New Layered Dies Birch Press

There were only 3 that I really liked -- but not so much that I'd pay that price for the set! The Silhouette Design store came out with similar layers -- I wish that some of the Silhouette designers would do the layered flowers -- like that Peony set (which is one that I really liked!) .

Lori something (Whitlock maybe?) did a set of nested shape svg files a while back. I bought the whole set but haven't used it yet. I wonder if she's done any more.

I bought a set from Honey Bee during a big sale and they are really cool. They only have a hexagon set (like a honeycomb).

  I like them, but not enough to pay the price for a set of 3 or 4 dies! CRAZY!

Scott from Card Cutups shows how he made a layered die cut look using only 3 hexagon dies in this video around the 23 minute mark. Here is the link: www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6kH9XyiaM8

I was really impressed at the results he achieved - it reminds me of those expensive die sets like these. Sure, it will take a little more time to do it Scott's way, but think of the savings!

I saw this too. I also recently saw a post on FB from a "celebrity" card maker sharing a message from a small store about how AX is going to put them out of business and asking people to stop buying knock offs. While I completely understand and agree that ripping off someones designs is wrong, these birch press dies are a prime example of why people buy the knock offs. Close to $100 for three dies. Seriously? I can think of so many other things I would rather spend the $$ on, and like scrapaddict702 said, I also feel no guilt when I can get the same set for $8.50.

There's zero chance I could afford the Birch Press ones but I can't bring myself to buy anything from AliExpress. As a company they have stolen so many designs that I don't want to give them a penny. I would rather use the Lori Whitlock layered shapes or just do without. When I bought the Honey Bee set it was 4 dies (3 cut, one makes stitchy lines) for around $45.

Yep. If they changed the designs a bit I might not have a problem with it but to outright copy the images is just all kinds of wrong.

I went and looked at the AEx dies, and they're not exact duplicates. They're smaller and less intricate, nowhere as nice.
I think in this case, if I had the machine, I'd go with the suggestion of creating a cut file on my own.

Just a quick note: AX is a platform, not an actual manufacturer. Vendors flock to the platform to sell their stock, like a normal street market if you will. AX doesn't copy the designs or organise the sale and stock fluctuations. They offer a place for vendors (mostly in China) to sell their stuff for a percentage of the sales (and they've expanded to offering shipping options and such).

The people copying are actual manufacturers in China. That's why I was so surprised they managed to buy the latest BP die sets, scan them, copy them, manufacture them, sell some stock to several AX-based vendors and get them on the platform so quickly!

They either have a system in place with someone/several people keeping an eye on hot SB items in the US buying these as soon as they're released and scanning them over in the US, sending the files via the Internet or there's a glitch in the manufacturing origin and they're actually coming from China (which I doubt but let's look at all the possibilities).