So before we dive in, let me quickly set the stage.

An event that took place a few weeks back in regards to an independent mermaid tail maker friend of mine who was “called out” on more than one Facebook group for the quality of their tails and business practices.

As I am intentionally not a part of any Facebook groups that I myself do not run, all of the information came to my secondhand through a series of screengrabs sent to me by several of you who witness what happened and were deeply upset my the whole thing.

Before we go any further I want to add that today’s commentary is not directed towards large scale companies (we’d be here forever). I will be talking about the small, independent mermaid tail maker who runs the show almost entirely on their own, works insane hours, bends over backwards to make magic for everyone, and does their absolute best to be fair and kind to all. 

So a brief history on independent mermaid tail makers.

Though their are some mermaid tail makers who still use more traditional mediums, we will be discussing makers who print their mermaid tails through sublimation printing techniques using a white fabric base with digital print files.

I came out with my first printed mermaid tail designs back in 2017 and shortly thereafter released a PDF eBook (that has been updated several times since then) walking you through all the steps on how to make your own printed fabric mermaid tail.

Now I’m not saying that I am directly responsible for the rise in independent mermaid tail makers, but I can see exactly who has purchased my eBooks in the past and can definitely put two and two together.

Over the years many new makers have popped up (some lasting longer than others) and have, with their unique artistic interpretations, brought their own mermaid magic to our community. 

Are there super problematic independent makers who copy people left, right, and center? YES. Are we going to talk about them today? No. Not yet. ;)

Now there are two camps of mermaid tail makers. 

There are those who view mermaid tails purely as a product to be produced on a large scale for profit and then there is the maker working tirelessly to bring something new and innovative to the community through their art.

Why does this matter?

It matters because the community as a whole doesn’t seem to see the difference or be able to distinguish between the two.

I see a wildly talented artist who built a business for themselves from the ground up. They did all the work themselves for a long time before hiring an assistant. They have a history and a backstory and are generous and kind beyond measure. They have done so much to build a community out of thin air and have put up with so much abuse from a community that only seems to see what it can take but not what it can give.

I want to take this opportunity to say that I know that not everyone in our community is negative and entitled. There are a great many of you with big hearts and open minds and I want you to know that I see you too and acknowledge how lucky we as makers are to have you. So on behalf of all independent mermaid tail makers I want to say thank you.

Now let’s talk about tail maker privilege. Yes. This is a thing.

Tail making, though not super common in all corners of the world, does exist outside of the norther hemisphere. Shocking right? There are makers all over the world and believe it or not they don’t all have access to the same materials to create their magic.

Fabric that is available to a company in the US may not be available to someone in Europe for example. Then you need to factor in exchange rates AND the fact that many fabric suppliers require to you to purchase hundreds of yards at a time in order to get the fabric at a reasonable cost.

Not every small maker has the ability to make a 6 to 10 thousand AMERICAN DOLLAR purchase every time they wish to restock their fabric.

AND BEFORE YOU GET YOUR TAIL SKIN IN A BUNCH! If you are having the mindset of *oh well that’s an issue they should just have to deal with or they shouldn’t be making mermaid tails*, then you need to sort yourself into the camp who views mermaid tails as products and not art and stop putting your unreasonable expectations on independent makers.

This leads as into the meat and potatoes of this whole video. 

DAMAGING REVIEWS

So you made your purchase with your unreasonable expectations, privileged views, and your this-is-a-product mental image and you receive your tail. Lets, for arguments-sake, also say that you are unfamiliar with the process of sublimation printing and are blissfully unaware that it is a design printed on WHITE FABRIC and that any sort of rough surface has the POTENTIAL to pull up white fluff, cause scuffing, etc.

So you receive your tail and try it on. You are unaware that your floor is rough, the mat you are sitting on is sticky, or the band of your watch is Velcro. Already things are starting to go sideways.

You shrug it off and take it to the pool. YOU AREN’T CAREFUL. You forget to use a towel, you roughly tug on the fabric, you flop the fluke around. PS the floor is rough. You pop the tail into the water and get in. You stand on your fluke for a few moments balancing while you put on your goggles and whatever else. Then you kick off. The fluke of your tail scrapes along the pool floor and a bit up the wall as you zoom off into the deep.

You don’t notice any of these things because your tail isn’t actually a part of your body and you cannot feel the damage being done the way you would if it WAS your skin.

You have a good swim, still blissfully unaware of the misery to follow...

You get home, you hopefully wash out and hang your tail to dry right away like a responsible mermaid, but let’s be honest how many of us actually do that?

The tail dries and you start to notice little white bits of fluff, some pilling, some scuffing, and can’t imagine how on Earth this managed to happen?

It was only one swim after all… How dare the tail not even hold up after one swim!

You feel absolutely justified in sending an email to your tail maker and demanding an explanation. Your tail maker takes the time to explain to your what may have caused the damage, how to avoid it happening again and how to deal with any maintenance you will need to do.

It’s not enough for you. You want justice and you want to warn the whole community about your terrible experience so you take to your favourite Facebook group and write up a scathing review and before you know it a bunch of other people jump on the bandwagon because that’s what people do. 

At no point did you consider that your tail maker has access to different fabric, or that pools are made of different materials in different countries, or the fact that you didn’t actually do everything that you could have to prevent “damage” as you like to call it.

This brings me to my next point.

“DAMAGE” is not pilling, nor is it scuffing, nor is it fuzzying (for lack of a better word).

Pilling, scuffing, and fuzzying are EXPECTED RESULTS OF INTENDED USE and purely adds to the story of your mermaid tail.

“Damage” as I would define it is a rip/tear, or something of that nature. Even if you do consider pilling/scuffing/fuzzying to be damage, it is (as I said) expected to occur.

Mermaid tails are meant to be worn and used, loved dearly, and then retired. Your tail isn’t meant to last you a lifetime. That said, if you are very careful, and take ultra good care of your tail, it WILL give you many magical mermaid adventures but you have to be willing to make the effort and put in the time.

Now the biggest argument I hear from people in defense of monstrous reviews filled with tail maker bashing is that mermaid tails are expensive and how dare a tail that cost over $500 not “last” more than one swim.

Now we already talked a bit about tail maker privilege but there is something that we all have to put up with and that is THE ACTUAL COST OF MAKING A MERMAID TAIL.

What you don’t realize is that there are so many factors beyond what you are seeing in the final price tag. The mental cost of finding a company that will actually print your tails, not to mention finding fabric that will hold up, the time that it takes you to create your designs (and many of us consider this an art form so please understand we aren’t just throwing down whatever grainy mess and calling it a day), then there’s the actual cost of all of these things (fabric, shipping, importing, taxes, printing) then there is all of the hidden costs that no one thinks about that you really should be factoring in because without a website, for example, how do you plan on reaching your clients.

ALL THAT AND THEN let’s factor in INFLATION. My fabric very nearly DOUBLED in price this year. I just about died when I went to make an order only to find out that OOP I can’t actually afford to buy more right now.

Mermaid tails cost a lot because it costs a lot to make them. There are skills involved that take many years to hone and don’t just happen overnight.

The problem is, when you make a raging review and you fail to take all of these factors into account, you are opening the flood gates for trolls and rotten people to jump on board and potentially ruin someone’s business.

I’m not saying that some bad reviews aren’t justified. They are. What I’m sayin though is that you had best have thought your response all the way through before you take an ax to someone’s livelihood.

There are only a small handful of us who are fortunate enough to be able to do this full time on our own and we have worked so hard to build up what we have. It takes years to get things rolling and only minutes to destroy all that we have worked for.

This is to say nothing of the impact that these types of reviews can have on someone’s mental health.

I would like to also take an opportunity to say that Facebook groups as exceptionally toxic when it comes to this sort of thing. I have seen it from both sides of the fence and I can tell you that this is why I keep my distance.

When I tell you how upset this whole thing made me as one of the, dare I say, pioneers of the custom fabric mermaid tail making industry I could scream.

So where does this leave us? *If Courtney doesn’t think we should be allowed to leave bad reviews, then how do we let people know what’s what?*

The reality is that you can discuss your mermaid tail/experience however you see fit. I’m certainly not the boss of you and if you had a bad experience then you should be allowed to talk about it.

BUT.

This is a BIG BUT.

You should always reach out to your maker first. Give them the opportunity to discuss the situation with you. You should also ALWAYS make yourself aware of your maker’s terms of service and their policies BEFORE making your purchase. You should also have realistic expectations of fabric mermaid tails and what can be expected to occur even after “only one use.”

Even after all of that if you still feel the need to leave a negative review, please actually be honest. Let’s not be turning negative reviews into witch-hunts. You are hurting people and it isn’t necessary.

At the end of the day your tail maker may be a digital artist, but they are an artist nonetheless. You mermaid tail is something that exists between two worlds because it is not only a digital creation but it also exists in the physical world. It’s one of the things I love most about making mermaid tails. Getting to see someone become a mermaid in a tail that I got to bring to life through two mediums that I absolutely love is a gift I will always be grateful for.

All that said I do want to thank the members of our community who continue to support and lift up independent makers. You are helping make dreams come true and on behalf of all independent mermaid tail makers I would like to tell you how much we appreciate you.

I know this was a doozy but it had to be said. You can expect that I will be ripping into this topic again in the future as things continue to evolve.

Happy Swimming,
Courtney

Hello my friends and fishes, welcome back! Today we are going to be discussing the concept of wholesaling and what this has to do with knock-off mermaid tails within the mermaid community.
​

• What is a wholesaling?
  • “Wholesaling is the act of selling products in bulk to another retailer, usually at a discount, who then sells the product to its customers at a higher price.”
    • This is not typically the business model used within our industry.
    • Even our most iconic tail makers generally make their mermaid tails in-house.
      • For example, my mermaid tails are designed by me, printed by a local printing company, then sewn by me. I am not relying on a third party to purchase mermaid tails in bulk. This is why my shop updates are typically very small and my prices reflect this as well.
  • Companies that use this business model will go onto websites like AliExpress or Alibaba to look for mermaid tails that they can order in bulk and sell. This also includes things like monofins and other related swimming gear.
  • While some of these production houses produce original designs, many hire artists to look at what is popular within our community and duplicate it either exactly from a photo or use it heavily for “inspiration” to create their own version (which very often is an obvious copy).
    
    
• Is wholesaling bad?
  • Generally no. If you find a reputable company to work with, have done your research, and have tested the product you plan to sell before launching it in your shop, then you are fine to use a wholesaler. This is generally how a lot of businesses actually work, even outside the mermaid community.
  • When it comes to mermaid tails however, there are companies out there who are definitely taking advantage of our community.
    • Mermaid tails have recently gained a lot of popularity and do sell quite well which means that random people out there on the internet wanting to make a buck will slap together an online shop and market themselves as a small local tail maker, but the fact is that they aren’t actually producing the tails you see on their website and the whole thing is actually a lie.
      
      
• This brings us to some of the “fake news” currently circulating within our community...
  • This happens when one company claims to have been ripped-off by another company in order to generate sympathy when in fact they are simply using the same supplier.
    • Now I do wish to asterisks this and say that some wholesalers will violate contracts and share designs with other companies. This is another common way that knock-offs happen not only within our community but within many other industries as well.
  • What is the point of this “fake news?”
    • Mermaid tail selling companies (and I say “selling” not “making” on purpose here) are using this as a strategy to gain sympathy and to align themselves with the companies who are above-board and producing their tails in-house.
    • It gives the community the impression that they are trust-worthy if they are coming forward to let people know they’ve been ripped-off, even though they haven’t in most cases.
      
      
• Please be sure to watch the full video to learn more about the catalogue of designs as I show specific examples of designs that have been clearly stolen and/or copied.​

• These knock-offs can have a variety of issues including dangerous “monofins” which are sometimes just two flippers with a piece of plastic stapled or glued together. I plan to make a video talking about these poorly made “monofins” soon…These companies are in it for the profit and sometimes have little to no experience when it comes to mermaid tails and how they are actually used.
  • The fabric might also be of a poor quality or worse still might be the wrong kind of material entirely and absorb way more water than it should and therefore put you at increased risk of serious injury.
  • They may also be ill-fitting and/or the design may be a poor print quality or nothing as shown on the website from which it was purchased.
    
    
• This video was not made to shame anyone who already has a knock-off mermaid tail. Maybe you bought it before you knew what was what, or maybe it was a gift. So what do you do if you already have a knock-off tail?
  • First, did it come with a monofin? Is it legit? Check it for defects and make sure it is safe to use. If it is not, it will need to be replaced.
  • What kind of fabric are you dealing with?
    • Check all of your seams to make sure the tail will hold up while swimming. Does it need drainage holes? Some larger flukes with vinyl inserts will benefit from drainage holes. Throw the tail in your sink and see how much water it absorbs and how heavy it feels so you aren’t surprised when you hit the pool for your first swim.
  • Now that you are sure your tail is safe for use, use it and have fun.
    • It is wasteful to throw something away that could be safely used and I wouldn’t want you to feel bad if it was a gift from someone who truly meant well.
    • What you can do is make a note for your next purchase and kindly let others know the benefits of purchasing from an established, local, and/or smaller maker.
      • And this goes for people leaving hateful, hurtful comments on people’s content about how their tail is a knock-off. If you feel like you need to get your nose into someone else’s business, do so privately and kindly. Don’t make assumptions because you could really hurt someone’s feelings and you have no idea whether or not they themselves are even aware.
        
        
• How to spot a knock-off.
  • Let’s quickly touch on what to look for when you are shopping for your next mermaid tail, so that you know what to avoid.
    • Does the website show designs you’ve seen before on other sites?
    • Is the print on the mermaid tail grainy or blurry?
    • Is the fabric too thin or shiny?
    • Is the price too good to be true?
      
      

​Lastly, on behalf of all mermaid tail makers I want to thank those of you out there who do support makers within our community. You are the reason we do what we do. Seeing mermaids swim in my mermaid tails has been one of the highlights of my life and I am so grateful your generosity and support towards me and my business.

I hope you found this video informative and helpful, if you did be sure to give it a big thumbs up and don’t forget to subscribe to join the pod and hit the bell so you never miss an upload!

Thank you again for watching and happy swimming!
​💚💙

Hello my fishes Courtney mermaid here and welcome back to another blog/video post!

We all know why we are here. You're here to discuss the latest fin folk mermaid tail ripoff. So if you don't know what happened, let me let you in… Mermaid Lucia recently released an almost an exact duplicate of Finfolk’s new LED silicone mermaid tail, which recently blew up over on Instagram and TikTok.

I’m going to include my two previous videos in this post as well since it’s important for all the information to be accessible.

So a brief history… Back in 2020 Finfolk worked incredibly hard as a team to bring to life, this incredible mermaid tail. A truly one-of-a-kind design, something that nobody has seen before.
The influences for this tale included a want to create something new with LED lights, the light of Elendil from the Lord of the Rings, deep sea fish, like the angler fish, as well as a variety of prehistoric fish.

So when we compare these two tails, you can very plainly see that one was extremely heavily influenced by the other.

Now let's talk about why I have such a problem with this. I mean, you literally took Finfolk’s unique, one-of-a-kind idea and duplicated it!

You, you haven't innovated anything here. Nothing in nature exists that looks like this, that you could have referenced to create something this close to being similar.

Obviously these are my opinions. I am not affiliated with any of these companies. I do not represent either of these companies. These are all my personal opinions, but this is how this looks to a professional tail maker.
​
Be sure to watch the full video to hear the rest of my thoughts on this situation…

This has become a real issue within our community and something that I plan to continue to cover on my channel. That said, these videos will help get you started and give you an overview as to what the issues are and why this hurts us as a community.

As always I would love to hear from you on this respectfully in the comments!

Thank you for reading/watching and happy swimming!
​Courtney Mermaid

I've made two videos in response to some of the more recent drama and I hope you will find them informative and helpful.

There is a difference between plagiarism, copying, and inspiration. I cannot emphasize enough the importance of understanding the difference, especially when you decide to take matters into your own fins...

If you only watch one of the videos, I recommend the "Copy VS Inpso" since I also touch on what you can do to help your favourite creators when their work gets stolen and how to know when it is appropriate to get involved.

Thank you so much to all you beautiful fishes who love my work enough that you choose to stand up for me when you see I'm being taken advantage of. I love and appreciate you all so much!

Happy Swimming!
​Courtney Mermaid

In case you missed it, I have also updated the shop with loads of new goodies and many returning items including the two matching Pirate Dreams tops seen in this video!

I am also excited to announce that these tails will be returning to the shop soon (in limited quantities)!

If you are interested in any of my mermaid tails, custom or predesigned, please visit this page.

Thank you for watching!

Happy Swimming!
​Courtney Mermaid

Here are a few closer looks at my space. Instead of taking a lot of time to make things super aesthetic by someone else's standards, I have taken time over the years to develop my own sense of mermaid style based around what works for me and my unique needs surrounding my business.