All I wanted to know is if this is becoming a common phenomena, people starting a "business" without having the proper skills. It seems to me that the DIY approach is spreading across a lot of things in an age of the internet.
That is the nature of small businesses! Anyone can set themselves up in business whether they're formally qualified, qualified by experience or not qualified at all. Even if you are formally qualified, it doesn't guarantee you'll do a good (or honest) job.
In certain areas - lawyers, accountants, surveyors - the customer will expect to see formal qualifications, but in others, like guitar building, (a) there may be no recognised qualification and (b) experience, talent, imagination and perhaps a bit of business nous are far more important. There's no magical point at which you have "the proper skills" - to some extent you have to assess that for yourself then let others decide on the quality and value of your work.
For a small guitar builder, success is ultimately
always going to be based on the quality of their work. Yes, some well-placed and well-designed advertising and promotion can attract initial interest, but your potential "market" is really very small and word of mouth spreads quickly. Then you succeed, or you fail.
I doubt that many, if any, of these luthiers you're talking about are genuinely "phoney", but some will be better than others and some may be simply overestimating their own skills. They'll be found out quickly enough.
Ultimately, no-one should be investing in a custom guitar without seeing the builder's work or at least getting very strong recommendations from people they really trust.
