An Etsy seller is vehemently defending pricing a miniature purse at $270 after TikTokers called it a 'ripoff' and accused her of scamming

• Designer Stevie Lynn D'Andrea promoted her $270 miniature beaded purse on TikTok earlier this month.
• Almost instantly, users barraged her video with shocked reactions and comments calling it a "ripoff."

A handcrafting jeweler on TikTok is facing immense criticism for pricing one of her miniature beaded keychain purses at $270.

Despite trying to explain and justify the cost to her harshest critics — like arguing for at least a $25 hourly pay for seven and a half hours of labor — 36-year-old Stevie Lynn D'Andrea can't seem to win them over. Lynn, who's based in Connecticut and has been beading for 10 years, told Insider users are continuing to troll her in comments, and some have even sent her alarming and threatening private messages.

The backlash started almost instantaneously on June 3 when D'Andrea shared a video of one of her tiny purses that poked fun at the premium cost.

"When people say my prices are too high for them, I just smile at them and respectfully and say...'" she began, before cutting to Ja Rule lyrics from the J.Lo song "I'm Real" that say, "'Bitch, I ain't doing this for nothing."

Her video went viral, with 4.1 million views, but for unfavorable reasons.

Commenters reacted viscerally and loudly when they saw the price listed for the miniature pink purse at $270. "WHAT????" wrote a top comment, with a slew of crying emojis and 16,500 upvotes. "This HAS to be a joke," another person wrote.

D'Andrea told Insider she was shocked to see so many negative comments pouring in, and that her video was going viral in infamy.

"I did not expect it to get this big," she said of her initial TikTok. "I'm very open with my pricing structure. I don't feel like my pricing is unreasonable — some people are saying I'm a scam artist."

Before the upload a million views, she felt compelled to share another video trying to break down how she calculates the final cost of these charms. D'Andrea told viewers that the final $270 price point is from a specific calculation: The cost of supplies (which she said was about $3.50), times four, which is then added to her hourly wage. "I pay myself $25 to $30 an hour," she said, and the small purse keychains take her seven and a half hours to make.

She said she also factors in additional costs, like the cost of electricity, packaging materials, and promoting her products online.

D'Andrea has been operating her small business with her mother for over 10 years. As well as their Etsy store, they sell directly from their website, and their items are carried in several specialty boutiques. She is adamant that her pricing is on par with other handcrafted jewlry in the US.

"If you're doing it as a hobby, it's a different pricing structure," she told Insider. "This is our job — my mother and I have lived in different places in Connecticut, which has a high cost of living. We're doing it as a business, not as hobbyists."

Unfortunately, D'Andrea's explanation TikTok did not cool the criticisms. People continued to come down on her hard for "overpricing" the item.

"I think this is a HUGE ripoff," a top commenter wrote; "$270 is insane," another added.

Some even questioned why it would take her that long to bead such a small item. D'Andrea said she completely understands why seven and a half hours of work would baffle someone who has no experience beading.

"No matter how much experience you have with it, I am hand-sewing 900 beads that are 2mm thick. I'm not a factory. I'm hand-stitching each one together," she responded. "If you want to try it out and see how fast you can go without stabbing yourself with a needle… This is just my process."

The backlash has spun so out of hand that she said she's received several messages on her other social media accounts wishing that her business fails, among other malicious sentiments. "People are direct-messaging me telling me I'm better off dead," she said.

On some of her most recent posts, unrelated to the small-purse controversy, commenters continue to troll her. A user called her beaded earrings "ugly," and another said no one is buying her products.

While she has not sold any miniature purses since her TikTok went viral, she told Insider she's sold 65 to 70 of them since she started making them two years ago. They're most popular when they're shown off in person, at boutiques or private vendors, she said.

"It's a specialty item — it's definitely not a necessity," she said. "This is not going to replace your current handbag. This is something fun."

D'Andrea said overall she does understand why the high markup of such a dainty item would turn people off — most people simply cannot afford it. But she wants her most vicious haters to also understand that this is how she chooses to make her income and that she treats her work with a lot of "love."

"All small businesses in general, we all put a lot of love and attention into our craft," she said. "It's our blood, sweat, and tears. It's not something that's going to be produced in a factory by a multimillion-dollar corporation. I understand pricing; it's not for everybody. I'm here trying to make a livable wage and support my family."