Every now and then someone asks me why our planter costs more than a similar one they saw in a big store. It's a fair question, and the answer has nothing to do with margins or a brand name.
what goes into the price
A mass-produced piece is cast hundreds at a time, the same mould is used thousands of times, and the labour per unit is measured in seconds. A handmade piece is mixed, cast, filled and finished one at a time: each one takes hours, not seconds, and every step is done by hand, not on a conveyor belt.
That means not only more time but also more responsibility for each individual piece. If something goes wrong, it goes wrong for one specific planter, not for a percentage out of a thousand that can be written off as defects.
what you get for it
A piece that will never be exactly the same as anyone else's, a longer lifespan because the work is done more carefully, and, though this is harder to measure, knowing that the money you paid goes directly to the person who made it, not to middlemen.
I'm not sure it's always worth paying more; it depends on what you're looking for. But if you're looking for something that will last, not just fill a space, the price usually reflects that difference.
From my hands // to your home.
Aurelija // mi.ni.mali
