitation. This is a small, anonymous, self-reported consumer survey, not a nationally representative study, and not evidence that any product produces particular outcomes.

Who Ran This Study and Why

Olander Earthworks is a Portland, Oregon studio that has been making handcrafted tactile objects since 2008. Our product line includes Wonderscape sand trays, concrete Sand Spheres, and textured forms based on Andrew Lonnquist’s original hand-carved designs. The concrete forms are cast in small batches in Portland. Like many independent makers, we watch our original designs circulate through a marketplace increasingly crowded with mass-produced imitations of independent work.

We wanted to understand how ordinary shoppers actually think about that. In July 2026 we surveyed 104 U.S. adults who shop online and who buy the kinds of things we make: gifts, home decor, and wellness objects. This report shares what they told us.

Who Responded

We recruited respondents through a general-population online panel and screened for adults who shop online and had purchased relevant categories in the past twelve months. All 104 respondents completed the survey, although some items have 103 responses because of skipped questions. Eighty-five percent had bought a gift for someone else online in the past year, 82 percent home decor or a decorative object, 82 percent a wellness item such as candles or self-care products, and 67 percent furniture or other home goods.

Ages spread across adulthood: 26 percent aged 25 to 34, 26 percent aged 35 to 44, 24 percent aged 45 to 54, with the remainder younger or older. Respondents came from every U.S. census region, led by the South (37 percent) and Northeast (26 percent). These are frequent online shoppers: 63 percent shop online at least weekly. The full sample composition appears at the end of this report.

Key Findings

• 94% of respondents have bought a dupe, a lower-priced version of a product first discovered from a smaller or original brand, at least once. Only 6 of 104 never have.
• 70% agree that online marketplaces should do more to label or remove copies of independent artists’ designs. Only 5% disagree.
• 67% would react negatively on learning that an object they loved was a mass-produced copy of an independent artist’s original: 35% a little uneasy, 24% deceived, and 9% deceived enough to return it.
• 62% say knowing an item is a copy of an independent maker’s design makes them less likely to buy it. Just 15% say it makes them more likely.
• 94% expect handmade to cost more. Asked what premium they would expect to pay for a handmade version of an item, only 6% said nothing more.
• Materials outrank price. When buying a decorative or wellness object, 62% named the materials it is made from among their top considerations, ahead of customer reviews (55%) and the lowest price (46%).
• Shoppers are not fully confident they can tell. Only 5% are very confident they can distinguish a handmade original from a mass-produced copy in online photos, and only 3% completely trust that marketplace product photos represent what arrives.

The Contradiction: Most Have Bought Copies, Few Fully Trust Them

Dupe-buying is close to universal in this sample. Eleven percent have done it once, 62 percent a few times, 12 percent often, and 9 percent regularly; only 6 percent never have. 

We asked respondents to imagine a specific scenario: you bought an object you loved, then learned it was a mass-produced copy of an independent artist’s original design, sold for a fraction of the price. Which comes closest to how you would feel?

Two-thirds described a negative reaction. Only 13 percent chose “pleased, I got a good deal.” The feeling has consequences: among those who said they would feel deceived enough to return the item, 89 percent also said that knowing an item is a copy makes them much less likely to buy it. Discomfort with copies is not abstract sentiment; it tracks directly with stated purchase intent.

The same discomfort shows up as a demand for platform accountability. Seventy-three of 104 respondents agreed or strongly agreed that online marketplaces should do more to label or remove copies of independent artists’ designs. Twenty-five percent were neutral. Five people disagreed. In a survey where nearly everyone has bought a dupe, seven in ten still want the copies flagged, which suggests that much of the dupe economy operates on ambiguity shoppers themselves would prefer to see resolved.

A Coin Flip

We asked about a specific circumstance: for an object you plan to keep on your desk or in your home, which matters more, getting the lowest price, or owning the original, made by the person who designed it? The sample split almost exactly in half: 51 percent chose the lowest price, 49 percent the original (n = 103).

Among the small group who have never bought a dupe, two-thirds chose the original. Among those who buy dupes regularly, 78 percent chose the lowest price. The more the behavior repeats, the more the preference follows it.

Regret Looks Like Deception

We asked an open question: tell us about a time you bought a cheaper copy or “dupe” of something. Were you glad you did, or did you regret it?

Satisfaction clustered in commodity categories: generic colognes, off-brand food, replacement electronics, fast-fashion lookalikes. Regret clustered where craftsmanship, authenticity, or the maker’s hand was the point — and it was sharpest when the buyer had been deceived rather than making an informed trade-down. Respondents described “handmade” listings that arrived as thin screen-printed substitutes, flea-market finds that turned out to be counterfeits, and copies of artisan goods that failed on the exact dimension that made the original desirable.

“I bought what I thought was a handmade knife from Etsy, and discovered upon delivery that it was a cheap dupe. I was deeply annoyed.”

“Once, I bought a dupe of a wooden calendar that I found on Etsy (I found the dupe on Amazon) and I instantly regretted it as soon as I opened the package and realized what poor quality it was. I would have rather just paid the extra money for a quality product.”

“I purchased a seasonal ‘handmade’ thick, cable-knitted fall sweater. What I received was a thin jersey-material screen-print hoodie with the design of the knitted pattern on it. I felt duped and it felt awful. I returned it immediately.”

Some regret had nothing to do with product quality at all. One respondent regretted a purchase “as the original creator of the item did not receive compensation for the creation of the item.” Another put the aesthetic version of the same idea plainly: “I regretted it because it felt phony. I’d rather have a cheap original item.” A third bought a copied figurine, “hated looking at it,” and eventually bought the real one.

The pattern across the responses: a dupe of a commodity is a bargain; a dupe of a craft object is a disappointment waiting to be unwrapped.

Materials Outrank Price

When we asked what matters most in buying a decorative or wellness object for the home or as a gift (select up to three), the top answer was not price. It was the materials the object is made from, named by 62 percent — followed by customer reviews at 55 percent. The lowest price came third, at 46 percent.

The Handmade Premium 

We asked: when something is described as “handmade,” how much more would you expect to pay compared with a mass-produced version of the same item? Ninety-four percent expect to pay more. 

Most Shoppers Are Not Fully Confident They Can Tell 

Only 5 percent of respondents are very confident they could tell a handmade original from a mass-produced copy just by looking at photos online. Forty-two percent are not confident. Trust in the photos themselves is thinner still: 3 percent completely trust that product photos on large marketplaces represent what actually arrives, and 29 percent trust them mostly or completely. Half hover at “somewhat.”

What Would Make Shoppers Pay for the Original

Our final open question asked what, if anything, would make respondents pay more for the original handmade version instead of a copy. 

Demonstrated quality and craftsmanship. Roughly a third of responses named superior materials, durability, or visible craftsmanship as the thing that unlocks a higher price, by far the largest theme. Shoppers repeatedly framed it as conditional and provable: “If the materials were far superior and attention to detail was far superior than the copy.” “Top-notch quality and craftsmanship.” One asked for “product images and videos that really showcase the quality.” The premium follows the proof.

Knowing the maker is real and paid. Around one in eight responses centered on the maker: “Knowing the artist was being compensated well.” “Buying it from the artist.” “Knowing I am supporting a small business.” Several respondents singled out buying directly from independent shops because “they are sold directly from the artist.”

Verifiable authenticity and uniqueness. About one in six responses asked for proof, certification, documentation, “seeing some sort of proof it’s the original,” or for the object to be genuinely one of a kind: “It would have to be a one-of-a-kind item for me to want the original version.” One respondent captured the aesthetic case for originals outright: “The textures and colors of an original piece of art are exponentially better than a print or copy of the work.”

A smaller group said price or income was the only barrier, and a handful said nothing would move them. But the dominant answer is a roadmap: shoppers will pay the handmade premium when the quality is visible, the maker is identifiable, and the authenticity is verifiable.

Full Response Data

Table 1. Reaction to learning a loved object is a mass-produced copy

Table 2. Effect of knowing an item is a copy of an independent maker’s design (n = 103)

Table 3. “Online marketplaces should do more to label or remove copies of independent artists’ designs”

Table 4. Expected price premium for handmade

Table 5. Confidence and trust

How This Survey Was Conducted

Olander Earthworks administered this survey through Qualtrics on July 19, 2026, using a general-population Prolific panel of U.S. adults screened for online shopping activity and past-year purchases in gift, decor, wellness, or home-goods categories. One hundred and four respondents completed the survey. This is a convenience sample and should be read as a snapshot, not a nationally representative study. Scaled items used labeled response options; one multi-select item allowed up to three choices; two open-text questions were coded for themes. Where an item has fewer than 104 responses due to a skipped question, the base is noted. Percentages are rounded and may not sum to 100. This report presents results descriptively; we did not compute inferential statistics because the sample was not drawn at random. We use “dupe” as respondents do: a lower-priced version of a product first discovered from a smaller or original brand, whether or not it is a literal counterfeit.

Sample composition

Suggested Citation

Olander Earthworks. (2026). The Dupe Report: What 104 American Shoppers Told Us About Copies, Craft, and the Value of the Original. Field period July 19, 2026; n = 104. olanderearthworks.com.

Sponsorship and Access

Olander Earthworks commissioned and funded this study. The questionnaire, anonymized response data, and full open-response excerpts are available on request for editorial verification.

About Olander Earthworks

Olander Earthworks creates handcrafted tactile art objects for play, grounding, creativity, and everyday well-being.

This report is educational and informational. It does not claim that Olander products diagnose, treat, cure, or clinically improve any condition, and Olander Earthworks does not provide medical or mental-health advice.