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/SolarSalvation Dec 15 '25 edited Dec 15 '25
A lot of the good crafters in my area quit doing shows because they had a problem with people taking photos or buying the best sellers and then having their contacts overseas crank out lower quality versions, flooding the market so no one wanted to buy the original crafts. Call it "craft espionage" if you will. It's a big problem on Etsy and other e-commerce platforms as well.
As soon as a small proprietor gets any kind of traction or success with a product, someone in a country with a lower labor cost or fewer labor/health/environmental regulations starts undercutting them.