How Counterfeit Decks are Impacting Deck Creators & Artists

A few weeks ago, I published this video: “I (almost) don't want to publish Way of the Panda Oracle 😢 counterfeit decks x creative struggles” and subsequently, “Permission (!?) to Buy Counterfeit Decks?” detailing my experiences & personal journey as a deck creator. This blog post contains some of my afterthoughts.

First of all, counterfeit decks = wrong. Illegal. It’s intellectual property theft. But that certainly doesn’t stop people from buying, right? Because it’s not like there are any actual legal consequences for people looking to shop & land a bargain, and it’s certainly not a “crime” to save a few bucks, right? In fact, the counterfeit sellers benefit from the cash, the consumers are getting a deal, and the e-commerce platforms are profiting from the commissions & percentages of the fake deck sales.

The only one that’s “hurting” & “complaining”? Are the deck creators and small business owners. If so many people are benefiting, then who gives a fuck, right? It sure seems like the odds are stacked against us, and counterfeit culture really is a huge beast to tackle and it’s often beyond the means and energy capacity of ONE deck creator trying to report listings, file trademarks & educate their consumers.

You could argue that, well, it’s not the consumer’s fault that these fake & pirated tarot or oracle decks got printed. Why are you punishing us for something we didn’t do? True. Consumers weren’t the one that committed the “original sin” 💀 and not every person who buys knows the difference between a counterfeited copy vs a fake copy. The question: are you stealing (from the deck creators) if you buy a counterfeit copy? I mean, you didn’t print those decks. You weren’t the one that “stole” the intellectual copyrights the first place. You weren’t the one that “took the time” to produce those fake copies and list them on Ebay or Amazon. You didn’t do any of those things, right? How could you be responsible for that?

But you are participating in the counterfeit culture, aren’t you? Without consequence. And like if you got bills to pay, a family to take care of and you just want a little somethin’-something’ to play with for a few weeks…a cheap alternative of this fancy indie deck you’ve been eyeing seems…rather alluring, right?

As for the “profit lost”…like, I really can’t say for sure (for me, anyway.) I did notice that sales went down? But like, what was the actual reason? Was it simply because of the counterfeit copies that deck sales for Way of the Panda went down? Was it because deck sales tend to stabilize and go down a little after the initial burst of interest?

Or was it just the economy? Or was it because I was busy launching other decks and did not market Way of the Panda Tarot as much? I was kind of all over the map when it came to my business and personal life. During the 2 years where “my business had suffered”, I was also involved in a soul-draining relationship that I later realized was abusive. So who can really say? I don’t have the stats to back it up.

As a deck creator, it never stops hurting to see a counterfeit deck or to hear about people (still) buying counterfeit copies of my original work: Way of the Panda Tarot. For me, I don’t have the time or energy to take on the fight 24/7, or police people by guilt-tripping them to buy my original copies or not buy them. My priority right now is to protect my energy & my peace, and it doesn’t serve me to dwell on it all the time.

I educate my audience whenever I can, but I don’t have the bandwidth to launch a campaign to emotionally man-handle potential consumers that MIGHT be swayed into buying my original creations. Because honestly, that’s what it comes down to…most people buy things from an emotional place. If people simply stopped buying counterfeit decks or participating in counterfeit culture simply because it is wrong, then we wouldn’t have counterfeit culture, would there?

I’m always nervous to put my opinions about counterfeit decks out there. I don’t want to seem like I’m not part of the fight and that I’m not standing vehemently against counterfeit culture and WITH the deck creators community. I guess I feel a little guilty about that. Part of me feels like we need to have a united front and show no signs of weakness. But at the same time, I’m committed to take care of myself. I’m not part of this fight right now. I might not take up on the fight for a while, and that doesn’t mean that I don’t care. I just don’t want to care about it all the time.

As I type this, I feel the need to uphold that image. If I don’t care, how do I expect people to care? Fair point, but I’m tired lol. I don’t want to be the focal point of some group consciousness. It’s not my job to police people’s morals. I’m done asking people to change their mind when they don’t have the intention or curiosity to. It’s not my obligation to try to convince or sway people that already made up their minds about what they are willing or unwilling to spend their money on.

I want to though, gosh. I’d like to believe that if I make myself heard enough, people might sway towards supporting indie decks now and always, and we’ll all live happily ever after. Part of me feels kind of responsible for the welfare of the deck creator community as I’m an active participant and I am constantly encouraging people to create their own decks and put their work out there. But it’s not like I’m actually responsible, right? Maybe I’m being self-important and nobody actually cares about what I’m saying😂

It’s tough. It’s almost as if I can’t decide if I want people to care or not. I don’t want to sound like I’m “pushing my agenda” onto people by telling them about my experiences as a deck creator (yes, it really does harm deck creators when people buy counterfeit decks) and I don’t want to accost people or ruffle any feathers.

But at the same time….! I DO want to ruffle people’s feathers by advocating…by doing my best to have a…balanced perspective? Who am I trying to appeal to? Deck creators? Or consumers? Honestly, at this point, I’m not sure what my message is. Perhaps the two videos I put out are confusing. Or they are confusing to me, because it’s like I’m thinking out loud and trying to figure out where I stand. Yeah I stand with the deck creators, but I don’t have the energy to campaign against counterfeits, but at the same time I want people to care, but I don’t have all the time to dedicate to customer education, and I don’t want to seem like I don’t give a shit.

Sigh. I don’t know. I don’t have all the answers. Why is it that the more I talk about this topic, the more I get anxious about getting caught in a lie? Maybe it’s because I remain a little unclear about where I want to stand myself. I try to be nonchalant but at the same time, I can’t. I try to educate but at the same time, I don’t want to be seen as aggressive. Confusing, indeed.

Perhaps I’m just caught up by my anxiety of how I appear to the tarot community. Maybe this is a trigger that has nothing to do with counterfeit decks & everything has to do with my own healing journey of wanting to express my emotions yet not wanting people to punish me for it 😂

What do you think about counterfeit culture? As a deck creator? Consumer? Bystander?