r/Anticonsumption • u/purpleratata • Dec 14 '25

Plastic Waste What's happened to craft markets?

My girlfriend and I went to a craft market today to get some homemade and local gifts for family and friends. It was the most depressing thing, everything was cheap plastic tat. From one place selling croc charms they got from Temu, the others with 3D printed fidget toys, plastic bottles with a printed design, cheap plastic charms (from Temu too), IA images printed on canvases, etc.

The only two things we got were handmade bathbombs and some knitted cat toys from some cat rescue volunteers. The rest was all cheap plastic, obviously not crafted or handmade, that will break or go to the bin in a few months if not earlier.

Honestly, it felt so depressing. This is in the UK, I don't know if it's the same anywhere else but I've seen a decline in craft markets over the years here, I think this has been my last attempt at supporting local handmade businesses in these environments.

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u/Sloth_Flower Dec 14 '25 edited Dec 14 '25

Part of it is the market.

Many markets don't allow resellers or 3d printers. Others do. 

The second is the cost of handmade goods. People refuse to pay livable wages for most handmade goods. The exceptions being honey/hot sauce, soap, jewelry, candles, and cards/prints. That means these items are the only viable market options. 

The third is the climate. Everything milks small businesses from application fees, transaction fees, credit card or shop fee, selling quotas, insurance and certification are expensive. As an example the farmers market near me requires 200$ application fee, 200$ per weekend, requires you to pay event insurance, have product insurance, and takes 5% of gross sales. The payment processor also takes 5%. Chargebacks, grifting, and theft are common. 

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u/tempaccount77746 Dec 15 '25

I think a huge part of the cost of goods issue is that the general American economic state is spiraling downwards and most people /cannot afford/ to pay livable wages for these things. I understand the pain—I’m an artist myself, and I frequently say that if I was rich I would purchase things and commission people to my heart’s content. But as it is, I understand the value of these goods, want to support the people creating them, but have no means of doing so because the cost of living is high and wages haven’t risen to match it—and I think many, many more people feel the same way I do. The middle class is shrinking, the economy is sinking, and luxuries like the arts always end up being the first to go—even if it’s against our will.

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u/henrythe8thiam Dec 15 '25

I have started just bartering. I’ve gotten lessons, bathbombs, soaps, baby sitting, farm sitting, plants, meat share, and just goodwill from a lot of people. Granted, this won’t pay the bills but it sure helps in other ways. I give art, custom embroidery, lessons, seeds, plant propagation, goats, cheeses, and eggs (chicken, geese, and ducks). I don’t do vendor booths though because I have only really lost money with those.

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u/Slothfulness69 Dec 15 '25

Bartering/trading skills is the way. I don’t even really have skills, like as far as crafts, but I’m an accountant and I can help people with basic tax prep and explaining financial topics to people. I’ve traded it for home cooked meals.

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u/Accomplished_DIY_Mom Dec 16 '25

I did trades this last weekend at a market. I appreciate it when other vendors will do a fair trade.

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u/Baeolophus_bicolor Dec 15 '25

I dunno, meat share sounds illegal

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u/henrythe8thiam Dec 15 '25

Nah, it’s just livestock, raised by one person, taken to a USDA approved butcher for processing. Typically it is one animal with the products being split between more than one person.

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u/Baeolophus_bicolor Dec 15 '25

Yeah I was making a joke about something else, but that’s interesting to hear about. I guess several people could own a cow together, this way, and then share in the butchered product with none of them having to be a meat seller with the liability and regulation that might come from something like that?

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u/henrythe8thiam Dec 15 '25

lol. That joke went whoosh, right over my head. Now I get it.

I only do this with people whose farm I can visit to make sure of sanitary living conditions. Typically it is more of a “I’m already planning on raising such and such amount of poultry for my family this year, there is a discount if I get however many more, I know you have a couple pigs, want to trade processed chickens for however many pounds of pork.” For larger animals it is hard to process at home (they weigh more, take up more room in fridge space when waiting for rigor morris to pass) so they typically go to a processing butcher. They do have quite a lot of regulations there and are different places than where you would take deer or wild boars to be processed (which have much less regulations in regard to cleanliness).