Black Friday Isn’t For Handmade

We are a handmade marketplace. This means the items on our site are unique and made by small business owners. Yet, there is pressure for all e-commerce sites to adopt the large-scale retail mentality of running Black Friday sales.

For small businesses on sites like Etsy or Etsy alternatives, this often means lowering your prices. This helps the algorithm show your products in the sales collections that shoppers see. Otherwise, no one will see your products.

There already is such a thin margin on most handmade crafts, that asking sellers to take even more of a cut just isn’t fair. If you see handcrafted items for sale at fifty to sixty percent off, it probably means they were not handmade. If they were, the seller might be losing money to attract more customers to their online shop.

Neither of the above scenarios is what we want to see on our online marketplace. You can choose to sell your crafts at whatever price you would like. We will not have a ‘Black Friday Deals’ section on our homepage. We also will not change our algorithm to highlight products with substantial discounts.

Other marketplaces may view handmade items as easy to discount. They often ignore the time and material costs involved. However, we understand that most crafters already sell their work for minimal profit.

We center our concept of online shopping around shoppers searching for items or shops with unique products. Pushing sellers to cut prices, results in less originality and less quality on the platform as a whole. Sending emails to sellers asking ‘What are your plans for BFCM?’, puts pressure on them to deep discount, take a loss on shipping, or simplify their inventory so they can support lower prices across the board.

Why add this stress to sellers at the exact time of year when mental health for most Americans is at it’s lowest? More than a quarter of Americans say they are more stressed this holiday season than in 2023, with the ability to afford holiday gifts being the top concern (47%). Consider this stat alongside data collected from the Portrait of State Artists survey completed by Creatives Rebuild New York, which found that 57.3% of New York State artists earned less than $25,000/year and 85.7% earned less than $50,000/year.

Why are artists and crafters being asked to discount their work when they already earn so little?

What Should You Do?

Buy handmade items, even if sellers list them at the original price and do not offer free shipping. Handmade goods deserve more respect. People should not treat them like a toaster oven or other manufactured items. People should not cut their value like a commodity.

Other ways exist to find excitement while shopping for handmade products online. For instance, you could consider purchasing from an artist affected by Hurricane Helene. Or maybe you purchase a digital download of a new pattern or an entirely new craft.

Each handmade piece tells a story, reflecting the artist’s passion and dedication. When you choose to buy handmade, you are investing in quality and individuality rather than mass production.

I know that it is only natural for customers to look for deals during the Holiday season. There is nothing wrong with that. Just remember while online shopping for handmade products, that each seller is also trying to make a profit for their Holiday season.

If a handmade craft shop or online platform wants to increase sales in an ethical way, they should lower their transaction fees. Transaction fees can be as high as 20% on some sites. In some galleries, they can reach 50-60%.

This creates a chance for deep sales. You can do it without hurting the crafters and artists who make the products. That would be good news for everyone!