Handcrafted vs. Manufactured

I have a little rant to make.  It's been on my mind for the last few weeks...since I participated in a craft show the first week of November.  Yes, I know, thoughts tend to stick with me for a while...until I let them out. 

The craft show I did in November was my third craft show to date.  I did one about three years ago, another a year after that, then this past Fall I thought I'd try again.  I really enjoy the thought of selling my handmade goods, whether crocheted, paper-crafted, or my birthday boards, to the local public.  It's really fun to get out and show others the skills I have acquired and share with them something that is useful. 

I typically price things lower than I feel I should...because, of course, I think something is worth more just because I MADE it.  But I know that not everyone who sees my handmade goods are going to think it's worth purchasing at a high price since they don't always personally know the time, effort, and education I had to receive to make it.  And I am a pretty reasonable person when it comes to buying things...I don't go for the most expensive things all of the time, and I want it to be something that helps me or makes my life better for having bought it.

Therefore, when I do a craft show, I take things that I think people will like and find unique and practical.  I have tried selling little girls crocheted skirts, crocheted baby cocoons (a popular photo prop for newborns in recent years), bibs, dishcloths, scrapbooks or albums, and the birthday boards you find in my Etsy shop.  All of these things take time to create.  Hours.  And money invested up front to acquire the materials needed to make the goods.  And while it's something I love to do in the little spare time I have, it's not something I want to make and give away for FREE to strangers.

Now, let rant begin.  The reason I have only done three craft shows in the last 8 years plus that I've been crafting and trying to make some money is because the environment is all wrong, and it causes me to lose out on sales.  The settings are always labeled as CRAFT SHOWS yet manufactured items are always allowed alongside my handmade items.  For example, you would see my crocheted things next to Tupperware.  Or Scentsy.  Or Paparazzi.  Or Pink Zebra.  Or something else that comes from a large company that uses machines to make its wares.  Now, I understand that most, if not all, of these companies that dominate the "craft show" venues now started in a home with a handful of employees.  But they are well beyond that, and when displayed next to something truly handmade, well, of course it looks better and more exciting compared to something I had to make that may have an imperfection, if you can notice it.  And then these sellers, who are not first-hand producers, just get to walk in with their pre-made items all boxed up pretty, and they only have the time invested to sell that day and take it back home.  For me, I may have spent months preparing for one show because I need to time to produce my items.

Before you criticize my personal opinions, realize I am not anti-capitalism.  I live in America and I love that people can start their own ventures or businesses.  That's why I love being an Etsy seller.  I'm just simply expressing that I think that handmade sales and manufactured sales ought to each have their own venues, not to be intermixed and labeled "CRAFT SHOW."  Stepping down off soapbox now....