On the Cost of Handicraft

When people look at handicraft prices, they are often thrown for a loop by the price. After decades of buying goods made in third world countries that pay workers less than a livable wage, and paying prices that reflect these practices, seeing the cost of paying an American worker a fair wage can seem astounding. We handcrafters hear about it often, and some even see it reflected in low sales.

 I live, work, and run my business from the state of Oregon, which has a minimum wage of $9 an hour- one of the highest minimum wages in the USA. That means that I have to pay the people who make my items $9 for every hour of labor put into these items, whether that check is written to myself or to someone working from my patterns to fill my shop. Every time I do so, I am helping someone feed their family and keep a roof over their head.

In India, for instance, it costs a family of four $2 (US) a week to survive, but a worker brings in an average of $0.05 (US) per day. Can you imagine surviving like that? Do you go without food, or go without heat? Trick question- your home is made of corrugated tin and you don't have electricity. Six months out of the year, floods will drive you and your children from this shack.

This is one of the beautiful things about the handicraft movement- when we buy from businesses that pay their workers fair wages, we are putting pressure on businesses that have taken their manufacturing overseas to provide cheap products. We are telling those companies that we believe human beings have a right to earn wages that will enable them to support their families, too! We are telling them that we citizens of great nations to not believe that children should go hungry or live in back alleys or die of preventable/ treatable illnesses!

If you can't afford handicraft items at American wages, that sucks... but don't chew out the artist who is just trying to feed their family. That's not right. How would you feel if someone went into your place of work and complained that the cost of your fair wages was making something inaccessible to them. Save your money, offer a barter, find a way to make it yourself, ask if they'll take payments... but don't try to make us feel bad about knowing our worth.

I'll get off my soap box now.