I have written to the Folksy operators to suggest that membership of Folksy should be "juried" or, perhaps a more appropriate term, "following approval". Folksy has a clear and serious problem dealing with the removal of unsuitable shops, products and applicants from the listings. This is primarily due to the easy, more-or-less-instant application process that is currently used.

Applications should include not only the person's UK address details but also a general description of the goods to be sold, along with actual images of a few products. It does mean that Folksy staff would have to manually check and approve each applicant. This may mean a wait of a week or two before being granted a shop and access facilities, but it would go some way to keeping control on inappropriate products and non-UK infiltrators. In addition, if possible, all new shops would be monitored for a brief spell.

I realise many people might not like the idea of being checked out and "approved" but from what I've seen of the products on Folksy, most genuine people shouldn't have anything to worry about.

Manpower may be an issue for the team on this one, but having now read numerous reports about inappropriate shops/products, something radical does need to be done.