Recent years have witnessed a surge in the online demand for handcrafted items. Is it surprising? Not really. In an age of global instability, excessive mass production and conveyor-belt consumerism, it’s no wonder people are turning once again to the cozy familiarity and authenticity of handmade goods. Arts and crafts have played an essential part in mankind’s development and culture for the past 5,000 years. Even today, ironically enough, we seem to be using mass-produced hardware and software in order to reconnect with our desire for handmade goods.
When TANZO began its market research back in 2016, we knew there were hundreds USA of thousands of crafters online, but we were $43.9B still surprised to uncover over 200,000 guilds, associations, clubs and other communities where artisans and crafters gather to exchange
ideas and visions and share the love of creating something with their own hands.
With people becoming more and more interested in owning authentic and unique items, the global market for handmade goods has tripled since 2008 and is currently becoming a $100 billion industry. In 2016, India alone exported $5.4 billion in handmade goods, a 15% increase over the previous year. During the same period, both China and Southeast Asia generated over $25 billion.
