Monday Moodboard - handmade!
1. handmade leather pouch by Iragrant.etsy.com from Switzerland
2. handmade leaf belt by StarBags.etsy.com from Turkey
3. handmade buttons necklace/ bracelet by TomBjornDesigns.etsy.com from Sweden
4. hand painted hedgehog brooch by lacravatteduchien.etsy.com from Greece
There is a big discussion going on at Etsy at the moment. It's about the definition of handmade and the borders of an handmade business.
This blog has told you more about the bright sides of our business so far. And we don't plan to make you sad today and share all our worries, but it is a fact, that making a living from handmade is not possible for all kinds of handmade goods. It's a fact, that knitters on Etsy often only charge 2 US$/ hour and that our two woman full time business is still not feeding us fully, but instead giving us big sorrows about being able to pay our health insurance for this year. It's a hard thing, considering that we work almost double from what a normal employee does. But Nauli is a dream, our customers encourage us to go further and we don't feel, we should give up.
We just want to make you think about your own definition of handmade.
- should handmade be fair(e.g. when it comes to wages)?
- should handmade be conscious?
- should handmade be creative?
- should handmade be original?
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| original Gouache Painting "uninspired" by Biberklau |
Find more Monday Moodboards of the Etsy Europeanstreetteam at star-of-the-east.blogspot.de
I love It !
AntwortenLöschenBeautiful post!!
AntwortenLöschenI am very willing to pay more for a piece of unique, handmade art. I find it sad, however, that many sellers have to underprice their work and/or make shortcuts in order to stay competitive.
AntwortenLöschenLove your art!
I am always willing to pay a bit more for a well handmade original item.
AntwortenLöschenIt should be all four !! great artists hands, by the way
AntwortenLöschenlovely post :-)
AntwortenLöschenBorders can be easily crossed when they are vague, that is a bit the problem. But we all know where the borders are also Etsy hey just want to make more money :(
AntwortenLöschenThank you so much for featuring our belt!
Thank you for your comment. Yes, we know the borders of handmade, our own. But we think, not the entire audience of Etsy / Dawanda and all the others is. Concious customers are crucial in this discussion. It works for fair trade. Why not for handmade?
AntwortenLöschen@BHBKidstyle Us, too. It's very often not a question of having more money, but of consuming less but the right things.
AntwortenLöschenGood that us sellers know what we expect from handmade. Let's spread the word.
AntwortenLöschenGreat moodboard! Love the hedgehog!
AntwortenLöschenI really don't know why some knitters and crocheters charge so little for their work :( Being a crochet person myself it makes me really sad when I see such low priced items when I know how much work is involved in producing them. Also it's bad for other sellers like me who wants to be paid a fair price for my work.
Thank you http://enchantedhue.com ! Pricing is indeed very often a sad issue.
AntwortenLöschenYou're so right. It's sad to see how some women don't feel comfortable in charging even prices to factory made products! We think, this is a lot about woman being underpaid in their working sectors everywhere, which is still a big issue in Germany.
AntwortenLöschen